If you’re looking for some good ol’ political gamesmanship, you can find it with the well-oiled Republican spin machine.

This legislative session started with much promise. Republicans seemed willing to negotiate and work toward a budget that would work for the people of Maine.

But then they began to draw lines in the sand. They began to say no to everything. They refused to provide their own solutions, saying they didn’t want to put something on paper that Democrats could tear apart. To this day, they still have not brought forward a Republican plan to balance the budget.

Somewhere in the three months of negotiating, and after the Republicans agreed to 95 percent of the budget, political gamesmanship became the norm, and any real policy discussion was pushed to the side. Republicans saw a political opportunity, and they took it. They haven’t looked back since.

Though they claim spending is on the rise, Republicans ignore the facts of this budget to keep their political spin machine alive. The truth is the governor has resisted tax increases in the past two years, even as many other states, facing millions in lost federal revenue, went ahead and raised taxes. They continue to ignore the fact that members of their own party voted to pass L.D. 1 two months ago. Before their partisan fever took over, members of the GOP were willing to work toward the same goal of lowering Maine taxes. Even without L.D. 1, our tax burden has been decreasing steadily under Gov. Baldacci’s leadership. But Republicans will never admit this.

Maine has seen a net immigration of people during the Baldacci administration, reversing the trends of the last decade; personal income rose 5.4 percent during the first three-quarters of last year and 5,000 new jobs have been created while he was in office.

The fact of the matter is, Gov. Baldacci has reduced the growth of state government to its lowest level in 30 years. Even the conservative Cato Institute gave our governor a B rating for fiscal responsibility, a higher rating than eight Republican governors in the middle of their terms. He has reduced the structural gap by 50 percent since he took office. In their recent report, Moody’s acknowledges this, saying the state has “addressed financial stress with prompt spending reductions.” By comparison, Gov. Longley had budgets that averaged 10 percent increases – three times the percentage increase of Gov. Baldacci’s budget. At the same time, Democrats listened to voters and came up with a plan to increase state funding for education by $250 million, the highest amount in a generation.

The current budget puts Maine on track to save hundreds of millions in retirement costs over the next 20 years, while it protects services to our elderly and less fortunate. In addition, Gov. Baldacci and our Democratic legislators have made a historic investment in our children’s schools. In fact, most of the state budget is devoted to education and health care.

While faced with the debt of past administrations and a federal government that has cut millions from Maine’s state budget, legislators have put forward a sound and responsible budget that supports Maine’s people and values.

For a Democratic governor to cut state spending, invest in education and increase access to health care is an accomplishment that, understandably, no Republican wants to talk about.

But the rhetoric has gotten in the way of the GOP’s ability to provide any alternatives to the budget. After months of budget debate, they have failed to come to the table with a detailed proposal, though they’ve offered amendments to the budget on the House and Senate floor. But these amendments add more than $25 million to the state budget. This doesn’t cut costs, no matter how you do the math, and it certainly isn’t a comprehensive plan. Anyone who has bought a car or a house understands that when you negotiate, both parties come to the table with a plan. The details are hammered out, and both parties reach a compromise. The Republican Party hasn’t put a single plan on the table.

Republicans have chosen to avoid the difficult challenges of creating a budget, despite their calls for bold leadership and the “Legislature’s responsibility to craft state budgets.” We know they don’t like hearing it, but if they want to sit at the table and negotiate, they should bring a plan forward, so Maine can continue moving forward.

Pat Colwell is the chairman of the Maine Democratic Party.