Beware the pundits

It’s hardly surprising that editorial writers and assorted pundits are indifferent to easily available budget and tax data from our neighbor New England states. Count this as another example of bias by omission. They have their heads up in the clouds writing about Democratic legislators, but somewhere else when writing about Republicans and the governor.

Consider this: Much has been written about Maine’s slow 0.2 percent economic growth in 2014, 0.4 of one percent lower that of Connecticut and Vermont. In fact, most of New England lagged behind the U.S. economic growth in 2014. But what the pundits don’t dwell on is that Maine and Massachusetts had significantly lower unemployment rates in April 2015 (4.7 percent each) than most other states nationally and for most of 2014 as well.

The pundits also avoid mentioning the mammoth tax increase – about $2 billion over two years – recently enacted into law by the Democratic governor of Connecticut, four years after a tax increase of approximately $2.5 billion over two years. This tax increase is so onerous on businesses that GE and Aetna, two of the state’s largest employers, are exploring relocation to another state. This is the same state that most drivers pass through without filling their gas tanks because the Nutmeg State has the highest gas prices on the East Coast.

Meanwhile, the Maine legislature has passed a forward-looking tax reform plan that includes tax cuts for the vast majority of residents, but which the Republican governor believes does not go far enough in eliminating the income tax for all. For this he is the liberal media’s whipping boy.

As far as his governing style is concerned, I prefer substance over style any day. To paraphrase the writer Flannery O’Connor, “A pleasing demeanor is the first disguise of the con man.”

The point is that if you cherry-pick statistics, you can justify whatever suits your political agenda.

Walter J. Eno

Scarborough