A recent PPH story provided the news that Maine is fifth in the nation in "numbers of people short on food". The story used statistics from a U.S. Department of Agriculture study of "food insecurity" covering the period 2005-207, proclaiming that 13.3 percent of Maine families had "hunger issues".

Worse still, if the term "very low food security" was employed, Maine ranks second in the nation, trailing only Mississippi.

During the previous three-year study, 2002-2004, 9.8 percent of Maine families met such criteria. Information from those involved in social agencies in Portland that offer food assistance serves to bolster the indications of increasing problems for our state.

There is much speculation over why a significant number of Mainers are having problems feeding their families. Studies indicate that for many families even having two working members is not enough to meet the rising costs of food, fuel and other costs of living facing Maine residents.

Once again, during the past election, an opportunity to increase good paying jobs was rejected by Maine voters - by a narrow margin - when a familiar pattern of distortions and untruths was engineered by a small portion of the business community against casino employment in any form.

In the near future, the closing of Brunswick Naval Air Station will result in the loss of more good jobs and an economic ripple effect in the surrounding communities with the concurrent reduction of revenues from such sources as rental fees, professional services and the retail sector. Plus, a few more years of reduced fishing days mandated by State and Federal agencies will leave the Maine coast in the same pitiful condition as the once-thriving fishing villages of the Canadian Maritimes that now are filled with welfare recipients. A few new call centers are not going to make up the difference, nor will the meager number of jobs provided by expanded "research and development" facilities.

We are all kept informed (ad nauseam) of the current budget woes the state suffers and the heroic efforts of the Augusta overlords to protect the needy citizens of Maine by scrupulously paring away unneeded expense - buried in one recent story was the important fact that this "bare-bones" effort includes the projected increases in the cost of heat, electricity, construction materials and (surprise!) additional personnel.

Much is made of the Governor's demands on the state government to reduce operating expenses. Little or nothing is reported about the fact that many of the "cuts" apply only to already projected budget departmental increases.

It is a truly scandalous turn of events when so many people are "short on food" in a state that spends upwards of $3.5 billion yearly (not counting matching Federal funds). What makes it even worse is that under Democratic control for the past decade, Maine has lost and failed to replace so many jobs that once enabled its citizens to at least make a living.

When I was growing up in Maine, much fun was poked at "Taxachucetts" and the endemic corruption that our southern neighbors endured. Guess What! Thanks to a one-party system that is joined at the hip to a "good-old-boy" controlling clique in Augusta, Maine is now on the receiving end of such ridicule.

Then again, we get what we pay for (or elect).

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