This column originated from one or more stupid ducks attempting to land in my backyard although all I did was feed some deer that were extremely skinny because of our harsh winter.

I was feeding them corn and suddenly they disappeared and never came back. I thought I was buying organic corn but maybe it was, in fact, some of the genetically modified corn, and PETA organizers chased the deer off. Anyways, some flocks of Mallard ducks must have flown over my backyard and noticed an abundant supply of food. That’s exactly the same thing elected officials do when they presume there’s a gold mine in our bank accounts.

For some reason these ducks have had a lot of difficulty in their landing attempts due to the fact that there is a very limited amount of open space to navigate through and no water to land on. The melting snow is an obstacle course that is changing daily and seems to add challenges in their landing attempts.

Several flocks of ducks circle above my back yard for lengthy periods of time and some actually just give up and leave. Evidently some of their leaders never had classes on map reading or fail to realize that sometimes GPS devices do fail, which is something that some human drivers have in common as well. I have mentioned that in previous columns and at this point there is no help in sight so why mention it again.

I really enjoy feeding the critters, especially during the harsh winter months when their only hope of survival is a minimal amount of food in order to generate enough warmth to survive the bitter cold and deep snow pack. It is unfortunate that taxpayers face a different fate from elected members of the Maine Legislature, local school boards and town councils/boards of selectmen. What’s really ironic here is that elected officials might just be as intelligent as ducks because when the first ducks arrived this year in my yard, there were only two. Then they started to multiply and I had to put out more food. That is exactly what I do every year for elected officials in Windham, Cumberland County, Augusta and that giant cesspool known as Washington, our nation’s capital. I guess I can conclude that the ducks are getting free corn and the government is getting our cash in order to hand out free government money.

But there is one huge difference between the ducks landing in my back yard for a free meal and those in government who want to rob my bank account. I will soon stop feeding the ducks and they will go away. I can’t stop the feeding frenzy by the government sharks that only want more money from me, although they lie through their teeth when they claim their next piece of legislation is a tax decrease. Just look at RSU 5 (Freeport, Pownal, Durham) and RSU 14 (Windham, Raymond) for perfect examples. Yep, L.D. 1 was going to consolidate school districts and save taxpayers a fortune. All we ended up with are even larger increases in our property taxes, and this year it’s going to be far worse than in the past. Preliminary school budget proposals from RSU 5 show an increase of over 9 percent and RSU 14 wants the largest budget increase in its history. There is no doubt that our government at every level has gone daffy, if not dumb. I would say let’s hit them with the old stupid stick but unfortunately the stupid stick would become even dumber.

There is a solution to the government’s feeding frenzy. Do away with the property tax as far as education goes. Property taxes are not based on income, which means it discriminates against those who make less. Education needs dedicated funds from state and federal sources even if most of it comes from parents.

Lane Hiltunen of Windham believes we have too many levels of government and it’s time to trim the fat cats that feed off our bank accounts.