To the editor:
The editorial piece written by Governor LePage that was published in the April 19th edition of the Pioneer Times is decidedly misleading. The Governor has a history of granting tax breaks to big business and the wealthy at the expense of education, the elderly, working families, the poor and the environment.
His current plan calls for increased taxes for those earning less than $92,000 per year while lowering them for those making substantially more. His penchant for attempting to cut state taxes while shifting the burden onto local property tax payers adds fuel to the fire.
This pursuit of supply-side economic theory which has been repeatedly debunked by economists, flies in the face of the experience of a number of other states. Furthermore, his selective mentioning of several towns in the state that voted against Question 2 neglects to mention that most of them are among the richest municipalities in the state. Those areas have schools that are almost fully funded locally while the schools in less affluent areas languish because of the failure of state government to live up to its legal obligation to fund 55 percent of education.
It is no mystery why those areas would object to a tax increase on their already substantial wealth.
Finally, his contemptuous, condescending and patronizing remarks about the Democrats is simply a continuation of his “my way or the highway,” authoritarian approach to governing. It is a stance that creates anger and division rather than the consensus building so desperately needed at all levels of government.
Andrew Cottle
Houlton
