Category Politics

Mar 19 2013

The Two Faces of Dexter

 

 

 

The Governor has experienced a partial victory in the battle over the hospital debt.  The Democrats have conceded that it is a good idea to pay back their debts.  In most circles, this would not be viewed as any great accomplishment, as most regard this declaration as everyday common sense.  But for the Justin Alfond Democrats, such a statement of even a small admittance of a need for responsibility has sent shock tremors through the very core of the Eastern Seaboard causing even “Punxsutawney Phil” to completely foul up his forecast.

Now we must realize these are baby steps for Democrats.  They still don’t want to pay the whole debt. Just a portion, then raise your taxes and promise to pay the rest off with the new the tax revenue.  I’m sure the hospitals of Maine are confident, in light of the past track record and Justin Alfond’s comments that we shouldn’t even pay the hospital debt, that the Democrats will keep their word.  If you believe that, I’ve got some other stuff I can sell you….

Yet to this we have come as a State and as a Nation: when the Democrats can have some smug satisfaction in a partial promise to pay a portion of their debt, nearly 40 years in the making, and Republicans find a victory in forcing Democrats to admit they must pay their debts.  This leaves many of the frugal Maine residents scratching their heads in dismay.  How can so many of those elected to represent Maine become so detached from the Maine they represent?  The answer may lie in the study of two political faces from a town called Dexter.

Justin Alfond grew up on Acadia Street in the affluent side of Dexter, when Dexter had an affluent side.  His family owned the famous Dexter Shoe Company.  The Alfond family sold Dexter Shoe to Warren Buffet and one of his conglomerates. Consequently, the company moved out of Dexter costing the small town some 1500 jobs.

Another political figure also has his roots in the little town of Dexter.  Paul Davis grew up on the corner of Lincoln and Water Street, which Dexter residents will tell you are a decidedly different part of town, the other side of the tracks, if you will, or, in the case of Dexter, the other side of the stream.  Paul Davis grew up learning the value of a hard earned dollar.  He also learned from experience how hard it is to keep a dollar and how devastating debt can be.

Now the lessons of thriftiness and frugality are not exclusive to poverty nor are they exclusive to wealth for that matter.   But as a wise man once said, “By their fruits you shall know them.”  And there is plenty of fruit from both these individuals to see the standards of their fundamental core.

Justin Alfond has most infamously stated that we should ignore the hospital debt and treat it as a “meaningful cut”. He has also led the Democrats in a dogged obstruction of the Governor hoping to keep him from paying the hospital debt.  Now they have capitulated to the Governor, but only in part, still maneuvering for an opportunity to raise taxes off the backs of Maine residents.  The only candidate that the Justin Alfond Democrats have put forward to run for Governor states that, since the 40 years of mandated regulatory hell that Augusta has placed on rural Maine has pushed many towns to “insolvency”, the answer is just to shut them down and move the people like cattle to more urban locals.  This smacks of young men, who are used to having someone else’s money covering the mistakes of their poor decisions.

On the other side of the stream, we have Paul Davis along with Ray Wallace, who grew up in the same part of town in Dexter, along with many other conservative Republicans who have held the line beside the Governor demanding that debts be paid.  This columnist knows from personal experience that Davis has a dim view of debt and has lived his life by the “owe no man anything” precept.  He refuses to purchase anything unless he can pay for it.  Wallace and many of his comrades share Paul Davis’ disdain of the slipshod accounting practices of the Alfond Democrats.  They stand along with the Governor with their backs to the edge desperately trying to hold Alfond and his Democrats from pushing Maine off into the fiscal abyss.

Maine people need to decide which face of Dexter they prefer to see to their State’s affairs.  The face of accountability, honesty and “pay as you go” approach to life that you see in Paul Davis and his allies, or the make promises, accumulate debt and then “cut and run” approach of Justin Alfond and his allies.  The edge for Maine inches closer, while the Governor, Paul Davis and their allies can only hold for so long.  We must lend our voices to theirs, for be assured, that if Maine falls over the edge, Alfond will not go with us.  He will cut and run.

Mar 6 2013

Mayor Bloomers and the Vacuum

 

 

The other night I stopped at a local variety store to pick up a pizza that my wife had ordered.  As I left the vehicle to enter the store, my wife requested that I grab a 2-liter soda while I was in there.  It occurred to me, as I perused through the cooler in search of one that “everyone would like”, (which is code for “don’t get Dr. Pepper because you’re the only one that drinks it”) that if I lived in the State of New York I would be engaging in a criminal activity.  Yes, the Empire State is living up to its name and by imperious order Mayor Bloomberg has decided that pizza coupled with a 2-liter soda is such a heinous combination that it should be outlawed in the Big Apple.  (It’s rumored that the Mayor contemplated banning the large nickname until he was assured that the “big apple” weighs less than 32 ounces.)  Thank God, I live in Northern Maine!

Bloomberg’s sidekick, Governor Cuomo, has enacted some of the toughest anti-gun laws in the nation.  He now has exempted Hollywood actors from his gun laws because we all know from watching the antics of Hollywood’s finest, that only they, not law abiding citizens, have the gravitas, mental stability and down home common sense to be entrusted with those bang-shooty thingys.  Enter Lindsey Lohan…yes, the Big Apple has got a worm in it and the Empire State has fallen to the dark side.  Another sigh of thanks that I live in Maine, a strong 2nd amendment State (just ask the Bangor Daily News).

But how, you may ask, can such tomfoolery in leadership go on unquestioned?  This dance of buffoons in New York is aided and abetted by the vacuum of silence, which is the media.  Much of the chicanery that is liberal politics can only function under the cloak of silence afforded to them by the deceit of the modern-day agenda-driven media.  They are well aware that common sense Americans have little tolerance for the idiocy-gone-to-seed behavior that many left wing politicians exhibit.  So they just don’t report it.

Take the latest jewel from the gift that keeps on giving, Justin Alfond, Maine’s version of Joe Biden.  He believes that Governor LePage’s biggest problem is that he is too truthful.  Or then there is the fact that the White House has decided to use the Portland Press Herald to send its communications to Governor LePage.  We knew the President has trouble balancing a budget, but no money for stamps? We do have problems.  Well, I’m sure the Herald can keep a secret, don’t you?  This has prompted the Governor to “advise” the President that, while they are aware that the U.S. Postal Service has some issues, it is still a preferred mail carrier over the Portland Press Herald.

Left-Wing politicians have enjoyed the cover of silence for so long they don’t know quite what to do when the cover is blown.  For so long when the few tried to warn the public about the shenanigans of these individuals, citizens were hard pressed to believe anyone could be so downright foolish.  It flies in the face of all facets of wisdom, and there was no verification from the yawning silence of the media….until now.  Some have grown tired of shirking their professional responsibilities and have begun to expose the poor behavior of these leaders, prompting severe backlash from even the White House.

The extreme measures of such imperious leaders as the ones in New York have caused a backlash from many of their constituents.  This provides a certain warning to all those who pride themselves in strong-arming the American public.  “Hang on to your ‘Bloombergs’ because you may have a revolution on your hands!”

Feb 26 2013

Stating The Obvious: Lies By Silence

 

 

“Why should Maine taxpayers, who are having a hard time keeping a roof over their head and food on the table, be subsidizing cars that are this expensive?”  Senator Doug Thomas raised this question in response to the latest tax break for the wealthy scheme by the Democrats.  Tax breaks for the wealthy, you ask, by the Democrats?  Yes, it is actually more the norm than you would think.

Republicans have long been labeled the Party for the rich because they believe in incentives for business to create wealth that in turn creates jobs.  Democrats also believe in creating wealth, their own at your expense. It’s bought and paid for by the American taxpayer.

That is why Maine Democrats have sponsored a bill that would give tax subsidies or tax breaks to people who buy electric cars.  And by their own admission, it is only the very rich that can afford these cars.  Yet the media is strangely silent when the Democrats cater to the rich.  Or the lies by silence when the President sells access to himself for $500,000 a person. So it begs the question, why?

Why, when the Democrats have done everything in their power to avoid paying the hospitals of Maine?  What have Democrats got against paying their bills?  Hospitals such as Eastern Maine Medical and Mayo Regional are staggering underneath a mountain of unpaid medical expenses, forced upon them by legislative mandates.  The Governor has come up with a plan to pay them off.  The Democrats’ counter plan is to do nothing.  They refuse to pay the hospitals and are trying to block or stall the Governor from implementing his plan, which would pay the debt to our medical institutions.  Why?

In the real world, if a strong man came to your community and forced a local institution to provide a service to your community at a loss of profit but promised to pay restitution to the institution for the service they were being forced to give in writing by legal contract, and then never paid that institution, yet continues to force that institution to provide that service at a loss.  What would that be considered?  A crime.  The Democrats have no intention of paying their contractual obligation to Maine hospitals, but while we’re on the subject of money and legislation, they would like to force you through legislation to buy their rich friends some electric cars.  Just another crime against the people of Maine.

Feb 19 2013

Stating The Obvious: A Shot In The Dark

 

 

Last week, we started a series on the lies by silence, the sins of omission, which runs rampant through the media of this State.  Right on cue, the Bangor Daily News was found embroiled in an information and misinformation campaign this past week.  The revelations that came from an over reach of freedoms came under the glaring light of public scrutiny when Maine residents became enraged at the revelations Bangor Daily News had abused the Freedom of Information Act.

The Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) is legislation, which allows any American to request information that is in the public record.  The caveat being that if the information is deemed to pose a threat to the well being of the citizenry the public entity can refuse on those grounds.  Often times when documents are released under FOIA, they will have portions blotted out because the information is too dangerous to be released.

This past week Bangor Daily News, citing FOIA, sent a letter to the Maine State Police and all the local town and city precincts demanding the names and addresses of all individuals who have Concealed Carry Weapons (CCW) permits be sent to their newspaper.  This ignited a firestorm of protest within the State and within two days Bangor Daily had rescinded their request.  Readers will recall a similar situation in New York where a paper posted a list and map of gun owners in their readership area.  Subsequently, robberies began to happen at the homes from the map targeting their guns.  The perpetrators were caught with the list and map in hand.

What is most curious is the explanation Bangor Daily gave for the inquiry into the CCW’s.  The editor attempted to calm the situation by citing the reasons as the pending legislation by Representative Cory Wilson (R), which would block access to the CCW list, and their ongoing investigation into sex offenders and drug dealers.  This leads this columnist to wonder how the paper expects the residents of Maine to have their anger pacified by the knowledge that those employed by the Bangor Daily equate gun ownership   with sex offenders, drug dealers or are at least trying to establish a connection and quickly before Rep. Wilson’s bill passes, most curious indeed.

As stated, Bangor Daily News has rescinded its request.  But a new group has issued a request immediately after Bangor Daily pulled its request, a group called CelebrationsConnect.  They are rumored to have ties to the Portland Press Herald.  A shadow group?  Plausible deniability? Just a shot in the dark but it smells.  At any rate, the battle against your privacy and safety is far from over.  The Governor has put forth emergency legislation that would block the media or any other organizations from getting to the CCW lists.  The roll call vote is set for the 19th of February.  Be assured that this columnist will let you know who votes for and who votes against your right to privacy and safety.

To this point, all the Republicans are on board in support of the Governor. The only statement from Democrats is one Seth Berry acknowledging Mainers are angry…..cue sound of crickets.  So I guess we know where this is going.

The Portland Press Herald made a clumsy attempt at a distraction from the issue by trying to attack the Governor for a $32,000 expense bill for the meals at the Blaine House.  What they forgot to include is this Governor has made it a point to entertain many of the military veterans, business people, and just plain hard working people in Maine making this the most accessible Blaine House perhaps in the history of the State of Maine.  Now the Portland Press Herald is hastily trying to wipe the proverbial egg off of their collective faces.  And, yes, they also forgot to mention that Governor Baldacci had at least eight aides who did…well, nobody knows what they did, but they did whatever they did to the tune of a $100,000 a year.  I can guarantee the Blaine House was not so accessible to the taxpayers footing that bill during that administration.  Stay tuned!  More to come!