Page 1 All Maine Matters Fishery Notes - Farming & Forestry, too! Vol. 1, No. 3 March 2006 FREE Attacking TABOR by John Frary On Tuesday, February 26, the Secretary Apart from doubts one may have about of State certified that the Taxpayer Bill of the voters’ enthusiasm for LD1, it is fla- Rights (TABOR) petitions have enough grantly illogical for the Democrats to boast signatures to place the measure before the of reforming a mess they created in the voters in a referendum. If passed TABOR first place. I would be surprised if Maine’s would tie the amount of state taxes and taxpayers, studying their own tax bills, fees to the nation’s official rate of infla- will be much impressed by assurances that tion and Maine’s population growth. Any “four studies have shown that LD 1 is suc- increase over this limit would require the ceeding.” consent of a majority of the voters. Twenty House Speaker John Richardson enthu- percent of any state revenue in excess of siastically characterizes TABOR as “the ca- the limit would set aside in a reserve fund lamity from Colorado.” He warns us that to cover shortfalls due to periods of eco- “it will only create problems that will hurt nomic downturns and the remaining 80% Maine’s school children, and our families, returned to taxpayers. Similar limits would our seniors and our communities.” What apply to local taxes. he really means, of course, is that the vot- The key to TABOR is this: Maine’s tax- ers will create problems if they are allowed payers must consent to increases beyond to interfere with business that properly Ruland Farm in Parkman, Maine. the stated limits. belongs to John Richardson, the Boo-Boo The immediate reaction of our masters from Brunswick, and his colleagues. Not in Augusta tells us that we can expect no that we will be hearing them say that in so The Token Conservative response to this key point in the months to many words. Nor will we be hearing a lot by Jon Reisman come. All manner of fearful consequences about the dubious achievements of LD1. The resurrection of All Maine Mat- that phrase for my column. It’s will be predicted, but we will hear no op- Fear will be the key to the anti-TABOR ters and the opportunity to pen a ponent arguing that taxpayers should be campaign. Official sources aided by every pithy and accurate, a standard denied a direct say about the burdens im- organized interest group dependent on monthly column herein is cause for I will strive for. Here’s where I’m posed upon them. gouging the taxpayer and abetted by a lib- optimism and good cheer. A column coming from: Planning Director Martha Freeman, eral-minded press will bombard the voters is a great chance to think and talk I was born in Buffalo, NY 50 speaking on behalf of Governor Baldacci, with vague warnings of disasters if they are about Maine politics and policy. It’s a years ago. I grew up in Philadelphia. provided the initial response. She assures allowed to have a say in taxation. chance to influence the agenda, edu- My family summered in the early us that “Taxpayer concerns already have The objective of all this will not be to cate and pontificate. For a conserva- 60’s on Long Lake in Naples, and been addressed very well in LD1.” If that’s inform the voters, but to create unease and tive academic wordsmith, what’s not I spent a total of 10 summers as uncertainty. Mary Adams, Jack Wibby, the true, then TABOR is done for. Happy and to like? a camper and counselor at a camp Maine Heritage Policy Center and other satisfied taxpayers will troop to the polls In the (hopefully hugely profitable) there. I first traveled to Washington and vote it down. Speaking for myself, I TABOR advocates will be out-spent by a issues to come, I will write about na- County as a 13 year old canoeist in rather doubt that Director Freeman is all wide margin in the campaign to come. Ev- tional and state politics and policy, that confident of the Maine taxpayers’ con- ery word they speak will be countered by 1969, and the beauty, wilderness tentment with LD1. If she is, a day trip to ten or a hundred. global warming, the culture war, in- and poverty I saw those many years Auburn is certain to shake her confidence Continued on page 10 tellectual pluralism, entrepreneur- ago haunts me still. I went to col- a bit. ship, blue, red and purple America, lege at Colby (majoring in both en- and more. House Republican leader vironmental studies and econom- David Bowles once introduced me ics, a combination that raised some JOIN THE PAPER TRAIL (AND SAVE A TREE): IF YOU ARE as the University of Maine System’s eyebrows thirty years ago). I stud- CONCERNED LIKE WE ARE, READ THIS PAPER, CIRCLE A token conservative, and with a gen- ied economics in graduate school, NUMBER, AND PASS IT ON TO A FRIEND. tle jab at the “native conservative” married a Maine girl and moved to SAM’s George Smith, I’ve adopted 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Continued on page 10 Endangered Species – Making Mom and Dad Extinct By Tim Russell This Month’s Contents For millennia, societies around the “The most essential sociocultural pat- world have held that the cornerstone of terning of a newborn human organism the foundation for their existence has is achieved by the family. It is the first Attacking TABOR 1 been the traditional family – a mother, and most efficient sculptor of human The Token Conservative 1 material, shaping the physical, behav- a father united in monogamous mar- Endangered Species - Making Mom and Dad Extinct 1 riage raising children. Marriage was ioral, mental, moral and sociocultural characteristics of practically every indi- What Maine Needs Now 2 not created by the law or the Constitu- vidual. …From remotest past, married Discussion with Stu Kallgren, Maine Leaseholders Assn 2 tion. Marriage is not a legal statement, parents have been the most effective State of the State Response 3 but an anthropological and sociologi- 1 teachers of their children.” Undue Influence: Katahdin Region, Part 3 4 cal reality, created and sanctioned by The Center for Law and Social Pol- God. icy, a liberal child advocacy organiza- The Man of Steel 5 Marriage laws merely recognize tion, reported in 2003, “Most research- Needed Reforms: Part 1 56 and regulate an institution already in ers now agree that…studies support Is Big Brother Gonna Be Riding Shotgun? 6 existence for thousands of years. Soci- the notion that, on average, children Struggling with GOP Membership 6 etal archives, throughout many civiliza- do best when raised by their two mar- tions, are filled with many volumes of ried biological parents…”2 Freedom of Thought? 7 documented social science evidence A Child Trends Research Brief also A SOP to Socialized Medicine 7 attesting to a child’s mental, physical, reports “An extensive body of re- Profiles in Rural Maine: Parkman 8 economic and emotional well being search tells us that children do best $75,000 For Another Study? 10 when raised in a traditional family set- when they grow up with both biologi- An American Perestroika 13 ting. cal parents…”3 Pitirim Sorokin, founder and first Tragically, this traditional meaning Controlling the Last Free Voice in the World 13 chair of the Sociology Department at and understanding of the family is no Ask Alvina 6 Harvard, proclaimed, fifty years ago, longer held by many in today’s soci- Crossword Puzzle 12 ety. the importance of married parents. Letters to the Editor 15 Continued on page 11 We are also on the web at http://allmainematters.com Page 2 All Maine Matters Fishery Notes - Farming & Forestry, Too! Continuing a Discussion With Stu Kallgren, of the What Maine Needs Now Maine Leaseholder’s Association by Matt McDonald The Maine Leaseholder’s Associa- STU: Well, the Katahdin Timberlands Why do people choose to live in the State Nearly three years and fifty three million tion was organized in 1990 to address leases are not the only group of lease- of Maine? This is the question that I have dollars later, there are only two thousand the concerns of leaseholders in the State holders that we represent. We represent newly enrolled people in Dirigo Choice. That been posing to myself over the last couple of of Maine. Stu Kallgren has served as its all of the leaseholders in the state of is certainly a far cry from what the Governor weeks. You have probably asked yourself the president since 1996. Maine. We’re not going to make a deal same question. With the beauty of Maine’s promised. AMM: Stu, I understand you’ve for one group that leaves the others out. vast forests, pristine coastline, and untouched Instead of reforming or getting rid of this met with the Judiciary Committee on wilderness, the state is certainly in a class all failure of a healthcare plan, the Governor is AMM: This has been something that by itself. asking for more time and more tax dollars to LD1646, which we talked about last the Maine Leaseholder’s Association has The citizens of Maine are known for being fund it. What is the answer to the terrible cost month. Can you tell me something been working on for a long time. What’s good hearted as well as hardworking. There of healthcare in Maine? It is found in a free about your meeting? the bottom line? is hardly any pollution or crime, and a num- market where the individual is able to choose STU: Quite a few leaseholders STU: The bottom line is that the Leg- ber of studies places Maine as one of the top what type of coverage he or she needs based showed up for it.