Tax burden shifted

I sympathize with Gov. Baldacci – half of the letters to the editor express outrage over cuts to Medicaid, half express outrage over high taxes. Meanwhile, the Bush administration passes on to the struggling states inadequate funding for Medicare, the No Child Left Behind Act, homeland security and no funding for special education. Democrat or Republican, every governor in this country has been forced to make unpopular choices forced upon them in many cases because of inaction and bad policy choices made by the federal government.

In the past 30 years, tax policy has shifted the tax burden dramatically away from corporations and the wealthy and onto working middle-class Americans. This has been dramatically so under the Bush administration. The minimum wage has not kept up with inflation, and every time state legislators attempt to alter this situation they are thwarted by an outcry from Republicans that businesses will move out of state.

There exists a fair way to raise revenue to help fund Medicaid, which involves taxing those most responsible for this dismal situation. The nation needs to institute a low-wage tax applied to Wal-Mart and similar large businesses that compensate their employees so poorly that these employees must rely on Medicaid, charity care or a spouse for their health care.

Wal-Mart has been putting out of business competitors that are worker-friendly and provide benefits, and it is doing so on the backs of taxpayers who pick up the tab in the form of Medicaid. I am tired of corporations feeding at the trough of taxpayer largess.

Laurie Nicholson

Stonington