Just how bad are things?

The conventional wisdom is that we are increasingly taxed to support out-of-control public spending. Much of this spending is spread across the future (borrowed with interest) rather than paid for with funds that have been accumulated and invested for a specific purpose and then applied to that end. State income (and this is true in other states than just Maine) is gathered into the "General Fund" where it is blended together and then dealt out. This combining of funds adds to the anonymity of purpose and increases the sense that the funds are for the use of all equally. The side-effect of this is that when setting priorities, it is difficult to establish a weighting factor.

Once monies go into the general fund, they are assumed by the government that they are there to be spent. Legislature and budget committee's figure out ways that the money can be used, "because it is there."Over time, the list of programs that get funding grow to the point where entitlements are born and must be sustained. After even more time, no one can remember what it was like to get by without them.

The answer to setting and resetting priorities is to look at spending and budgeting laid over previous generations and then evaluate if these programs are still needed. The programs should have to meet certain conditions to retain their funding. Some people might have to make personal sacrifices to meet the moral imperative that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

The estimated 2009 budget for the State of Maine is $3.1 billion for a population of 1.3 million people. I think it is time to ask if we are getting the value for what we are spending and if we are, then why is everyone complaining about high taxes?