As digby points out:
Conservatism has been stripped of everything but its essence --- cheap thugishness. I honestly can't remember a time in the last 30 years when they weren't holding a gun to the states' head no matter what the economic climate. If times are good they have to cut taxes. If times are bad they have to cut taxes. It's no wonder that the regular folks decided they shouldn't have to pay taxes either.
I guess it puts the federal stimulus package in perspective. The reason the Republicans didn't vote for it was simply because it didn't include enough goodies for their corporate owners. In that sense, I guess it was a huge win for liberal principles.