Dear Editor:

Having allowed government to grow to monster size, we have produced a cadre of professional, lifetime politicians, most of whom ply their trade by periodically raising their constituents’ hopes of solving the latest problem. Once reconfirmed by the voters, they always follow the same method, dispensing huge amounts of tax money, passing laws that lead to restrictive regulations, then blaming those they regulate when things break down. The ruling class of politicians and bureaucrats we have been breeding for several decades benefits from bigger and bigger government. And the opposite side of that coin is, less liberty for individual citizens. (Shirley, Craig. Reagan Rising. New York: Harper Collins 2017: 99)

These comments were by Ronald Reagan in 1977. Has anything really changed in the past 40 years?

Edward J. Polewarczyk

Wiscasset