The Arizona Republic's Rob Robb splashes cold water on the idea that it's possible to create a magical taxing system that's immune to downturns:

There are improvements that can be made in Arizona's tax structure that would enhance the prospects for long-term economic growth, which in turn could increase state revenues. But they would not do much to reduce the cyclical fluctuations in such revenues.

As I've written before, and will undoubtedly write many more times so long as the newspaper gives me this forum, there are no countercyclical tax sources. In an economic downturn, they all go down.

There are no unicorns.

Robb is right, although the important part, to us, is changing the tax code to "enhance the prospects for long-term economic growth." We suspect he'd support different changes than we would, but the biggest problem remains: You need a two-thirds majority to increase fees and taxes, which seems politically impossible at the Capitol. And as a result, you have a tax code that's basically designed to follow a late-’80s economy. Does anyone not recognize that the economy has changed dramatically in the last two decades?

The Economist has a succinct round-up of the national politics of immigration reform:

Now Washington may try again. With a wretched economy and long to-do list, it hardly seems an opportune moment. Yet on April 14th America’s two biggest unions, including one that helped block reform in 2007, unveiled a plan to push it forward. Luis Gutierrez, a congressman from Chicago, has visited 17 cities to build momentum for reform. A coalition of advocacy groups is planning an $18m campaign to make immigration a priority. Several big cities will hold rallies on May 1st.

State Schools Chief Tom Horne visits KUAT-TV's Arizona Illustrated to talk about school funding. He sidesteps questions about how to pay for it. It's all after the jump.

Playboy puts the UA at No. 5 in the list of Top Party Schools. Congrats, Zona!

The Zona school that traditionally gets the love is ASU, and though we think Tempe is a great place to spend a three-day weekend, four years are better spent at U of A in Tucson. Consider some of its party names: Natural Disaster, Heaven and Hell, Fubar, Jungle Party. Sounds wild. Leo, a senior, describes the biggest decision of his life thusly: “When I was applying to schools, it was between the University of Arizona and the University of Colorado at Boulder. Would I rather walk around in board shorts and sandals, looking at gorgeous girls in bikinis for eight months out of the year or shovel snow and freeze my nuts off in Boulder? I made the right decision.”

UPDATE: Crack TW intern Hank Stephenson has already tracked down a Q&A with Ashley, who appears to have first appeared in the October 2005 issue. Money quote: "My parents were not fans. But I did find out my mom tried out when she was my age. I pretty much got the 'better morals' lecture."

Just got this in the mailbox. Wish they'd turn off the CAPS LOCK. I can't shake the feeling that this information is being given to me by Grandpa Simpson:

ATTEND THE SEDONA UFO SKY WATCH CONFERENCE AND MEET ED

GRIMSLEY, AS HEARD ON “COAST TO COAST” AM WITH GEORGE

NOORY, AND AN ALL STAR LIST OF SPEAKERS AT THE CREATIVE LIFE

CENTER IN SEDONA, MAY 22 — 24, 2009. FOR AN EXPERIENCE

THAT’S LITERALLY OUT OF THIS WORLD! THE MOST UNIQUE AND

SPECTACULAR EVENT ON EARTH! HERE’S YOUR CHANCE TO SEE FOR

YOURSELF UFOS DARTING ABOUT IN THE NIGHTTIME SKY HIGH

ABOVE OUR HEADS, USING 3RD GENERATION NIGHT VISION

GOGGLES. SEE HUGE MOTHERSHIPS LAUNCH SMALLER CRAFT. SEE

THESE CRAFT

Scarp brings us the news today that Karen Johnson wants to run for governor.

We don't disagree with her own estimation of her chances: "I don't have any grand illusions about winning."

Well, if she just wants to make sure social issues are a big part of the 2010 GOP primary, we say: Bring it on!

We recall a moment of testimony regarding the Great Gay Threat, as reported in the Arizona Republic in 1999.

Johnson was the first to speak at a committee hearing on a bill that would prohibit the use of tax money to pay spousal benefits for unmarried couples and homosexuals.

But before long she launched into a diatribe against homosexuality itself.

"It's critical to our national health and survival to restore social virtue and purity to our state and nation," Johnson said. "Is living together without the benefit of marriage good? Is homosexuality good? If cohabitating and homosexual behavior is detrimental to the individual and to society, besides breaking the law, then society has the responsibility to resist it."

Local advertising man William Ackerley has one of the coolest Web sites in town. Check it out at www.coldestbeerintucson.com.

Taco Bron at 6910 E. Tanque Verde Road has the coldest one so far, but the thermometer-wielding Ackerley is hot on the trail of cold ones all over town.

The findings will eventually be published in a book, but not until at least 100 beers have been assessed.

Man, there's a lot to do in this town this weekend!

At the top of our list, of course, is the Tucson Weekly's Club Crawl, which is the biggest night in downtown all year. A hundred bands, 20 stages, and cold beer in the streets. All for eight bucks!

There's the Pima County Fair, featuring the Tucson Weekly Carnival and Midway.

There are way-cool films at the Arizona Independent Film Festival.

And the late-night cult classic at the Loft Cinema is Day of the Dead, George Romero's third installment in his gruesome zombie series.

America's stuffiest columnist, George F. Will, is outraged that Americans wear blue jeans:

On any American street, or in any airport or mall, you see the same sad tableau: A 10-year-old boy is walking with his father, whose development was evidently arrested when he was that age, judging by his clothes. Father and son are dressed identically — running shoes, T-shirts. And jeans, always jeans. If mother is there, she, too, is draped in denim.

Writer Daniel Akst should be given the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Writing in The Wall Street Journal, he has denounced denim, summoning Americans to soul-searching and repentance about the plague of that ubiquitous fabric, which is symptomatic of deep disorders in the national psyche.

This brings back very hazy memories of a Harvard Lampoon Newsweek parody from the mid-’80s, which included a "George Fwill" column headlined: "Why I Love The Feudal System."

Last week, The Skinny made the point that increasing income taxes on people earning more than $250,000 a year would be a more progressive alternative to instituting a statewide sales-tax increase (although we should point out that such an income-tax hike would raise considerably less money.)

Now the Arizona Republic has done an analysis that shows that Arizona's income-tax burden is pretty low, compared to most states:

But, for Arizonans, there is some comfort to take on April 15, the deadline for filing income-tax returns: Among the 41 states and the District of Columbia that assess individual income taxes, Arizona charges less than all but a handful.

The Arizona Republic used income-tax rates collected by the non-profit Tax Foundation to see how Arizona stacked up with other states at three taxable-income levels: $50,000, $150,000 and $1 million. At each level, Arizona had lower tax bills than all but three to six states.

It's been that way for a long time. I wrote about it way back in April 2000. Since then, income taxes have gotten even lower, which has mostly benefited the wealthiest Arizonans.

One of the reasons that people can get away with distorting tax facts—like, for example, stirring up a big protest even though most people's income taxes have been cut under the current Democratic Congress—is that the system is so complicated that the majority of people just don't understand that they actually have a pretty good deal going, at least when it comes to income taxes.