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“If you see a snake, just kill it – don’t appoint a committee on snakes.”

Ross Perot

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I wonder how much longer it will take government at all levels to make life as we know it unaffordable, and for many that has already happened. Property taxes in Windham increased thanks to the higher municipal and school budgets and that’s just the beginning. The RSU 14 school unit is going for a bond of more than $30 million for a new middle school while there is some talk among Windham town councilors to float a bond for things like road repair, building renovations and more than likely a new public works building along with a possible new building for the police department.

The state of Maine has increased our sales tax and expanded it to even more items. I certainly don’t expect that trend to stop any time in the near future. At the same time, elected officials in Augusta have failed to fund local education at 55 percent as state law requires. They also cut revenue sharing and forced local municipalities to pay for teacher retirements. I wouldn’t be the least surprised if excise taxes on vehicle registrations and driver’s license fees increase in the future. There has been constant talk about the state increasing taxes on tobacco products by as much as $1 per pack of cigarettes so don’t be surprised when that happens.

Those are not the only problems we are facing because all one has to do is go shopping where sticker shock is more commonplace than the spread of Lyme disease. If Mother Nature continues to devastate crops with floods, droughts and whatever else, who knows where the price of fresh produce will go. At the same time the price of beef has increased by something like 20 percent and could go higher. With the unrest in Iraq and other surrounding countries in the Middle East I fully expect that fuel prices will continue to climb if the ISIS terrorists continue to conquer more territory in Syria and Iraq, and only God knows if they will stop there. I fully expect when we withdraw most troops from Afghanistan that the Taliban will do the same thing in that country.

Although I do very little shopping in Portland, I certainly will avoid any that involves paying five cents for each plastic bag used for my purchases. I will also avoid buying any food to go when the Styrofoam containers are discontinued because I have never seen anything stay warm for any length of time while wrapped in paper or paperboard. I have recently noticed that some local residents are complaining about higher prices in food establishments in Portland as well. As I am a patient at the Portland Veteran’s Clinic, I used to stop to have either breakfast or lunch in Portland because it was something I normally don’t do. Well, I don’t do it anymore because of the cost although I do stop for lunch in Gardiner when traveling to the Togus VA Hospital because meals are reasonably priced.

Having stated all that, I fear the largest tax increases ever seen will come from the Unaffordable Health Care Act. Recent figures released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services show that the average cost per month for Mainers after taxpayer subsidies is $99 while the national average is $82. Nationally, the average monthly premium is $346, of which tax credits pay $246 of the cost. That might sound like much but this cost analysis is only for 5.4 million people so what will the tax subsidies cost when more sign up?

My best guess is that the giant sucking sound coming out of Washington will be increasing at an even larger rate than ever before. I remember hearing that Obama Care will cost $1 trillion over 10 years. Better put on your hearing protection because you’ll need it when your hard-earned money is sucked out of your bank account.

Lane Hiltunen of Windham says don’t worry, be happy when smoking Maine’s cash crop.