Stop doing bad things BY AL DIAMON

Before I get to this week’s discussion of major issues of public policy, this important disclaimer: In no way am I advocating in the following column that most of our legislators and all of our governor should have their pants lowered and a severe paddling applied to their bare buttocks.

Not that it wouldn’t be lots of fun.

But I doubt corporal punishment would motivate our elected officials to craft an honest state budget. Even capital punishment probably wouldn’t provide sufficient impetus for them to return to fiscal sanity. Not, I hasten to add, that I’m proposing we execute the boobs responsible for our current financial mess. Considering the legal expenses, hanging them would cost more than it’d be worth in terms of vengeance.

What I am calling for is an end to budget debates in which Republicans never say anything of importance and Democrats talk as if their medications needed adjusting.

GOP State Representative Joshua Tardy of Newport, the assistant minority leader, offered an excellent example of the former in an op-ed in the March 24 Bangor Daily News. "As the budget negotiations moved from committee rooms to back rooms," Tardy wrote, "Republicans could only sit and watch as the Democrats charted the course."

Democratic legislators Libby Mitchell of Vassalboro, Ken Gagnon of Waterville, and Arthur Lerman of Augusta provided strong evidence of the latter in a rambling Kennebec Journal op-ed on April 12. They claimed to have passed "a balanced budget" (even though it included $450 million in borrowing to pay for current expenses) by "[u]sing core values to guide the process." The authors dreamed up a mandate for not making deeper cuts in state programs, saying they "were reminded of what people consider important when they voted firmly against the one-percent tax cap last November."

Arguing with this sort of thinking (using the term loosely) is a waste of time, but, hey, I get paid to waste my time, so let me give it a try.

In January, Democratic Governor John Baldacci signed LD 1, a new law that was supposed to reduce taxes. It didn’t, but that’s beside the point, because no one in their right mind expected it to. What’s important about LD 1 is the section that limits the growth in the budget to an amount calculated according to how much personal income and population increase. This year that figure comes to around 3.5 percent.

Let’s use Baldacci’s own numbers to see if he kept his spending plan under that cap. The governor claims the old budget for fiscal years 2004 and 2005 was about $5.3 billion and the new one for 2006 and 2007 is $5.7 billion. That’s a hike of $400 million or about 7.5 percent — more than twice as much as allowed by state law.

If I do the same calculation using budget figures that are closer to reality, the violation is even more egregious. The previous spending plan, according to the Legislature’s budget office, will total close to $5.5 billion by the time the books close on June 30. The new budget, including a bunch of "off-budget" items, comes to just over $6 billion. That’s nine percent growth.

Well, paddle my rear, and call me Spanky.

It’s obvious Baldacci’s alleged cap on state spending is meaningless, since there’s no penalty for exceeding its limits. While passing a law calling for budget busters to be publicly flogged might offer beleaguered taxpayers some satisfaction, there are probably a sufficient number of masochists in the Legislature to continue approving excessive spending plans indefinitely. (Ooo, whip me some more, I like it.)

A few Republicans have attempted to rectify the problem by proposing a people’s veto of the $450 million in borrowing in the new budget. To do that, they’ll have to collect nearly 51,000 signatures by June 28 and win a referendum in November. Even if they accomplish that, they still won’t have done anything to prevent future governors and legislatures from ignoring the bottom (heh, heh) line and approving wasteful (heh) spending.

It’s obvious this state needs a more anal-retentive approach to budgeting.

Such as a spending cap that’s part of the state Constitution, one that can’t be overridden except in emergencies or when there’s broad public consensus to do so. Unfortunately, Maine’s Constitution can’t be amended by citizen-initiated referendum. Only the Legislature can start the process, and you can bet your gluteus maximus that isn’t going to happen.

That leaves activist Mary Adams of Garland and her quixotic campaign for the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. If Adams can collect enough signatures by November, she’ll be able to place a strict spending cap on next year’s ballot. If approved by voters, it’ll be somewhat more difficult for politicians to ignore when drafting future budgets. To find out more, visit www.taxpayerbillofrights.com.

If the state budget process makes you feel like the butt of a bad joke, give Adams’s plan a try. At least it doesn’t makes asses of us all.

If you think I’m too cheeky, email me at ishmaelia@gwi.net