When Arnold Schwarzenegger left the entertainment business for politics, he marketed himself as a self-made entrepreneur, an admirer of Ronald Reagan and free market economist Arnold Friedman. And we believed him.

He said he would never raise our taxes. And we believed him.

We shook our heads in astonishment when he recruited Gray Davis’ chief of staff to run his own gubernatorial operations. But we supported him just the same because he was a self-proclaimed Republican who invoked Reagan in a terrific speech he delivered to the 2004 GOP National Convention.

We were perplexed when he peopled his administration with lapsed Republicans, environmental extremists and lifelong Democrats. Like many, we accepted the bad with the good, reminding ourselves feebly that Arnold was probably better than the alternative.

We were taken aback when he embraced broader regulation of business and commerce and signed on to the latest eco-fads. At the behest of liberals, he approved the Global Warming Solutions Act, which the Electric Power Research Institute estimates will cost the California economy between $100 billion to $511 billion. Even these heresies seemed forgivable in the broader context. After all, we could always count on him never to raise taxes.

But the days of self-delusion for California conservatives may be coming to a crashing conclusion. That one last vestige of conservatism we could detect in the governor – his proclaimed aversion to new taxes – may soon, too, be cast off.

While Arnold’s spokespersons continued to claim that he would not push for new taxes to relieve California’s $20 billion budget deficit, his staffers have been busy bartering with Democrats and business allies to determine what species of taxes he can impose to bring in billions of dollars in new revenue without sparking a full-scale tax revolt.

It has been nearly impossible for the governor’s office to keep these deliberations secret. Last week, the L.A. Times reported that Arnold’s minions were “soliciting advice” regarding a broad range of potential “new revenue sources.” Reportedly, the back roomers have discussed new sales taxes on attorney and accountant services; “high-end” personal services like golf lessons and fitness training; takeout coffee and other foods; and tickets for movie theaters, amusement parks, sporting events, green fees and ski lifts.

Whether the governor chooses to impose some or all of these new sales taxes, he will not call them “taxes.” Rather, he will describe them as “loophole closings.” That way, he can gull a few into believing that he never really broke the promise he made to all Californians that he would never raise our taxes.

That extra few cents you will pay for your take-out food and coffee, the few more dollars you will spend to see a play, attend a baseball game, or play golf—that will really just be a “loophole closing” fee. The few hundreds or, sometimes, thousands of dollars extra you will need to pay to retain an attorney? The sound of that money leaving your wallet will just be the echo of another loophole drawing shut.

The governor has himself in a fiscal jam. He frittered away his time in office giving speeches about global warming, glad-handing liberal Democrats, misusing bond revenues to pay for budget shortfalls and trying to become a “fusion” leader who would unite centrists of both parties. He could not, or would not, cut the state spending programs that gave us our mounting budget deficit. He never seemed to realize that Californians already pay the highest taxes in the nation. He never seemed to understand that it was never about increasing state revenues. There is only so much revenue government can squeeze out of investors and working people without ruining our economy. It was always about cutting out-of-control state spending. And he just was not up to it.

We could be wrong in our somber expectations. Maybe Arnold will surprise us, reject phony new sales taxes disguised as “loophole closings,” and begin cutting government down to size. But the signs are not encouraging.

If Arnold does impose new taxes in the midst of a recession, every self-respecting conservative in his administration – if there are any left – should resign in protest. Those who do not will deserve the contempt of all conscientious citizens.