I read the lead story in the June 4 Maine Sunday Telegram (“Parents of special needs children place hopes in bill that would pay them as caregivers”) about proposals before the state Legislature to extend MaineCare coverage. These would allow for parents and family caregivers to receive payment for caring for their special needs children at home – out of taxpayer dollars. I hung my head in despair and disbelief.
These children need comprehensive care and are getting it. That is a parent’s role. To put their care on the backs of Maine taxpayers, who are already taxed into the next galaxy, is just wrong. The Maine taxpayer is, right now, so overburdened they can’t afford to take care of their own needs.
How do I know this? Have you driven into Portland or Biddeford lately and passed by the streets and streets full of old, broken-down tenement buildings? The Maine taxpayer lives there. Have you been served coffee or a burger at your local fast-food restaurant this week? The Maine taxpayer works there. Have you stood in line at the checkout while the person in front of you puts things back after the total has been tallied? The Maine taxpayer shops there.
The Maine taxpayer would like to move out of that tenement, get a nicer apartment or maybe a house. Why can’t they? Because the state of Maine has given away their futures and their children’s futures by taxing them to the hilt; by choosing for them what is most important. Why are the interests of the Maine taxpayer never considered? Who is their voice at the state Legislature?
Elizabeth Smith
Old Orchard Beach
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