As the election approaches, I hope voters will remember that if the federal budget history is any guide, the “tax-and-spend” party is the Republican Party.

According to the Office of Management and Budget figures, every Republican president in the past 33 years has left office with higher debt per GDP than they started with; and every Democratic president left with decreased debt per GDP. The average Republican administration (four years) increased the debt per GDP by 36.4 percent, while the average Democratic administration (four years) increased it by only 4.2 percent.

During the same period, the average Republican administration increased federal spending by 12.1 percent, while the average Democratic administration increased it by only 9.9 percent.

Yes, the most interesting of this year’s Maine election races are not federal offices, but a candidate who says his opponent is a “tax-and-spend” Democrat deserves to be challenged.

Al Bersbach, Vienna