"Augusta, of course, is bemoaning the loss of revenue in areas such as the gasoline tax"

Thanks, Cutler, for hiding a slimey punch in a fake "all is well" post.

Read the front page of every newspaper in America today. It's about how your Republican party has delivered another sucker punch to America's fiscal well-being.

You might hate the people of Maine on Dirigo or Mainecare or welfare or those who fight fires and drive police cars, but the rest of us aren't smug and happy when our state falls short in the revenue department.

I hope every state can pay its teachers and guard its borders.

It's great you think all is well and that we don't need anything to change (keep the wars, keep the debt, keep the high price of gasoline, right?), but the rest of us are reeling.

I wonder if you would be saying the same thing about Maine if we had Republicans struggling at the helm.

Somehow, I doubt it.

Mr. Sloane,

Yours is the kind of response that I usually delete, but I plan to leave it posted as an example of what I will not accept for publication.

Anyone is free to disagree with me, if they can do so in a civil and reasonable, intelligent manner. You have chosen an accusatory path, stating that I hate all kinds of people (even though I have never stated dislike, let alone "hate" for any of the groups that you mention)and you insist that I think all is well despite the many problems our country faces even though I have addressed many of the issues that you name in other postings. Apparently you dislke Republicans, although I have never identified myself as such.

I am a conservative and as such will employ criticism as I choose. I target Democrats here in Maine because they are in charge and are not making much effort to improve our lives.

A blog is not an open forum, Mr. Sloan and if you wish to have your comments in print please provide something that interests me rather than simply venting your spleen.

Were we engaged in face-to-face discourse I would simply disengage myself and walk away. Since I have editorial control of this blog, I refuse to play your type of games and will remove your postings any time you continue these kinds of attacks and distortions.

Dear Mr. Cutler,

I stand by what I said: it's no laughing matter that Maine's revenues are falling short. There is serious work to be done and people who don't have enough money to heat their homes, or people who are losing their homes.

It's not just Augusta that suffers. We all need roads, police, firefighters, teachers, schools and a host of other necessities that rely on revenues.

I love Maine and this time of the year, but I don't buy your tone. It sounds posed and political. The whole thing feels like a setup for you to pretend that all is well with the economy and we should keep things the way they are - in Washington.

I don't know why you like the hypothetical notion of walking away from me. Indeed, this is a public forum in which you sought out the chance to publish your views.

The truth is that many Mainers are reeling from the current economic downturn. You might see it as an attack that I called a spade a spade, but I can assure you I am not the only person offended by your snickering that others are bothered by the state of the economy.