It was what a candidate, particularly a Democrat, least wanted to do in an election year: raise taxes. After two months of dodging Massachusetts' now $400 million deficit, Michael Dukakis took a step that will allow the G.O.P. to hound him unmercifully: he signed a 5% sales tax on cigarettes, worth $40 million next year, and supported a measure to raise $75 million by aligning the state tax code with federal law.
How did such a scrupulous numbers cruncher end up having to impose $115 million in new taxes? Federal tax reform. To take advantage of the favorable capital-gains measures in...
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