The Taxpayer Bill of Rights is unfair. We are told there will be no painful cuts to desirable programs, but this is not so. I would vote for TABOR if it required the cessation of plowing, should the government run out of money. Then everyone would feel the pain simultaneously and equally. This will not be the case.

Instead, we will get the gradual “FEMA-izing” of various agencies until the state resembles the Titanic: sailing boldly along with no lifeboats. When the S.S. Maine hits the inevitable iceberg, it will be the sick, elderly and children who will be thrown overboard first. This is un-American.

Secondly, should communities like Lubec or Litchfield get to decide that Bath can no longer impose a tax cap or that Lewiston-Auburn can no longer invest in economic development? This is one of the consequences of this shortsighted law. While we are told it can be amended, this is not true. It requires a two-thirds vote to amend. This means no votes counts twice for every yes vote. In America, we believe in majority rule. Why empower a minority in this way? Not fair!

Mainers are independent thinkers. Why would we want to buy a pig in a poke? Colorado has mining money and a growing, younger population. We have many struggling, small towns, declining populations and an aging demographic. We are not alike. If Maine is “The way life should be,” TABOR is the alternative.

Claire Gamache, Lewiston