For an indication of what the United States might look like under the control of a Democratic President and a Democratic Congress, consider reviewing the issues currently confronting Maine. After all, our state has been under the control of a Democratic Legislature for well over a decade, coupled with a Democratic Governor halfway through his second term.

In Maine, we have some negatives. The State has not been able to pay its Medicare debts to Maine health care providers and is falling further and further behind in those obligations. The Governor's claims of a balanced budget refused to recognize this issue, along with failures to address overdue pay for public defenders and to return overpayments to taxpayers in a timely manner. More bond requests to repair infrastructure (more borrowing) have been required because of refusal to prioritize allotment of declining revenues. Despite continuing promises of tax relief, new drains on the taxpayers are constantly legislated. Employment is stagnant.

An entitlement mentality seems predominant. A recent newscast on a local television station featured an interview with a representative of the Department of Health and Human Services who blithely dismissed an over-budget estimate of $500 million, cheerfully insisting, "Oh, it probably won't be that much". This was followed by a representative of the Maine Alliance who opined that it was "not the best time to raise taxes", but that taxes certainly should not be cut, "because of all of the good that we are doing".

The Democratic Presidential candidate has a long history of promoting "redistribution of wealth" (read, increased taxes to fund entitlement programs) as the appropriate structuring of American society and made his intentions clear in his filmed answer to a question posed by the now-famous (or infamous) "Joe the Plumber".

Democratic leadership, personified by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, also advocates the redistribution of money - earned by those who strive for a good education and then apply their work ethic and abilities toward improving their lives - to those who, for lack of ability (or, in some cases, inclination), have a lower standard of living.

Not many economists favor raising taxes in a time of economic decline, nor do they support the concept of punishing the successful to help fund entitlement spending. A massive increase in the national deficit is regarded with equal disapproval.

Our system of a representative republic was deliberately structured to include a system of checks and balances to prevent the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches from becoming the fiefdom of a single political party. History indicates that, on the whole, our government works best when political parties share the decision-making process rather than having one group completely in charge.

Of course, if you are totally satisfied with the way Maine has been run over the past decade or so, then November 4th offers you the opportunity to vote for a mirror-image Federal government and to also maintain our State policies of unrestrained spending accompanied by over-taxation, government inefficiency and oppression.

Those who disagree still have the right to vote otherwise - for now.

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