“I’m so poor I can’t afford to pay attention.” – Anonymous.

Are the government spin doctors telling us the whole truth about the state of our economy or do they have some bad news that they are hiding? Welcome to the real world because we feel like the Apollo 13 astronauts said, “Houston, we have a problem.”

In the past few weeks there has been an abundance of financial information that shows our economy is heading down the tubes and yet some economists in Maine would have us believe that this state will only suffer a glancing blow while the rest of the nation receives a knockout punch.

Lane: What’s the bad news you ask? Well, the unemployment figures are increasing, wages are decreasing, foreclosures are increasing and the delinquency rate on payments for mortgages, credit cards and automobiles loans are also is increasing.

As Tommy and I write this week’s column crude oil is at $105 a barrel so one can only guess where the price of gasoline, diesel fuel and heating oil will go. At the same time we all know that the price of food is increasing especially anything made from corn. Have you received a substantial pay raise to compensate for your increased cost of living or are you trying to do more with less?

Tommy: As we have stated in a previous column, our Cumberland County officials are increasing our county tax burden by 6.5 percent while the Windham School Board seeks an increase of $1.5 million. Are we to believe that our elected officials want to increase our tax burden while we are forced to make do with less? At the same time, do you remember that famous piece of legislation titled LD-1 that supposedly would increase state aid for local schools thus reducing our local property tax burden?

Our governor swore that he would veto any increase in state taxes to cover the burgeoning deficit in the state budget but lately he is waffling on that position. It is evident that state aid for local education will not increase and instead might face a significant decrease. Is this a broken promise that borders on being criminal?

Lane/Tommy: It is unmistakable that we have not hit rock bottom yet but could we be on an elevator plunging us into financial doom? We are encountering a double whammy because our cost of living is increasing at an alarming rate while government demands we pay even higher taxes to support its bloated increases in salaries and benefits for government workers.

Isn’t it time for government to give us something besides destitution and depression? It is time for us to take control away from the extortionists in our local and state governments. What we feel is criminal is that government continues to prosper while we, the taxpayers, suffer.

Lane and Tommy of Windham have to wonder why a nongovernmental entity has the power of eminent domain to seize property with absolutely no public input. That entity is the Portland Water District. Has communism arrived in the state that touts it is the way life should be? Then again, what political party has ruined this state for the past 30 years?