In the face of a rising tide of constituent outrage, State Assemblyman Anthony Adams on Monday defended his vote for a state budget that will force Californians to pay more taxes.

Adams argues he had to support the scheme. There was no combination of $42 billion in necessary cuts that would balance California’s bloated and out-of-control budget.

Instead, the deepest cuts will be in our wallets – $12.2 billion in tax increases.

“It wasn’t a vote I wanted to make,” Adams said Monday. “It was a necessary vote. Specifically the state was facing insolvency and there was no literal good that could come from letting the state run out of money. There were no foreseeable solutions.”

The idea that we will all bleed the death of a 1,000 cuts to our income has fueled a taxpayer revolt unseen in California since the Jarvis and Gann Prop. 13 of the 1970s.

Some might argue that the new revolt is being led by KFI’s John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou. The pair gathered thousands of their listeners in a Fullerton parking lot Saturday to let Adams and his Sacramento cronies know enough is enough.

Their campaign is called “Head on a Stick.” It supports the recall of Adams, R-Claremont; state Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria; and state Assemblyman Jeff Miller, R-Corona.

Adams doesn’t really care for the campaign.

“It makes me embarrassed that we live in a society that thinks someone’s head on a stick is a joke.” Adams said. “We should be able live in a society that is not violent when it comes to disagreements.”

Kobylt replied Monday.

“That’s how people react when a lying thief steals $50 billion of their tax money,” Kobylt said.

In recent days both Kobylt and Chiampou have accused Adams of admitting to a backroom deal among Republicans in Sacramento, who wanted a budget deal and realized three of their own would have to be sacrificial lambs.

Adams said the talk show hosts misrepresent what he said in an interview on public radio several weeks ago.

“That’s just nonsense,” Adams said. “They read into the comment … I was explaining why the deal was a good deal. I was explaining as a leadership we don’t want to have more than three vote for the budget. It’s all that was necessary. They’ve taken it to mean it was some kind of backroom deal.”

When the budget vote came up: “Every member voted their own conscience,” Adams said. “I voted mine.”

At one time, the district that Adams represents may have been the most conservative in the state. I remember when Dick Mountjoy used to boast that he voted no on every budget that came down the pike.

Mountjoy saw it as his duty to limit tax hikes and protect his constituents. And no matter what anybody thought of him, he did just that.

While Adams proclaimed his hatred of taxes on Monday, he admitted he was not Mountjoy’s heir.

“I’m Anthony Adams,” he said. “I am my own man.”

Unfortunately, he’s not the taxpayers’ man.