The governor and legislative majority in Maine and in the U.S. Congress have promoted giving tax breaks to business to encourage job development.

Studies have shown that large businesses are sitting on a great deal of cash; they could develop jobs now if they wanted. Lack of money is not the problem.

The problem is the money is concentrated in the very small percentage of the people who are buying or investing overseas in significant amounts. Most of us don’t have the money to buy and stimulate the economy.

Business has to have customers waiting or there is no incentive to hire and create more product. Putting buying power into the hands of prospective customers works.

I remember many years ago as a working widow with two children, I paid more taxes than the president, Richard Nixon. He had a battery of lawyers to work the loopholes in the tax system.

Not much has changed. Do you wonder why I might believe Mitt Romney has good reason not to produce his back taxes for more than a year or two?

We have to get rid of those inequities. This is not class warfare; this is reversing the class warfare. The little guy has carried the country with pride and honor: it is time for the big guy to do his share.

Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins should do their part and support extending middle-class tax cuts, while allowing the high-end cuts to expire on schedule. That will do for now.

Marilyn Burgess

Leeds

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