What kind of fool raises taxes in a recession? The kinds of fools who run 29 states.

This is an extraordinarily revealing fact:

Twenty-nine states raised taxes or fees this year, bringing in an estimated $23.9 billion — the highest increase since at least 1979, according to data released this week. The reliance on so much new revenue is sudden, to say the least. In the previous year, tax and fee hikes totaled $1.5 billion.

I suspect many voters don’t make much distinction between federal, state, and local government, particularly when it comes to taxes. If they pay more, they implicitly blame Obama, even if the president had nothing to do with it.

But if we’re wondering why so many incumbent governors are polling so badly — Schwarzenegger in California, Paterson in New York, Patrick in Massachusetts, Doyle in Wisconsin, Bredesen in Tennessee, Rendell in Pennsylvania, Perdue in North Carolina, Ritter in Colorado, Crist in Florida — we can start with the fact that they’re taxing their constituents more heavily during tough times.