In less than two weeks on June 8th the primary election will be held. It is important that all registered voters find the time to go and cast your vote.

You may say to yourself, “I am unenrolled so this primary election is not for me.” Well you could not be more wrong. There are also five measures that will appear on the ballot. These questions could have a major impact on the finances of the state and it is important that you understand what you are voting for.

Now keep in mind that Maine is broke, we run deficits every year. State revenues are down and Augusta just keeps on spending. Last year at this time Augusta was boasting about LD 1495, “An Act To Implement Tax Relief and Tax Reform.” The governor signed this complex tax monstrosity into law. Well, I don’t know about you, but I cannot see how adding 103 new taxes can be considered “Tax Relief.” Sure they tell you that your income tax is going to be reduced from 8.5 percent to 6.5 percent, what they neglect to tell you is that you will be losing your mortgage interest and property tax deduction, and it will be replaced with a standard tax credit.

They also want you to believe that tourists will be paying for the bulk of the sales tax increases (did I mention that there are 103 of them?). A sales tax will now be implemented on auto repair and maintenance labor. Maybe I am missing something here, but I don’t know of many people who come up to Maine for vacation so that they can get their car repaired. Meal tax is increased from 7 percent to 8.5 percent, there’s a new tax on lawn and garden equipment repair as well as hired clowns for kids’ parties. The list goes on and on. To see the complete run-down go to www.VoteYesToReject.com.

Many people peered right threw the smoke and mirrors Augusta was trying to put up in front us and started a petition for a People’s Veto to stop this law dead in its tracks. (Well, at least for now) and this is going to be the first question on the ballot.

Question 1 (People’s Veto): “Do you want to reject the new law that lowers Maine’s income tax and replaces that revenue by making changes to the sales tax?”

Is that misleading or what? They want you to think that if you vote yes, then you want more taxes. In my opinion this whole tax bill is very misleading, and there are several Constitutionality issues with it also. It would be foolish to vote No and allow this bill to become law. Yes on Question 1 is the only responsible action.

As far as the other four questions go they are all bond issues totaling $108.3 million in additional debt. The questions are painted with nice, feel-good words like, “off-shore wind energy,” “Maine’s energy independence,” “improve water quality,” etc. They also paint the picture even brighter by saying that if you approve these bonds we will also be receiving $96.75 million in federal matching funds. The total interest on all of the bonds would be $26,804,250 for a total of over $135 million. How are we going to pay for that? The point of the fact is, WE ARE BROKE, and we must stop spending and taking on so much debt. The only question that you should be voting yes on is Question 1. Vote no on all bond issues and send a message to Augusta to stop spending our money.

You can find a complete listing of all ballot questions at www.Maine.gov. You can also download a citizen’s guidebook on that website as well.

Pete Harring, of Standish, manages www.MaineRefounders.org.

In less than two weeks on June 8th the primary election will be held. It is important that all registered voters find the time to go and cast your vote.

You may say to yourself, “I am unenrolled so this primary election is not for me.” Well you could not be more wrong. There are also five measures that will appear on the ballot. These questions could have a major impact on the finances of the state and it is important that you understand what you are voting for.

Now keep in mind that Maine is broke, we run deficits every year. State revenues are down and Augusta just keeps on spending. Last year at this time Augusta was boasting about LD 1495, “An Act To Implement Tax Relief and Tax Reform.” The governor signed this complex tax monstrosity into law. Well, I don’t know about you, but I cannot see how adding 103 new taxes can be considered “Tax Relief.” Sure they tell you that your income tax is going to be reduced from 8.5 percent to 6.5 percent, what they neglect to tell you is that you will be losing your mortgage interest and property tax deduction, and it will be replaced with a standard tax credit.

They also want you to believe that tourists will be paying for the bulk of the sales tax increases (did I mention that there are 103 of them?). A sales tax will now be implemented on auto repair and maintenance labor. Maybe I am missing something here, but I don’t know of many people who come up to Maine for vacation so that they can get their car repaired. Meal tax is increased from 7 percent to 8.5 percent, there’s a new tax on lawn and garden equipment repair as well as hired clowns for kids’ parties. The list goes on and on. To see the complete run-down go to www.VoteYesToReject.com.

Many people peered right threw the smoke and mirrors Augusta was trying to put up in front us and started a petition for a People’s Veto to stop this law dead in its tracks. (Well, at least for now) and this is going to be the first question on the ballot.

Question 1 (People’s Veto): “Do you want to reject the new law that lowers Maine’s income tax and replaces that revenue by making changes to the sales tax?”

Is that misleading or what? They want you to think that if you vote yes, then you want more taxes. In my opinion this whole tax bill is very misleading, and there are several Constitutionality issues with it also. It would be foolish to vote No and allow this bill to become law. Yes on Question 1 is the only responsible action.

As far as the other four questions go they are all bond issues totaling $108.3 million in additional debt. The questions are painted with nice, feel-good words like, “off-shore wind energy,” “Maine’s energy independence,” “improve water quality,” etc. They also paint the picture even brighter by saying that if you approve these bonds we will also be receiving $96.75 million in federal matching funds. The total interest on all of the bonds would be $26,804,250 for a total of over $135 million. How are we going to pay for that? The point of the fact is, WE ARE BROKE, and we must stop spending and taking on so much debt. The only question that you should be voting yes on is Question 1. Vote no on all bond issues and send a message to Augusta to stop spending our money.

You can find a complete listing of all ballot questions at www.Maine.gov. You can also download a citizen’s guidebook on that website as well.

Pete Harring, of Standish, manages www.MaineRefounders.org.