EDITORIAL THERE THEY GO AGAIN SACRAMENTO'S DEMOCRATS USE THE WAR ON TERRORISM AS THE PRETEXT FOR ANOTHER TAX HIKE.

ECONOMISTS tend not to agree on much, but on one point they are nearly unanimous: The worst time to raise taxes is during a recession.

Somebody tell that to the Democrats who are totally in control up in Sacramento.

Having squandered a $10 billion budget surplus on exorbitant spending and a horrendously mismanaged energy crisis, the state's Democratic legislators find themselves short on cash. Their response, predictably, is to gouge taxpayers with another 0.25 percent increase in the sales tax.

That's right - another sales-tax hike. Democrats jammed the first one into this year's budget by refusing to renew a legislatively mandated one- year cut.

That cash infusion apparently wasn't enough, so they want more. They've got various front groups working to put a measure on the November 2002 ballot that would call for the average California family to send an extra $100 or so their way each year.

Here's the kicker: They're doing it in the name of the war on terrorism.

It's the state Assembly's Task Force on the Impact of Terrorism that has created the rationale for the proposed tax hike. Assemblyman John Dutra, D-Fremont, the task force's chairman, argues that the state needs the extra funds to help pay for police, firefighting and medical care in the wake of Sept. 11.

Yes, they think voters are so gullible - or stupid - that the mere mention of the word ``firefighter'' will inspire us to empty what's left in our depleted wallets into their cavernous coffers. The Los Angeles City Council is trying to pull the same trick by putting a bond measure for police and fire facilities bond measure on the March ballot.

We're all in favor of doing whatever possible to defend against terrorists and, truth be told, if Democratic legislators hadn't burned through a $10 billion surplus so quickly, they would have more money than they could possibly need.

The war on terrorism is merely their excuse for clobbering the taxpayers yet again.

It wasn't the war on terrorism that caused Gov. Gray Davis to spend $9.3 billion on energy, money that was supposed to be returned to the state treasury, but wasn't. Nor did the war on terrorism force him to sign $23 billion worth of contracts that will have Californians overpaying for power for the next 20 years.

It wasn't the war on terrorism that caused state legislators back in July to pass a $101 billion budget that increased spending by twice the rate of inflation.

And it wasn't the war on terrorism that caused Democrats to cram that budget with millions in vote-buying pork.

Rather than trying to trick voters into approving another tax hike, the Legislature's Democrats should try to balance the books themselves. They can begin by slashing their overly generous salaries. After that, they can try cutting back on all the fat in state government and getting rid of programs that don't work to the public's benefit.

The Democrat legislators have no one to blame for their busted budget but themselves. Taxpayers, who are already battling layoffs and tight times, shouldn't get stuck with the bill.