When this column goes to print, the fate of LD 1333 will have been decided in some way or another.  As it stands at this point, Republicans have the votes in the Senate to pass this necessary and monumental health insurance reform.  This means that as of May 16, 2011 Mainers should be able to buy a health insurance policy customized to their needs instead of a one-size fits all plan.  A male in the state of Maine will no longer be required to carry maternity leave and, I have to say, I’m positively giddy about that.  Men will no longer have to deal with the emotional frustration of facing those insurmountable obstacles to qualify in order to utilize this portion of their health plan.  Happy days are here again!

This is in no way a done deal.  The weak-kneed moderate wing of the Republican Party has a tendency to run cowering into the corner every time the Democrats throw a temper tantrum.  May 17, 2011 will give an interesting revelation to the ability of leadership to lead.

The Democrats have been entertaining, to say the least.  This columnist has read with interest the many…well…lies that the left has been spewing out through the media.  It’s ironic that LD 1333 was modeled after legislation put forth by a Democrat, but since it’s Republican now, to the Party of “No”, it can’t be good.  They have offered some compelling arguments, none of which are grounded in fact, but who needs facts when you have the Maine media.  This columnist has stated on many occasions that the major plank on the Democrat’s platform is lies, deceit and diversion.  After the latest behavior of the Party whose symbol is an ass, I stand corrected.  Lies, deceit and diversion are not merely a plank; it is their whole support system.  So here are the support beams.

Lie #1:  This law would deny coverage to cancer survivors due to “pre-existing conditions”.

Fact:  LD 1333 clearly forbids insurance carriers from denying coverage.

Lie #2:  It will force cancer survivors to pay higher rates for health insurance.

Fact:  LD 1333 is based on strategies from other States that have already proven to lower costs for every one including the sick or elderly.  This law maintains current Maine law, which forbids different premiums based on health.

Lie #3:  Requires patients in rural areas to seek care in urban areas.

Fact:  Remember, Rule 850, this law simply removes constraints and allows patients to choose where they want to receive care.  This gives Mainers an opportunity to lower care costs.  There are no geographical mandates in LD 1333.

Lie #4:  more uninsured cancer survivors

Fact:  By lowering premiums, more people can afford their own healthcare plans.  It is called simple math.

Lie #5: less access to cancer treatment

Fact:  The removal of geographical restrictions and lowering the premiums means more access….that….is ….simple math again.

Lie #6: unreasonable rates for health insurance

Fact:  This legislation is based upon the Idaho model.  In a comparison of the same health plan, a 40-year-old Maine man pays almost $900 while an Idaho male pays just over $200.  By the Maine Bureau of Insurance’s own analysis, this plan will result in a reduction of premiums across the board.  Did I mention simple math?

The greater question that remains is this; how is it that such blatant lies can be foisted upon the residents of this great State without question or encumbrance to their validity?  Is it because the media of Maine, which purports to be a fact-finding entity, is merely a propaganda puppet for leftist agendas?  These questions must be answered and addressed if there is to be any hope of a brighter future for Mainers.

It’s rumpled and wrinkled from forty years of over use, yet Democrats are determined to drag their tired, tattered cloak of fiscal policy out once again…tax the rich.  While Liberals can garner points for predictability and zealous adherence to dogma, the results of their forty-year tenure is not a lesson in productivity.  We have less rich to tax, more poor to redistribute to and not much wealth left to spread around.  But the Democrats are shining example of redundancy and once again they wield the “millionaire tax” heralding its financial curative powers.  Unfortunately for Maine, the amount of individuals whose income broke the million-dollar mark in the last decade has fluctuated from 400 to 750 people.  This means the millionaire tax “healing” money stream would have a varied flow of somewhere between zilch and not so much.

So how do we pay for the Democrat big government template with so few rich to tax?  What if poverty was the new wealthy?  Thanks to our liberal friends, Maine has a very low threshold for what is considered rich.  It’s around $20,000 and just under $40,000 for households.  Through that prism, I guess we’re all rich….who knew?  While Democrats manipulate definitions and look for more ways to increase taxes on a cash strapped State (that’s code for wealthy to Democrats), let’s look at the facts of Governor LePage’s budget proposal.

Tax relief; yes that is a concept, of $203 million across the board not just for the rich.  Well, I guess we’re all rich now, so tax relief for all of Maine’s “rich”.  Gas tax indexing will end in the second year.  Tax deductions and exemptions will be brought up to the federal level and bonus depreciation will help in job creation.

The Governor will increase education funding by $63 million.  It would seem the Governor has his priorities in order.  He is cutting back on frivolous things and concentrating on important things, a somewhat unique and foreign concept for Augusta.

Welfare will get some much-needed reform.  A common sense five-year limit will be set in place with the elimination of instant eligibility.  This is absolutely necessary to encourage lifestyle changes for those who have become accustomed to government as their primary provider.  This will also help to stem the flow of out of State opportunists who travel to Maine to capitalize on its exorbitant welfare system.  This has reached epidemic proportions.

Our pension system is now $4.3 billion in debt.  It is simply unsustainable.  We must make drastic changes now before our children are faced with ballooning out of control payments that destroy their livelihoods.

Democrats claim that a millionaires tax will save Maine, but they fail to acknowledge the devastation such a tax has had on the economies of other States.  Research by the Maine People Before Politics’ executive director Jason Savage shows that there are thirteen States who now impose a top marginal tax rate for higher income earners. These States are also responsible for 53% of the $112 billion in State deficits nationwide.  So for Democrats, not only is poverty the new wealthy but fiscal apocalypse is the new fiscal solvency.

There is a way we can help.  The aforementioned Maine People Before Politics has established a link that connects you directly to all the members of the Appropriations Committee that is debating the Governor’s budget.  The link is http://www.mainepeoplebeforepolitics.com/contact-the-joint-standing-committee-on-appropriations-and-financial-affairs/.  Please take the time to support the Governor and send a message to Augusta.

While others are playing word games, this Governor is working.  While some hide behind diversion and deception, this Governor is starkly honest.  Perhaps the Democrats should see to the job at hand rather than throwing temper tantrums such as desecrating memorials to Maine’s hallowed fallen heroes.

Winter has been reluctant to release its icy seasonal grip on Maine to Spring this year and gardeners, such as this columnist, have had to brave the elements at times to prepare our rows and beds for planting.  All winter long, the majority of North-Central Maine’s residents look forward with anticipation to the thawing of winter’s bonds and the opportunity to once again engage in the activities we all love so much here in Maine.  It’s time for the garden tools to reemerge.  The fishing rods and tackle to come clambering out of storage to ply the depths of these northern lakes in search of the one that got away or at least catch something that validates that whopping lie…er…I mean, “story” you told last year.   With shovels, rakes and wheelbarrows in tow, we march forward bravely to retake our lawns from all the “revelations” that appeared from beneath the melting snow.  (You’d think the dog could just walk a few feet more behind the bushes….or…. somewhere…out of respect…you know…really?  But I digress.)   Some of us are starting to get back to work, finally, despite Laura Fortman and a $60,000 taxpayer funded mural to herself….but, I digress….again.  All in all, it would seem there is a collective sigh of relief that this winter is finally over.  Now, if we could just get these recurring snow squalls to cut it out, we could complete the thawing process.

But not everybody is so thrilled to see Piscataquis, Somerset, Penobscot and Aroostook residents began to stretch the long dormant joints of industry again.  You see, for some, this is a dark foreboding of terrible things in store.  With every clump of sod that a spade turns, mother earth is wounded.  With every limb trimmed from a tree, she screams from the brutal torture.  The Bio-Diversity is immeasurably shaken from increased automobile traffic from those humans working, wounding the bio-sphere along with the inevitable up tick in bovine flatulence as much of the dairy cattle are liberated from their winter stalls.  Which begs the question, why do cows get picked on for their emission issues?  What about equine flatulence?  Have you ever been stuck in a stall with a horse when it….yeah?  How come Trigger gets a pass on the flatulence tax?  The cow flatulence tax bill must have died in committee… or… did the committee die when the herd of cattle was brought into chambers to study the impact their emission problems had on the environment.  I’m sure the committee was floored by the revelations.

Yes, I’m mocking the Bio-Diversity crowd.  Some of you might be wondering why I’m fixated on a treaty from 1992.  The United States refused to sign on.  It’s over, right?  Weeeeelll, not really.  The United Nations is making another run at it.  The President in 1992, although liberal, had a semblance of respect for the American political system.  This President has no respect for the checks and balances of our democracy.  This is Bio-Diversity’s big chance.

But we have a Republican majority in Augusta.  They wouldn’t allow this, right?  Weeell, not really.  You see there are some moderate to liberal legislators in the Republican Party who capitalized on, yes used, the Tea Party fervor to gain power, but have been unwilling to sever their allegiances to the Democrat Party and tether them to the secure mooring of the people of Maine.  Senator Katz and the Liberal Eight thought it better to write an op-ed admonishing the Governor to attend finishing school rather than do the people’s business.  Now, instead of helping to promote the Governor’s budget, Senator Katz is promoting a bill, which would reduce the size of the House of Representatives.  Now which parts of Maine do you think liberals would prefer to not get representation?  Hmmm….I have a map from that 1992 Bio-Diversity treaty and guess which parts of Maine have to be purged of  “ignorant humans”?  Yeah, all of Piscataquis, Somerset, Washington and, parts of, Aroostook counties.  I’m sure there is no connection.  There is a large portion of the political elite class who thinks that these parts of Maine should be made into one big park and chucks all us “ignorant humans” out so that the “wiser humans” can heal this land.  Is it connected?  Probably not intentionally, I hope not.

So how do we stop this nonsense?  First we call our legislators and tell them to kill LD40.  Then, we work to bring power back to the local level.

Representative Paul Davis has a bill that will give the power to govern the land use regulatory issues back to County Commissioners.   This bill is simply common sense, the application of which has come to be viewed by Democrats and moderate Republicans as an abhorrent and deviant practice.  It is local officials who can best govern their own counties.  Let’s tell Augusta that local authority is the best authority.