Feb 9 2015

Rocky Start?

This past election, Bruce Poliquin pulled off a stunning victory.  Most of the political pundits, both here in the State and nationwide, did not offer much hope of the former State Treasurer defeating Emily Cain and her running mate, Blaine Richardson.  Yet despite their combined efforts, Bruce Poliquin emerged victorious in impressive fashion.  But now he must legislate.

From a Conservative standpoint, Representative Poliquin has had a good start.  With a Pro-Life vote, a very public grilling of the Head of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and several strong statements in between, he has been developing a very strong conservative resume at the Federal level.  Still many of us were more than dismayed last week when Poliquin voted no on a test vote to repeal ObamaCare.

The news has caused an instant furor here in the State of Maine. Many are calling for his head, decrying his betrayal of the voters.  Blaine Richardson is one of the loudest voices reminding everyone that they could have voted for the Cain/Richardson ticket…because we all know that repealing ObamaCare would be first on Emily Cain’s list of things to do in Washington.  Bruce Poliquin has offered his explanation and, frankly, I believe him, at least for now, and here’s why.

First, there were numerous occasions on the campaign trail that I witnessed the then candidate Poliquin say that he would vote to repeal ObamaCare if there was a quality plan to remove it; in other words, an exit strategy. Any good businessman will tell you that to make a major change in business philosophy or direction, you better have a good exit plan.

Any decisions made in haste, passion, and in a vacuum with no strategy to control the damages of the possible repercussions will be disastrous.  Like it or not, this President committed us to a monstrosity of a health plan in hopes that if it stayed in existence long enough, the Nation could not function without it. Poliquin simply wants to make sure we have the right exit strategy in place that does not damage hardworking Americans any further.

Grandstand politics has always bothered me and both Parties are guilty of this.  Speeches and votes to gain political points, to garner public opinion and yet with no true solutions to back them up are so prevalent in modern day politics. The Republicans must show they are capable of providing a solution that will not only end this travesty of ObamaCare but also heal the damage it has done to our Nation.  It takes courage to challenge the grandstanding of your own Party and call for a true solution.

Secondly, Bruce Poliquin is willing to face the music.  He has come back to Maine to answer the people and explain his vote.  I can assure you, if he was pulling a fast one on Mainers, he wouldn’t be traveling all over this great State, looking people in the eye, and answering their questions.  He’d be hiding in the shadows of Washington like his predecessor, Mike Michaud, was fond of doing.

Imagine my surprise, when I received a phone call from Representative Poliquin.  Imagine my further surprise when he did not ask me to write on his behalf or try to help him, through my column, to persuade any that might be disparaging his integrity at this point.  He simply wanted my opinion and an opportunity to answer any questions I had.

I was very direct and frank.  I expressed my concern that his comments on “repeal and replace” sounded uncomfortably like just another Republican version of government run healthcare.  I told him I was not in favor of that and believed the right solution is a free-market solution.  Bruce Poliquin assured me in the strongest of terms that he absolutely believes that the solution to healthcare is in the free-market and not the government.

He also agreed with me when I told him he must continue to be open and transparent with the people of Maine on the why and how of his votes in Washington.  Nancy Pelosi has already indicated that Emily Cain is her pick to challenge Bruce in the next election. It is still unclear whether Pelosi has tapped Blaine Richardson to be Cain’s running mate again.  At any rate, Poliquin must maintain this open dialogue he has established with the voters of Maine, as it is inevitable he will be under a steady barrage of negative press from the Maine media.

While some are trying to say that Poliquin has gotten off to a rocky start in Washington, I am convinced to the contrary.  I believe he has kept his word.  Bruce Poliquin hates ObamaCare and its effect on our Nation. He will vote to end this sad chapter in our Nation’s history when the right course of repeal is presented in Washington.

Jan 26 2015

Belichick Must Apologize

Deflated footballI’m flummoxed, I’m flabbergasted, and I’m leafing through my thesaurus trying to find another word to continue the alliteration but still stunned by the recent accusations against my favorite football team and favorite coach.  These recent revelations have led me to believe that perhaps Bill Belichick has not been very forthcoming (tongue firmly in cheek).  So now that the Super Bowl has been aptly renamed the Inflata Bowl, I will attempt to gauge the impact this has on the Patriot fan base.

I generally try to write about Maine politics as I see it, but when these allegations surfaced, it took the air out of the room (I can’t help myself).  I had to put voice to my utter shock, put pen to my shattered worldview, and put type to my crushed perception of Professional Football.  Yes, things are not what they seemed.

Bill Belichick has lied to us.  The NFL is in a feeding frenzy against their favorite team to hate, the New England Patriots, but, unwittingly, the NFL has revealed that Bill’s lie is their lie.  Oh, the great masquerade of the gridiron has been once and for all exposed.

For so long we have lauded the game of football for its battle of complex strategies.  Landry, Lombardi, Shula, Walsh, and Belichick are immortalized for their mastery of the game, their attention to detail, and their innovation; yet, it was all a ruse.  Yes, the game of football, we now know is just a clever con job.

The Indianapolis Colts in their desperation to account for an embarrassing trip to the proverbial woodshed in Foxborough have spilled the crux of the truth, along with a little coaxing from the Baltimore Ravens, who will spite anything to hurt the Patriots (call it the Harbaugh Whine, when he doesn’t win he whines).  For all of us who believed football was about great coaching, great team and all the majesty of NFL Films, we were wrong.  It’s about air pressure.

Who knew?!  We do now!!  While Bill Belichick has passed himself off as some Palpatine evil mastermind of football, it was never about him in the first place.  It was always about the ball boys.  The truth is the success and failure of a football game hinge upon the inflation or deflation of the football.

Can you imagine the rage Bob Kraft is feeling right now?  He must now weigh the salaries that he has paid to coaches, assistant coaches, and players against that of a ball boy who can deftly manipulate the needle in a football.  Where was this information when he was building an empire? A football mastermind, when all you need is a football voodoo doll?

You think Bill knows?  I think he does.  The Colts know.  The Ravens know.  The whole NFL is up in arms about this.  It must be important!!  This can’t just be a crusade to smear the Patriots, could it? So, it must be what has caused teams to win regularly, and some to lose regularly.  Some teams just have better….ah…air pressure.

It must be of utmost importance.  We watched a Baltimore Raven beat his pregnant fiancé unconscious and drag her out of an elevator in front of security cameras.  The Ravens tried to cover it up, along with the NFL.  If Governor LePage hadn’t called them out, nobody would have said anything.  Even still, Ray Rice will probably play in the NFL next year.  Nobody said anything about banning the Ravens from the Super Bowl.  This air pressure thing must be big.

The Colts have the worst record for practice and player safety violations in the NFL.  Nobody said anything about that, much less banning them from the Super Bowl.  So is the NFL really about integrity or is just a bunch hot air?

Oct 29 2014

Maine can’t afford Emily Cain

By Bruce Poliquin, 10/28/14
Last week, this newspaper’s liberal editorial board endorsed my opponent, Emily Cain, to represent our 2nd Congressional District families in Washington.
This same editorial board endorsed Barack Obama, whose big government programs continue to overspend taxpayer dollars, pile on more debt, raise taxes and kill jobs. The BDN also supported Obamacare, which just caused another 3,300 Maine families to lose their health care plans.
The BDN cited Cain’s political preference to “engage — rather than attack — the opposing side.” The facts tell a different story.
During this congressional campaign, Cain and her agents have spent nearly $2 million on nasty TV ads and mailers personally attacking me. For weeks, they have attacked my successful professional career, which was earned with extremely hard work. They have even attacked my record of paying all property taxes in full (thousands of dollars), always.
Cain has also been untruthful about my unwavering support for our senior citizens.
I ask you, the voters, to consider my 35 years of job creation and, as state treasurer, my record of eliminating wasteful government spending and reducing debt that led to lower taxes and more jobs. Then, compare those achievements to Cain’s extreme big government liberal voting record that mirrors the job-killing policies of Obama and Nancy Pelosi.
The BDN editorial board said that Cain “feels no need to run away from or recast her decade-long record.” But, that’s exactly what she’s doing.
Cain says that she has worked to cut taxes. That’s simply not true. As the chief spokesperson and lead partisan for the liberal Democrats in the Maine House, Cain supported an extremely partisan agenda. She helped push through 102 new sales taxes. With little Republican support, she ushered through new taxes on car repairs, haircuts, movie tickets, and other goods and services. The next year, an outpouring of angry Mainers repealed Emily Cain’s 102 new taxes in a people’s referendum at the ballot box by the wide margin of 61 percent vs. 39 percent.
During the 2011 debate over Gov. Paul LePage’s first budget, Cain told the Portland Press Herald’s editorial board about her ability to water down the income tax cuts included in the budget. After the tax cuts passed, she told the editorial board how much she and her liberal allies “[hate] these tax cuts.” Now, running for Congress, Cain is trying to take credit for the tax cuts she “hated.” Voters are tired of this kind of political spin.
Last year, Cain helped ram through another sales tax increase on Maine’s working poor. Because of her misguided efforts, today, our families pay a 10 percent higher sales tax when buying a new winter coat for their kids. Moms and dads pay a 14 percent higher meals tax increase when they celebrate their son’s or daughter’s birthday with a restaurant pizza dinner. That’s just not fair.
The Bangor Daily News praised Cain for her “prudent use of state resources to promote economic growth.” The facts don’t bear that out.
During her ten years in the state Legislature, Cain voted repeatedly to expand welfare to able-bodied childless adults while thousands of disabled and elderly sick fellow Mainers were stuck on waiting lists to receive help. That misuse of limited resources resulted in nearly $500 million owed to our hospitals when Augusta simply decided not to pay them for the services provided to the expanded number of welfare beneficiaries.
Contrary to the BDN’s views, these imprudent fiscal votes by Cain have helped to kill Maine jobs and drive away our young families. Similar irresponsible behavior in Washington has resulted in our $17 trillion national debt. Maine can’t afford Cain’s voting record of reckless overspending in Congress.
The person who represents our 2nd District families in Congress should share their values. I was born and raised in a working class Franco-American family right here in central Maine, and so were my parents and grandparents. I scrubbed toilets to work my way through college. For 35 years, I helped grow the economy and create jobs.
I’ve been endorsed by LePage and Sen. Susan Collins. I’ve also been endorsed by the NRA.
Cain is from New Jersey. She has no experience creating jobs and has voted against Maine small businesses nearly 70 percent of the time. She would be a rubber stamp to continue Obama’s extreme liberal policies that don’t work.
And, Cain has a D+ rating from the NRA.
I ask for your vote on Nov. 4. I’ll work hard and do what’s right in Congress. I’ll fight for Maine’s families and small businesses. I won’t let you down.
Bruce Poliquin is the Republican candidate for the U.S. House from Maine’s 2nd District. He is a former state treasurer.
Oct 23 2014

Masquerade: The Reveal

The Masquerade Ball or Party, whatever your flavor, invokes many iconic images. Depending on your experiences with such revelry, these images may trigger varying emotions. For a backwoods country bumpkin like me, who has never been to a ball, masquerade or no, these images mean nothing.

Still, for those who partake, I have heard that the highlight of a masquerade party is the reveal. Depending on what lies beneath the mask, the unveiling can either generate a certain thrill or dose of disappointment. This is what we find in this year’s election cycle.

Both Mike Michaud and Emily Cain have reveled in their own political masquerade for many years now. Both are now trying to increase their prominence and garner the increased interest of party goers in the political promenade, but the harsh glare of scrutiny, on a bigger stage, has demanded the reveal far sooner than either would like. No longer can they simply glide in the shadows of their own hidden world.

Mike Michaud’s most recent false attack ad just highlights a pattern of dishonesty the Congressman has been able to mask, while hiding in obscurity in Washington D.C. The ad is simply a rehash of an MEA attack ad that was run during the Governor’s first term. So egregiously did the ad misrepresent the facts, that even the Bangor Daily News was obliged to run an editorial refuting the ad and rebuking the creators of it for taking the Governor’s words out of context. The mask has come off.

Michaud claims he is the only one who can work across party lines, yet many remember that when he served in the Maine State Senate as John Martin’s right hand man, they were known as one of the most partisan and ruthless political duos in Maine history. In contrast, a strong majority of the bills Governor LePage has signed into law in this past legislative session, were sponsored by Democrats. Something in Mike Michaud’s narrative doesn’t ring true.

Mr. Michaud also ran an ad with an interview of an “out of work” Maine man. The only problem was- the man wasn’t out of work. When the man was interviewed, he admitted the farce and said he had been told to sign a waiver, so that the campaign could use his interview any way they liked.

Michaud has run ads making false claims about the tax cuts. He now claims that he fixed the Veterans Administration, while we all watched horrified as our heroes died in waiting rooms. What did he fix?

Amazingly, he promoted a music video describing Senator Collins as committing lewd acts

and refused to fire a campaign staffer, who made lewd and disgusting attacks on women. Michaud even attacked First Lady Ann Lepage, mocking her many years of work for the veterans of the State of Maine. Not quite the guy we thought he was, is he? Still think he is one of us?

Then there is the sweet and kindly Emily Cain, or so we thought. Emily Cain has run one of the most negative campaigns in Maine history, which has backfired on her. Again, even the Bangor Daily News has admonished her for the negative and deceptive ads, citing them as the reasons for her precipitous drop in the polls. The Daily admits that Bruce Poliquin has run a much more positive campaign focused on less debt and more jobs.

Cain’s only hope is that the allegiance she has formed with Blaine Richardson, who is polling at 3%, will be enough to thwart the wishes of the voters of CD2. This woman, who has never held a private sector job, who voted to force children to have mandatory weigh-ins at school, has only her own interests in mind and none of the peoples. It’s amazing what you see once you pull the mask off.