FORT KENT, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage was in Aroostook County on Tuesday to attend a public workshop on his supplemental state budget proposal, which includes major cuts in Medicaid.
The workshop in Fort Kent, plus two others this week in Houlton and Presque Isle, were organized by the Aroostook Area Agency on Aging.
LePage planned to listen to people’s concerns and provide facts on his budget proposal, which he said is needed to balance the state budget and trim a program that has grown beyond the state’s means to pay for it. Under his proposal, 65,000 people could lose Medicaid benefits.
The governor said his plan would save Medicaid for 290,000 people. He said he wants to hear concerns from residents and make sure they have all the facts.
The other workshops are scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Gathering Place, 33 Davis St., Presque Isle, and 1 p.m. Thursday at the Houlton Higher Education Center, Room 109, 18 Military St., Houlton.
How much more transparent can you be?
“He wants to hear concerns from citizens and make sure they have all the facts”. This is exactly why the Penguin administration is so lousy. He’s not interested in hearing from anyone that disagrees with him. He just wants to push his irresponsible plan.
Facts? What facts? The ones he plays fast and loose with every day, as he shuffles around doing his shell games?
And while he’s up there, maybe he could spare the Aroostook County loggers 5 minutes of his precious time and explain why he’s trying to kill their livelihoods by courting Canadian loggers to come here.
I’ll bet you anything that he invited the loggers and they turned him down again. We’ll have to wait and see.
Actually, the Governor’s office never contacted us. We would have loved the opportunity to meet with him. Sorry to disapoint you, waynorth1
He has taken ten times more crap, in person, at town halls, than Baldacci ever dared to expose himself to.
So your post makes no sense.
Never mind listening to citizens to make sure HE has all the facts.
Someone push him across the border and let Canada have him. They like pork.
state is broke ..pure and simple.. at least he is trying to do something about it…baldacci seldom went north of Bangor…..he has the guts to face the people unlike some other politicians who cut a ribbon and run like the wind..
I wonder why the great prophet oboma doesn’t come down and visit with the commoners? After all he wants to freeze out the old and disabled. Maybe if oboma hadn’t spent billions on wind power there would be enough money to help the states take care of their less fortunate. But no that won’t happen. Now the Govna has to kick the lazy, able bodied bums to the curb to make room for the people who really need the help. All I can say is GO GOVNA GO! We voted for change. Now go show us what your made of. Look at all the hate and discontent you have created for the liberals in just under a year. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next seven years.
Maybe if the Govna hadn’t told the President to kiss his butt Maine would have gotten more money.
we dont need more money from China we just need to see what is needs and what is wants adjust your lifestyles
So we have a President who is so petty and vindictive that poor, old people have to freeze to death, so that he can feel vindicated against the governor of a tiny state??
Nice.
And that’s exactly what Ozero needs to have happen…..a whole lot of folks telling him to kiss their butts!
If he has the guts to face people then why is he sending a representative to the Presque Isle and Houlton workshops. They moved the one in Presque Isle to a larger venue to accomodate the large number of people expected to attend and then LePage announced that it was never his intention to attend all 3 workshops…. Chicken!
Cant be!
We are the State!
We ain’t broke!
Baldacci went to the County plenty. And he certainly didn’t go to Florida twice within a months time either.
wonder if the loggers from up North arranged a meeting since he’s virtually in their back yard.
Troy Jackson said the american loggers are off this week the canadian ones are working
Actually, Troy Jackson is staying at a logging camp at 30 mile on Pinkham Road, 2 1/2 hours away from his home, running a delimber for Robert McBreairty, Jr. & Sons. He’s one of those American loggers who supposedly don’t want to stay in woods camps.
Actually, Troy Jackson is running a delimber for Robert McBreairty Jr. & Sons and staying at a woods camp at 30 Mile on the Pinkham Road, about 2 1/2 hours from his home. He’s one of those American loggers that “supposedly” doesn’t want to work or stay in the woods
Glad to see he has changed his tune and lead by example. With 5 hr round trip it makes sense. Not everyone wants to do it.
Changed his tune and lead by example? My entire life my father has stayed in woods camps and been gone all week, whether it was working on the Pinkham Road or on the Golden Road. Get your facts straight if you’re going to criticize; he’s always worked much harder than I’m sure you ever have.
I see, he is your father. The same one who is known to be the party king in augusta, and sleeps during sessions. Well my father work 80 hrs a week and I have done the same but not sitting in a cushy delimber. I feel sorry for the canadian loggers still delimbing and bucking by hand….. for so get your facts straight.
I’ve never known of anyone, including Republicans to think of him as a party king; in fact, he’s often been recognized for crossing party lines to represent the best interests of his constituents and because he doesn’t always agree with the Democratic Party. If you think operating a delimber, fellerbuncher, or skidder is easy work you’ve never spoken to loggers before. Your ignorance of the woods industry is further evident in that there are virtually no hand crews in Aroostook County and haven’t been for several years. the bonded Quebec loggers, who are hard workers, and I wouldn’t take that from them, also operate heavy equipment – no one is delimbing and bucking by hand up here because we have large industrial landowners. That kind of forestry management doesn’t lend itself to cable skidder type work, though that is still in practice in much of southern Maine where the good loggers down there are fortunate to not have much Canadian labor to compete with. As for sleeping in session, that was during a recess and my father was scheduled to have a new pace maker put in a few days later; those were concerning times for my family. Take care, INBUSINESS, I’m sorry you have to hide behind a name like that to make your baseless assertions. I’m more than happy to have revealed who I am.
I can understand why you are more than happy to have revealed who you are, Chace. Your father is a fine person, one whom I admire, and probably one of the few who has the cajones to “call out” LePage every time he opens his mouth to denigrate Maine loggers. Your father does a lot to protect Maine jobs and you have every right to be proud of him.
You can bet they will give him an earful — question is how much he will hear. County people are generally as conservative as they come but I am sure they will not mince to many words with Mr LePage.
We won’t. I will tell him no uncertain terms how great I think it is that SOMEONE is finally rocking the boat, and trying something different than the failed policies of 20 years of liberal rule (and YES, that includes Angus King).
Plenty of dead beats up that way too I guess…plus they voted for him.
#1 I live up here and work 50+ hours a week and my wife works as well, I don’t like helping people who shouldn’t recieve it, however some people do need it, and I’m not averse to helping them out, so Dumbbber we’re not all on the dole or deadbeats or on the take…please think before you categorize an entire county as deadbeats…believe me we probably work harder up here than any of you.
Actually, it was more the working folk who voted for him.
Perhaps had he not lowered taxes on the wealthy by 124 million and then made State retirees pay for it, we’d not be in the red as much.All of the “shared” sacrifice is coming from the poor and the middle class.When he starts asking those who can afford to pay more to do exactly that, I’ll support him.Don’t think I’m in much danger of doing that!
Does he ever do actual work, like the rest of us? Traveling around the country and state embarrasing us does not qualify as work !
You mean Obama
Hey, the Golfer in Chief just set a new record for himself yesterday in Hawaii….he has managed to play golf 32 times thus far this year…..old record last year was 30 times….impressive huh…..
I think it’s funny how the Governor can go up into the County, but not the Education Commissioner. We all know what he is doing? he’s trying to beat the tea party drum, and right now, at this point in time, it’s very muffled. The Governor isn’t going up there to meet with people and discuss ideas, he’s going up there because he knows that he has to. Did you see how all of a sudden Senate President Kevin Raye snapped into obedience and offered the referendum on college loans?…..guess we know who is paddling THAT boat. Republicans,….they are a dime a dozen and think that it’s their destiny to save business…..who is going to save us from you?
And Warwell?…..guess what? Bill Clinton won in a landslide over George Sr……yup, a landslide, and won two of them just as Reagan did. Guess we know where Reaganomics was headed huh? A sitting President loses, in a land slide? sound familiar? The reason why Reagan was re-elected twice was because we hadn’t had a two term to complete ,President since Eisenhower…..did you EVER think of that? Your observations are negligible at best.
Good luck reducing the cost of welfare in this state..
Wednesday’s meeting has been moved to the Edmunds Center at Northern Maine Community College, still set for 1 p.m.
Initial report from Fiddlehead Focus:
http://fiddleheadfocus.com/story/governor-says-paradis-i-dont-know-what-planet-youre5765
Its sad for the people who work all their life to hear this.
Its all about the big buck ,the people in power had that big buck where is it now.
Its the working men and women that will have to pay for all this again.
Not the man with the big buck or the man with the power will pay.
During a workshop at the Fort Kent Senior
Center in Fort Kent on Dec. 27 about the effects of proposed changes to
Medicaid on the elderly population, Maine Governor Paul LePage said to Judy
Paradis of Madawaska, “I don’t know what planet you’re from.”
LePage was responding
to Paradis’ assertion that the governor may be biased toward business owners
and wealthy people, who are a small percentage of the proportionally elderly
and low-income population of northern Maine. Statewide, sixty-five
thousand people who are currently on Medicaid are facing removal from Medicaid
benefits with the governor’s proposed supplemental budget.
LePage said,
“…we are broke. We don’t take a whole lot of pride in this.”
He said, “Come
April first, I’m going to have to close schools or close nursing homes.”
Gee, Paulie, did you ever think maybe YOU are the one on a different planet? Former state representative and senator Paradis dares to question this imbecile and this is his response.
Paradis was a recent inductee to the Maine Women’s Hall of Fame.
LePew, on the other hand, qualifies for the Maine Hall of Shame.
Sounds like more scare tactics — wonder which budget he failed to budget for this time ?
Its sad for people who work all their life to hear this.
Its all about the big buck,the people in power had the buck where is it NOW.
Its not the people that have the buck that will have to pay for all this.
Its the working men and women who have paid already its very sad.
When the working men and women had to take cuts from their pay because of miss use money co. cried and year down the road they still cried.
People in power are to blame not the working men and women.