Let's really crank up taxes on things that are just no good for people. That would serve to both collect revenue and to discourage people from buying things that are no good for them.

Michigan has been doing that, at an increasing rate. The state lottery started in the early 70s. The real wave has been over the last 25 years, when casino gambling started. A few years ago, on line casino and sports gambling was legalized. More recently, weed was legalized. Each time, the (L&Ses) say the revenue from these industries is "for the schools", while they take money from general revenue away from school funding, to cover another "JC" tax cut. The latest one is repeal of the 6% sales tax on motor fuel, and a "revenue neutral" increase in the fuel tax, so there is more money for road maintenance (Michigan is notorious for bad roads. Before the current Gov came in, per capita road funding was half that of surrounding states). So how did they make up for the lost sales tax revenue? They added an additional 24% tax on weed. At some point, they will tax weed so much people will go back to the black market, and the state's revenue will drop.

Steve