“I am totally convinced that getting rid of our income tax and moving toward a consumption tax is absolutely the right way to do. But I don’t understand how their projection changed so dramatically and in such a short period of time. I want to see the numbers, you know?”

– La. Sen. Conrad Appel (R-Metairie) to the Times-Picayune’s James Varney on Friday, after the news hit that the Jindal administration now projects it will need to raise the state’s sales tax to 6.25 percent in order to make an elimination of the state income tax revenue-neutral.