Finance director David Perry has spent the last week pitching Gov. Robert Bentley's budget plan. When Bentley unveiled the plan earlier this month, a few people noted that, despite lots of talk about cuts, the proposed 2012 General Fund budget is $143 million dollars bigger than the 2011 budget.

Now the other shoe has finally dropped. This week in Montgomery, Perry announced a plan to raise $30 million in revenue by closing corporate tax loopholes. A couple of days later, Perry told the editors of The Anniston Star about about a plan to generate another $75 million in corporate tax revenue. Perry also announced an effort to tap into earmarked funds -- the huge pool of tax revenue that goes straight to various agencies without appearing in either the General Fund or the Education Trust Fund budget.

In addition, Perry made a a fairly striking statement about CEOs and the good they do for the state's poor. Read to the bottom of the story to see it.