Because Maine governors serve for four years, Paul LePage is secure in the Blaine House until 2014.
LePage’s interview with a reporter in Vermont demonstrates he is, at best, a loose cannon. At worst . . . I guess I'll leave that to those better qualified to figure out what, if anything, is going on in his head.
So, Maine will have to endure two more years of being the nation's laughingstock. LePage will likely continue to create jaw-dropping headlines and provide fodder for late night television comics. Putting a positive spin on it, we share the embarrassment with New Jersey and Texas.
But, there is a way for Mainers to right the ship. It involves doing what, for some, has been unthinkable in their families since 1860 — voting Democratic.
Fingers won't fall off. The Democrats are no longer the party of the Confederacy and the Republicans are no longer the party of Lincoln. Voters can turn the Legislature blue and put the brakes on LePage and the Heritage Policy Foundation.
It's easy — in November, just vote for the candidate with the (D) beside his or her name, It's painless and, working together, we can stop Paul LePage's race back to the good old days of 1850 when men were men and everyone else knew their place.
Tony Nazar, Wilton
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Now Tony, I bet your flute
Now Tony, I bet your flute would be playing another tune if you supported the LaPage administration.
One man’s loose cannon is another man’s sniper. Funny how life works.
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For those people who didn't like the 20th century the solution appears to be to roll it back to the 19th. We need people with ideas to solve the problems of today instead of just tearing down everyone else's solutions. Some of those ideas won't work right away and some won't work at all but that doesn't mean the solution is to obstruct all ideas and undo all progress that has occurred in the past. A community is like a child. It will thrive with a lot of care and a certain level of neglect. What we are getting is people who want all care and others who want all neglect. Someone asked recently re the new ballfield "Is it a want or a need?" Too many people are putting the "wants" of their greed, ideologies, political parties and egos ahead of the needs of their community.
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The problem is who defines what a community needs? Many of the community needs I see as just special interest greed.
A good example is those people who want to care for others always try to use the force of government to extract more money from my wallet. Now multiply that by all the do-gooders who think the government should cater to many needs. Hence, enter stage left the concept of too many people in the wagon and too few to pull it.
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I hope I'm reading this wrong but it says to me" If somebody wants something I don't need then they are being greedy to need it.". That would be a little narrow minded. Maybe a little empathy therapy would be in order. As for the wagon, I think we agree. The governor keeps repeating (ad nauseum) that 50% of the people can't support 100 % of the people. Well I am reading things this week that seem to imply that Romney paid no income taxes in 2009 and that is why he won't release his tax returns. If that is the case and he and other 1% are dodging taxes to that extent then for sure some of those 50% who are not paying taxes should and those tax loopholes should be fixed. The soldier in Afghanistan is fighting for Romneys freedom as much as he's fighting for mine. Our tax dollars pay for the bullets and for his training and food. When tax cheats don't pay their share we don't take away the soldier's food and the bullets, we pass the cost on to those people who pay income tax re a paycheck. To me that's not only unpatriotic , it's stealing from those of us who have to pay more to make up the difference. Notice by the way that this week the farm bill and the defense budget are on the floor and there is not a whisper to be heard in Congress about the deficit.
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“If somebody wants something
I don't need then they are being greedy to need it."
In a good number of cases, I say yes. Let’s put a face on it. Farm subsidies, we don’t need to subsidize farmers, especially to not grow crops.
We all dodge taxes. Do you not take all legal deductions afforded to you? As far as I know, Romney did not break any law. He, like you and I, minimizes his tax liability.
He happens to have the resources to do it more skillfully; that is, minimize his tax liability. He id doing the same thing that you and I do. It sounds like you are a bit jealous that he is able to do it better than you or I.
Romney, as one man, has paid more in taxes that you or I could do in 10 lifetimes.
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AARRGHH!!!
It's time for democrats to walk the plank, get out of the way, and let LePage do his job. Is he a bit rough around the edges? Damn right. Dale Carnegie could fix that in two weeks. At least he's doing SOMETHING, unlike previous democrat administrations.
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Paul,
The previous administration did do something – spend lots of money Maine citizens could not afford.
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I thought I had more to say, but after reading his comments about the Harvard school report, I think leaving it at LePage is an idiot is about all the reply he deserves
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Hard to like, not easy to hate, unless one is a liberal, of course. They hate everything that isn't spelled L-I-B-E-R-A-L.
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There are plenty of reasons to hate him. He is abrasive and dismissive of those who disagree with him, and in the long run, he is counter-productive. The reason is that pissing off the other side will only serve to rally the opposition. Look how Obama's first 2 years lead to the tea party uprising.
So, by making an effort to piss off the other side, he's only insuring that he doesn't win re-election and that any changes he makes are only temporary.
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It is all a matter of perspective. To you, LaPage is abrasive. To others, he takes no sh** from the left.
It all maters on what side of the liberty tree your nuts fall.
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...LePage would probably embellish on his "Kiss my ***" or "Go to ****" statements for Mr. Carnegie. I AM THE GOVERNOR.
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No doubt, Dale would be in harm's way, but he gets well paid for that privilege.
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... the "straight party ticket" levers in the voting booth. It was a wonderful substitute for thought - all you had to know were two letters. Both sides used it until it was removed, for the sake of small D democracy.
Most Mainers voted Democratic for the past 40 years, for governor and especially for legislature, until very recently. Under that "leadership", the ship of state was foundering. The new captain, indeed with some rough edges, has righted the ship and is steering toward safer seas. To return to all Democratic (big D) government is a vote to do a 180 and head right back to the rocks.
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Mike - I'm older than you and have a Masters with a specialty in political science. I have given great thought to the evils of bullet voting and do not recommend it under normal circumstances. These are not normal circumstances.
I'll even concede there are some (R)'s are fine people who have more skill than the (D) they run against.
BUT - these same skilled (R)'s caucus with Republicans and to keep plum committee assignments, to be heard in the party, to e welcome in leadership's office, perhaps even to be elected to leadership - they must "obey." (D)'s tend to e the party that goes off in a half dozen directions at once - they'd make a lousy marching band. (R)'s OTH march in lock step. The result is that though the Gang of 8 met with LePage to get him to calm his demagoguery, when push comes to shove - they vote to sustain his cuts in both spending and the revenue stream. The result is what Grover Norquist - the libertarian's hero demands - less and less government.
That sounds wonderful to non thinkers like ultra conservative libertarians until the education test scores come out and the schools aren't doing that well, or the potholes in their street go unfilled season after season, or their hospital loses accreditation, or the military goes to war without armor for their soldiers or the vehicles they ride into battle on. Government does for society those things that don't generate profit, therefore don't attract business.
Please Mike - think beyond the fatness of your wallet. And when was the last time you and your acolytes ere voted for a Democrat (or even knew it is te DemocratIC Party, not the Rovian Democrat Party?
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Tony,
One does not need a Master’s degree in politics to observe that Government keeps coming back to the taxpayers for more revenue while on the other hand brazenly wastes money (i.e. GSA, CIA, NIST parities just to scratch the surface).
Why should I care when I see the public sector living well off the taxpayer when the taxpayer themselves struggle? Why should an individual enrich themselves of “public service”, where is the sacrifice to servicing the public?
Perhaps it would be a different story if government stuck to its core purpose, like maintaining roads.
Government, as it stands today, has exceeded its scope of control. In that sense, smaller government is better government.
There is a plethora of items that can be stricken from many state budgets that would not impact core services the government needs to provide, such as roads and education (also, data shows that more education dollars don’t necessarily equate to higher test scores).
Better living through small government
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Amen to that, Brother. Forty years of democrat control, including Baldacci, are exactly what caused LePage to inherent the mess he's been handed. democrats are not the solution; they are the problem.
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Paul,
Let’s make this non-partisan and say that Government is the problem; government creates many problems it later must attempt to fix.
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...did you just make that up????
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if you like it, go ahead and use it. 0O:-)
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