Who’s to blame for higher prices, what it means for Maine families, and how to talk about it with your neighbors
Garrett Martin, president and CEO of the Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP), came back to Waldo County Dems on Sunday, October 11, for an afternoon at the Belfast Free Library and on Zoom. Those who came, in person and online, were glued to every word, and the room stayed fully engaged from start to finish. This time the topic was affordability, something Garrett noted we’re all living with every day. His goal was to give us the facts to explain why everything costs more when we talk with friends, neighbors, and voters in the final weeks before the election.
Garrett traced much of the squeeze on Maine households back to choices made in Washington. Since the war began, gas has climbed from under $3 a gallon to as high as $4.60, and heating oil is up about 80%. Tariffs are costing the average household about $1,100 a year, while the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s tax cuts deliver only about $350 to a typical family. That’s a net loss for most Mainers. Meanwhile, about $1 trillion of those tax cuts go to the top 1%, and the law cuts about $1 trillion from health care. An estimated 31,000 Mainers will lose their coverage as a result.
Among the topics discussed were:
- How the war, tariffs, and federal policy are driving up the cost of fuel, food, housing, and health care
- The One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s cuts to health care, nutrition assistance, and clean energy, and why rural Maine is hit hardest
- Why the Rural Health Transformation Program returns only about $1 for every $75 Maine providers lose
- What tariffs and immigration enforcement are costing Maine’s border communities and economy
- Corporations like Tesla paying no federal income tax, while CEO pay has grown from 25 times to about 300 times what the average worker earns
- Corporate consolidation, including four companies controlling 60% of the rural grocery market, and MECEP’s work on a state anti-monopoly bill
- How the fight for the federal income tax shows what’s possible when people organize
Garrett closed with a short history lesson. He explained how the income tax helped the Union win the Civil War and how ordinary people won the 16th Amendment despite opposition from John D. Rockefeller, then the richest man in the world. “The forces of the wealthy will always push back against anything that curtails their power,” he said. “The only thing that has been effective over our history in beating that back is when things get so bad that people understand what the solutions are, and they’re willing to stand shoulder to shoulder to get those solutions put into place. And that, I believe, is the moment we are in now.”
The Q&A that followed was one of the liveliest we’ve had, full of sharp, thoughtful questions. Members asked how federal funding for Maine compares with what other states receive and whether earmarks for buildings and fire trucks make up for cuts to food and health care. They also asked how to respond when Republicans blame Democrats for rising costs. One member raised a timely concern about people turning to unsafe heating methods this winter.
MECEP’s research and resources are free to everyone, and they depend on donations to keep doing this work. If you found Garrett’s presentation valuable, please consider making a tax-deductible gift to MECEP. WCDC is proud to support MECEP, and we hope you will too.
Thank you, Garrett, for another informative and inspiring afternoon!
More resources:
- The Squeeze: MECEP’s five-part series on what’s driving costs for Maine families, covering the war, tariffs, the tax code, corporate consolidation, and federal budget priorities
- Rising Costs: What’s to Blame?: a handy one-page summary
- Print-friendly PDF fact sheet: great to share or bring along when canvassing
- Garrett’s presentation slides [add link once received]
- MECEP Action: analysis related to the U.S. Senate and 2nd Congressional District races
- Garrett’s June 2025 presentation to WCDC on tax fairness
- Email list signup: stay connected with MECEP