I read the article from The Economist. Placed into perspective, you need to also acknowledge the impact of forcibly cutting taxes.
Unlike Australia, citizen initiatives can be taken to the ballot box in the USA which, if successful, must then be implemented into law.
Throughout the 90s, a number of citizens' initiatives targeted taxation, the incidence, collection and /or distribution of taxation, etc.
In more than a few of the States, or Counties which are currently suffering budgetary strain, the impact has been driven from the revenue side (ie: where citizen initiatives have been passed which have either reduced, or abolished certain taxes).
If you remove the capacity of the State to tax either absolutely, or in certain other aspects such as area, amount, capping, etc, but then still require the State to maintain its previously stated service levels, then sosmething has to give.
For several of the states and Counties, that is exactly what has occurred. Nothing more, nothing less.
