Columnist Al Diamon made tax day funny at the Great Falls Forum Thursday.
LEWISTON – Gov. John Baldacci’s head – big, bald and sitting atop a too-small body – is only one sign of how precarious Maine’s tax system has become, says columnist Al Diamon.

After all, earthlings wouldn’t create a system that’s squeezed by special interests and smothering the middle class, Diamon says.

In fact, the entire system was made of “alien space poop,” he said at the Great Falls Forum Thursday.

Then, he went too far.

“It’s time to abolish the government!” he told the 200 or so attendees to the lunchtime lecture. They responded with applause.

“I’m kidding,” he said, surprised by the ovation. Then, slipping back into his curmudgeon character, he added, “The SWAT team is out back.”

Known for his shoot-from-the-hip style, Diamon spent about 40 minutes musing on the state’s tax system for the forum audience. The Great Falls Forum is a monthly lecture series sponsored by St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, the Lewiston Public Library, Bates College and the Sun Journal.

There were some serious messages amid the humor.

Diamon, who has been commenting on Maine politics for about 30 years, believes individual Mainers are too highly taxed, that too many industries and services escape the sales tax and that people overstate the problem of property taxes.

“Property taxes are not the biggest problem with Maine’s tax system,” he said. The average mill rates here are lower than other New England states.

Yet, the state gouges people on the income tax. Even someone who makes $17,000 a year in a minimum-wage job must pay the highest rates, he said.

But there are many exemptions to the sales tax, enough to fill coffers and pay for education if every industry carried the burden.

For instance, despite the number of tourists who come to Maine, “no form of recreation gets taxed,” he said.

It’s still more proof of aliens, said Diamon, whose demeanor resembles a peeved, post-Atkins Santa Claus.

Yet, it’s an attitude he plans to keep, he said. Some politicians, such as Baldacci, seem to take his barbs in good fun. Others don’t.

“I don’t worry about it,” he said after his lecture.

When he has worried about the feelings of people he has written about, he has unintentionally upset them.

“It’s not my job to make politicians thick-skinned,” Diamon said.
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