Sep 3 2013

Not a Raye of Hope for Kevin

Our Nation is a democracy, which is a representative form of government.  Acknowledging that there are differences in belief systems from region to region, we have divided our States and Counties up into districts to try and help elect a representative, who bests represents the needs and desires of that area.  Although flawed in some respects, that is the general idea.

So, one would think that a candidate running for election in a selected district would try to best show himself a good representation of that district.  Not so, for one career politician, who is running in the Republican primary for U.S. Congressional District Two.  This man seems to be confusing who is representing whom?

Kevin Raye recently announced his candidacy, again, for Congress in CD 2.  This will be his third attempt.  In the last Republican primary for CD 2, Raye was only able to muster 51% of the vote against a no-name first time candidate. Moreover, 13% decided neither candidate was worth voting for, stayed home and didn’t vote.  In only three counties, other than his own, was the former Senator able to garner more than 50% of the primary vote.  Not a good omen for a candidate who claimed he could win the general election.

In the general election, Raye fared worse in his second attempt than he did in his first, losing by a larger margin.  It seems name recognition did not work to the benefit of the State Senator from Washington County the second time around.  The more they saw of him, the less they liked him.  Kevin Raye lost every single county other than his own in the general election.  Yes, even the historical Republican bastion of Piscataquis County chose perennial wallflower Mike Michaud as a stronger candidate over Kevin Raye.  Many officials refused to carry Raye’s signs in parades fearing the backlash they would receive from the decidedly conservative crowds in the Second Congressional District.

Which brings up another interesting point.  The Rayes have been very public about their support and promotion of abortion.  They support Emily’s List and The Wish List; two organizations that zealously promote abortion and candidates that follow this mantra.  Yet, Kevin Raye feels that somehow an overwhelmingly Pro-Life 2nd District should set aside their belief system and allow him to represent them.  Who is representing whom?  And this represents the 2nd District in what way?  These are just few reasons why there is such tough sledding for Raye outside of Washington County.

Kevin Raye has done everything he can do to disenfranchise the voters of the CD 2.  His one major political accomplishment outside of his county is to be the first Republican to lose an election in Piscataquis County, the Red County, in a very long time.  It is easy to see, after a look at all the facts, that there is not a Raye of hope that this candidate represents the interests of our district.

Aug 9 2013

Redunculous

 

No, it is not a spelling error…really.  And, no, it’s not a word… yet.  It’s just one of my specialty.  A word coined to help find the appropriate emotion to attach to a situation.  This, the latest of my installments to the Webster’s dictionary, is the combination of the words redundant and ridiculous. I did this all by myself.  For some reason, Webster keeps sending back my offerings of literary coinage and asked that I please stop, as it has caused the great patriarch of the book, Noah Webster himself, to turn incessantly in his grave.  I guess that would be rather unsettling.

But I like the word.  It has an essence to it, the essence of economy.  Oh yes, I economized.  We all have to nowadays.  I took the two most prevalent manifestations of the liberal mind, redundant and ridiculous behavior. I combined them into one word and, now, I can respond to them both at once.  I….I….feel so focused.

And quite timely, I might add, because we have had a slew of redunculous behavior swirling around the State of Maine.  We just had the Senate President, Justin Alfond, make a speech assuring State workers an increase in the pensions and wages, while the those in private sector, who pay for those wages and pensions with their taxes, can barely put food on the table for their families.  This was a follow up to his speech attacking private schools.  The Senate President doesn’t seem to be fond of the private sector.

Mr. Alfond suffers from the liberal illusion that Maine people have an unlimited supply of revenue and that we work at our jobs simply to give it to him to disperse amongst his government allies.  I have to agree with the great conservative apologist Thomas Sowell who asked, “…why it is ‘greed’ to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take someone else’s money.”  Alas, I fear Alfond and his allies think its good policy; that is, if you look at the budget they passed. Tax increases to pay for those government employee raises.

Strange, Maine is looking at a $58 million surplus for the closing fiscal year, before these tax increases.  So, why, Mr. Alfond, would you want to increase taxes on a struggling economy when you don’t need to?  Oh, is that my “greedy” old self, wanting to keep my money in my wallet for my family to use.  I’m just so greedy that way.

That leads me to another issue to be resolved.  Recently, I criticized those activists, who seem bent on telling people what to do in their own backyards.  I feel very strongly about the sanctity and privacy of a person’s private lands.  I have been rebuked by some of those activists, saying that if I don’t want anyone to tell me what to do in my backyard then I shouldn’t criticize public government officials.

Let me try to help and clarify the issue.  There is a huge difference between private and public issues.  I do not criticize any official on what he does in his private home and on his private lands.  I have, and will continue to do so, criticized public officials on the actions or inactions in the public tax funded sector.  It is the taxpayer’s job, since our dollars fund their public decisions, to critique the exercise of their representative duties.

Secondly, I have been admonished that, because I am a Christian, I should not publicly criticize or rebuke public officials.  This individual obviously did not read the story of Jesus cleansing the Temple, nor has he read the accounts of Paul the Apostle rebuking Roman leaders to their very face, also of rebuking Peter to his face.  The idea that I should abdicate my God-given liberties for the sake of some contrived sense of propriety and allow myself to be relegated to the doormat of society as a reflection of my faith has no intellectual, Constitutional or, for that matter, Biblical merit.  The very conception of such an idea is utterly and unequivocally redunculous.

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.

Jun 17 2013

Perception and Truth: The Curve of Knowledge

 

 

 

The tales of irony that have proceeded out of the not-so-hallowed halls of the Augusta legislature are enough to bring even the most stalwart of Mainers to tears.  The only semblance of bi-partisan agreement in Augusta is that Justin Alfond will go down in the annals of Maine history as the most inept and incompetent Senate President that has ever tripped through the corridors of the Maine State legislative chambers.  The complete and unabashed abdication of common sense by the Alfond Democrats is shocking even for the subterranean standards normally accommodated by the liberal left.

The Republican Party brought forward a bill, which would have required minors to inform their parents if they intend to get an abortion.  Democrats killed the bill, contending that a minor is capable of making such decisions in life on their own without parental input.  In the very same legislative day, the Democrats passed a bill that will require minors to have parental consent before purchasing an energy drink…  Did I mention irony, sad irony?   But this shows the perception and value that those in Augusta place on life.  Yes, to our legislators, a beverage product has more value than the question of life.

The Curve of Knowledge has three layers for the purpose of this article.  There is the top layer of fact and proven science.  The next layer is public perception, which is effected to varying degrees by the first.  The final layer is the Puppets of Perception: politicians who are completely governed by perception.

The science on the abortion issue, day by day, is steadily and continually proving that life begins at conception.  Slowly, public perception is turning to align itself with proven science.  Many of the public polls are beginning to prove that out, even as polls are usually slow to pick up the change in public feeling.

Politicians will always stay behind the Curve of Knowledge because they base their decisions on public perception rather than fact and proven science.  Therefore it is easy to see why these puppets can still remain in the dark ages of the 60’s and 70’s, believing nothing is sacred and parental control is dysfunctional.  This explains the ludicrous distinction between a beverage and human life.  Liberals are floundering because they have no mooring.  Public perception is changing and they are not sure where it is going.  They refuse to acknowledge fact and proven science because it now, with new advances, refutes their agenda.  So, they are left with only the ragged hope that public perception will swing back their way.  Old propaganda is dusted off and tired mantras are once again invoked.

This is why our Founding Fathers so wisely advocated for a small limited government as indicated by this quote.  “ The truth is, that, even with the most secure tenure of office, during good behavior, the danger is not, that the judges will be too firm in resisting public opinion, and in defense of private rights or public liberties; but, that they will be ready to yield themselves to the passions, and politics, and prejudices of the day.” –Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833.

The historical and contemporary evidence is staggering.  Government is inherently incompetent.  That is why its influence must be limited.