A big bunch of politicians got elected last week by promising regular folks that No. 1 on their list of people to punish is illegal immigrants.

What regular folks did not know, and soon may be surprised to find out, is that No. 2 on that list is: regular folks.

We saw evidence of it only a few days after the election when new state Senate President (and de facto governor) Russell Pearce talked about refusing to take billions of dollars from the federal government that Arizona uses to fund its AHCCCS program, which provides health care for families having a hard time.

These days that would include an awful lot of regular working people.

Pearce told a reporter at the Capitol that Arizona might turn down the federal money this year and that "church, community, families got to provide."

He was later asked about that on TV by Channel 12's Brahm Resnik.

"So, you are willing to say no to those billions of dollars?" Resnik said.

"I don't think we'll take the money," Pearce answered.

"And the 1 million people on AHCCCS," Resnik asked. "What's their future?"

To which Pearce responded: "They'll probably be OK."

Probably? Pearce said that he and his fellow legislators would "fix" AHCCCS.

Like many politicians, Pearce does not believe that the government should subsidize health care - except for him.

Pearce's Legislature also would like to fix the tax structure. "Fix," in the language of politicians, means "hang onto our wallet."

This week, it was reported that some of the Republicans who control the Legislature would like to impose a "flat tax." Under such a plan - in its purest form - everyone pays the same percentage of their income in taxes.

As explained by state Sen. Frank Antenori, R-Tucson, "We have got to get rid of the progressive tax code. It's used for class warfare."

If "class warfare" means that people who make more money pay more taxes, Antenori is correct.

"A flat tax does just the opposite," said George Cunningham, a public-policy analyst and former legislator who worked in the administration of Gov. Janet Napolitano. "Most flat-tax proposals that have been presented place a greater burden on middle- and low-income families while reducing the rate for those with higher income. That's the wrong way to go for working families."

And while a flat tax with no exemptions sounds appealing, it seldom works out that way.

What about the interest deductions from home mortgages? Health care provided by employers? And if there are no deductions for charitable contributions, will people stop giving?

Particularly since Pearce said that "church, community, families got to provide" for folks who might get dumped from AHCCCS.

"Before a flat tax is considered, I would hope the Legislature has an incidence-and-burden study done by a reputable firm," Cunningham said. "That would estimate the type of tax burden people at different incomes should expect."

Then again, legislators might not want to know who will suffer. Or won't want us to know.

Besides, the state's leadership structure is a bit confused right now. Sen. Pearce has called himself the "Tea Party Senate President-Elect" and is acting like he is the governor, even though some of us thought we'd elected an actual governor. We did turn down a proposition that would have created a lieutenant governor's position. Perhaps because folks believe we already have one.

Her name is Jan Brewer.

Reach Montini at 602-444-8978 or ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.