Budget cuts hit home

Interesting juxtaposition. On the same day an op-ed appeared from Rep. Stephen Bowen, R-Rockport, “Favorite Democratic strategy: ‘Operation Change the Subject,'” (BDN, March 13), wherein he takes Democrats to task for decrying what he calls bogus claims of federal funding cuts, a letter also appeared from Stephen A Butterfield, Ph.D. University of Maine, NYSP administrator, saying that the National Youth Sports Program had to be cut this summer because of Federal budget cuts. It’s also interesting to go back to the editorial which prompted Rep. Bowen’s op-ed in the first place, “Federal Supply Line,” (BDN, March 3), and read that much of the increase in federal spending to the state has been in Medicaid (presumably the new prescription drug program) and No Child Left Behind.

The increase in federal dollars to the state of Maine goes to a massive and disastrous giveaway to the pharmaceutical industry and to an education program that few educators believe is effective. Meanwhile, with the same brush, Washington has also cut funding for programs that most Mainers believe are beneficial, such as youth sports.

It’s certainly not surprising that Rep. Bowen failed to mention the main thrust of the March 3 editorial. The current Republican pattern of increased borrowing from China to pay for increased spending at home can’t continue and the more we can do at the state level to cut our reliance on the federal supply line the better we will be when the Chinese call in their loans. As the editorial said: “Maine lawmakers should be prepared for more federal cuts and to start thinking about how it might insulate itself from the cold reality of Washington’s budget problems. The White House and Congress aren’t finished yet.”

Ben Erik Lamborn

Levant