Maine political news

by: Gerald Weinand

Sun Feb 07, 2010 at 11:00:00 AM EST

We missed this segment of Countdown with Keith Olbermann this past week, in which he debunks the claims made by Republicans (including Sen. Susan Collins) regarding the Christmas Bomber and how the Obama adminsitration is treating terrorism suspects (h/t Collins Watch):

Update: On Meet the Press this morning, White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan said he briefed four GOP members of Congress on Christmas night regarding Abdulmatallab, including Sen. McConnell, and that "None of those individuals raised any concerns with me."

So in his speech to the Heritage Foundation, McConnell either forgot that briefing or he was lying to score political points. And how is it that Sen. Collins wasn't told about this by McConnell?

At the very least, McConnell let Collins put forth her response video knowing full well that he had not objected to the way the administration was handling the case. Why did he let her do it?

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In an editorial this morning, the Maine Sunday Telegram echoes one in the BDN from yesterday that bills to stop petition fraud important aid to process.

Seth McLaughlin reports that 'Don't ask, don't tell' splits state delegation:

While delegation members generally agree the policy should be reviewed, Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe take a more cautious approach than Democratic Reps. Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree.

"I support the president's proposal to have the Pentagon do an analysis of the implications and consequences of changing the policy," said Collins, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "I do believe the policy needs to be reconsidered, but I recognize there are a lot of consequences that the Pentagon wants time to figure out."

Collins acknowledged that society has changed since President Bill Clinton signed the policy into law in 1993. During that time, she said, "many of our NATO allies have revised their rules to allow openly gay men and lesbians to serve, and they have done so without it having a negative effect that opponents fear."

Pingree, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said a change is overdue. She backs a policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

"Frankly, the sooner we do it and the less painful we make it, the better off the military is to move forward," she said. "We do everything we can to recruit young people into the military and then we spend millions of dollars discharging them - not because they have not performed their duty, but because someone 'outs' them."

Pingree said nearly 14,000 gay and lesbian soldiers have been discharged from the military and untold numbers have been lost to the armed services because they refuse to enlist because of the rule.

Also in the MST, a light report on how GOP gubernatorial candidates look to mood swing in their effort to capture the Blaine House.

Repeal School Consolidation NOW

by: Derek Viger

Wed Oct 07, 2009 at 09:39:55 AM EDT

The 85% in compliance number is not something consolidation proponents plucked from thin air. That is true, but when you break that down it doesn't look so nice. As of June 2009, there were 217 school districts in Maine. Of the 85% in compliance the overwhelming majority of districts, 57%, were given exemptions. Most were exempted because of their size or because they were island or tribal districts. 11 districts were given exemptions after failed reorganization attempts and 3 others argued for exemption as "high performing districts". Should these be counted as success stories? Certainly not. They FAILED to reorganize. Towns with clout like Cape Elizabeth, Falmouth, and Yarmouth were able to maneuver out of having to reorganize. Only 26 new districts were actually formed. How can we ask the supposed non-compliant districts to reorganize or face penalties when the state has already shown they are willing to just give out passes to the big players. Does that sound like a good policy to you?

The $37 million cost to taxpayers was a figure the Maine Legislature was informed school consolidation would save state and local communities. That cost would rise because the 123rd Legislature already cut that amount from General Purpose Aid based on those predicted savings. This was no savings at all. Nothing in the law assures any savings. There was just a cut in state spending based on a prediction. Who will pick up the slack? Local communities. No on 3 says a repeal will increase property taxes. Taxes will be increased BECAUSE of current school consolidation laws. Some communities that have consolidated are seeing property tax increases already: Pownal 25%, Durham 19%, Alna 33%. The loss of GPA funding is really putting a crunch on the towns that can least afford it. Current school consolidation efforts are a cost shift, not a cost reduction.

The Right to Lend Our Name and to Take It Away: Ballot Integrity through Signature Retraction

by: Seth Berry

Sun Aug 30, 2009 at 22:39:50 PM EDT

In less than two weeks, Mainers will learn whether a new, $57 million tax reduction will go into effect, or be delayed and even jeopardized.  The effort to veto this reduction has become just the latest example of the need to protect the integrity of our ballot.  If tax reduction opponents obtain the signatures of just one in twenty Mainers, the $57 million tax reduction will be delayed until at least June of 2010.  Yet those who have been misled about what they were signing -- intentionally or unintentionally, verbally or in writing -- cannot currently retract their signature.

We Mainers tend to trust each other.  In some states dishonest signature-gathering methods have become commonplace, but fortunately, fraud and ballot abuse still surprise us here in Maine.  Trust in others is part of the way life should be.  Yet increasingly, the tactics of hired, out-of-state petition circulators undermine the spirit of Maine's citizen referendum and initiative process.  National groups such as the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center have documented abuses such as offering free food outside homeless shelters in exchange for signatures, or holding "fraud parties" where signatures are forged from the phonebook onto signature petitions.  Signature gatherers both in Maine and elsewhere are routinely paid per signature collected, and a number have been charged with fraud and forgery.  To protect the integrity of our ballot, I have proposed a bill to let people retract their signature if misled when signing a referendum or initiative.

As the current veto effort's deadline looms, and with failure a real possibility, false claims are now mushrooming up as if fed by this summer's record rainfall.  We have heard multiple reports and have seen many forwarded emails making such claims.  We have heard that the new tax reduction law taxes haircuts, lawyer's fees, and social security benefits, and that it reduces funding for tree growth or the homestead exemption.  It does none of these.  We have heard it hurts the the poor or elderly.  It does not.  In fact, tax credits are fully refundable in the lower brackets.  We heard from one circulator, who claimed to have been hired by the Maine Republican Party, that taxes on the lowest income bracket were increasing from 2 ½ to 6 ½ percent.  In fact, most lower-income Mainers will come out ahead.  From House Minority Leader Josh Tardy, whose error I am sure was unintentional, we have heard that a family of four making $100,000 and with $25,000 in deductions would suffer a net loss.  According to Maine Revenue Services, the opposite is true.  Most frequently and most amazing to me, we have heard tax reform will have a net cost to most Mainers.  Such blatant falsehoods were unimaginable a few years ago in Maine politics.  Clearly, our culture of integrity and trust is at risk.

By broadening the base of the sales tax, collecting new revenues from residents as well as nonresidents, and using these dollars to reduce income taxes on all Maine residents progressively, the reform package will in fact benefit over 87% of all Mainers.  This is why every major newspaper in Maine has supported the reform, along with both conservative and liberal groups such as the national Tax Foundation, the Wall St. Journal, and the Maine Center for Economic Policy.  Yet so long as distortions are rewarded and duped citizens left powerless, it is clear that the truth -- and equally important, the old Maine spirit of bipartisan cooperation towards shared prosperity -- will suffer.

To their credit, some tax reduction opponents -- including both a former Republican State Senator and the current Chair of the Maine Republican Party - have in fact admitted responsibility for a number of these inaccuracies.  Another Senator, who is organizing the petition drive, has conceded that Maine Revenue Services figures regarding net benefits are accurate.  But so far, organizers have neither discarded signatures collected under false pretenses, nor contacted those who signed to see if they were misled.  We do still hope they will do so, and we encourage those who may have been misled to contact the petition organizers at taxes@stillfedupwithtaxes.net, and CC the Secretary of State at matthew.dunlap@maine.gov, to request a voluntary retraction, preferably before next Monday.

My bill would not make it overly easy to retract your signature.  First, you would need to notify both the petition circulators and the Secretary of State in writing -- not by email or telephone.  Second, you would need to indicate how you were misled at the time of signing.  Third, your retractions would need to be signed and in writing, both to discourage frivolous changes of mind, and to let circulators and the Secretary of State verify your identify and intent.  Fourth, once retracted, your support for a petition could not be reinstated.  Fifth and last, your retraction would be allowed only within a specified timeframe - no later than a week before the signatures must be turned in, and possibly earlier.  The goal is not to prevent those who are collecting signatures from succeeding, but simply to help protect old-fashioned Maine honesty.

In a democracy, we have the right to learn more and to change our minds.  Letting us do so will not stop fraudulent signature-gathering, but will discourage it.  Above all, it will help to keep Maine's future in the hands of Maine's citizens.