“Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.” -Woody Allen.

Lane/Tommy: What amount of money can you afford to borrow? Don’t you set some kind of standard so that you don’t bust your budget? Or do you live on champagne with beer money like our government does? There are many bills in Augusta that call for bonds to pay the costs of proposed legislation. Of course, at this point we haven’t a clue what the total amount of the bonds will be but we bet it will be substantial.

Tommy: The definition of a budget is a plan adjusting expenses to income. When you spend more than you earn it is known as having a deficit. Since the term “deficit” does not exist in any Maine government dictionary, you will hear our politicians using the term “structural gap,” but don’t be fooled.

So, what are these things called bonds that our elected officials talk about? Bonds are a financial obligation just the same as the mortgage on your home. When you take out a loan you not only pay back the amount borrowed, you must also pay interest. Why do government officials fail to tell us what the total cost of bonds, with interest, will be?

Lane: My wife and I do our best to live within our budget. Yes, emergencies do happen like a blown motor in a car where we must decide on borrowing money for a new motor or perhaps a new car. The gist of the matter is that we borrow money just to fix the problem, not to ensure that we have a new car every year. Part of our budget allows for regular maintenance of our vehicles and to some degree covers emergency repairs if the cost isn’t totally overwhelming. My point here is that we borrow money only when our backs are against the wall. Borrowing to cover more than our day-to-day expenses is not allowed.

Lane/Tommy: What bothers us most about Windham and the state of Maine using bonds for whatever reason is that this is spending above and beyond their budgets. Bonds are not free. They’re not savings bonds. Interest must be paid so the total cost of a bond is significantly higher than the amount of money to be spent under the bond. Bonds are a way of sharply increasing spending in a given year for which payments must be included in budgets for decades.

Tommy: When we borrow money to purchase a home, aren’t there certain guidelines to ensure we don’t borrow more than we can afford? Yes, there are unscrupulous lending companies that allow for risky mortgages of which the buyer should beware. The house you purchased is used for collateral against the money borrowed in case your budget fails in the future. When our government borrows money in the form of bonds, where does the money come from to pay the bond off? You pay for the bond with your tax dollars.

Lane: We already know Maine’s bond rating is not that great. What will we pay for interest on bonds if they are approved? Instead of bonds, shouldn’t the cost of government be included in a budget we can afford? By borrowing money all we are doing is putting the debt on our children. Is that what we want for their future?

Lane/Tommy: Why did we say the beast who are the bonds? Do you realize the average Mainer makes approximately $28,000 a year while the average government worker in Maine earns around $43,000 not including benefits? The cost of our local and state government has become a beast of burden. When we borrow money and don’t pay it back, we end up living on the street. When the government wants to spend more money than it has, it mortgages our family’s future.

Lane and Tommy are Windham residents.