Beulah Bragdon, Other states that have lower excise taxes have a huge amount of other fees. From garbage pickup to parking meters everywhere. The excise tax in Maine is a much less burden on the people of this state than what would happen if they cut it in half. You are talking about reducing the income for towns. The other alternative is for them to increase the already high property taxes on a much smaller tax base. To try to make it up expect fees for everything. When you go to the town for a document expect fees to make up for the loss in taxes. Most towns are already running as tight as possible while people keep asking for more from them. If you want to reduce taxes we need to change the way our state government is run. While I agree that taxes need to be reduced, they need to come from the place that the greatest amount of waste takes place. This would be at the state level. The town of Hermon for example is about to start paving the Billings road, a state owned road, because the state refuses to pay to do it. The town will pay over a million dollars to do something the state should do, but because the people in town have expressed concerns of safety the town has made a move to do what is needed. This sets a bad precedent, but it does need to be done as there are two schools on this street and the safety of the children is of greater concern. Excise taxes will have to go up because of this. The state is already taxing the people of Hermon to do this, so essentially they are being taxed twice for a job that should have been done two years ago that the state refuses to do. Anyone who says the excise tax needs to be cut does not understand town government. If New Hampshire can operate without an income tax so could Maine. We need to go after the true waste in Maine and create an environment that businesses want to come to.

Martha Dickinson: As you state, a single payer healthcare system is desired by the majority of the American people. Let's hope that the politicians do the right thing and listen to the citizens of this country this time. I also agree that there should be some kind of incentive to healthy living built into it. Preventative health should be the goal whenever possible. This does not translate to wanting anyone to be punished but why should someone who uses discipline and works hard to be pro-active about their health not be rewarded in some way in their health coverage? This also would cut down on healthcare costs....isn't that what most people want? This is not going to be an easy thing to implement, but a lot of beneficial things do not come easily. In the end, it should be up to the individual person to take these healthy steps towards good health (exercise, good food choices,etc.) but sometimes people need an extra incentive to make changes. It is worth serious consideration.

Mr. Jim Burns: Very succinct.....you sure did not beat around the bush. Good one.

Orin Lowe - I have never used veterans benefits either but have heard the horror stories as well. It is these very horror stories that Obama needs to take into account when he is tackling the issue of healthcare reform.

Beulah Bragdon - The answer to the tax problem is so simple. Stop the waste, make the leeches of this state EARN what they get, Consolidation of state programs such as jails, schools, stop wasting money fixing roads that Maine winters are just going to destroy in three months anyway(or actually fix them right for a change but that involves investing in our future and old Mainers hate that) etc.

Jim Burns - Gay mar... Borrrrrrrrrrinnnngggggggggggggg!

Martha Dickinson - Obama has to come through on health care reform. If he doesn't he will not get re-elected. That being said I am confident he will make the right changes.

Russ Hazzard - It saddens me that many of my neighbors are the very people who put that moron Perry in Augusta. I however wrote myself in as the bozo he was runnin against wasn't worth my vote either.

- Abolish the income tax system, get rid of the IRS, and implement the Fair Tax and we'll all be better off.

- Remove the restrictions from the health care system and let the private sector work things out. Government run health care will bankrupt this country and will fail miserably.

- Let the voters decide the gay marriage issue in November. The more it's pushed, the more opposition there will be at the polls.

- I've had my health care at a military facility since I retired 15 years ago. It's been great, and I don't want the government taking it away.

Beulah Bragdon is right, and it's time for our government to make deeper and wider cuts in how they're spending OUR hard earned tax dollars! Join the growing People's Veto efforts all accross this state at www.MaineTaxpayers.com.

Together, We The People can make a positive difference.

Martha Dickinson, You describe a public option health plan and then say you want a single payer plan. Which do you want? A single payer plan has no choices. It will be government only. A public option plan will at least start out with choices for the people but would be vastly more expensive than what we have now to try and get started though in the long run it may become cheaper. If you really want single payer expect to see a lot of problems as millions of people are out of work from it. We can not afford either of these right now because of what Obama has already spent. We are in no position to spend this kind of money. Besides that no matter how much everyone complains, the insurance companies own our politicians and they will not do something that will hurt them.

Govt2Big, your right but the excise tax is the only income for towns. We need to go after the state for tax reduction. The state already does not spend on roads and schools and forces the towns to spend more and more of what little funds they have available. The fight to reduce excise taxes is not a good fight. Fight to reduce income taxes and you will help every working person in Maine. The 'tax reform' they recently did reduced nothing. They raised the taxes on the poor by increasing the the lowest tax brackets to match the highest which they reduced by a measly 2%. At same time they removed any exemptions. They essentially increased everyone's taxes while putting spin on it to make it sound good.

Orin Lowe: I'm a Vietnam Vet and have used VA facilities here in Maine and also Florida. The VA has treated me quickly, professionally and respectfully. Do mistakes happen at VA hospitals, of course they do . . .just like mistakes happen at "civilian" hospitals! The VA does have a huge task to change the image that has been created over the past four decades, but the fact of the matter is that they are making huge improvements and I find the quality of the care to be first rate.

Mr. Lowe, you served your Country and you have EARNED the services offered by the VA! If you are currently taking medication{s} it might be wise to make a couple of calls and find out how the VA might be able to help keep your medication expense to a minimum.

Do not be afraid of the VA . . .go to Togus and see for yourself . . .things have changed, and things are better!

Thank you for your service to your Country!

Here's the problem with public option. Companies will take advantage of it. This is what will happen. They will go to their employees and say "listen, times are tough, so we have a couple of options here, we can let 20 percent of you go, we can have a 20% accross the board wage cut, or we can do away with the Health insurance plan, and you can all take the public option". What do you think the employees will chose? Then the company dumps it's health care plan and pockets the difference. The end result will be the same, sooner or later every one is on the public option. and it morphs into a single payer plan by default. Don't think for a second that the people trying to sell the public option don't realize this is going to happen.

I've said before, Obama is not dumb, he knows that he will never get what he wants out of the gate which is single payer nationalized healthcare, instead he will come up with anothe plan that will by its very failure (failure by design, which seems to be an interesting strategy of this administration) lead to nationalized healtcare.

Wake up folks. He's putting lips on pigs again.

Jim Burns,

Congratulations! You've been able to speak the truth of Heath and not get drawn and quartered by the other literalist fundies on these forums.

Don't let your guard down though... Heath is not the only one trying to drag us kicking and screaming back into the Dark Ages. Not by a long shot.

Well stated, Mr Hazzard, well stated...

"So when you have to have your car repaired just look at the bill, read the part that says sales tax and know that most of it is going to a person making $800,000" Going to a person making $800,000!? It's their money. They earned it. By not taking it from them, how is someone elses money "going" to them?

You fail to mention how much that person making $800,000 is paying in taxes in a year in the first place. I bet it's more than the single person making $30,000 a year make in three. Does that person consume more government sercices than the person making 30,000 a year? His yacht probably keeps more people employed than 1. His golf-spa membership actually helps keep people employed as well. How many people does the guy making $30,000 keep employed? If it was not for the guy making $800,000 he may not even have a job. Yeah, take the rich guys money, he buys less services, and use the money to employ another person in Agusta. Good plan.

boogyman....well said. I don't know if people are going to wake up. Obama has us headed for a train wreck and the media just keeps on smiling. C'mon they were after Bush and his family 24/7 from day one. What the heck are they waiting for? Maybe when Obama says our flag needs to be "Fixed" someone will take notice. And to those who think Bush and Chaney belong behind bars............I say they deserve a medal for what they did after 9/11

Russ Hazard,

Not true. You left out the tax credits which replace the itemized deductions and which decrease as income goes up preserving the progressivity of the income tax system.

Second, the excise tax cut is simply a transfer from excise to property taxes. That we don't need.

How to save money in Augusta:

Ok, if each state has two senators in washington, how about two senators per county = 32

If each state has one rep per 500,000 citizens, how about 1 rep per 50,000 maine residents = 20

why cant our legislature be reduced to 52 members? heck with that savings most of us wouldnt mind having one extra, you know as a tie breaker.

Mr Burns, I agree, Heath and his organization are totally obsessed with sex that might be different from what they think it should be. Think what good things the Maine Christian Civic League could do if the focus on something positive like ridding the world of hunger and human suffering. If you don't believe they are obsessed with only one issue, check out their website.

I certainly hope the Christian Civic League, or whatever they are calling themselves now, is not a tax-exempt organization. They are clearly a political lobbying group.

I don't consider any organization that is as obsessed with sex as the Christian Civic League should be considered a religious organization, least of all a "Christian" organization. Puritanical is more like it!

WilliamDS: It sure seems that way , doesn't it? I cannot understand anyone wanting to focus on that so much. Within your own relationship, yes....but otherwise.....who cares?? Something seems off about it.

upsidedownia: Great username, btw! Also, actually I think it is worse than "puritanical." Obsessed is one word that comes to mind.

What's wrong with Puritanism? Many of my ancestors were Puritans and I'm not ashamed of it.