Recently, media outlets in Maine posted articles and pictures of the new home for the controversial mural honoring labor unions here in the State. It was unveiled in the atrium of the Cultural Building. This building houses the Maine State Museum, Maine State Archives and the Maine State Library.
In the media photos, there is a picture of three very sheepish looking Democrat leaders standing in front of the mural. I say sheepish, because as the Democrats try desperately to contrive a victory out of the mural’s public placement, its very presence is a damming indictment of the lack of vision Maine Democrats present to the people of this State.
As a few politicians mingled with a small group of media to cover and celebrate this homage to union workers, they must have become painfully aware that no one else was there. The Maine people didn’t give a rat’s “behinder parts” for the Democrat’s prized painting. Since unions make up a scant percentage of the private sector and the independent workforce, which comprises the majority of Maine’s business landscape, received nary a brushstroke of recognition amongst the dull grays and browns of the union’s forlorn masterpiece, it’s no wonder Maine residents preferred to be otherwise occupied.
But there is more to the uncomfortable disposition of the Democrat’s “Three Amigos”. It is the realization that the mural Mark Eves, Jeff McCabe and Seth Berry were posing before is a great drab verification that the Governor had kept his word. When the one sided representation of Maine’s workforce was removed from the Department of Labor, the Governor promised the prejudicial painting would be rehung in a suitable place. This was delayed when the party of those three grinning models of union loyalty attempted to tie up the LePage administration in court over this canvas of contrived controversy. (Ahh, alliteration.)
The suits against the Governor were thrown out of court. So while the Governor and the Republicans were working to balance the budget, make Maine a more suitable place for business and raising a family, Democrats were spending taxpayer money to pout over the placement of a persnickety Picasso, of sorts. Amazingly, despite all the bad behavior from Democrats, the Governor was still determined to keep his word, once all the tantrums had been thrown out of court.
His pattern of behavior, this dogged determination like a bloodhound on the trail has continually endeared Governor LePage to the people of Maine, who still call him “their Governor”. Despite his gruff, crusty and, at times, poorly thought out presentation, he continues to focus on the promises he made to the people. The majority of Maine people are a salty, weathered, hardworking lot, who are willing to forgive a wealth of fashion faux pas if they can see the man is working hard. And that he is.
When the Governor took office, one of his first priorities was to pay back the hospitals. There was a strong first attempt at doing that very thing, but it soon became evident that more would need to be done. The mistakes of forty years of spend thrifty Democrat mismanagement had taken its toll. The hospitals need more money and the Governor gave his word.
Much like his steadfastness on the mural, LePage has remained focus on his promise to the hospitals of Maine. He has proposed a plan that would pay back the hospitals. By using the liqueur revenue available, the Governor would pay back the hospitals.
But Justin Alfond and the Democrats are angry about this plan. Why? Greed, that’s why. Democrats want to continue the former forty-year cycle of taking any surplus found and using it to grow more government and government bureaucracies rather than fixing the present balance sheet. They want to funnel the money to themselves and grow their political machine. Instead of giving Maine a hope of financial freedom, Alfond prefers to repeatedly mock and attack the Governor in hopes of keeping Maine locked in the grays and browns of debt and greed, another mural of despair painted by the Democrat policies of self-preservation.
Those revenues belong to the people of Maine and to the hospitals, which were promised payment on services rendered. The Governor intends to keep those promises. Mr. Alfond seems intent on stopping him. For the Governor, promises are a means to be kept and honored. For Justin Alfond, promises are a means to an election and nothing more.
Tag Archives: Governor LePage
Merry Getsmas
It’s a Wonderful Life! And, yes, it is. The theme of that timeless classic represents one of the greatest most daunting challenges to parenting. How to teach our little ones that the giving is greater than the getting? How to live like the Apostle Paul who, whether abased or in abundance, learned the secret of contentment?
I was blessed to have grown up in a poor home. Yes, blessed. My father, a Vietnam Vet, left for the mission field in New Guinea, not long after returning from war. After returning stateside from the New Guinea, he immediately turned his passion and energy into church planting for the denomination to which he was affiliated. What that meant for our family was that we were in perpetual state of rebuilding our family budget. Once the church my father had planted reached a financial place to comfortably support our family, we moved on to start again. Over time, my resentment of this would turn to wisdom as I saw the need for sacrifice for the greater good. Lessons a teenage boy would prefer not to learn, but necessary nonetheless. I have learned that the best way to teach a wonderful life is to live a wonderful life.
But in the arena of politics it is all about the getting, isn’t it? The struggle for “who gets” is the ideal that predicates every manipulation, parry and thrust of this age-old dual. In the State of Maine, there is one Party that has a focus upon their interpretation of “who gets” and what they get. The other Party is in a constant study of vacillation and debate on which interpretation of “the gets’ and “who gets” they should adopt; the Party’s or the people’s.
The first is the Democrats. The have one constant focus and they do not divert from that. The government should get and the people should give. They firmly believe and espouse that all the wealth and treasure of Maine residents should be heaped into the halls of government where it can be protected and regulated away from the mishandling by the uneducated masses. And if there be any heaps left in the hands of the uneducated and unenlightened, those heaps should be immediately labeled as ill-gotten gains and the possessor of said heaps should be made to wear a sign with bright scarlet letters that spell “businessman”. Yes, after two short years out of power, the first order of business for Democrats was to try and vote themselves a raise. There is nothing left to guess on “who gets” with Democrats.
The reason for this immediate, feverish rush to the “till” for the Party, whose symbol is an Ass? It’s really quite obvious. For the two years, under the leadership of Paul LePage, the Republicans have been attempting to shovel those heaps of Maine’s wealth and treasure back out to the people of Maine. By lowering unemployment, creating jobs, making health care affordable and competitive, and passing the largest tax cut in Maine history Mainers are starting to see hope for an actual rebuilding of their own personal heaps. With 6,800 net new jobs in just 12 months, the average personal income above the national average by 30%, new home purchases up again by 23.6%, and the unemployment rate down creating 10,000 jobs since 2011, its hard to comprehend why Democrats regained a majority, unless you look at the issue of the “who gets”.
These Republican accomplishments did not come without a struggle. More could have been accomplished, were it not for very public defections from the hard left of the Republican Party. Editorials chastising the Governor in front of the State and the Nation did not give a picture of leaders focused on the people. The Tweed Chair debacle of the Maine Republican Convention convinced the people of Maine the Republican Party was riddled with factions consumed with getting their own agenda accomplished rather than fighting for the whole of Maine. Mainers had all they could stomach of what they were getting from Republicans and showed them the door directly adjacent to the woodshed.
In short, the Republican Party must decide which version of the “who gets” they believe in. If they want to present a remake of the Democrats vision, the populace will opt for the original rather than the cheap imitation. If the Republicans finally decide to offer Maine people a choice that is a contrast to Democrats, it had better travel in a clean, tightly run ship or the people will not get on board. The State of Maine and its people need to have their heaps of wealth returned to them, but they will not tolerate any more heaps of humiliation to go with it.
The Spin, Some Skin, Do Lies Still Win
In a not so shocking development, the Governor of Maine is one of four Governors nationwide that has received an “A” grade for his fiscal policies. The Governor and his Republican majority have done yeomen’s work trying to reform the 40 years of fiscal lunacy, which typified the Democrat reign in Augusta. The regulatory jungle and monstrous tax burden, which had become synonymous with Maine’s business climate, was draining the lifeblood of Maine’s economy, jobs.
With the advent of the LePage administration and the Republican majority, much needed regulatory reforms were implemented, with tax reductions and healthcare reform. These were a much-needed transfusion of life into anemic, nearly lifeless economy. This is why, while the National debt clock spins forward, whirling at blinding speeds, the Maine debt clock is spinning in the opposite direction. But this is soon to change.
Inexplicably, the Maine people have decided they preferred the white pale and pallor of fiscal anemia, to the hard work it takes to return to a robust economy. As anyone who has done any construction work can attest, it is much easier to demolish than to build. With the new Democrat majority, duly elected by the people of Maine, the Maine Debt Clock will soon begin to spin in unison with the national debt clock and we can all spin and spend our way into oblivion together.
Perhaps I’ve mentioned it before, but one of the most shocking things I found during this election cycle was the amount of people, when presented the facts of what causes a nation’s demise, replied with an apathetic, “All nations collapse sometime.” I can’t believe that anyone could be so glib about the loss of all we hold so dear. Perhaps it is a developed distrust of what they are told, since lying has become the method of choice for so many in the liberal politics, which controls Maine.
With so much now coming to light on the many lies and half-truths told by the President in his desperate charge to hold to power, many are now dealing with a sick, hung-over feeling that comes after a binge that has you waking up next to what you thought was beautiful the night before. And what makes the feeling worse is the realization you’ve done the same thing again…and again. Yes, waking up, realizing you have been shamefully used and that you have allowed it repeatedly is a very disheartening feeling. The stark truth is telling, to be sure.
Do you remember the lie that the rich don’t pay their fair share? Now even CNN is acknowledging that falsehood, after the election. The economy was on the recovery, right? Then why do businesses all over the country have to lay off workers?
And while we struggle to make ends meet, government employees want taxpayers to fund their exorbitant union demands. As long as it’s skin off our backs, not theirs, this is how government works. The taxpayers always foot the bill for things they had nothing to do with nor wished to. Our Founding Fathers called this immoral. Yet, in this failing economy, greedy union reps demand more and more. When the companies collapse under the burden, the reps move on with no skin in the game. Union workers are left behind once again with nothing but questions, media spin, bills and winter looming. When will we as Americans finally learn that standing for truth and fighting for victory is not a one-time event but a lifetime of travail, a never-ending battle that we must not and cannot cease to engage. We must Set Maine Free!
Maine’s New Horizon
Maine’s unemployment rate continues to drop as Maine’s leadership continues to focus on pro-jobs and business policies. Of course, Angus King may want to take the credit for it again, let the truth “get by him” again and let lies work for him…again.
The Maine Conservative Voice 