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Michael Cianchette is a Navy reservist who served in Afghanistan. He is in-house counsel to a number of businesses in southern Maine and was a chief counsel to former Gov. Paul LePage.
How old do you need to be to become a curmudgeon?
When my grandfather passed last year, I shared some of his stories in this paper. My opening question reminds me of another.
Back when he was a younger man, a salesman came out to see “the boss.” He went to the job trailer and asked the superintendent where he could find Ken Cianchette. The super pointed down to the far end of the site.
In my grandfather’s retelling, the salesman asked how he would know which man was Ken. The superintendent thought for a moment and responded, “well, he’s too young to be called eccentric.”
That story was followed by a hearty laugh. My grandfather wore the description with pride.
“Eccentric” is probably a bit more flattering than “curmudgeon.” But I feel like I am adopting the latter.
The Bangor Daily News’ opinion editors released their recommendations on how to vote on the ballot questions this fall. Their answers can be summed up in a single word: yes!
When it comes to Question 5 — the never-ending flag referendum — and Question 1, which seeks to limit political donations, I think their positions have merit.
But when it comes to the $65 million in debt spending on the ballot, we need a few more curmudgeons.
Question 2 asks whether Mainers should borrow $25 million for commercial research and development grants. Question 3 proposes borrowing $10 million for government and nonprofit historic renovations. Question 4 would take out loans worth $30 million for outdoor recreational trails.
In a vacuum, none of these are bad ideas. The BDN editorial board’s arguments in favor are generally well-reasoned.
But, to be curmudgeonly, we don’t live in a vacuum.
As state officials announced last month, Maine’s current projection of required spending in the next two-year budget is $11.7 billion. Divide by two and you get a bit more than $5.8 billion each year. And that is just in general fund spending.
So the $65 million in borrowing is about 1 percent of the current annual, albeit projected, spending.
Yet Maine’s projected spending exceeds our projected revenue by nearly $1 billion, the infamous “structural gap.” Divide by two again, mind the gap, and call it $500 million per year.
That same $65 million in debt equals about 13 percent of our current projected annual shortfall.
With all due respect to the BDN editorial board and the bonds’ supporters, I’m going to vote “no” on Questions 2, 3, and 4. Call me a curmudgeon.
Government finances are a boring topic. But when you’re already likely to be half a billion dollars in the hole, you should stop digging. That means not incurring new debt.
And if your household spends $50,000 annually, you probably shouldn’t finance a $500 purchase — 1 percent of your spending — over 10 years. Instead, you should find a way to reprioritize your budget.
Historic renovations, research and development, and recreational infrastructure are all worthwhile causes. But where do they rank against great roads, state police, emergency management, public health, agricultural support, and state welfare programs?
It is easy for politicians to punt hard decisions about priorities to another day. At the federal level, Democrats and Republicans alike do it all the time. That is why we are nearly $38 trillion in debt — and counting. It is unsustainable.
Yet, here in Maine, our Constitution requires a balanced budget. However, if the Legislature can get voters to approve a bond, they only need to deal with the payments.
There is nothing wrong with the ideas supported in Questions 2, 3, and 4. Call me a curmudgeon, but I think we should force the Legislature to do their jobs and prioritize their spending, instead of papering over problems with debt.
Maybe nowadays that idea is a bit eccentric, too.
