A new comic video-song out on the Web is making fun of both John Kerry and George Bush. After seeing mention of the hit video on the national news, we checked it out. It is funny, and should offend both sides pretty equally.

To the tune of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land” and in the style of “South Park,” it shows cartoon characters resembling Kerry and Bush singing and name-calling (You’re a “right-wing nut job,” “You’re dumber than a doorknob.” “You’re a liberal weiner” and “You’ve got more waffles than a House of Pancakes.”) In song, both insist, “This land will surely vote for me.”

The cartoon candidate video is the creation of brothers Gregg and Evan Spiridellis of Santa Monica, Calif., who said on MSNBC they are equal-opportunity offenders. Warning: Staunch Kerry and Bush supporters may be offended. It’s at: www.jibjab.com.

GOP: Maine numbers proof positive’ Bush tax cuts are working

The good news last week is that Maine’s most recent unemployment numbers show a better picture.

Maine’s June unemployment rate of 4.1 percent represents a drop of nearly a full percentage point compared to the same time last year, Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman said. The rate translates into 6,100 fewer unemployed people, and nearly all 7,000 jobs lost during the economic slowdown in 2001 had been regained. “It’s a good sign,” Fortman said.

Peter Cianchette, former Republican gubernatorial candidate now heading the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign in Maine, agreed. He credited the improvement to President Bush’s tax cuts.

“There are 6,300 more new jobs than a year ago, Cianchette said. Maine has seen good-paying jobs being added. “The hourly pay is increasing, unemployment is down and personal income is increasing,” Cianchette said. “The economic stimulus driving this is coming from the Bush tax cuts and Bush tax policy. … Clearly nothing is being done at the state level to stimulate economic growth. This is proof positive” the tax cuts are working, he said.

Democrats: Bush hasn’t delivered on jobs

Larry Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute, disagreed.

While Maine jobs have grown, they haven’t kept pace with the higher number of Mainers – high school and college graduates – looking for work, he said. And the Bush tax cuts were supposed to create 5.5 million jobs nationally and 12,000 in Maine, he said. The president has only delivered about half the jobs he promised, Mishel said. “Their tax cut strategy hasn’t been working.” And Maine is continuing to lose manufacturing jobs, jobs that typically pay well and offer health coverage, he said.

Not only have jobs not grown as Bush promised, members of the middle class are being squeezed tighter, said Jesse Derris, spokesman for the John Kerry campaign in Maine. Corporate profits are growing while wages are declining. Derris backed that statement with a July 1 Wall Street Journal story that said the slice of the national economy pie going to wages is lower than it has been since 1966, while corporate profits are the highest since 1947.

Campaign: Vote attempts to circumvent property tax cap

A shield against the tax cap?

Despite opposition from residents, at a July 19 public hearing South Portland’s City Council voted 5-2 to place a charter amendment on the Nov. 2 ballot that aims to protect the city from a proposed statewide 1 percent tax cap.

If the tax cap passes statewide, if South Portland residents reject the tax cap, if South Portland residents approve the charter amendment and if the charter amendment is legal, it appears the actions will shield the city from having to abide by the tax cap.

The vote has riled supporters of the tax cap, who said it is debatable whether a local law can supersede state law.

“Clearly government leaders in South Portland and across the state are out of touch with the overburdened taxpayers they represent,” Eric Cianchette of Tax Cap Yes! said in a press release. “Tens of thousands of Mainers across the state signed petitions to put the property tax cap on the ballot, taking the matter of tax relief into their own hands. Our government leaders and politicians still do not get it.” (Eric Cianchette is Peter Cianchette’s cousin. Maine’s a small state.)

The referendum, initiated by Topsham’s Carol Palesky and her Maine Taxpayers Action Network, will ask voters on Nov. 2 if they want to limit property taxes to 1 percent of a property’s assessed value, plus local debt. The initiative also limits property value increases to no more than 2 percent a year.

— By staff writer Bonnie Washuk

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