71.   Tax hikes to deal with outside forces such as earthquake damage were forgiven, however.

72.   The actual mix of tax hikes and spending cuts is still unknown.

73.   The anti-tax group, for example, looked strictly at spending and not revenues -- meaning tax hikes to close the deficit are not weighed.

74.   That sobering history has made New Jersey tax hikes virtually unthinkable.

75.   That will require massive spending cuts if no tax hikes can be passed.

76.   The Bank of Japan is also unlikely to raise interest rates while economic growth is dampened by the effects of a tax hike.

77.   The climate in Congress thus favors some kind of settlement that would include payments from the industry to the government, a sharp cigarette tax hike, or both.

78.   The bill eliminates tax hikes, even one on tobacco, so that it generates little money to provide subsidies to the poor.

79.   The bill was opposed by Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, who argued that a tax hike on cigarettes would disproportionately hurt low income people.

80.   The chief weakness is a speculative reliance on tobacco revenues and corporate tax hikes that may not materialize.