Category Candidates

Jul 3 2013

Pride and Accomplishment

 

 

When much ado and public pomposity ensues, there is usually a liberal behind it.  So has been the case in the resurrection of the remnants of Roger Katz and the Pretentious Eight.  Senator Katz has made his name and call to fame by publicly disparaging the Governor and undermining the efforts of the Republican Party to protect the people of Maine from burdensome tax increases.  It seems the “Honorable” Senator from Augusta gets the shivers every time the Governor gets grumpy.

Yes, the Governor’s words were uncalled for.  We know that.  He knows that.  But lets compare the records of these two men – their accomplishments and what they take pride in:

It is well documented that the Governor has a street fighter’s mentality.  He has a tenacity and rough edge that is born from the sidewalks and alleys of Waterville and Lewiston.  It has served him well as he has scrapped his way up through the business ranks to now be the Executive of the State of Maine.

When he held the majority, he passed many sweeping reforms in Maine.  He enacted the largest tax cut in Maine’s history, cutting $150 million in the first 2 years and $500 million over 4 years.  He removed 70, 000 of Maine’s lowest income families from the tax rolls, increased the death tax exemption, and allotted $31 million to relieve the tax burden on job creators.

He paid $248 million to the hospitals on the huge debt owed them by the State.  He passed LD 1 and reformed Maine’s dysfunctional regulatory system.  He reformed health care insurance, allowing competition across state lines.

Now with a minority, he has held the line on tax increases and government overreaches by sustaining some 18 vetoes of the Democrats.  He has stood his ground against Justin Alfond and the Democrat majority and forced them to pay the hospital debt.

Roger Katz comes from an entrenched Democrat political family in Augusta.  He has gained some notoriety from publicly criticizing the Governor’s crusty personality.  Perhaps Mr. Katz operates a finishing school that he would like the Governor to attend.

Senator Katz is known in Augusta as the one Republican that the Democrats can rely on to help circumvent Republican tax reform attempts.  His latest accomplishment is organizing a betrayal of Maine residents by helping to pass a Democrat purposed budget that increases taxes on Maine people, despite the veto of the Governor, then writing an editorial touting it as a victory, while railing against the Governor, again.  Roger Katz is consistent if nothing else.

What Mr. Katz has done is deepen the divide between the Northern and Southern Maine interests.  Rural Maine can no longer sustain the “marginal” tax increases that Mr. Katz advocates.  It’s just a matter of time before its small businesses and its tenuous fiscal structure become insolvent.

But it doesn’t matter to the “Honorable” Mr. Katz.  He has a political coup for his resume and he lives in Augusta, buried in the political machine.  There he will stay, sipping the nectar of the tax revenue his maneuverings have procured.

Their perspectives are completely the opposite.  Their accomplishments speak for themselves.  The Governor believes in the people.  The Senator believes in government.  Each takes pride in defending their beliefs.  Still, in the end, it is We The People who pay the price and who must decide whose accomplishments we take pride in.

Apr 24 2013

Sucker Punch

The Maine people were lulled to sleep and then awakened to a startling barrage of attacks, which now has proven to be a distraction.  We the people of Maine watched the Democrats in Augusta with perplexed looks of consternation.  We scratched our heads in confusion as they passed bills on beer, tanning and sent bills to ban flea collars to committee.  It seemed for a while that Justin Alfond was content with political tiddly winks and spinning his fiscal wheels deeper in to ruin.

Then tragedy, horror at the Boston Marathon, a crisis to be exploited and suddenly we as Maine residents were awakened from our Alfond induced stupor to the heavy artillery of Democrats, a bevy of legislative bills to limit and rescind our 2nd amendment rights. Bi-partisan uproar has ensued, with Republican and Democrat voters up in arms over this assault.  But was this the true intent of the Democrat Party?

While Maine voters have been busily defending the 2nd Amendment, Maine Democrats have introduced tax increases that are across the board, and especially hurtful to the middle class.  Yes, it is a collective sucker punch into the gut of a Maine economy that was struggling to recover and now has hit a stall, threatening a free fall.

To further compound the impending fiscal doom, the Alfond Democrats have enacted LD 405, which will increase motor vehicle registration costs by 50 to 67% costing Maine taxpayers an additional 3 million dollars every year.  Obviously Justin Alfond and his merry band of “Demotaxers” feel that you have too much extra cash lying around and they want it, to stimulate their economies by devastating yours.

Perhaps it is time to ask Maine Democrats what they have against the residents of Maine?  How can an economy grow if it has less and less private capital to invest in it? When did the security of political interests start to supersede the security of people they purport to represent?

Governor Lepage will now have to draw a line in the sand in order to protect the interests of Maine people.  And Maine people should line up in support of him now and then at voting booth.

Dec 3 2012

Contrition Begets Wisdom

Last Saturday the Maine Republican Party convened its first State Committee meeting since their disastrous election this past November.  The Committee elected Richard Cebra and Beth O’Conner as State Chair and Vice-Chair respectively.  Charles Maharelis was reelected Secretary, while Ben Lombard was voted Treasurer.  This rather benign announcement belies the monumental step the Maine Republican Party has taken this past weekend.

This columnist has tried to avoid writing about the Republican Committee. First, as much of their deliberations are tactic oriented and meant to be confidential to the committee, I have made a promise to keep them as such, and I take my promises seriously. Second, the Committee for the past year and half has been in such disarray, filled with so much mudslinging, backbiting, paranoia and narcissism that not much orientation of tactics had been accomplished, which was evident in the polls.  Quite frankly, the Maine Republican State Committee was too embarrassing to write about.

The grand wizards of punditry have pontificated ad nauseum to the whys and the wherefores regarding the failures of the Maine Republican Party and its expected demise.  There is a straightforward, clear and honest explanation to the GOP failure and it is reflective of the straightforward, clear and honest Maine people that voted them out of power.  The Maine Republican Party humiliated the people of their State and the people punished them in the polls.

The Maine Conservative Voice has long held the opinion that Maine residents hold Republicans on a much shorter leash than the Democrats.  They know full well the dishonesty and deceit of Democrats and have come to expect no more and no less.  But they expect more of Republicans because we stand for more, and then… never deliver.

While Maine Republicans had great accomplishments in these past two years, it was lost in the unbridled zealotry and bickering, which exploded onto the public at the Maine Republican Convention in Augusta.  Maine residents prefer to be left to themselves, away from public scrutiny.  In short, they don’t like the national spotlight, especially when it comes wrapped in the scorn and ridicule of the nation from the public spectacle, which was the Maine Republican Party.

So now the Republicans emerge painfully from the woodshed, with, hopefully, a new perspective.  It seems perhaps they are learning at least one lesson.  Maine people prefer to see a tight and tidy ship.  A good team presents a better picture of trustworthiness, than a thousand loud and strident voices, all vying for attention.

In the race for State Chair, the campaign seemed bound for more dissent and disaster as threats and insults whirled throughout the Internet.  There was even enough deceit and deception to make the Democrats proud.  But one leader stepped forward to make a difference.  Beth O’Conner stood before the State Committee body this past Saturday, and withdrew her name from contention, imploring her fellow Republicans to be unified for the sake of our beloved State.  Then Richard Cebra, in another strong act of leadership, stepped forward to embrace his opponent and continue his own call for unity.

So the question now remains, will the Republicans follow the example of their new leaders?  Will they heed the painful reminders in the woodshed on their backsides and give the people what they want?  Will they start to become that strong cohesive team that fights for the State of Maine and is not distracted by anything else?  Time will tell and we don’t have much of it.  So let’s get back to work, as a team, and Set Maine Free!