I believe that in his July 1 Sun Journal column, “Spitting out the taxation medicine,” Karl Trautman wrongly concluded that special interests were primarily responsible for the tax reform’s demise.

One can easily conclude that voter opposition doomed the recently considered tax reform legislation because Mainers strongly desire tax reduction first, not tax reform, which would simply shuffle the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Granted, special-interest groups were actively working to defeat the bill, but legislators certainly responded accordingly to the mass of voter communications opposing the bill. Trautman should have more seriously taken into account the response of Maine voters to the obvious attempt to deceive the electorate by those unwilling to restrain state spending.

State politicians who ignore the cries of voters for spending and tax reductions are likely setting the stage for the further voter initiative(s) aimed at limiting state spending. Hopefully, those involved with the Taxpayer Bill of Rights will conclude that politicians had their chance and take up the gauntlet again to address limits on state spending via a voter-initiated constitutional amendment. Then let’s see which special-interest groups seek to thwart the electorate’s calls for tax reduction and keep tax dollars flowing into their coffers.

Peter Cipolloso, Oxford

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