WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Bruce Poliquin released the following statement:
“It is heartbreaking to hear the news today of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s passing,” said Congressman Poliquin. “Justice Scalia served our Nation and the Supreme Court with loyalty and great integrity. We will all keep Justice Scalia’s family and loved ones in our prayers as we mourn the loss of a great American scholar.”
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Review of Congressman Poliquin’s Week in Congress
WASHINGTON – This week, Maine’s Second District Congressman, Bruce Poliquin, spoke out against President Obama’s $4.1 trillion budget proposal for the 2017 Fiscal Year that never balances, reacted to the National Park Service’s response to his and Senators Collins’ and King’s letter to President Obama concerning the designation of a national monument in the Katahdin region, congratulated an Old Town High School student’s praise-worthy efforts to raise awareness of the challenges of autism, and introduced companion legislation in the House to Senator Collins’ bill to help protect seniors from investment fraud. Here’s a recap:
His Costliest Budget To Date
On Tuesday, President Obama unveiled the final and costliest budget of his presidency. Congressman Poliquin released the following statement after receiving the President’s $4.1 trillion proposal:
“Not a single one of President Obama’s proposed budgets have balanced—ever,” said Congressman Poliquin. “This final spending plan from the President is a wish list of progressive policies that makes up his largest budget proposal to date, with $2.5 trillion in new spending and $3.4 trillion in new taxes in the next 10 years.
“As the former State Treasurer of Maine and a small business owner, I know the kind of fiscal discipline that is needed to grow jobs and reduce debt. Our State and our country do not need more debt, more spending, and more irresponsible policies from an out of control Washington. We need a realistic budget that balances and that reflects the needs of hardworking Mainers. We need policies that will create jobs and provide more opportunity for our local businesses to grow and hire more workers. This budget accomplishes none of these priorities.”
Poliquin Statement on Response to Joint Letter to President Obama on National Monument Designation
U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King and Congressman Bruce Poliquin have received aresponse from Jonathan B. Jarvis, the Director of the National Park Service, to the letter they sent to President Barack Obama regarding the possible designation of land in the Katahdin region as a national monument last November. The response from National Park Service director largely ignored the focus and purpose of the Maine delegation’s original letter to the President, which expressed the delegation’s serious reservations and significant concerns after learning that President Obama may designate a national monument in Maine’s Katahdin region.
Congressman Poliquin released the following statement in response to Director Jarvis’ letter:
“This letter is concerning on many levels,” said Congressman Poliquin. “First, I was extremely disappointed that this letter came from Director Jarvis, rather than the President himself. It shows a complete lack of interest and concern from the White House for the residents of the Katahdin region. Second, Director Jarvis’ letter failed to address any of the national monument concerns our letter laid out. Third, this letter was sent to me the very same day that the National Park Service also announced that it has a maintenance backlog of more than $11 billion, including nearly $70 million owed to Maine’s Acadia National Park. It is irresponsible governing to add a national monument to our 408 existing national park service units when we cannot even afford to take care of the one’s we’ve already got.
“I must emphasize that the designation of a national monument by the President, which bypasses the democratic process and input from local constituents, is entirely separate from the actual creation of a national park, which allows for local officials and residents to weigh in before it is created through the normal legislative process. That is why I introduced legislation to require any national monument designation by the President to first be approved by the governor and state legislature where the land is located. Any process to incorporate federal land in Maine must have strong support from the local community.”
Maine High Schooler Recognized for Service
This week, Connor Archer, 17, of Stillwater was recognized for his youth volunteer service in Maine and dedication to his community by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. Congressman Bruce Poliquin of Maine’s Second District released the following statement:
“I am so proud of Connor for his hard work to spread awareness and to educate our communities in Maine about autism and the challenges that so many people face as a result of this condition,” said Congressman Poliquin. “Because of his efforts and dedication, Connor has raised more than $12,000 for organizations that aid individuals with such needs.
“Connor, who was diagnosed with autism when he was 3 years old, is a shining example of what it means to be a dedicated person of service in Maine’s communities. I am thrilled that Connor has been formally recognized for his work and hope that he will continue to be a leader and an important part of the efforts to help those who face these challenges.”
Poliquin Helps Lead Efforts on Companion Legislation in House to Senator Collins’ Bill to Protect Seniors
This week, Congressman Bruce Poliquin joined Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09) in introducing a companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to Senator Susan Collins’ Senior $afe Act of 2015. This legislation will provide important protections for seniors to combat investment fraud, an enormous abuse of the investment market that exploits about one-fifth of investors aged 65 or older. Congressman Poliquin released the following statement:
“It is vital that our seniors are provided the necessary resources and protections against investment fraud perpetrators, who are estimated to cost our seniors more than $2.9 billion annually through illegal financial abuses,” said Congressman Poliquin. “The seniors in our Second District have worked their whole lives to build their savings. It is absolutely unacceptable and deplorable for their hard-earned investments to be so egregiously abused by common criminals.
“As the Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, working to protect seniors from financial exploitation and fraud is one of my top priorities,” said Senator Collins. “Maine’s innovative Senior$afe program, pioneered by Maine Securities Administrator Judith Shaw, serves as the model for the bipartisan Senior$afe Act that I was proud to introduce with Senator McCaskill last fall. Our bipartisan legislation would put in place a commonsense plan to help protect American seniors from financial fraud. I am pleased that Congressman Poliquin and Congresswoman Sinema have introduced the House companion to my bill, and I look forward to working together to get this important bill passed into law.”
The Senior$afe Act is a bipartisan bill that will enable financial institutions to report suspected instances of financial exploitation by an investment finance predator to the proper agencies to combat the abuse. It also promotes training financial institution employees to identify suspected financial fraud. This bill would encourage banks, credit unions, investment advisors, and broker-dealers to report suspected financial fraud targeting senior citizens to the proper authorities.
Maine High Schooler Recognized for Service Old Town High School senior awarded for commitment to volunteer service in addressing autism
AUGUSTA – This week, Connor Archer, 17, of Stillwater was recognized for his youth volunteer service in Maine and dedication to his community by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. Congressman Bruce Poliquin of Maine’s Second District released the following statement: “I am so proud of Connor for his hard work to spread awareness and to educate our communities in Maine about autism and the challenges that so many people face as a result of this condition,” said Congressman Poliquin. “Because of his efforts and dedication, Connor has raised more than $12,000 for organizations that aid individuals with such needs. “Connor, who was diagnosed with autism when he was 3 years old, is a shining example of what it means to be a dedicated person of service in Maine’s communities. I am thrilled that Connor has been formally recognized for his work and hope that he will continue to be a leader and an important part of the efforts to help those who face these challenges.” |
It’s perplexing, at best, to find that a villain so reviled and mocked throughout history has gained such an ardent admirer here in the State of Maine. The sheriff of Nottingham, fact or fiction, remains a source of some debate for those who wish to bother. Still the fact remains that the sheriff of Nottingham, fable or no, has long invoked metaphorical images of the pompous, indifferent politician who’s every detached existence is made possible through taxes culled from the hard labors and bent backs of a people long siphoned and beaten beyond any hope of returned independence or prosperity. Yes, that is all one sentence and I’m sure I offended the syntax gods somewhere in there, but let’s move on.
Last election cycle, Emily Cain and her running mate Blaine Richardson, were defeated by Bruce Poliquin. Poliquin had just barely finished arranging the furniture in his office in Washington D.C. when he was informed that Emily Cain had announced her candidacy for the office he had just finished dusting. (You do realize the office needed a lot of dusting, as Mike Michaud preferred to stay hidden in the closet and rarely used the desk for anything. Incidentally, Emily Cain has not announced whether she will allow Blaine Richardson to tag along as her running mate this time around…we all wait with bated breath, but I digress…) There was much consternation and head scratching as to why Ms. Cain needed to announce immediately if not sooner her intention to run for office. It’s really not that confusing.
Emily Cain was afforded a great opportunity after her defeat. She could have entered the private sector and got a job, establish some “street cred” if you will. She must have quickly realized that she was in the party of fat cats, trust fund brats, and all around tax sponges. The Democrat Party greatly discourages their politicians against entering the private workforce and risking having candidates with dangerous amounts of commonsense accrued. So she’s followed a time honored Democrat tradition, suckle up to the teat of public tax funds.
Yes, the Sheriff of Nottingham has been reincarnated in a much more likable, effusive, and feminine persona, but still demands your taxes to fund her very existence. Since graduating college, Emily Cain has not held one private sector job. Everything she has done, everything she has accomplished has been funded by tax dollars. When provided an opportunity to move into the world of the self-made, entrepreneurs, businesses, and the workforce, she chose to stay in her sheltered gilded world wrapped in walls built up to shield her from the very people whose hard earned dollars were taxed away to build them.
While it’s more than ironic that she wishes to represent a people whose lives she cannot comprehend or identify with, it’s the hypocritical attacks on Representative Poliquin that reek with the cloud of stupefaction that blankets the Democrat Party. Her claims that the self-made millionaire has somehow cheated the public would be laughable if they were bits in a cheap sitcom, but instead are a sad commentary on how completely detached from reality she is. Perhaps it is the term “self-made” that she cannot grasp.
Along with her Party, Emily Cain has spent so much time living off the accomplishments of others that she cannot comprehend that anyone can create their own wealth by using their own talents, own initiative, and own hard-work to carve their own slice of the American dream. Remember this is the Party that has told American innovators and business owners “they didn’t build that.” It’s the stuff of socialism that says everything belongs to the collective and only the elite can live off it.
Everything Emily Cain has is funded by taxes. All her salaries have come from the wallets of taxpayers. Her clothes, her food, her fancies, her empire, her very existence are all a product of tax dollars. It can’t help but invoke images of the fabled Sheriff dining in opulence by the fire while his minions scour the shire of Nottingham pounding on battered hovel doors demanding new taxes to fund the sheriff’s lifestyle whims. Perhaps Emily Cain should take an honest look at who she is instead of trying to smear her opponents with the very lifestyle she has embraced.
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