Legislator stands behind ‘Fleecing of Maine’ series

On Feb. 22, Rep. Robert Duplessie unleashed a vicious personal attack in the Bangor Daily News against Rep. Jon McKane and me.Our crime? Writing a newspaper series titled “The Fleecing of Maine” – a candid look inside the bowels of the state budget process.

We hoped to educate voters about how their state budget works. But our meticulous research also revealed an abuse of power by the Baldacci administration.

When I began work on the series, I knew it would be controversial and could possibly lead to the end of my political career. I knew it would anger the governor and the majority Democrats and trigger partisan attacks from across the state.

I was not disappointed. Over the last several months, angry letter writers have tried to discredit me by trying to link me to everything from “big oil” and Enron to the war in Iraq. Obviously, these charges are absurd.

For all the fuss and personal attacks, the information exposed in the series was never really questioned. The real goal was to discredit the authors and draw attention away from the damaging facts we revealed.

Let’s review some of the highlights in the “Fleecing of Maine” articles:

The Baldacci administration claims to have reduced your tax burden, but we proved the Democrats have passed tax and fee changes which, over Baldacci’s term in office, will cost Maine taxpayers more than $1.1 billion.

More than 100 tax and fee increases total more than $330 million. Failure to conform the state tax code to the federal tax code costs Mainers $146 million. Numerous “tax and match” schemes, which tax your health care to pay for the state’s massive Medicaid program, cost us $300 million. The gasoline tax, which rises every summer with the governor’s approval, will cost us $123 million. The new slots fees total $64 million. The Dirigo tax hits us for $43 million. On and on it goes.

Contrary to the administration’s claims of meeting the statutory spending cap imposed under LD 1 – the governor’s so-called property tax relief plan – we proved that budget writers used a series of accounting gimmicks to hide hundreds of millions of dollars in state spending.

Moreover, we unraveled the details of how these same budget writers changed the state accounting procedures for the Business Equipment Tax Reimbursement and the circuit breaker program to artificially reduce the tax burden. In the process, they skimmed more than $11 million from the program that provides state money to cities and towns.

Furthermore, we revealed how the budget process is manipulated and abused by special interests and cronies loyal to the administration. We went on to lay out a roadmap of reforms to change these abuses and return honesty and accountability to the budget.

The Baldacci administration knows that their budget gimmicks cannot withstand the light of day. They also know that their schemes are deliberately complex and hard to decipher. So they have switched to a new tactic – trying to baffle Maine voters with tortured semantic gymnastics. They call tax and fee increases something else. They shift blame to past administrations. They question the validity of information collected by the Legislature’s non-partisan Office of Fiscal and Program Review (OFPR). They relentlessly attack the Bush administration for federal funding “cuts,” when in fact we are receiving more federal money than ever.

After each legislative session, the OFPR compiles a file called “Tax and Fee Changes.” It takes account of all the financial actions taken during that session – tax and fee increases as well as revenue reductions. Taxes and fees are recorded under guidelines set by the U. S. Census Bureau, which uses them to calculate the state’s per capita tax burden.

When I researched the “Fleecing” series, I used this public document for the years covering Baldacci’s term. I did not alter it in any way; I merely explained how the information had been manipulated by the administration for political gain. (To view the file and the “Fleecing” series go to www.mehousegop.com.)

Baldacci’s budget office would like to be able to tell the Legislature’s OFPR which items are taxes or fees, but thankfully they can’t. States don’t have the flexibility to change the rules or redefine what a tax is. You can imagine how rosy state tax burdens would look if they could – as Baldacci’s budget officers have tried. If the governor’s people have a problem with items on the list, they should take it up with the Census Bureau.

Maine is full of capable accountants, economists and think tanks. In addition, the administration has countless loyal budget experts at its disposal. Why is it that, with these resources at hand, critics resort to personal attacks and political smoke screens?

Our allegations of impropriety are specific and public. If we are wrong, tell us why.

I challenge my critics to debate me on this issue, face to face. I stand ready to meet with them any time and anywhere. Until then, I ask that they back off on their attempts to ruin my reputation.

Rep. David Trahan, a Republican, lives in Waldoboro and is a self-employed logger.