Tax time

Ah, it's issues season at last. We go now to today's Birmingham News, where we learn that all four of the major gubernatorial candidates don't like annual property reappraisals, though Gov. Bob Riley thinks current law requires them. Meanwhile, three of the four -- Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley, Riley, and former Gov. Don Siegelman -- agree that Alabama's tax system, which relies heavily on regressive sales taxes and assesses almost all taxpayers at the top marginal rate, is unfair and needs further reforms.

Former Chief Justice Roy Moore -- surprise! -- dissents, though mercifully he at least agrees that it was good to raise the income tax threshold for a family of four from $4,600 to $12,600 this year. Moore also bitterly criticized legislators -- one thing we do agree on -- for trying to use pork money to buy re-election. Oddly, he appears to believe as an article of faith that state services will have plenty of funding if the Legislature just trims a few million dollars of waste here and there.

But as always, Moore just didn't know when to stop. During his lengthy rant about "out of proportion" salaries, he included Alabama head football coach Mike Shula's pay raise as an example of wasteful state spending. Watch the fun as Moore tries to recover after he's reminded that the university's self-sustaining athletics department receives no tax money. It's truly a sight to behold.