To the editor:
Presque Isle’s Rep. Fischer and Sen. Strimling of Cumberland County are the subjects of one of your April 16 2008 articles. This article covered each man’s concerns about the estate tax vote in Augusta which would have the state of Maine mirror the federal government’s estate tax code. Typical words were used such as “tax breaks to those with a $1 million” and “bad policy” and other standard talking point comments. First there must be a mention of the timing of these comments. The article states the Appropriation’s Committee will kill the bill due to “lack of funding”. Why the hard talk about a dead issue. One could draw the conclusion that the hard talk comes solely as talking points and a continued effort to drive wedges between the people in Maine. The article quotes Mr. Strimling “we just passed a budget … we cut $200 million from the neediest, the poorest, the disabled and the working families of this state.” Both men suggest that the estate tax takes money from the rich to give to the poor. They assert that the vote to re-couple the estate tax is only about giving breaks to millionaires. Is it the $1 million number that excites these men? Is it a crime to have an estate worth over a million?
I wonder how some of our independent potato farmers feel about this vilification. How did these hard working families become the evil, money grubbing lords of the land? Don’t laugh because this is not an exaggeration. Think about what an estate is comprised of, cash, land, buildings, equipment and any other thing of value. It is not inconceivable that a farming family could reach the vilified $1 million total.
How about the businessperson who has worked all his/her life to run a profitable and growing enterprise centered around agriculture, retail, housing, forestry and other endeavors? Are we to believe they are the robber barons, stealing from the unfortunate masses of Maine? Does that mean that all of the young entrepreneurs Mr. Fischer has tried to keep in Maine (not a bad idea by the way) should aspire to not make a million? Should the family farmer look at getting out of Maine?
The working person in Maine, who aspires to be successful, seems to have a couple of choices, don’t be successful or hire a great tax attorney. Hire a tax attorney? I wonder how much money s/he will make next year, saving the evil robber barons.
The article mentions that revising the tax code would cost Maine an estimated $50 million. Mr. Strimling and Mr. Fischer both say that it would be fiscally irresponsible to change this tax. Under the guise of protecting our most vulnerable citizens, successful people are vilified yet neither Mr. Fischer nor Mr. Strimling mention the plan to increase taxes on cigarettes and beer, consumed by all Mainers, or placing a surcharge on all health insurance billings which the struggling Maine worker is paying for now, and other tricks that are being proposed to bail out the debacle known as Dirigo Health. They will tell you that the tax increase will be at the distributor level. True, but the distributor will pass that cost on to you. They will say the insurance companies will have to pay the surcharge but as any struggling worker, paying for health insurance knows; the insurance company is going to stick that increase onto your bill.
No matter how many times we hear politicians talk about protecting people, all they really mean is “we will find less obvious ways to reach into the pocket of every Maine citizen and that we have your interest at heart.” Robin Hood or hoodwink?
Richard Scott
Presque Isle
