For the first time in a very long time DHHS will not have and end-year shortfall. A new sheriff’s in town
It’s called balancing the budget.
Tag Archives: DHHS
Down The River
The excuse machine for the Maine Democrat Party is on full spin cycle. They tumble through the revolving objection drum, searching daily for a new reason to obstruct a balanced budget. First, the Governor presented his proposal to address the DHHS budget shortfall to the Appropriations Committee. The Democrats and their moderate Republican allies on the committee chose instead to produce a bill that did not address the looming fiscal crises but rather preferred to push the problem to a later date. After overwhelming outrage from the people, the House correctly amended the bill to deal with the issue more directly.
Amazingly, this bill had bi-partisan support, at least, for a time. Several Democrats have now realized that throwing messy obstructionist tantrums is far more effective in garnering headlines than to simply do the work of the people. So now, we have the juvenile revolving reason to pout.
To start, these Democrats said they could not support the bill because it did not have the approval of the Appropriations Committee. Then the committee gave the bill its approval. Now, the Democrats can’t support it because it doesn’t have enough …spending? And we all know that the reason Maine is grossly over budget is because we haven’t spent enough, right? Really?
This should come as no surprise to the people of Maine. As the high levels of corruption in government bureaucracies are now coming to light, we can see clearly why Cynthia Dill and others want to spend more. They just need a few more perks for being public servants.
The smelly onion of the Turnpike Commission keeps unraveling with pungent and rank clarity. The investigative works of Peter Mills and his staff have shone a light on the many get rich schemes hidden beneath the veils of this tax-funded organization. Indictments have come down with more on the way. But it pales in comparison to what has been unearthed within the corridors of Maine State Housing.
In the past five years, under the leadership of Dale McCormick, Maine State Housing Authority (MSHA) has increased travel expenses by 157%. Training expenses have increased by 287%. Gift cards, catering, massage therapy, and martial arts training, to name a few, all spent with lavish exuberance on the taxpayer dime.
Some of the training facilities itemized under “education/training” were such heralded institutions as Ground Round, Pushard’s Okinawan Karate, Abracadabra Productions, and Dan’s BBQ. Expenses marked “office supplies” included Funtown/Splashtown USA, Are You Ready To Party, Inc., Healing Hands Therapeutic massage, and Sandcastle Entertainment, which rents bounce houses and slides. These abuses continue to be uncovered by watchdog groups, such as Maine Heritage Policy Center.
Perhaps, as Democrats continue to obstruct the arduous task of balancing Maine’s budget with cries to spend more money and, instead, demand to spend us down the river, we the people should ask why? Was it because you didn’t have enough for your expenditures in the first place? Or do you just want to play?
The godfather
The godfather
One of the primary goals here at The Maine Conservative Voice is to lend a voice to the many residents of Maine who wish to see our state government exercise fiscal restraint and commonsense in Augusta. This past week MCV sent an email to the Appropriations Committee imploring them to pass the Governor’s plan, which specifically addresses the DHHS $212 million shortfall. We received some positive responses from the committee and one scathing rebuke from a certain John L. Martin, Democrat Representative from Eagle Lake.
It is common knowledge that Mr. Martin rules the St. John Valley with an iron fist and none dare challenge him. Yes, it seems like an eternity that Martin has wielded his ruthless power within the Democrat ranks; in fact, there may be some evidence that, when Moses was hurling his Ten Commandment tablets, he was aiming at John Martin. When this columnist states that the Democrat party has a lot to hide and a lot to hold on to, Representative and former Senator John L Martin may be the prime example.
In his email reply, Rep. Martin accused this writer of blindly following the Governor. He presented the same old tired, tattered and torn pictorials of the elderly….and the children…and the sick…and the infirmed….on and on. It seems the “Honorable” John Martin would have us believe that all the above imagery falls under the category of “healthy childless adult”.
Oh, have we forgotten that already? Yes, yes, that is what the Governor said. He wants healthy, childless, adults off the dole. But Democrats raise these same old worn images every time the people cry for reform. Why? It is to use our own sense of compassion as the very thing to whip the public back into compliance with the Democrat agenda. For most of us, our Judeo-Christian heritage demands that we not ignore those less fortunate than us. It is engrained into the very fabric of our society straight from our Christian roots. The Democrats know it. And they shame us into silence every time we call for some to develop their own independence. But….the….Bible does say those that don’t work, don’t eat…..just a thought.
Those predictable arguments were, of course, no surprise. But one argument gave pause and deserved attention. Martin claimed that Veterans Homes in Maine were going to lose funding as a result of the Governor’s plan to rein in spending. As the proud son of a Vietnam Vet, I certainly did not want to see that happen. I did something that sends a shudder through the very bones of Democrats and their media allies, research.
The loss of funds for Veterans Homes is not going to happen, it already has. In a town hall meeting with the Governor in Ft. Kent, Martin announced that the Federal government would not be funding PNMI or Private Non Medical Institutions. Veterans Homes fall under this category. There was a glaring omission from the “Honorable” John Martin’s announcement. Why?
Mr. Martin neglected to inform his constituents that his party had been caught scamming the PNMI Federal matching funds. They had been cut off during the Baldacci administration. The Federal government was obligated to do this to protect the other 49 States from the deceitful practices of Maine Democrats. The “Honorable” John Martin had the audacity to insinuate that this somehow was the fault of Governor LePage. Remember, that deceit is the support system of the Democrat platform. Make a mess. Blame the Republicans. Republicans clean it up. Democrats take the credit for it. The Democrats have a lot to hide and a lot to hold on to.
I’ve blown through my word limit. There is much, so much more, on this. See you next week!
A Blue Christmas
A blue Christmas
I’m not enough of a political historian to know why and when the colors blue and red were designated as the colors of the Democrat and Republican parties, respectively, but it has become increasingly clear in recent weeks that Democrats are determined to have a blue Christmas. The late rock-in-roller Elvis Presley crooned, in that Christmas classic “Blue Christmas”, assuring his estranged lover that he would have a blue Christmas without her. The lyrics of this song were meant to invoke images and emotions of sorrow and loneliness. Democrats, on the other hand, seem quite content to have a blue Christmas without you.
Democrats have ignored the will of the people for years on the issue of LURC. Now that the people have given the Republicans a chance to free rural Maine from this onerous regulatory beast, Republicans seem reluctant to make the right choice for Maine. In the last legislative session, the opportunity was available to rid Maine of this burden. Moderate Republicans entranced by the beckoning sounds of that hazy blue light followed it like so many moths to the flame and voted instead to form a commission to study the effects LURC on the State of Maine. It seems that forty years of economic devastation wasn’t enough.
So the commission was formed and produced a compromise, which doesn’t seem to reflect the will of so many in rural Maine that cried for repeal. There is a provision for Counties to opt out, but already Democrats are working to eliminate that. If the moderate Republicans hold true to their pattern of obstruction, the future looks very blue indeed. Mainers will be left with only promises of change but nothing to show for it. This may prove to be a very blue Christmas for Democrats, a Christmas where the will of the people is ignored. A gift Democrats thrive upon.
DHHS is facing a 212 million dollar shortfall. The Governor has produced a plan to deal with it. It asks that all healthy, childless adults be taken off the taxpayer dole. The crazy thing about this plan is that it almost sounds like commonsense. But Democrats and their media allies have produced the same old tired pictorials of the many defenseless the Republicans will hurt, like the front-page picture of a man who lives in need of oxygen. The media and the liberals would have us believe that this is healthy male. I’m sorry but the word “healthy” does not immediately conjure up images of a man who is confined by a need for oxygen. Talk about your redefinitions.
Once again, the Democrat party is practicing diversionary tactics because they do not want the will of the people to be enacted. If so, it will spell the end of bureaucracy. Reformation will portend the targeting of fat-cat politicians and their corrupt agendas. The Democrats have a lot to hide and hold on to. They are determined to have a blue Christmas without you the people.
The Maine Conservative Voice 