Tag Archives: Maine People’s alliance

May 18 2012

There has been some lies passed on by Mike Tipping of the Maine People’s Alliance concerning the Moody’s rating. Here’s the truth from the Treasurer. Here is the truth

May 18, 2012

Augusta – Maine State Treasurer Bruce Poliquin reported that Moody’s Investors Service has affirmed the State’s Aa2 credit rating, and has revised its outlook to negative from stable.  During the past several months, the Office of the State Treasurer has led a team of state government officials in discussions with the national rating agencies to update Maine’s credit rating.

During the late spring of each year, Maine state government typically borrows money by selling bonds to investors in order to fund capital projects such as road and bridge construction and repair.  In preparation for the bond sale, the State seeks credit updates from the rating agencies.  On May 31, the Office of the State Treasurer is planning to sell $55 million of general obligation bonds that were approved by the Legislature and Maine voters during past years.  The interest and principal payments to bondholders are secured by the full faith and credit of the State.  There is approximately $490 million of outstanding Maine general obligation debt.

In affirming its Aa2 credit rating, Moody’s cited Maine’s credit strengths including its manageable general obligation debt level; rapid 10-year pay back of such borrowing; gradually increasing tax revenues; strong internally managed Treasurer’s Cash Pool; and recent reform to its public pension plan for teachers and state employees that reduced future annual payments from the State’s General Fund.

Moody’s change to negative outlook reflects Maine’s recurring challenges for the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) spending primarily for its Medicaid (Mainecare) program; modest Budget Stabilization Fund (rainy day fund) balance; negative General Fund unassigned balance; and slower than average economic recovery – all of which strains the State’s financial liquidity position.

Treasurer Poliquin commented, “I’m pleased that Moody’s Investors Service has affirmed Maine’s solid Aa2 credit rating.  This rating will continue to give investors confidence in the quality and security of our general obligation bonds.  Our Office anticipates strong demand at the May 31 bond sale.”

The Treasurer further commented, “I appreciate the helpful guidance from Moody’s as Maine continuously strives to improve its credit rating.  I note that Moody’s recognized the positive financial impact of state government eliminating $1.7 billion of our unfunded public pension liability last year.  This year, the rating agency acknowledges the long-term financial health of our ongoing initiative to right-size our Medicaid program.”

The LePage Administration is committed to creating a business-friendly environment to attract capital investment and private sector jobs.  This goal of long-term prosperity for Maine citizens is based on restraining state government spending; reforming public entitlements while maintaining important safety nets based on national averages; addressing long-term financial liabilities; lowering energy costs and health insurance premiums; streamlining business regulations; and investing in public education and infrastructure.

Oct 31 2011

What is important?

What is important?

 

The Democrat Party has been making it increasingly easier for commonsense Mainers to make correct decisions in the voting booths come November.  After the Republican Party passed legislation to safeguard the integrity of our voting system in Maine, the opposition cried foul.  They waited for the throngs to join them.  To their disappointment, the numbers were not as large as they had hoped.  Mainers are far too endowed with powers of perception to fall for the same old Democrat lies.  After all, they have heard them for forty years and have gotten use to the pattern.  So how to create a throng?

Well, you can’t just go out and work up Maine people because they might ask tough questions like, “What’s wrong with protecting our votes?” or “Don’t you want to help out overworked town clerks on election day?” and the very embarrassing and awkward “You don’t want to stop voter fraud…why?”  That just wouldn’t work.  So, the Democrats have run to their old standby, the far-left fringe groups such as Maine People’s Alliance.  These groups are great at creating calamity out of tranquility, confusion out of clarity, and joblessness out of prosperity.  Ah yes, the wonderful “community organizers”.

Your humble columnist has had opportunity to engage in battle with the MPA on a few occasions.  It is a shame to see the lengths these groups will go to create instability, specifically economic instability, throughout the communities of Maine.  One such time, a large company, HoltraChem, had made some mistakes in its handling of chemicals and was required by the State to follow stringent regulations to clean it up.  They did and the expense of which was the demise of their company.  They sold out to another company, which finished the cleanup and maintained the landfills of contaminated soil to State standards.  This was not good enough for the MPA.  They saw an opportunity to bankrupt another big company.  They demanded this company and the town dig up the inert mercury soil now safely contained, reactivate the soil, drag it through Maine towns in rail cars and trucks to Canada, expose the environment, the townspeople of Maine and Canada to reactivated mercury, and burden another business with insurmountable operational expenses.  Why?  Was it to protect the environment or the townspeople?  Certainly not!  Their goal was to destroy another business.

These are the extremists that the Democrats have aligned themselves with to obstruct the people of Maine from securing protection of the sacred trust of Democracy.  Yes, the Democrats seem to think the process to purchase a bottle of whisky or a pack of cigarettes takes precedence over the process to insure the integrity of basic liberties.

They cry that there is no voter fraud; yet, a quick google of the words “voter fraud” will immediately grant you 20,000 entries having to do with voter fraud in the nation.  The most recent has an imminent arrest of Democrat leaders in Buffalo, New York.  Another reaches all the way to the Oval Office questioning whether Barack Obama should have ever been on the ballot in Indiana.

Fellow Mainers, we know better.  This is not about identifying voter fraud.  It is about preventing voter fraud.  Prevention is worth a pound of cure unless you don’t want to be cured.  So perhaps we should ask the Democrats that uncomfortable question again. “Why don’t you want to prevent voter fraud…again?”  The Maine Conservative Voice urges all its readers to vote “No” on 1.  It’s commonsense.  All of our readers in Dexter area make sure you go out and vote for Ray Wallace.  Let’s Set Maine Free!