Political theater returned to Augusta recently, with State House Democratic leaders seizing center stage. Calling on Republicans to halt the plans of a growing number of Mainers wanting to vote on the Democrats’ $450 million borrowing scheme to pay for today’s expenses, majority Democratic leaders staged an outside press event in Augusta and put on a show for all to see.

And like most theater, Democrats took poetic license as they put forth some myths about our current financial situation.

For their part, Democrats are right to want to forget about most aspects of their recent budget work. After all, there is little to be proud of in the recently passed Democratic budget that was signed by Gov. Baldacci. Their irresponsible budget tricks will have negative effects on our wallets and day-to-day budgets, but will also have unforeseen impact on Maine’s long-term economic well-being.

Central to their efforts is a hare-brained borrowing scheme approved by Gov. Baldacci and forced through by majority Democratic lawmakers.

Now, of all the blatantly false claims uttered by the Democrats recently, a glaring one was that the people’s veto initiative (the citizen-driven effort now under way to undo the Democrats’ mess) will potentially jeopardize the state’s bond rating.

As the Democrats well know, the years of skyrocketing state budget growth, and this borrowing of $450 million is what jeopardizes the state’s bond rating. Recent pronouncements by Wall Street investors in New York implicate majority Democrats for exacerbating the current bond rating anxiety. Just days before the Democrats staged their press event, Nicole Johnson, senior analyst and vice president at Moody’s expressed concern over the state’s borrowing to balance the recently passed $5.7 billion budget. Further straining their confidence in Maine was the lack of a plan by Gov. Baldacci to bring the ongoing state budget deficit under control. It is a lack of confidence on Wall Street, stemming from this “government on a credit card” scheme that affects our bond rating.

Another myth put out by the Democrats is that if the people vote on the borrowing plan, then future budgets are in danger of being written at the ballot box.

This is just plain false and ignores the precedence of the public’s vote on borrowing plans routinely for major spending and borrowing. As the Democrats know full well, the Legislature’s responsibility to craft state budgets is clearly stated in the state constitution.

As majority Democrats also well know, for the past several months Maine Republicans have been speaking plainly about and working toward crafting a state budget that boldly brings real change to the tax and spend ways that have plagued state government.

Finally, and most egregious of all the Democrat myths is the one that suggests Republicans have offered no alternatives. Throughout the entire process, Republicans have offered specific proposals that would fix this mess and rein in a state government, a monster that has grown by more than 60 percent in the past decade.

Republicans offered a continuing resolution to allow more time for budget talks. We call for a 5 percent reduction in state government – excluding only education funding and interest payments on our outstanding debt. We call for a phaseout of all state positions that sit vacant for an extended period of time. We stand for a constitutional amendment that would cap the growth in spending for state, county and municipal government. We support a constitutional amendment that would require a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate to create or raise taxes or fees. Once those reasonable limits on taxing and spending exist, we would provide immediate relief for Maine’s most needy families by eliminating the income tax altogether for the poorest Mainers and provide ongoing relief through across-the-board reductions in income tax rates as the spending cap frees up additional revenues.

So, to suggest that Republicans are somehow holding up business in Augusta is more than disingenuous, it’s flatly untrue. The Democratic leaders and Gov. Baldacci have offered hollow distractions, when the people of Maine deserve bold leadership in confronting the issues facing lawmakers in Augusta.

The facts are simple. The Democratic leaders and Gov. Baldacci rushed through the Legislature a two-year budget that puts off, indeed makes harder, the difficult budget decisions that we must face immediately. They now understand the public’s sincere dislike for borrowing $450 million to pay for today’s operation of state government – for the first time in Maine history. The time for artificial deadlines, hollow demands and political theater are long over. It is time for Democrats to work in good faith with GOP legislators to reduce the size of our state budget. Everyone knows that is the only way to really reduce taxes. Mainers understand the problem and are watching closely. The Democrats unilateral control of the State House demands leadership and cooperation with their Republican colleagues to solve the serious problems facing our state.

Randy Bumps is the chairman of the Maine Republican Party.