Blame the vain BY AL DIAMON

The Democrats are giving themselves a lot of credit for saving the taxpayers of this state from the devious fiscal manipulations of . . .

The Democrats.

"This [legislative] session was a clear victory for the people of Maine," Democratic Party chairman Pat Colwell told the Bangor Daily News, "preserving Maine’s reputation for fiscal restraint and protection of the health of its citizens. A victory delivered to them by the hard work of Democrats in the Legislature and the Blaine House."

The aforementioned denizen of the Blaine House, Governor John Baldacci, expressed similar sentiments in a statement issued after lawmakers passed a revised budget in the waning hours of the just-concluded legislative session. "We are continuing to put Maine’s fiscal house in order," Baldacci claimed.

Democratic House Speaker John Richardson praised his party for eliminating budget gimmicks originally introduced by his party. "Democrats supported the only responsible plan," he said.

In March, the Legislature, which is controlled by the Dems, passed a budget requiring $250 million in borrowing to cover current expenses. Donkey party honchos figured the average voter was too stupid to figure out that maneuver would create even more red ink in future budgets, forcing the state into a long-term cycle of deficit spending.

It turns out taxpayers weren’t as dumb as Democrats assumed. Angry constituents let their legislators know they’d caught on to this scam by expressing their disapproval, often employing the phrase, "I’m gonna vote against you next year, even if it means casting my ballot for a Hollywood-style weirdo with a predilection for sleeping naked with young children or the guy who thought up that obnoxious TV ad campaign for WBLM."

This scared rank-and-file Dems, who returned to Augusta to tell their leaders something had to be done about the borrowing. In the meantime, Republicans were cashing in on the public’s discontent by recruiting as many pedophiles and ad executives as they could to run for the Legislature in 2006. Also, the GOP organized a people’s veto campaign.

In short order, petitions seeking a referendum repealing the borrowing were circulating from Agamenticus to Wytopitlock and beyond. By early June, Democratic leaders were growing increasingly uneasy at the prospect of having their budget overturned by a vote of the outraged populace. To head off that possibility, they decided to do something.

Sorta.

The Dems replaced the budget borrowing with a mix of tax hikes on tobacco and what state Senator Elizabeth Mitchell of Vassalboro called "meaningful and deep cuts" in state spending. Here are some of the more "meaningful" ones:

The Dems claimed they could save $10 million by instituting managed care in the mental health system. Hardly anybody believes that, but Democrats figure they can cover the shortfall in 2006 with what they hope will be a surplus in state revenues. Of course, that wouldn’t make it a budget cut, anymore, but by then, maybe no one will notice.

The revised spending plan calls for cutting revenue sharing to cities and towns by $5 million in the second year of the budget. That’s a real cost reduction for the state. It’s also a real reduction in income for municipalities, income that will be replaced by raising property taxes.

Speaking of higher property taxes, towns will get $5.5 million less in reimbursement for land in the state’s Tree Growth program and $7.2 million less to cover the cost of the tax exemption on business equipment. That grinding sound you hear is the local mill rate being ratcheted up.

Then there’s the $5.2 million to be saved by delaying some school construction. Except construction costs are increasing at a rate that makes everything but ticket prices to Red Sox games look reasonable. So by the time the state gets around to paying for those new schools, it will cost lots more than if we did it now.

In other words, most of these spending cuts aren’t. They’re spending shifts. Or spending delays. Or creative bookkeeping. That didn’t stop Democratic state Representative Jeremy Fischer of Presque Isle from announcing during the budget debate that passage of the plan would "turn our good words about eliminating the borrowing package into good deeds."

The ink on the new budget was barely dry when Baldacci set out to proclaim to the people the wonderful accomplishments of the Democratic Party. "We’re seeing a steady increase in new jobs throughout the state in a variety of industry sectors," the governor announced at the opening of a new office building in Oakland on June 17. "[W]e are seeing clear signs that things are turning around."

That same day the state Department of Labor released new figures showing unemployment in Maine had jumped more than half a percentage point in the past year, reaching its highest level since December 2003.

That isn’t turnaround you’re talking about, governor.

It’s spin.

Keep me employed by emailing tips, comments, and questions to ishmaelia@gwi.net