If you ask Bill Becker, executive director of the Maine Heritage Policy Center (MHPC), to describe his organization, he’ll likely launch into one of his favorite chestnuts. As he told the Maine Ethics Commission on Oct. 31, MHPC is very much like the Margaret Chase Center at the University of Maine or the Muskie School of Public Policy. “Both are research and educational organizations as are we. They happen to be affiliated with a college or university. We happen not to be affiliated with a college or university,” he proclaimed.

This is not true. As the ethics commission staff noted after, MHPC’s “promotional aspectseems to put it in a different category” than such politically neutral organizations.

What’s more disturbing is how this distance between what Becker would have us believe and what is true is woven into the fabric of his group. This fundamental dishonesty has now brought it under scrutiny by the Maine Ethics Commission.

Beginning with its name, MHPC’s public persona is deliberately misleading. The think tank” concept is not native to Maine. Ronald Trowbridge, a nationally connected far right activist, imported it here. He founded MHPC while passing through a few years back. Somehow, Trowbridge gathered $158,419 in the first year for the unknown startup, hired Becker and a staff with it, then moved onto Texas. Wherever Trowbridge’s money came from there is little “Maine Heritage” in MHPC’s origins.

Even the term “think tank” is misleading. How much original thinking actually goes on at MHPC? Consider the oft-cited claim that it is the “author of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights” (TABOR). In fact, TABOR was developed years ago in Colorado. MHPC tailored it to suit the particulars of the Maine market while keeping the catchy name. So, rather than “author” TABOR, MHPC repackaged it and then provided marketing and public relations support for the Maine-branded version.

The authorship issue points directly to the fundamental dishonesty in MHPC’s activities – a relentless program of deception. Here, its supposed “authorship” created the false impression that TABOR was somehow a homegrown solution for, by and of the people of Maine.

Many voters would be surprised to learn that the TABOR campaign here was part of a national project funded by a few wealthy individuals to support their business interests. The many millions they invested was intended to deliver a return to them. The notion that this was some kind of a charitable benefit from them to ordinary people is a fraud.

The same con likely drives MHPC’s “health care reform initiatives.” What motivates its crusade against Maine’s Dirigo plan? Is it an honest interest in finding solutions to benefit ordinary people and businesses crushed by a broken private insurance scheme? Or is it a scam to prolong the agony by creating confusion to delay fundamental changes that must come? Knowing who is picking up the tab would make this clear.

Becker’s effort to confuse the public by glossing over the chasm that separates MHPC and honest public policy organizations has an insidious effect. It does worse than simply puff up public relations for MHPC. It clouds perception of resources that honestly inform public discussion and debate. It tells the lie that these offer little other than MHPC’s partisan propaganda.

A simple metaphor explains this destructive dynamic. Say a rich man and a beggar have their goods thrown together, then each scrambles to take from the common pot. The rich man will come away much the poorer, while the beggar has a bonanza.

Here, Becker tries to partake in the riches of the well-earned reputations of the Margaret Chase Center and the Muskie School. Whatever ill-gotten gains he grabs come at the cost of public trust in the impartial analysis they provide to inform public policy.

Now, the Maine Ethics Commission is charged to investigate MHPC because, as staff notes, “it does appear that the statements (made by MHPC testifying to the Commission) were not literally true.”

Under these circumstances, it is appropriate and necessary for the commission to invoke the full range of its investigatory powers by taking testimony under oath and by subpoenaing MHPC’s officers for much-needed documentation of its finances and activities.

This is the proper course for the commission to get to the truth about Becker and his organization and fulfill its obligations to the people of Maine.

Carl Lindemann, a longtime resident of Maine, is a self-employed writer living in Cedar Park, Texas. E-mail him at [email protected].