I got a kick out of Rep. John Brautigam’s Aug. 14 letter to the editor, “McKane’s numbers,” rebuking Rep. Jonathan McKane’s OpEd on Dirigo health, “Repealing soda taxes won’t kill Dirigo” (BDN, Aug. 1). Rep. McKane claims that no one will be “at risk” of losing health care if the people’s veto of the beer, wine, soda tax and new tax on health care succeeds. Why is it that every time the people of this state take a stand on an issue, as they have with the people’s veto, we get a “the sky is falling” response from people like Rep. Brautigam?

Along with insults to Rep. McKane, Rep. Brautigam claims to have another new, mysterious program within the Dirigo program that is going to save oodles of money, but we won’t be able to implement the new program if we can’t tax Maine people on all of the above. It would be laughable if it were not going to pick our pockets.

Frankly, I’ve had it with new programs that make grand promises and cost lots of taxpayer money yet do nothing to really help Maine’s uninsured. Dirigo has been a miserable, expensive failure. Haven’t we learned anything yet?

Earl W. Inman

Round Pond