Ah, the thing few think about. With so many people out of a job, the middle class now squeezed bone dry, tax revenues are dropping like a stone.

A report, State Tax Decline in Early 2009 Was the Sharpest on Record (pdf), by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute, has some damning stats.

• State tax collections for the firstcquarter of 2009 showed a drop of 11.7 percent, the sharpest decline in the 46 years for which quarterly data are available. Combining the Census Bureau’s quarterly data with its annual statistical series, which extends back to 1952, the most recent decline in state tax revenues was the worst on record.
• After adjusting for inflation, legislative changes, and known anomalies, tax revenue declined in 47 states.