Voters could be led to a tax hike

Dig into the data and you find confusion and confliction.

Once again, the public says it wants government services, but doesn't want to pay for them, at least personally. It thinks someone else should pay.

Asked about raising taxes on corporations, 62% were all for it. And 64% favored socking it to "the wealthiest Californians." Never mind that the top 5% of income earners already are paying 68% of the income tax.

When asked once more about raising the sales tax -- this time in the context of choosing between it and taxes paid by corporations and the rich -- 57% were opposed.

Voters (63%) also didn't like the idea of extending the sales tax to items "such as legal and accounting services, auto repairs and haircuts."

At the same time, 76% expressed concern about the governor's proposed deep cuts in health and welfare programs. Mostly, however, voters wanted to protect K-12 education.

Schwarzenegger did largely protect school funding in his revised budget. Yet, 57% of voters said they were "dissatisfied" with the governor's plan.

That probably, to some degree, is a reflection of the deteriorating Schwarzenegger brand name. Fewer people now approve of the governor's job performance than disapprove: 41% to 51%. His approval has slipped nine points since January.

The Legislature's marks are downright pathetic: 26% approve, 57% disapprove.

Not surprisingly, 67% of voters think California is headed in the wrong direction.

Clearly, to sell voters -- let alone Republican legislators -- on a tax increase, Schwarzenegger needs to employ all his marketing skills. But he isn't.

In fact, he now seems to be disowning the sales tax boost that he suggested only last week.

Lobbying for his proposed reform of the budgeting process before a friendly Coronado crowd Monday, Schwarzenegger didn't mention the sales tax. In fact, he regressed to his old rhetoric: "I'm against raising taxes, and I always promised the people of California I will not raise taxes."

But he did concede, without using the T-word, that "the only way you can solve [the deficit] is two ways: cuts and raising revenues. And this is why we have a combination in our budget."

And he also warned, referring to legislators of both parties: "If they all stick to their principles and if they all stick to their ideology, this state will go off the cliff."