Well, the liberal New York Times columnist agrees with national and state Republicans that, in an ideal world, states would not raise taxes in an economic downturn. But I don’t think he’d be on board with the Mass. GOP’s current “Stop the Spending” campaign. From Krugman’s blog:

…state and local governments operate under fiscal rules that lead to booming spending and tax cuts when the economy is strong and the reverse when the economy is weak. This is bad governance: services are cut precisely when people need them most. It’s also bad macroeconomics: it exacerbates the business cycle.

Right now, we’re seeing a sharp drop in state revenues, which is going to lead to big cutbacks in spending and tax increases at exactly the wrong time.

But never mind about that. Today’s Boston Herald takes on the big story of how much it’s going to cost to fill up President Obama’s new car — and the parallels to Gov. Patrick’s infamous Cadillac.

The last word in Dave Wedge’s story goes to Massachusetts GOP spokesman Barney Keller, who seems to be sticking to a belief in fiscal austerity at both the state and federal levels :

If President Obama is going to copy Governor Patrick’s words and his Cadillac, we assume next he’ll copy Governor Patrick’s tax hikes and reckless spending proposals.