One day, a raindrop of tax cuts smacks C.L. in his feathery head, and he begins running in circles. "The sky is falling!'' he clucks.

"There will be devastating cuts in essential state services such as schools, prisons, universities, mental health and retardation programs, even local police and fire departments!''

All the barnyard critters gather to take notes. Styewitness News reports: "Sky is falling! Film at 11."

Panic spreads like hoof-and-mouth. Then one November day, here comes Farmer John Taxpayer with an ax, and WHACK, Chicken Little is soon simmering with Mr. Dumpling.

And they all lived happily ever after in Ohio.

Last week, a Cleveland conglomerate of policy farmers who just can't put enough manure on government growth released a report that warned: Repeal of even one penny of sales tax would force "devastating cuts" in schools, universities, prisons, police and fire. The sky is falling.

But wait a corn-shucking minute. If the total tax-repeal loss is $800 million, how can it "devastate" all those budgets at once? It's hardly a raindrop in a $25 billion lake of state spending.

"How many times can they spin it and spend it?" asks tax repeal leader Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell.

He says $800 million could be taken out of half the local government fund alone.

The education budget is so huge, $800 million would not even be a dent - just a minor scratch that rubs out with a little car wax and elbow grease.

And Blackwell says the tax increase was unnecessary anyway. "We had 5 percent growth without it," he said. "We could have increased spending 4.7 percent, consistent with population growth and inflation, and not even need the tax."

Instead, spending went up 11 percent - and the sales tax was hiked from 5 cents to 6 cents.

Here's another plot twist: The opposition to repeal is led by public employee unions hiding behind Ohioans For Fiscal Responsibility. And their ally is . . . Republican Gov. Bob Taft.

Taft says cutting taxes is an irresponsible way to run the state. He's right. Everyone in Columbus knows the proper way to run Ohio is to spend like a crack head with a stack of stolen credit cards.

So Taft is opposing tax cuts while he's leading the Ohio campaign for tax-cutter President Bush. And that worries Republicans.

"Everyone I talk to who is not part of the party apparatus is just disgusted with the governor and the legislature," said Hamilton County Commissioner Phil Heimlich. "I'm ashamed to say it's Republican leadership."

Heimlich is backing a motion to rebuke the County Commissioners Association of Ohio for opposing the sales tax repeal. He says state Republican leaders should support repeal on the November ballot, because it will bring out conservative Bush voters. "I think they're making a terrible mistake opposing it."

He also is disgusted with the "scare tactics." "They always target the most emotionally charged programs," he said. Such as schools, mental retardation, police and fire.

The way spending swelled in the last budget, Ohio won't be "devastated" to part with $800 million in spare change.

That "sky is falling" stuff is just a fairy tale. Ohio is not Chicken Little. It's more like a fat hog at the public trough. But that's another bedtime story.

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E-mail pbronson@enquirer.com