A group of Democrat state legislators recently announced that they favored ending the war in Iraq. Who wouldn’t favor this? This is a cover-up to distract the public from the dismal record the Democrats have in managing the state of Maine for the past 30 years, which has nothing to do with the war in Iraq.

Excessive taxation, incompetence and over-spending are examples of the Democrats’ administrative abilities. Louisiana (due to hurricane Katrina) and Maine are the only states whose economies were minuses last year.

They want us to focus on how much money the Iraq war costs and what that federal taxpayer money could do for their programs. They seem to assume that the federal government would, instead, send that money to them. Not likely. However, they conveniently don’t remember that the feds already send $1.40 to Maine for each $1 we send there in taxes.

This is also an election year tactic to distract the voters from noticing the Democrat efforts to make Maine a sanctuary for illegal aliens, some of whom could be dangerous.

Unprovoked, the terrorists did their deeds on our soil on Sept. 11, 2001. Had we not fought the terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq, terrorists would be here again creating death and destruction to us infidels in the United States. Remember that terrorists have had a pattern of attacking U.S. facilities and citizens since 1979.

It is time for a change in Augusta..

Rep. Thomas F. Shields, Auburn