Is my family not hard-working enough? Are we not middle class enough? The April 22 editorial, “Marooned Middle Class,” says Rep. Tom Allen has offered the middle class “a helping hand.” My wife and I both work. We feed, clothe, shelter and buy medical insurance for ourselves and our two teenage daughters. We pay income tax, property tax and every other tax imposed on us by Washington and Augusta. We also pay a mortgage, put gas in two cars, and feed No. 2 heating oil to the furnace. Like most every other family in Maine we feel every bump in the economic road.

But as I read about Tom Allen’s proposal and did some quick mental math, I realized that not one of the provisions in his proposal applies to me and my family – not one!

I’m interested in any plan that might help those of us struggling to pay for insurance, gas, food and a mortgage. But I’m bewildered by Allen’s plan. He may claim to be an advocate for the middle class, but the truth is in 2001 and 2003, Allen voted for higher taxes on 500,000 Mainers – many in the middle class. I could support a plan that would truly provide relief for the middle class, but this seems more like election year politics. Allen may call it a helping hand, but to my family it’s a backhand.

Joe Pratt

Bangor