-Pollster Bob Moore's firm, Moore Information, recently asked 500 Washington voters whether they'd support an increase in the state sales tax from 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent "to ensure that education and other important state programs have adequate funding."

The results are not promising for lawmakers considering doing a smaller sales tax increase -- about a third of a cent -- to offset budget cuts to health care. Some specifics:

-56 percent opposed it, 39 percent favored it. The margin -- surprise -- was closest in Seattle (48 percent yes, 43 percent no) and widest in Eastern Washington (28 percent yes, 65 percent no).

Opposition was stronger with those over age 35 (59 percent no statewide), Republicans (75 opposed, to Democrats' 36 percent) and independents (67 percent no). (The party distribution was 40 percent Republican, 46 percent Democrat, 14 percent independent).

-And then there's this, with a hat tip to Horse's Ass: In a national CBS News/New York Times poll,(see pages 5 and 18) almost three quarters of Americans said that it's a good idea to raise taxs on people earning more than $250k a year. Two thirds said the tax code should be changed to shift some of the burden from middle class taxpayers onto upper income people.

State lawmakers are talking about a 1-3 percent state income tax on people making more than $250,000 a year.

---

---