As Mainers go to the polls, I think it would be helpful to highlight what the Democratic Party of Maine now stands for, as written in the platform it adopted this June.

As a Democrat, I find many of the current positions of the party to be extreme. These examples illustrate my point. Quoted language is taken directly from the platform:

HOUSING:

“We will protect Mainers from extreme rent increases …”

Translation:

This calls for statewide rent control, which never works and always reduces the housing stock, as it deprives property owners of a fair rate of return on their investment. Housing prices skyrocketed during the Biden administration. This is the last thing we need.

LABOR:

“We oppose the establishment of … right to work laws …”

“Maine workers …, including public employees, must have the right to strike …”

“Everyone deserves … to earn fair wages and benefits, regardless of … ability …”

Translation:

Union shops everywhere; all employees are required to join a union and pay union dues. Public schools close, streets go unplowed and police and fire calls unanswered as public employees enjoy their new “right to strike.” Employers will be sued for terminating employees who lack the ability to do the job.

VOTING/IMMIGRATION:

“We welcome all new Mainers.”

“We firmly believe voting is a right for all …”

Translation:

Immigrants who entered the country illegally, and committed a crime in doing so, are welcome in Maine, and should be permitted to vote, which is a right “for all.”

CAMPAIGN FINANCE:

“We oppose the Citizens United decision that allowed corporations to make unlimited campaign contributions to elections. … We will support laws to get corporate money out of … our elections.”

Translation:

The Citizens United decision of the U.S. Supreme Court held that corporations were persons entitled to the protection of the First Amendment. That decision followed earlier cases that extended the same rights to labor unions, which the Democratic Party had advocated for decades. Democrats: labor bosses can spend millions to influence our elections, but business owners have no such rights.

ABORTION:

“No government should interfere in a woman’s decisions relating to her reproductive health, including abortion.”

Translation:

No government anywhere may restrict abortion in any manner, including abortions up to the moment of birth. Any woman may abort any fetus up the moment of birth for any reason or for no reason at all. All unborn children have no rights whatsoever.

SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE:

“We support fully funding Social Security and Medicare … We oppose any reductions in benefits.”

Translation:

Social Security becomes unable to fund existing benefits in 2033, and Medicare the same in 2031. The only way to put those programs on a sustainable path is to cut benefits, increase payroll taxes, or both. Democrats oppose any reduction in benefits, even for the young, generations not yet born or billionaires. That will require large increases in payroll taxes for all working Americans in less than seven years.

HEALTH CARE:

“We believe in a universal health care system so that monies will be spent on the health needs of patients and not on the complex administrations of insurance companies and the salaries of their executives.”

“We believe that quality health care … must include vision, hearing, dental, mental health, preventive treatment, and care for substance-use disorder.”

Translation:

Medicare for All; a health care system that is completely government run and financed, with all private insurers put out of business. To rephrase Barack Obama: “Even if you like your plan, you can’t keep your plan. Sorry.” The government, not your doctor, will decide what treatment you may have, when you may have it and, in fact, who your doctor is. Since Democrats also require that Medicare for All include all of the services cited above, Medicare and income taxes will need to increase dramatically to pay for it all. The federal government will bring as much efficiency and cost-effectiveness to the healthcare system as it has brought to the postal service, IRS and FEMA, for example.

The platform is 21 pages long, but these policies are representative of a party which believes that government is the solution to all problems and has become a captive of the radical left. Commonsense Mainers should think long and hard about whether this is the direction we should move our state.

Ronald Lebel of Auburn retired in 2020 after a 46-year career as a trial lawyer in Maine. He is a Democrat who has served as an elected Androscoggin County Commissioner, its chair, as chair of the Lewiston Zoning Board of Appeals, a member of the Lewiston Finance Committee, as chair of the LA Metro Chamber of Commerce and chair of its Business Advocacy Committee, as chair of the Auburn Charter Commission and as president of the Androscoggin County Bar Association. He was named Auburn Citizen of the Year by the Auburn Business Association.