by Sen. Angus King 

 Shortly after President George W. Bush signed the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, just as the “Bush tax cuts” were kicking in for many Americans, I took a trip to a hardware store in Brunswick. I can’t remember the exact year (likely 2003 or 2004), and I can’t remember the purchase that prompted the trip. But what I do remember - like it was yesterday - is the conversation I had with the clerk who rang me up.