I would like to take Michael Tanner’s argument one step further (“No Taxes, Please, We’re Democrats,” PostScript, Jan. 17).

This agreement to not tax the health benefits of plans from collectively bargained contracts was an attempt to influence the outcome of the election in Massachusetts.

The Democrats thought filling the Senate seat held by Ted Kennedy would be no contest, but they failed to realize what kind of candidate the Republicans had in Scott Brown. What happened to the notion of our duly elected officials representing their constituents, versus shoving a hastily conceived, unpopular bill down our throats just to get it done?

Democrats seem more concerned with the political victory of passage rather than the ramifications we all have to live with once the victory party is over.

Sam Myers, Sag Harbor