In about a month, J.K. Rowling’s series of Harry Potter novels reaches its epic conclusion, as the teenage wizard has his final showdown with his nemesis, the murderous master of the Dark Arts, Lord Voldemort, whose minions – the Death Eaters – threaten to conquer all of wizardom.

Potter fans know the terror Voldemort inspires, so much that even sotto voce utterances of his name are considered more dreadful than the evilest slur. As the story went, following his banishment by Potter, Voldemort’s spirit lay dormant until his recent, sinister resurrection.

Voldemort equals pure evil, the antithesis of goodness and purity. Around Augusta, the defunct initiative known as the Taxpayer Bill of Rights sports a fine Dark Lord reputation, as breathing its name also causes consternation, and the specter of its return looms over the Legislature.

Especially now, given the failure of taxation reform to gain traction this past session. As debate raged about the Taxation Committee’s proposal to slash income and property taxes, while expanding sales taxes, TABOR whispers grew, with predictions that legislative inaction would seal its Voldemort-like return.

During a press conference prior to House debate on its plan, some Taxation Committee members spoke harshly about TABOR, and alluded to its supporters as enemies of progressive reform. Despite its vanquishment last November, the committee’s strong reaction showed fears about TABOR remain powerful.

“TABOR continues to frame the debate,” says Bill Becker, president of the Maine Heritage Policy Center, the conservative think-tank that was TABOR’s chief proponent during the 2006 race. Becker is one of those who predicts it will return, phoenix-like, from the ashes of taxpayer frustration with Augusta’s spending.

In this way, it’s arguable TABOR, in defeat, has become more potent than if enacted by voters. (This conjures allusions to another figure of science fiction, Star Wars’ Obi-Wan Kenobi, who famously told Darth Vader, “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.”)

Even debate among TABOR’s advocates remains strong, fueled by the aggressive campaign waged by Carl Lindemann of Portland, an activist who sees the Maine Heritage Policy Center’s propulsion of TABOR as powerful, expensive lobbying cloaked in public policy development.

“TABOR was never my issue,” says Lindemann, who admits his criticism of the policy center has had the de facto effect of keeping TABOR in the public eye. “However long TABOR’s legs may be, it was the culture of spin that taught them to dance.”

Liedemann, however, also believes defeat may have been part of the TABOR campaign plan all along.

“[The policy center] said that promoting TABOR in Maine is their mission, so it isn’t about one campaign or legislative session,” said Lindemann. “This strategy points to how it is a major purpose of their organization.”

And with the Legislature dormant unless a special session is called, the spinning and dancing of public relations could take the floor. Becker says TABOR, although losing at the polls, won by forcing legislative attention onto taxation relief, a victory sweetened as those who united to defeat it suffered setbacks.

The coalition that spearheaded last-minute opposition to TABOR, headed by the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and the Maine Municipal Association, had their alternative sunk by the Legislature during the session’s infancy, when a needed joint rule asking for supermajority approval of spending increases failed.

Then, taxation reform: an untraditional issue to captivate a Legislature with a Democratic majority, a testament to TABOR’s influence. Becker is quick to note the irony of the Senate approving constitutional amendments during tax plan talks that would have required supermajority approvals for tax rate increases, a TABOR process oft-attacked.

Loudest against the taxation plan was one of TABOR’s strongest critics, the state chamber, which used a State House stairway to rally against it. Dana Connors, the chamber’s leader, said the chamber supports greater restraints on government spending, and “higher thresholds…to exceed spending limits.”

Which, of course, were goals of TABOR.

It failed in 2006, but those who fought against the initiative have admitted if conditions failed to change, and TABOR returns, it would be impossible to defeat. In this way, again, the comparisons are clear to Voldemort, whose return to the world of Muggles and Magic caused great uncertainty.

The final chapter in this saga comes July 21, when “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” is released in bookstores. Will Voldemort prevail? Will Harry Potter smite his sworn enemy? Is Albus Dumbledore really dead?

Like whether TABOR will return, these questions – and more – remain to be answered.

Anthony Ronzio is the Editorial Page Editor for the Sun Journal. He can be reached at [email protected], or 1-800-782-0759, ext. 2285.
As debate raged about the Taxation Committee’s proposal to slash income and property taxes, while expanding sales taxes, TABOR whispers grew, with predictions of legislative inaction sealing its Voldemort-like return.