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Thomas Coyle is managing partner at Bliss/Wellford LLC in Bangor and a former senior columnist at the Wall Street Journal.
Many Americans have been trained to see taxes as theft and government as corrupt. I believe that mindset isn’t just misguided — it’s dangerous. Functioning societies cost money. If we want clean water, safe roads, decent schools, reliable hospitals, and public systems that work, we have to stop pretending we can have them for free.
Maine is facing serious federal cutbacks, including the potential for tens of millions in reductions in health care funding. People have already lost their jobs. Services are shrinking. More of the burden is shifting to the state. We’re not alone — this is happening across the country. But we have a choice in how we respond.
We can treat this as a slow erosion and manage the decline. Or we can use it as a chance to reset our priorities. That means deciding what we’re willing to fund, what kind of state we want to live in, and whether we’re ready to pay for the systems we depend on.
Maine could help form a coalition of states committed to basic public investment and shared infrastructure — a kind of public-service union. Not for show, and not to send a message, but to make life work. States could coordinate on healthcare, negotiate better prices, invest in regional broadband and transit, and reinforce each other’s commitments to civil rights and public access.
Doing that will require tax increases. And that’s where the conversation usually stops — not because the math doesn’t work, but because many Americans have been taught not to care. They don’t want to pay for public services, period. Not because they’ve weighed the cost and found it lacking, but because they’ve absorbed the idea that taxes are a ripoff and public systems are someone else’s problem.
Maine is well positioned to show that it doesn’t have to be this way. We’re small enough to stay connected to our communities. We have a tradition of public-mindedness. And we’re already seeing newcomers who expect strong infrastructure and are willing to contribute to it.
We can say it clearly: This is a state where taxes pay for something. A place where government works because we make it work. If others want to live in places with lower taxes and fewer services, let them. We can build something better — not perfect, but stable, functional, and fair.
There’s no need for utopian plans or sweeping ideologies. Just competent maintenance of what matters: roads, hospitals, schools, water systems, broadband, safety nets, and basic dignity.
That alone would be a powerful model in today’s fractured national climate.
Maine has the chance to lead — not by being loud, but by being serious. If the federal government won’t fund a decent baseline of public life, then states that still believe in it need to step up and cooperate. Not to prove a point, but to keep things running.
We pay for what we value. If we want to live in a functioning society, we have to fund one. Let’s stop dancing around that truth. Let’s act on it.
