No wonder the electorate is confused, because as a “political animal,” I was baffled at some of the results of some of these referendums. (Athough others made perfect sense, though.)

The following are the outcomes and my take on them.

1. Yes on 1 was really not a surprise, after speaking with real folks in our town and around the state. Traditional folks came out in force because marriage is a religious tradition, not becuase they are bigots. As stated in my previous article, core values are core values and not intolerance.

2. The no vote on cutting the excise tax was not really surprising, but the percentage of the no vote was astounding! Taxpayers need to be sure they hold the local elected officials responsible to be sure they are good stewards of “your money”. Remember it is your money, not theirs!

3. The no vote on repealing school consolidation was not a surprise either. The consolidation legislation did not affect a majority of the districts throughout the state. What needs to happen now is pressure on representatives of noncompliant districts to offer alternative plans to the Department of Education that will benefit both the state and the local community. One thing is for certain: the demand to have the state fund 55 percent underminded “local control.” Just like any business transaction, once you give away 51 percent of anything, you give away your share of control.

4. The no vote on TABOR 2 was the most confounding result of all results from the electorate. The immediate message from Gov. Baldacci and the Democratic majority after the last TABOR campaign was essentially “we’ve heard you and we will address the problem.”

The message now is that the “electorate likes the job and trusts their elected representatives” and believes we are on the right path in Augusta. You must be kidding me! One more time the largest recipients of your tax dollars have campaigned against the taxpayers! I have not seen the final figures of dollars spent, but I have been told they No on 4 campaign outspent TABOR proponents by a 5 to 1 margin.

That is a mere pittance compared to the billions they already get from the taxpayers. What a great investment on their part!

5. The yes vote on medical marijuana was not a real surprise either. I am not against the formulation of a program and plan, the problem is the Department of Health and Human Services will be placed in charge of formulating and implementing and sadly, regulating the marijuana dispensaries. Let’s see, does a $52 million computer debacle for Medicaid billing bring back any bad memories? Enough said.

6. The approval of the $71 million transportation bond issues was the most frustrating and perverse vote. Do people realize that bonding = borrowing? How can people miss the news of the past year that the state of Maine is out of money, to the point the Legislature has been forced to cut the budget by over $500 million dollars? Doesn’t that mean when you borrow, you must have money to pay it back? Does it also mean in order to borrow money with limited resources, you pay a higher interest rate for the money you borrow? According to the numbers I can find, we will need to pay back over $100 million dollars for borrowing the $71 million.

7. No on the constitutional amendment was not a surprise. People did not understand what was at stake and they do not like to mess with the constitution unless absolutely necessary.

Moving forward to the next election cycle, one clear message emerges: we need to educate people better with regards to the economy and effects of their votes. On one hand we complain about taxes and spending, then we vote down citizen control of spending and borrow more money when we have no money to pay it back.

Go figure!

Scott Lansley is chairman of the Androscoggin County Republican Committee, a former legislator and current selectman in Sabattus. E-mail: [email protected].