Don’t mess with Maine taxes

This era finds our citizenry sometimes feeling like a butterfly in a hurricane in the midst of this crashing economy, seesaw gas prices, a punchdrunk housing market, and so on. Then comes a group of Mainers launching what amounts to a 21st century version of the Boston Tea Party.

These folks have coalesced into an organization called the Fed Up With Taxes coalition, and in the spirit of their patriotic forefathers they are challenging taxes they believe are being unfairly implemented. In essence, they don’t believe they were given a voice by the government, so they’re making sure their voice is heard anyway — whether the government wants to hear it or not.

On the Maine ballot this November, voters will have an opportunity to vote down taxes passed by the state Legislature to raise funds for its health program. You’ve probably heard or seen the commercials being aired regarding Question 1 on the referendum, urging people to either vote “yes” to reject the taxes or “no” to endorse them.

Advocates behind this “people’s veto” say citizens weren’t permitted any input when Gov. John Baldacci signed into law back in April a bill establishing an excise tax on soft drinks, juice drinks and flavored water, as well as raising taxes on beer and wine. It also calls for new taxes on health insurance claims. These opponents say lawmakers tried to “sneak” the tax hike into the books.

I’ve come late to this debate, and can certainly sympathize with the intent behind the law, which as I understand it is to fund health care for those who can’t otherwise afford it. But is this really the best time to ask people to dig deeper into pockets already a bit on the light side?

A bunch of citizens and businesses decided it was not. They could’ve sat around and bitched about it, but instead they took action. You gotta love it. Even while living in the neighboring state of New Hampshire, I always admired the ornery “take no crap” independence of Mainers, and we’re seeing it exemplified here again.

This group rounded up 95,000 signatures to challenge the law through a referendum ballot and then launched a blitzkrieg marketing campaign to get its message out. The Fed Up With Taxes coalition includes Maine’s Chamber of Commerce, as well as the state’s restaurant, grocers, innkeepers and beverage associations, and other groups.

As a guy living in Kittery, I can assure you that a lot of people cross over the bridge into New Hampshire as it is for groceries, gasoline and most everything else. I’m one of them. And now you’re going to add MORE taxes to some of these items? A University of Maine economist (commissioned by the anti-tax group) says the new taxes could result in lost sales revenue of $26.3 million across the state.

So if this law isn’t stopped, we could wind up bringing home less money and paying more out to the state.

As for the Dirigo Health program, there seems to be some question as to whether it’s being run to its utmost efficiency. Recently the state admitted its savings forecast for the health plan would be closer to $49 million than the nearly $150 million originally suggested. Again, as I understand it, the original plan was to fund the health program through these savings.

As a consumer, I would want to make sure I’m getting my money’s worth; as a taxpayer, I don’t mind helping people out, but I’m not crazy about giving handouts to people who might be taking advantage of the system.

If nothing else, I’d like to see the ballot question passed just to remind lawmakers they can’t make laws without input from the people they represent.

WINNER OF THE WEEK: I adore my wife and she knows it — but she also knows, and tolerates, my longstanding crush on writer/actress Tina Fey. It’s been gratifying to see the rest of the world slowly come to appreciate this funny lady as well.

Who in America is hotter than Tina Fey right now? Earlier this year, she won a Golden Globe for best TV comedy actress even though she’s always considered herself more of a writer; in the spring she helped make the movie “Baby Mama,” a chick-flick that was actually kind of funny; a couple of weeks ago she won an Emmy for best comedy actress, another Emmy for best comedy writer, and a third Emmy for producing the best comedy TV show, “30 Rock,” which she created almost single-handedly; her “Saturday Night Live” bit about Hillary Clinton during primary season (‘Bitches get stuff done!’) and her ongoing devil-sweet portrayals of Sarah Palin have been the absolute rage of this outrageous political year.

And now I see she’s signing a book deal in the neighborhood of $5 million to $6 million. That’s what I call a good year for the woman who brought the smart to sexy.

D. Allan Kerr is beginning to feel cautiously optimistic about another Red Sox World Series. He may be reached at the_culling@hotmail.com.

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