After reading Sen. Paul Davis’s letter in the June 9 Sun Journal, I immediately ran to my dictionary in search of the true definition of “brilliant” – as in “(Bush’s) brilliant economic stimulus package.”

I was disappointed to find out that, in fact, the definition does not include “pulling the rug out from underneath America’s poorest working families in the dark of night.”

In his haste to exalt the virtues of the President’s Tax Bonanza for the Wealthy, however, I hope Sen. Davis did not miss the recent news from Alabama, where the new Republican governor is shifting taxes from his state’s poor and working families to those most able to pay.

Why, you might ask, would one of the nation’s most conservative public officials propose such action? Because he finds it so objectionable – and morally indefensible – to fund government on the backs of the working poor while the most affluent contribute disproportionately little.

The truth of the matter is that the business climate in Maine needs to be improved. But, benefiting those most well-off at the expense of the poor is wrong.

So, Sen. Davis can come at me with tired clichés about tax-and-spend liberals and bring on the charges of “partisanship.” But, when he rejoins the debate he should bring some facts and evidence because his letter did nothing to refute the numbers and reports I cited.

Sen. Ethan Strimling, Portland