Wrap Up Observation on the recent Budget Deficit Crisis at the Roundhouse   Read Jerry's column, "An Unhappy Compromise" in the March 11-17 Albuquerque Weekly Alibi.   An excerpt: "The question of how to raise taxes is not multiple choice. Legislators don't get to fill in a bubble next to their preferred option and then tally which proposal receives the most backing. What that approach, increasing income tax for high earners whould have easily carried the day since a great many Democrats liked the idea. It was by far the individual tax with the most support; no other proposition came close. Unfortunately, it takes 22 votes to get any bill through the Senate, and while raising income tax had the most fans, it didn't clear that threshold. Instead, what happened was a search for a combination of taxes that, when packaged together, would corner that magic number. And remember, not one of the 15 Republicans in the Senate could be expected to vote for a tax hike of any kind. So the Democrats jockeyed back and forth, trying to find that serendipitous combination, which, however grudgingly, might draw 22 votes. They reached that plateau with a measure that eliminates a deduction benefitting mostly high-income earners. With that, the Democrats held their noses and voted for the entire package - along with an enhanced low-income rebate program so low-income taxpayers can recoup some of the gross receipts taxes they pay during the year. The total revenue from new taxes amounts to $230 million. With budget cuts of $170 million (on top of last years's cuts of $300 million) and the addition of $200 million of federal 'stimulus' money, the budget hole was spackled." If a good compromise is one that no one is happy with, then the state budget for 2011 fits that definition like a fine, silk glove."