Dr. Thomas Shields, in his letter to the editor published Jan. 1, urges perpetual surveillance of Democratic legislators to reveal their dedication to “tax and spend.”

In Shields’ world, “tax and spend” is a code word to limit, reduce or eliminate social welfare programs. He is referring to public assistance to the medically uninsured, the laid-off and unemployed, the aged and disabled, preschool children, the developmentally challenged, the retired and pre-retired who have lost their life savings, those on food stamps, families who will be cold this winter, those who trade prescriptions for food, working mothers, and anyone else on the bottom of the economic and social scale.

Shields displays neither understanding nor sympathy for these folks. He seems undoubtedly in a state of joy that, because of a collapsing economy, millions of dollars will be cut or eliminated from state funding, leaving thousands of citizens in a dreadful limbo of uncertainty, suffering and despair.

I am sure Shields has never been at the bottom of the ladder, or he would have a different perspective of those he disdains.

I find Shields’ position offensive, callous, hypocritical and immoral.

John B. Muir, Auburn