TABOR is not bill of rights
it claims to be

Copyright © 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

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What's the big deal with TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights) in Maine? It's not the bill of rights it claims to be. TABOR is just a tax cap on steroids. Even if a cap has an adjustable tab, it is still a cap. TABOR is just a mathematical formula pretending to be social justice. The problem with math is that it can't be adjusted with logic. In Colorado, TABOR called for tax rebates when the state was in fiscal crisis.

TABOR is like a free lunch. It seems like a good deal until you find out what it really costs. There is no free lunch in the real world. In Colorado, they lowered taxes. That was the free lunch.

To pay for bare essentials, they had to raise fees. That was the cost of the free lunch. In the end, Colorado collects and spends more per capita than Maine if you include fees as well as taxes.

What's the big deal with hard choices? We need to make the hard decisions that will make Maine grow and become prosperous.

We need to decide whether we want to continue paying for local control or to start consolidating our educational and municipal services.

We need to spend wisely in areas that will promote small businesses, especially businesses that create the kind of quality products that compete in the world economy. We need to decide to take responsibility for our state and to not rely on TABOR's empty promise of a free lunch.

Peter Konieczko

Augusta

p.konieczko@worldnet.att.net