When people live at the margins, even a small increase in taxes – like Maine’s across-the-board one percent payroll tax increase – can be devastating. Today, two-thirds of our states have what economists call “regressive” taxes, that is, they “tax poorer households at higher rates than richer ones.” Some years, it gets worse. For Maine, which is dominated by Democrat taxes, this is one.
Nationally, “Illinois is the most regressive state, given its flat income tax and steep property taxes.” Generally, states with income taxes have higher “overall tax rates,” while “states that rely on sales and property taxes tend to be more regressive.”
But sometimes you get the worst of both worlds, and Maine symbolizes that. They have high-income taxes and high sales and property taxes. Since they are regressive, taxing the hits the poor harder, this often hurts homeowners – whose valuations are driven up by out-of-state buying – and renters, since landlords pass taxes to renters.
While any Democrat state proves the point, Maine is a good example. Robin Hood took from the rich and gave to the poor. Maine’s Democrats take from the poor—to cover a budget twice what it was eight years ago and a $450 million deficit—to subsidize the rich with wind and solar energy.
Maine’s Democrat Governor, Janet Mills, has been notorious lately, first pushing the legislature to wild spending and taxes, then telling President Trump that she will pervert Title IX, hurting Maine girls, even it if costs the state federal money.
Seriously, Governor Mills and the state’s Democrats – like Democrats in several other states – must think we are stupid, or not paying attention. To be specific on taxes, her budget jumped from $6.8 billion to $11.7 billion – after spending $15 billion in federal pandemic money.
She is $118 million in hock, $450 million over the next two years, and wants crazy new taxes. On top of illegal alien housing – at the expense of veterans and huge consulting contacts, she funds floating wind towers (one billion dollars), solar fields made in China, a 103 percent increase in state “administrative services,” 59 percent more for “environmental protection,” 16 percent uptick for an “attorney general” who allows organized crime to ravage Maine while suing oil companies.
If this sounds comic, it is actually tragic. Democrats are pushing a 105 percent increase for “indigent legal services,” 26 percent more for a “human rights commission” that refuses to honor Title 9, a 60 percent increase for Indian tribes, and 11 percent more for Maine’s “Board of Education, even as Maine’s public schools – once the tops – plummet to 50 of 50.
Could it get any worse? Yes. Democrats’ three largest cuts? Maine’s public employees’ retirement fund by 57 percent, Fire Protection Commission by 99 percent, and “efficiency trust Maine” by 100 percent.
What can one say? A gut punch to Mainers, it gets worse. Democrats hope to pass – Republicans in the minority – huge tax increases to cover their largess. They will tax Netflix and Disney, cans of paint, fishing and hunting licenses, and prescription drugs, and add a 50 percent tax increase on cigarettes, with 65 percent of those paying it earning less than $25,000.
That is the definition of regressive taxes, a reverse Robinhood, hurting the poor to benefit Chinese solar companies, building floating wind monsters, file lawsuits that deprive girls of rights. Democrat Governor Mills robs the poor to finance the rich, like other blue states. Time to stop it.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC. Robert Charles has also just released an uplifting new book, “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024).
RBC, OUCH!!! Feel for you and those who are suffering. Sounds like your state needs a “Trump” like candidate to run for governor and the voters step up and bounce out the Demos from your state legislature. In the meantime, if the state’s populace decide they have had enough, will they pull the plug and move to a wiser state? Amazing how the “Blue” states have not caught on to the destruction they have caused to their states and the voting public continues to elect these losers in.
Your articles for the last couple of days have not been uplifting but sometimes you have to get the pain off your chest.
Have a good weekend.
This article puts into words what I have been saying about taxes and “benefits” especially since I live in a high SALT state where the claims of the elected officials is for taxpayers to appreciate “all those benefits” supposedly received by those “high state taxes “ which were “ supposedly deductible “ off the federal tax liability. On top of all this income generated by these high state taxes (SALT) these same officials are claiming that they still need federal funding to cover the cost of covering the “benefits and projects “ that they claim they are undertaking. Taking away the argument of “rising costs “ the only thing I am seeing is rampant pocket lining for all these projects and so called benefit programs that are being funded by the SALT funds collected.
Meanwhile those of us who are barely making the average or lower income have to accept ( not without complaining) that a higher percentage of our income is paying just bare necessities cost while dealing with subordinate public transportation services that are limited because of NIMBY attitude—no public transportation but wants more bike lanes—I personally don’t know many people who commute to work via bike travel when they have to travel more than a few blocks.
I can see multiple ways to trim the costs by reducing the administrative overhead in most of these state programs which somehow make the majority of the cost of the needed services. Here in NYS, we have a PSC agency made of appointed individuals who are not voted to that position but appointed by the elected officials and that agency is somehow in charge of making sure that the state converts to being a fully renewable energy user by 2040 regardless of the cost involved and the effect of that cost on the consumer ( after all it was decided by elitists) that doing this is the best way to save the environment and anyone complaining about the cost doesn’t understand the importance of making the environment better. We get the message that we need clean energy but we did not agree to higher costs just to get it done faster—the same end result would happen ( just a bit slower) if we didn’t rush it. The rush is mostly caused by profiteering by the developers who are also lining the pockets of the elected officials to not disclose the real reason behind the rising costs. Like the point brought out by the Daily Show—the liberal arts majors who are politicians just know how to use words creatively to avoid speaking the truth.
Solar energy equipment made in Communist China; housing for illegal aliens – those things are way out of line – what planet are. people who support those ideas from ? Maybe a new branch of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration could be established for the purpose of sending them back to wherever they came from. That is a very unfortunate situation in Maine Robert It is very good that you wrote this article. It should encourage right thinking people to help balance the far out of balance tax situation ,the regressive tax policy sounds like something against the spirit of no taxation without representation. Those of us who believe in the. value of Conservative principles need to help people in these states that are being subjected to this corrupt form of state government . Fairness is an honorable quality . God bless America, land of the free and home of the brave. Well done RBC – important article for sure.
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RBC,
Very good article outlining the hypocrisy of the Left in that their policies hurt the very people they constantly claim they champion. It’s amazing that so many people continue to fall for an ideology that has been proven to consistently fail over and over again. That says a lot about the portion of the American public that still believes in the nonsense that the Democrats continue to spew non-stop.
Although there is nothing particularly new in what you describe, my own state of New Jersey also being run and controlled by the same dogmatic Democrat ideologues, the end result is always consistent. High taxes. High pain and misery for at least half the population, all in the name of pursuing the same ruinous policies that consistently fail over and over again. I’m sure your state of Maine has the same sort of Democrat enclaves, that always manage to magically ensure a “win” for the Democrat candidate in every election just like mine. Last minute votes discovered and counted, that just happen to put the Democrats over the top.
It’s kind of hard to clean up most Democrat controlled states, when the fact is they have so thoroughly corrupted so much of the state judiciary and legislative processes to ensure they just can’t lose. That’s not to say there still aren’t other options that the people could use to effect change, if they get fed up enough with the destructive policies that they are being forced to subsidize with their tax dollars and live with constantly. Everything is a choice.
The far-left radicals in government whether federal, state or local do not care what their citizens are experiencing. All they care about is getting more power and more money with no thoughts of what pain it causes their own constituents. Why anyone votes for “leaders” who further this kind of mistreatment is an enigma.
Are there any data showing how much faster the bureaucracy expands in comparison to population, legal that is. Host is being sucked dry by the vermin.