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May 04, 2005
How Does That Work?
From an op-ed in the Bangor Daily News today about how Democrats are saving the world, or something like that:
Property tax relief in the form of LD 1, taking steps to reduce Maine's property tax burden. The steps include capping state spending, increasing aid to local education and beefing up existing property tax relief programs.So how is increasing aid to local education from the state fall under "capping state spending?"
Health care programs for our elderly, including prescription drug assistance and nursing home care, remain intact. Dirigo Health, with more than 6,300 new enrollees since February, remains an option for low-wage workers and small businesses. Hospitals and physicians will see an increase in reimbursement for services they provide to the elderly, physically disabled and poor... Increases in funding to our universities and community colleges and restored cuts made to adult education programs.Even though we've 'cut' (snicker, snicker) state spending, we're still Democrats. We can cut spending and give you whatever you want. If you vote for us, all your wildest dreams will come true.
Then there's this one:
We've cut state government to the bone. At the same time, we have increased education funding and provided property tax relief. We've maintained health care and prescription drug assistance, provided for a cleaner environment and created jobs."We've made so many cuts it hurts, except we, uh, haven't. Because we shriek and throw money at a problem the minute someone shows up at the State House and starts telling sob stories about cuts to state aid programs. By the way, everything after "drug assistance" is just boilerplate, the sort of crap you throw on at the end to make it sound like we're not just about entitlements. And after all, we're better than those evil, awful Republicans..."
Refusing to provide Maine people with an alternative plan is proof that their initiative is tied to politics, rather than good will. To date, Republicans still have not offered any specific, detailed plan on how they would cut state government further. Significant cuts would need to be made in order to balance the budget if the veto is successful.(Emphasis mine) Hey, I thought significant cuts were already made. You said so earlier. Or were the cuts you made little 'oh we're cutting but we're not going to upset anyone' sorts of things?
I think both parties need to work more at balancing the Maine budget and cutting not just the rate of increase in spending, but start actually hacking away at some of the calcified bloat in the state's bureaucracy. One way to do that would be to consolidate schools and districts - education is a monster that demands more funding each year, while serving a dwinding student population.
Maine has got to get serious about its spending habits. Or the voters have got to start getting serious about who it sends to the capitol each year. We've got an election coming up. Let's do some House cleaning.
Posted by slublog at May 4, 2005 09:35 AM
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