Three months after Gov. Paul LePage rolled out his tax plan, legislative Democrats finally presented theirs last week. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that there’s no distinctive theme or principles in the plan — nothing to distinguish it from the Republican philosophy, which on taxes is far better known.

Yes, the Democrats do differ from many of LePage’s specific points, but the whole effort accepts his premises and his framework for debate. It really amounts to “do a little less damage to the middle class,” rather than a positive vision for how the tax system can work for the party’s traditional constituency.

Take the income tax components. What we used to call the progressive income tax — about which more in a moment — is the bedrock of activist government. It is in essence why we have federal and state programs for health, education, housing and all the other things that make this country a more civilized and equitable place to live.

You can’t have things you don’t pay for. And without the income tax, we’d be back in the 19th century, in terms of what government can do.

Yet at least since Ronald Reagan’s day, Democrats, who still claim to believe in activist government, have been virtually silent as the income tax has been dismantled, brick by brick, first through excessive rate reductions, then by further sorties whenever a Republican administration takes power.

The Republicans understand this, and never fail to attack the income tax at every opportunity. Paul LePage’s assault, vowing to “eliminate” the income tax, is just the latest salvo. As a practical matter, this won’t happen – Maine won’t dismantle public schools, or boost the sales tax to 15 percent.

The Republicans know this. They just want to keep chipping away.

So what do Maine Democrats do? They accept the need for yet another reduction, on top of a $500 million tax cut in 2011, but just want to distribute it differently. They’re fine with dramatically expanding the sales tax to pay for it. The question is why.

When first enacted — and ratified 3-1 by Mainers responding to an attempt to repeal it — the state income tax was a model of fairness, even better than the federal tax. It had a progressive rate structure, starting at 2 percent of taxable income and rising to 10 percent for the highest incomes.

“Progressive” means that rates rise with income; those with the highest incomes pay a greater proportion. Over time, though, its progressive qualities have been frittered away.

Sales taxes are regressive, meaning they hit low-income people harder. So are property taxes, particularly in Maine, since so many people from all income groups own their own homes.

The income tax is the principal way we have of making taxes fairer. And, in a time of greater income inequality than any of us now alive have experienced, the progressive income tax is more necessary than ever. Inequality isn’t entirely caused by the decline of the progressive income tax, but it’s certainly become a whole lot worse as a result.

There are other problems with swapping sales taxes for income taxes no one seems to have considered. Few states have ever undertaken the kind of wholesale change Maine is contemplating.

If enacted, there will be thousands of new tax collectors in Maine — small businesses, from dog groomers to hair stylists, who’ve never collected taxes before, but now will become agents of the state. Maine Revenue Services may get five new employees to aid the changeover. Good luck with that.

But, particularly for Democrats, the question is why — why would we want to do this? The details are even more discouraging. Instead of a progressive rate structure, Democrats want to compress the tax brackets to three, from 6 percent to 8 percent. It’s practically a flat tax — another long-sought goal of Republicans who’ve resented progressive taxation for generations.

House Speaker Mark Eves unveiled the Democrats’ plan last week with the comment that it’s a bargaining position vs. the Republican plan. If so, it’s a lousy one.

Just about everything Maine has done on tax policy in the last three decades has raised the burden on those least able to pay, either directly — think cigarette taxes — or indirectly, with all those business tax breaks. The tax burden hasn’t increased overall; instead, it’s been pushed onto those for whom it really is a burden.

And if Democrats will no longer fight for the principle of equitable taxation, then it’s time to find someone who will.

Douglas Rooks has covered the State House for 30 years. He can be reached at drooks@tds.net

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