Cal Hobson, Democratic Lt. Gov. candidate and former President Pro Tempore of the State Senate, angrily denounced the tax cuts passed by the Oklahoma Legislature in a speech on the Senate floor the final day of the special session:

You’re eroding your tax base for no good purpose and you’re giving it to people that don’t need it, won’t remember it, and – I assure you Democrats – they will take their money and they will use it to beat you and help them....

You don’t want to hear this, and you think it’s just a blowhard on the last day.... But unless you just hate schools, and hate good roads, and hate the fact that 600,000 of our people walk around without health insurance, and 700,000 are on Medicaid, unless you like that ... you can’t be for this kind of crap. You can’t be for the kind of giveaways of last year and again this year, and a total of $615 million.... We are pooping off the largesse given to us, just like last year.

I just happen to feel passionately, having had the joy and pleasure of raising taxes a number of times (to keep the lights on in Oklahoma), I don’t take this stuff lightly.... In the long term, maybe not next week, but in the long term you will regret what you’re doing to this tax base.

The Senator doesn't seem to understand the meaning of the term "tax base." The hope, Mr. Hobson, is that by reducing the tax rate, there will be incentives for businesses to start in, stay in, grow in, or move to Oklahoma -- an increase in economic activity that means a larger economic base upon which taxes can be levied to pay for public needs.

It's sort of refreshing to see a politician openly embrace his lust for higher taxes.