There are many unfair and inappropriate aspects of the tax bills that the House and Senate are trying to reconcile.

A major one is the canceling of the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act. The individual mandate is not a tax – it is an assurance that the adults in our country will take some responsibility for their own health care. The difference I see between the required auto liability insurance and the individual mandate is that we don’t immediately see the impact when the uninsured “crash” into our health care costs in the ER. The mandate is a fair law and should stay in force.

And why would we sully the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by drilling for oil there when both OPEC and non-OPEC countries are cutting production to prevent an oil glut? The World Bank announced Tuesday that after 2019, they will no longer finance this type of project.

There are many other negative pieces in these laws – adding to the deficit, penalizing nonprofits and on and on. Yes, our tax laws need updating, but not in this unfair, uninformed, hurried way.

Not many people get a second chance to do the right thing but here is one for Sen. Susan Collins, and I ask her: Please vote “no” on this bill.

Kathryn “Ki” Leffler

Kennebunkport


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.