I am a 45-year-old citizen of the state of Maine. I have been employed and paying taxes since beginning high school. I’ve paid income taxes, property taxes, excise taxes, sales taxes and the list goes on. I’ve served my country by making a career in the U.S. Air Force, been a law enforcement officer and have worked jobs from janitor to specialist. With this background, I believe that I deserve the right to be heard.

I have a 25-year-old mentally retarded and handicapped son who currently resides in a residential facility in Houlton. The facility he lives in is an eight-bed facility. It is clean and well- maintained, but it is very basic. The rooms are small, but meet the consumer’s needs. Office spaces for employees are small and cramped. Meetings are held by having all involved squeeze into one of the offices, as there are no family rooms or meeting rooms. The care staff at this facility are paid slightly more than minimum wage, yet are 100 percent dedicated to their jobs. My son receives two overnight trips a year. One of them is to the Special Olympics and the other is considered a vacation for him. I have recently been told that due to budget cuts he may be limited to only one overnight trip a year.

There has already been a recent 2 percent cut to these programs and the governor is proposing another 4 percent to 6 percent cut for July 1. I can assure you that these programs are running on as little income as possible and that any future cuts will be devastating. Why, then, does the governor want to cut them even more? The answer is simple. They attack those who are unable to protect themselves. Some of our politicians are no different.

I speak for all of us when I say there are many individuals around us who abuse the welfare system, who don’t pay their taxes and who bleed our tax dollars for everything they can get. Our tax dollars are spent on items that are far more expensive than they should be. Instead of attacking our sick people or our elderly folks who have worked hard all their lives, why not become more aggressive in attacking those who are truly responsible for wasteful spending of our tax dollars?

It is time for our politicians to ask why.

Why does a wheelchair cost more than an all-terrain vehicle?

Why does a simple talking device for a handicapped person cost $2,000, yet a DVD player that can play movies, show pictures and play music costs less than $100?

Why does it cost more than $5,000 each month for a bedridden person to live in a nursing facility?

Why do some individuals choose to collect unemployment, rental assistance, heating assistance and food stamps instead of working 40 hours each week for minimum wage?

Why can we sentence criminals to community service, but we can’t ask able-bodied people sitting at home, collecting our tax dollars, to do the same?

Why are some people allowed to continue not paying taxes when others see their checks being spent to cover those who don’t?

I would ask the governor to stop going after the old and the sick and focus his attention on many areas that are abusing our tax dollars. If I have offended him, I will apologize after he has toured my son’s residence, looked at its programs and can show me where money is being wasted.

Dale E. Emery lives in Presque Isle and is the father of a 25-year-old mentally retarded and handicapped son.