For a fellow who gets beaten up regularly for his fiscal policy, a new report from the Cato Institute should burnish Gov. Baldacci’s reputation among conservatives.
It won’t. But it should.
Democrats, on the other hand, can point to the report with a mixture of pride and regret.
According to a score card released Tuesday, Baldacci received a B for his fiscal performance, placing him firmly in the top 10 performers at No. 7. He finds himself in some pretty conservative company: Republicans Craig Benson, former governor of New Hampshire; Bill Owens, Colorado; Judy Martz, Montana; and Mark Sanford, South Carolina. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, often called a moderate, scored the best in the country. Baldacci even scored a little better than Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida.
Cato, which is a conservative-libertarian think tank, used 15 measures to grade governors. Those who cut taxes and spending the most received the highest grades, the report says. Baldacci was graded on only the first part of his term, while others with longer records had more to answer for. His grade could slip before his term ends.
Along with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Baldacci’s “fiscally moderate” policies helped lift the average score for the rest of the Democrats who were graded.
Getting kudos from Cato is no guarantee that a governor is doing a good job. Tax and spending cuts are good, regardless of the effect on programs that provide important government services, Cato argues, because they boost economic activity and make the private sector more efficient.
Such reasoning ignores the human costs of cutting programs like MaineCare, lost economic activity when infrastructure deteriorates and the need to invest in research and education.
Baldacci is unlikely to get much credit from Republicans, who oppose the governor’s Dirigo Health initiative as another big-government, wasteful program. And he’s unlikely to get many pats on the back from some in his own party for the good score from Cato.
The most important judgment rests with voters, who will get a chance to make up their own minds next year when Baldacci seeks re-election.
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