Got to remember that "tax collections are up" can mean a combination of a lot of things. On one hand, it could be that tax rates were raised by the government...but on the other hand it can mean strengthening economy with incomes up, thus more income tax dollars collected...or higher business profits which mean more profit tax dollars collected...more people travelling, thus more hotel taxes collected...more retail spending, thus more sales tax collected.

A lot of states, even Repub controlled (NJ), are looking at taxing online sales to generate more revenue. In the past, they had been very opposed to that.

It's all taxes...but not all an increase in rate. The government earns more as the economy earns more.

Coming out of the worst economy since the Depression, I'm not too surprised we are trending up...Hard to go anywhere but up when you're at the bottom.