FORT KENT, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage’s office deflected criticism that the governor was impatient, abrupt and at times rude Tuesday during the first of three forums to allow Aroostook County residents to weigh in on a budget proposal calling for major cuts in MaineCare, saying political opponents tried to detract from the true nature of the meeting.
LePage was in Fort Kent to talk about the proposed MaineCare cuts ahead of a scheduled forum Wednesday in Presque Isle and Thursday in Houlton. The governor did not attend Wednesday’s event and will not attend the Houlton meeting, according to LePage spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett.
LePage said Tuesday that MaineCare cuts are needed to avoid having the program run out of money by April 1. Cuts in benefits and eligibility are needed to close a $221 million state budget gap through mid-2013, the governor said. Many of those attending the sessions were concerned about cutting funds for private nonmedical institutions, or PNMIs.
Judy Paradis, a former state legislator from northern Aroostook County, acknowledged on Wednesday that she challenged LePage on some of his campaign promises and other statements at the Fort Kent hearing. She said that the governor “wasn’t ready” for questions from the crowd, “did not seem like he had been prepared by staff,” and was rude to the audience.
According to a citizen’s videotape of the session, she criticized LePage during the meeting, saying, “You come off as a bully.”
LePage, seeking to emphasize the state’s financial predicament, asked, “What planet are you on?”
“There was an audible gasp when he said that to me,” she said Wednesday. “I thought that he had a short fuse, but now I realize that he has no fuse. He just wasn’t ready for the questions that the residents of the St. John Valley were there to put to him.”
Charles Faulkner, who attended the Fort Kent event and Wednesday’s event in Presque Isle, said that he was a LePage supporter but acknowledged that he was surprised at how “abrupt” LePage was during the Fort Kent session.
“It looked to me like he did not want to be there,” he said. “I thought he was rude and dismissive to some people. I wondered why he came at all. It wasn’t that nice to watch.”
Rep. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, also attended Tuesday’s hearing in Fort Kent and the Presque Isle session. He said that he felt the governor should not have attended the event.
“I personally believe that if I had been on his staff, I would have kept him in Augusta,” he said. “He just ended up embroiled in the whole debate. I don’t think he came across very well at all. Some of the questions were very intricate, relating to Medicaid and things like that, so I can understand him not being able to answer all of the questions, but he did not make himself look good at times.”
Bennett defended LePage, as did Rep. Bernard Ayotte, R-Caswell, and Rep. Peter Edgecomb, R-Caribou.
Ayotte said the governor had been “classy” during the meeting but became frustrated that residents were asking him the same question repeatedly. He also said he believed that some longtime LePage opponents were not at the meeting for its intended purpose.
Edgecomb also defended the governor.
“I thought he answered the questions well,” said Edgecomb. “Some people did come there with a political agenda, you could tell, but I think the governor was responsive to the crowd.”
Bennett said LePage came to Fort Kent to listen to residents’ concerns and rebutted comments that the governor took the microphone at the event and refused to relinquish it.
“These proposals are not cuts. The state is out of money and there is no more stimulus money coming in,” she said. “These are difficult decisions. There were some people in the crowd who came to attack the governor, and that was frustrating.”
She also denied that LePage wanted to be elsewhere, saying that he spent an hour after the event visiting Crosswinds, a residential care facility in Fort Kent, at the request of the operator.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Gov. Paul LePage’s office deflected criticism that the governor was impatient, abrupt and at times rude
Huh! Who would have thought?
Maybe they’re lying.
“Impatient, abrupt and sometimes rude”…..sure sounds like the Gov…..if the question “What planet are you on”?? caused a audible “gasp” from the audience, well good thing he didn’t ask Ms. Paradis something really inappropriate…..Crazy……
“These proposals are not cuts. The state is out of money and there is no more stimulus money coming in,” she said. “These are difficult decisions. There were some people in the crowd who came to attack the governor, and that was frustrating.”
What a cowardly response.
Cowardly.
You have a position of power. You can change the dials on state revenues. This is nonsense, “Bread and Circuses”. Change the dial or watch some people die. Here’s your death panel, Governor.Your pal,Mike
78% increase in maine care since 2002. Population increased only 7 % in the same period. Simple math problem.
Did you factor into your simple math problem that we are in the worst recession since the great depression, the fact that the cost of living has increased and wages have not kept pace, the fact that the population has aged ten years, the fact that many employers no longer offer health insurance as part of their employee benefit programs?
His math is failing him. As those business’s closed and unemployment, and obviously health insurance depleted, he can’t figure out that a recession is going to cause an increased demand on services. It causes demands on everything in society,
And I hope that he knows that there was no majority party in the Maine senate from 2000 to 2002. And that the republicans have held the legislature since 2010. And that spending has increased under every governor, Dem’s, Repub’s, and Ind’s all of them, for the last 40 years.
Must be that new math?
What’s your point? When there are no jobs in your town you go to another town and when there are no jobs in your state you go to another state. Typical libs it’s somebody else’s fault that I can’t take care of myself. Get a life!
???
“typical libs it’s somebody else’s fault”
And since you are focusing on blame, who are you blaming? “Typical libs”…..so from now on do I call all Repbulicans “Nazi’s”? Just because we disagree with you doesn’t make you any more a supporter of our country than a person who is a democrat. You seem to think blame is the answer to fix your flat tire, go find that nail that you ran over. Meanwhile, someone has to change the tire and get going to where we need to be. Tea Party’s logic is flawed, badly. They don’t understand that it takes non-partisan compromise to at least get started in a direction, not brute strength and awkwardness. You don’t have the strength, awkwardness…yes.
“typical libs” Cant win a arugment just attack. I’m not a dem or rep I’m a American seeing my country going down the tube. Change my own tires by the way and put the nail somewhere so it doesnt happen again to me or my neighbors. Blame yes i blame people that don’t want to work because the welfare system is broken to the point that the reciepents of welfare have it better than young and old hard working people trying to make ends meet. These people have worked hard and long to get what they have and then you expect them to sit back and wait for a non-partisan compromise to fix “WHAT”. This election are country is at a cross roads its either left or right because the days of compromise are over just look at the U S Senate. Awkwardness…yes because I dont see my world through eyes of academia. Strength you bet and this next election your gonna see it. Never been to a tea party except with my niece. I think our founders where mostly center right in beliefs and we as a country have drifted to far left and were gonna steer her back come hell or high water. Thanks I needed that. ph……………………
Typical winger, he can solve the problem with 2 sentences. Please solve these problems.
Grandma lives by herself in a town with no public transportation. She heats with wood, but now is too old to cut it herself. Neighbor has moved to Portland for work, so she uses oil during the coldest month. Now her heating fuel subsidy is going away. How does she heat her house in January?
Johnny came home from Iraq with a crippled leg and mental problems. He is let go from his day work packing boxes at the grocery store because he misses a lot of work. His car won’t get him to Togus for his counseling, besides the mental health programs are being cut.
I know, the answer is for these people to pack up and move! Elegant solution to tough problems! They can be homeless in NYC and we won’t have to hear from them! Excellent advice from the right!
The right like to wrap itself in the flag and carry a Bible. So this solution must come from the Bible? Maybe the darling of the Right, Michelle Bachman could pray their problems away?
Family
So cute. So stupid. Typical Republican drivel. Why do you assume everybody is from a family of 9 that lives nearby?
Typical non response from a right winger.
But I guess we could all go back to the 1900’s when three generations lived in poverty and shared the same small house. That seems to be where we are headed.
You must live in a mobile home or something because most people can’t simply move somewhere else for a job. That costs money- which jobless people don’t have.
They can just wont. Two homes two different states and no wheels. Worked hard all my life to pay for them.
Exactly! And this is why we have you, jimbob, still in Maine while we lose our educated workers and young people who can’t get out of here fast enough. The state needs jobs, not an uncivilized “leader” who tries to bully the 61% who did not vote for him.
This state has serious problems and I believe the governor is trying to address these issues. Our last governor was kicking the can on the mainecare issue just look at the hospitials that were owed money by the state when the governor took over, which is now paid by the way. DHHS is out of control and tuff reform is needed. “uncivilized” wow thats civil. “bully” sounds like this 61 % is having a little fit because the governor is giving them a little tuff love and they dont like it.
Excellent point. Well maybe not. Just where are all of these jobs you are talking about? As far as my life is concerned I am quite happy with it thank you very much. As far as getting a job I have held a job in one form or another since I was 12 yrs old and had a BDN paper route. Now that I am a senior citizen I admit I take longer vacations then I did when I was younger and was starting a business, one that is over 27 years old and employs 18 not counting myself. As far as being a “lib” as you just tried to call me, if only by innuendo, sorry I have been a registered republican since 1967. Oh and I have never accepted a penny in the form of public assistance and I also voted for LePage.
Another words we should just continue to raise taxes on these stupid foolish programs that do absolutely nothing. This state is broke, we have more than 60% of the population on either Welfare or Unemployment it isn’t sustainable anymore. You can’t have people who are lazy, who keep getting pregnant, and other folks who want to mooch off the system getting these programs anymore. Sure people will be hurt but it is time for them to be booted off of these programs. The people can’t afford to subsidize these folks anymore. It is time for these people to get jobs, or do community service work.
Did the fact that a $105 million tax cut passed the legislature in the last session and was signed into law by LePage happen to miss your otherwise sharp eye?
So we should drop giving people tax cuts so lazy folks can continue to live the good life. That is the problem with Liberals they think we should take care of everyone. That people should become lazy couch potatoes. We need these tax cuts to grow our economy and grow incomes. It is our money not Augusta’s. What I don’t want is supporting lazy idiots who refuse to work. They need to learn how to be responsible for themselves. Welfare is a permanent lifestyle to them. Well you must not be paying attention to the tv we have a huge shortfall here in Maine , our state is in trouble. Our country has a 15+ trillion dollar debt which the president announced he now wants to raise the debt ceiling another 1.5 trillion. No wonder why everyone is in the poor house thanks to Liberals driving us their we will never get out of the mess they have caused.
Are you really responding to my post or are you just reciting talking points from some conservative media? If we are in such terrible shape financially was it really a good idea to have a $105 million tax cut? If you have a budget deficit in your own personal budget do you go to your boss and ask him to cut your pay to fix it. That is exactly what the LePage Administration did. As far as the President is concerned I am sure that one as informed as you claim to be realizes that the only people who can appropriate money in our system of government is the congress and not the President. Oh and did you also happen to forget the two wars which were commenced under a former President? You know the compassionate conservative one.
Yes we should give tax cuts to businesses and people to keep them here. We shouldn’t support people getting Welfare anymore. The President Nobama is the one who wants to increase our debt even more for his stupid Liberal Spending Programs. The 2 wars were needed to fight the war on terror. Though the Democrats would rather see that money going to the lazy folks who refuse to work in one of their redistribution/welfare programs instead.
It can’t be tea, perhaps medication?
Good Evening Mr. D. Cat the 33rd,
Thurston Howell the 3rd here at your service. Please continue to be the backbone of America so I can maintain my way of life. War profiteering has been very good to me. Please take away all that stuff from people you do not know or like. You are the my hero because you are not lazy like those others. I will try to trickle down some money to you. But please stop writing and go to bed because i need you at peek performance tomorrow. Seriously you have made your point go to bed.
The invasion of Iraq had absolutely nothing to do with American security. Hussein neither had the means nor the intention of invading the US. As much as he was a tyrant, he did not support Al qaeda.
The Bush tax cuts have done absolutely nothing to create jobs. The republicans ran for national office last year and supported the tax cuts extension with the claim it would create jobs. Lepage claimed he would create jobs. Neither has happened.
I’m sorry I can only hit the “like” button once, it is pretty much what I would have written. But the darkcat has no facts, it only repeats what it hears on Fox, and facts never interfere with a story on there.
Exactly what clear and present danger did Iraq pose to the United States?
And the problem with conservatives is they think everyone except themselves is lazy, or a drug addict, or intentionally getting pregnant. It makes it easy not to actually look at the situation. Just because someone is not working does not mean they are lazy.
Lazy people?
That would qualify alot of the 1 % who just lay around the pool!
http://www.drunktiki.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/the-rich-lifestyle.jpg
“So we should drop giving people tax cuts so lazy folks can continue to live the good life. ”
Hahahaha. Welfare is so great that people are quitting their jobs all over the state to get on it. Why don’t you come up with a scenario to show us how great it is. Do a little work for yourself instead of parroting the lines from your heros like LePage.
How about you tell us how to stitch a “good life” from welfare and food stamps. Try it. Show us how to make even 30,000 from social services. Like 120/month from food stamps, 200 from a rent subsidy, you find me the rest of the money to get to $30,000. Although 30,000 doesn’t buy the good life, you can be solidly middle class in ME on 30 thou. Get your brain in gear and rest your jaws and point the way.
Fuel cost are driving business out of this state, so to give some tax relief to them might get them to stay. He also increased school monies by 65 million but I guess your sharp eye missed that little fact. Just saying.
Would you care to give an example of a business that was driven out of Maine by fuel cost?
I will, I will!!! That one that was recently convicted of not paying his employees federal income taxes?? He obviously had expenses related to fuel, he was an oil dealer. The schmuck….
rail road nothern maine now the state owns it
Are you referring to the Canadian railroad who bought out B and A, got millions in state subsidies and still couldn’t manage to get their customers product shipped in a timely manner. If you are forcing your customers to ship by a more expensive, but also more reliable method then you can, as a business provide, then don’t act surprised when you start to lose customers. That had nothing to do with the cost of fuel, rather poor customer service. So as I asked before, name one business that left the state because of fuel cost.
Shut the starch factory down in Island Falls due to logistical cost. Same rail system ran thru that town but wasn’t used for transport of products. The rail system is in bad shape in most places train only able to go 10 mph. The state is in the process of upgrading 250 miles of rails now and when complete hopefully we’ll see some jobs come back. I say it was due to fuel cost rising and the rail company quit repairing the system due to high operating cost so it was in a death spiral. So the state took over to save the jobs and improve the service of this 250 mile rail
This is the typical demonizing of the unemployed and handicapped. Accusing people of being lazy or getting pregnant is just a simple view of the situation. While I will agree that there are some who abuse the system, most people on welfare are there for reasons beyond their control. For every job opening there are 4 people looking for a job (national average). Some have been out of work for so long they have exhausted their unemployment benefits and savings. Many can no longer afford health insurance. If you know of any one abusing the system you would help everyone else by reporting them to the appropriate agency to stop fraud.
AMEN, ademain!
You are a piece of work. You assume that nobody on welfare works. Do you know that the vast majority of poor work? (Never mind what Newt says, he lies a lot.)
That many welfare cases work? If you work full time at 8 bucks/hr, you make 16,000 per year. This qualifies you for some kinds of assistance.
Since the Republicans always resist a rise in minimum wage, working poor have a choice of starving or signing up for welfare. I know what you would tell them, they have to starve so that the wealthy can get a tax break to create more $8/hr jobs. And if the rich take the tax breaks and create no jobs, that is their right, they are rich and we have to hope they drop crumbs from their table so that the rest of the population can eat.
The people that defend him are soon going to have to realize that the proof is there, and that he is a bully, sometimes the best answer for a bully, is a healthy dose of humble pie. This is never going to end as long as he continues to act this way in public.
Were you there?
If you have an interviewee who voted for him saying that he was quite disturbed at the governor’s behavior, I don’t think any of us posting here needed to be there. The one thing I did notice, they were all saying essentially the same thing. Even Bennett.
You need to reread the article.
I have a friend who attended the meeting. “They” were NOT “all saying essentially the same thing”, according to my friend whom I just corresponded with via email.
I’m referring to the article…….not your “friends”. If you would like, I can contact some friends?
I have some imaginary friends too and they all say the governor was an ignorant arrogant jerk!
… but they were not shocked because that is what they had come to expect based on prior behavior patterns by our embarrassment of a governor.
I’m sure you are correct, but if the Ft.Kt. meeting had gone on like LePage had in his mind, he would have continued to P.I. and Houlton. And I am sure not all the people were hostile to LePage. But I am also sure the gov is thin-skinned, doesn’t like to listen to anybody who thinks differently, and wants to have his way on everything. He embodies the worst traits of a petty dictator.
On another track, what was he thinking? I am sure many of the Frenchies (I am a Frenchie, so I can say that) voted for him last time. Many of the Francos vote Dem., and this would have been a good opportunity for him to cement his support and peel a constituency away from the Dems. After all, who was the last Franco who ruled Maine? (Hint: he also named the peaks on Mt. Desert.) There is a lot of ethnic pride in having one of your own in the gov’s office. Now, he went to visit his co-linguists and, as we say, il a peté d’la broue.
Obviously Skeejun was not there, at the meeting, that is. His comment is just a knee-jerk reaction to the governor whom he despises.
Whoa there! You’ve got everything backwards. You accuse the governor of being a bully, yet you conveniently neglect to mention former state legislator Judy Paradis was the one doing the bullying when she criticized him by saying, “You come off as a bully”. I know Judy Paradis. She has attacked me, a private citizen, publicly with a long diatribe on two occasions out of the clear blue. I’ve witnessed her doing it to other private citizens without provocation. I’ve come to the conclusion she takes personal offense against dissenting views. And apparently, her constituency – mostly Democrats – has come to the same conclusion about her and her husband, who replaced her, by booting him out of the legislature. There is little doubt in my mind Ms. Paradis was NOT at the meeting to simply hear what the governor had to say.
PS: If you think the governor is a bully, then you haven’t met Ms. Paradis.
I’ve met her, and worked at the legislature when she was there. She’s not a bully. And if the governor announces informational meetings, I certainly hope that he didn’t think that these people in the County were going to be easy on him.
By the way, Ms Paradis didn’t attend the Presque Isle meeting, but he did the same thing, and she called him what exactly he is, and she’s not the only one doing so.
Well, don’t take my word for it if you will. Just ask her former constituency. Obviously, as an ally of hers you’ve never seen the other side of her public demeanor. Incidentally, were you at the Presque Isle meeting? Had you been there you would not have seen the governor there simply because he chose not to attend.
I won’t take your word for it thanks. I knew her for everyone of the nearly 8 years I worked there. She did something right, she served her district for years and years. Obviously there are people up there are going to disagree with you as I do. But another thing: She’s not the governor now is she?
And I stand corrected, the governor was not at the Presque Isle meeting, but neither was Paradis. Which means what?…..the governor cannot even attend scheduled informational meetings that his office scheduled, and is snubbing his nose at those individuals who wish to speak with him? Is it because he can only answer pre-screened questions? It’s not like Judy Paradis is the only person who he has demonstratively shown indifference to; he did it to Forbes Magazine, the unemployed demonstrators at the Blaine House, succinctly, the state rep that was there with them, he did it to those attending the mainecare hearings……being a governor is not a scripted job.
Look, the governor is not perfect. But he certainly has his detractors who are determined to get under his skin, which admittedly is thin at times on account of his upbringing. I only wished we had the governor of New Jersey as our governor. He’d put an end to all this nonsense. People like Ms. Paradis like to publicly embarrass and humiliate people. She’s done it to me twice and done it to others as well without any provocation. They don’t have to be public personalities either to get her wrath. Someone like the New Jersey governor would send her away in no time with her tail between her legs if she dared to attack him.
Incidentally, if the governorship is not a scripted job, then the presidency of the United States is much less a scripted job.
Perhaps you should go to Jersey then Whawell, because see, in Maine, we don’t allow a governor to react to an opposing viewpoint by “putting their tails between their legs” and having them gone.
And, succinctly, if you run for the Office of the Governor of this state, or even the Presidency of the United States, you must demonstrate that you are thick skinned. Able to withstand criticism and scrutiny. You mentioned detractors getting under his skin, that’s not going to cut it.
Don’t blame Judy Paradis for this Governor’s behavior! There seems to be more excuses for his behavior than ideas he has for compromising on at least ONE THING.
He even criticizes his own party’s leadership in the legislature? And I don’t care about his up bringing, everybody has got to be from somewhere, and if he’s so tough, then he should know that it’s not going to work.
It’s one thing to debate in public but personal remarks are uncalled for. The governor has every right to defend himself when people try to put him down. Certainly, I prefer a governor who doesn’t turn the other cheek. With this governor, what you see is what you get – to use your statement, for example, “He even criticizes his own party’s leadership in the legislature”. One has to like such a refreshing politician. That’s why many people decided to vote for him. For far too long we have had governors who were too sophisticated. People didn’t understand them, let alone feel comfortable with them. I understand a lot of people don’t like him on account of his political agenda. But this is to be expected seeing how polarized voters have become on issues.
personal remarks? You don’t think that the Governor telling Mal Leary of Capitol News that a legislator’s presence at a demonstration of unemployed maine worker’s was BS! that wasn’t personal?
And how about using the Forbes Magazine article, which quickly responded, to lie to all of those people that welfare is the reason for our state’s business ranking, that wasn’t personal?
Or heck, not even being in the state during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, where he could show compassion and caring, as all governor’s I can remember have done, that’s not personal?
He is a bully, as you said, it’s his upbringing. What about Marden’s, he is the person responsible for making it almost impossible for employees to afford health insurance at that company….that’s not personal? Seems to me that if there is anyone to blame for polarizing voters, it him, not these posts.
Seems to me he is due a few knocks.
I guess that the President being in Hawaii shows compassion and caring. By the way I’ll bet the Northern part of the state would be feeling worse toward the Gov. because there are fewer jobs and more people who want and need help.
Is Hawaii a state? Isn’t Hawaii where he grew up and couldn’t it be considered his home state? I wonder how the citizens of Hawaii felt when the Bush’s vacationed in Maine? Did you critisize Reagan and Nixon for going to California for vacations?
I am sure none of those trips cost over $4 million…. just food for thought!
there is data that show George Bush spent over $80 million in air flight to and from Crawford, Texas when he was President.
when you have food for thought, don’t forget to eat a balanced meal.
This is the part when Sara puts her hands over her ears and yells LA LALALALALALALALA!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS8RVkaIM9c
it just so happens, my friend and i were compiling a ‘lalalala’ song list this morning. made me laugh.
I never said that Bush was the perfect president or that he didn’t spend too much $$ either… I was just throwing out a number that I had read just recently and it shocked me! I know he is not the “typical” father/husband and that they are not the “typical” family, so things are going to cost more for them to travel due to security, staff, etc. etc. And I am not one that will cover my ears and say LA LA LA @Keenov:disqus – I try to keep an open mind, so to imply that I am bias and desperate, when you don’t know me, I find quite funny. What I don’t find funny though is how people in politics (not just the president) can continue to spend lavishly when so many Americans are scraping just to cover their basic living expenses. Not saying he doesn’t deserve a vacation, he certainly does, as does his family. But, I am not sure if a vacation of that expense was necessarily the best use of US money. Also, I would be curious of those trips to Crawford that President Bush took, how many of them did numerous staff members go, or did other dignitaries fly in and it was more of a “working vacation”…
there are numerous articles that address your question, I began my search with http://www.factcheck.org.
not sure if you read an article or just heard a headline that state the $4 million vacation figure, but the breakdown includes staff and other ‘working vacation’ items.
PS. i think the notion of presidential working vacation began with Teddy Roosevelt, who would take summers in Maine with his staff, keeping lines of communication open with the White House.
The POTUS is a 24/7/365 job, is he ever *not* working?
Bush took more time off than any President in the past 75 years.
Really is that why Obama has been on golf trips (at least 80 times according to CNN) , Martha’s Vineyard, Bar Harbor, Hawaii alot. Only Liberals would refuse to see the bilking this president , Mrs. Nobama and company has been doing to us struggling people. He runs away when the heat and the pressure is put on him. Though when you have possibley more than 1.5 billion dollars to spend this next election he will do everything to spin things claiming we are moving in the right direction.
Think of the free advertising ME got when Obama came to ME. It would be impossible to buy
The President pays his and his family’s air fare to go on vacation, the vast majority of the $4 million price tag is the cost of his security and the logistics of keeping him in touch 24/7 with everyone he needs to be in touch with.
Bush took more days, but he spent less of taxpayer money. Some of the time in Crawford, various dignitaries and world leaders visited making them working vacations. Having presidents and every other politician enjoying lavish vacations with us paying a large part of the expenses is hardly anything for which they can be proud. Perhaps, Obama is doing this as his last hurrah.
Republicans are the biggest HYPOCRITES on the planet!
now, now. we have our fair share of hypocrites. i voted for john edwards. imagine how deceived i feel.
They didn’t cost that much because they were not from Hawaii. Give me an efen break! Every president in History took a xmas vacation. The fact that you’re trying to call this president out for going on vacation shows your bias and desperation.
Barak Obama has taken more vacations in three years than George W. Bush took in eight. President Bush quit playing golf because he felt it disrespectful of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan- I lost count of Obama’s trips to the golf course. Furthermore, Laura Bush didn’t take a separate plane with a full entourage of staff and friends when she and the President had the same destination. Finally, the Bushs’ didn’t rent 40 rooms, costing hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars, to vacation at the Taj Mahal. I believe the President deserves vacations but this one is drastically out of touch with the plight of the American people, especially those who have lost their jobs. I firmly believe that he and the First Lady are out to get all they can, with no regard for the economic crisis we’re facing.
Please…if you are going to post something…make sure it is correct!!!!
http://www.factcheck.org/2011/07/the-traveling-president/
AND
http://www.factcheck.org/2010/01/president-obamas-vacation-days/
LIES LIES LIES. Do you guys ever tell the truth? Bush took more vacations than any President in the past 75 years!
LIES LIES LIES. You have been watching PMSNBC too much and been drinking the kool-aid that comes from Rev. Al Sharpton, Ed Schultz, Rachel “menopause” Maddow, Lawrence O’ Donnell, Chris Matthews, Chris Hayes. Never trust these folks or Democrats because they distrort the facts. They make everything look like its rosy. They want us to raise taxes on the “rich” as they put it, but when they have conservatives on as guests when they ask questions about these wealthy Liberal hosts pitching in more they balk. It is time to give these folks the boot send them all packing and bring honesty, fiscal sanity and job creation back to this country.
Is this Hannity? Greta? Sarah? Glen?
Please…if you are going to post something…make sure it is correct!!!!
http://www.factcheck.org/2011/…
AND
http://www.factcheck.org/2010/…
Love the way the side of liars tries to pin the blame on the dems. You guys lie and deceive every single day for a Party who has done more harm to America the past ten years than 911.
hehehe…. you are so far off base with who takes more vacations. GW Bush set the record for vacations. Both Reagan and Bush Sr took more vacations than Obama, only Clinton has taken less vacations than Obama since 1980.
The first sentence of your statement is an out right lie. Please post the source or google it for yourself. I didn’t feel the need to read beyond your first sentence.
How many vacations does one family need in a year?
Well I’m not seeing our jobs,jobs,jobs Gov.reopening the Career Center in Houlton.
Baldacci visited BMHI many years at Thanksgiving or Xmas time. Not a lot of votes there, merely being kind to people who have very little in their lives. Maybe Baldacci got something out of it also, such as service to others, an appreciation for one’s own life when seeing how little others have. Maybe LePage could learn something from some other people in this world.
refreshing politician…..he’s just like the rest of the GOP machine… gives tax breaks to the rich, cares nothing about and cuts benefits from the poor and the elderly…tries to disenfranchise voters in order to rig future elections in the GOP favor…tries to crush unions…cares nothing about teachers and government workers…works 24/7 to help the rich…lies and misrepresents every single day.
YEAH RIGHT ! SO ” he can dish it out but can’t take it” is that what you are saying? Kiss my bu)) and Go to He(( “, is uncalled for . Maybe he is setting a poor example. So you only like “plain talking” when it comes form the Gov???
Honey I don’t call that “refreshing”. I call it someone LOOKING FOR a bar room brawl .
You just insist on dredging up the past don’t you? Be as it may, the governor was absolutely right in defending against an unwarranted personal attack. There is absolutely no indication that he had been rude or impolite before the incident was precipitated my Ms. Paradis. Yet, it sounds like you’re blaming the governor for the mishaps. Go figure.
With this governor, what you see is what you get , One has to like such a refreshing politician. “I don’t know why any1 has to like LePage. nothing there that I care for. It was nice to have governors who were sophisticated. Too many people think we are hicks as it is. Throw LePage in there and we really look stupid. He carried the County because they were voting for a French Catholic not because he was a refreshing politician.
First of all, you’re confusing the County with the St. John Valley that is mostly made up of Catholics of French descent and has roughly 1/5 the population. The rest of the County is made up of other ethnic groups – Irish, English, Swedes, etc – who tend to be conservative and vote Republican. The vote in the St. John valley was just slightly in LePage’s favor – if at all – as I recall. To say he carried the County on account of his ethnic and Catholic origin is far from accurate.
Good post. Notice how 72 people plus like it compared to the single digit likes for whawell’s failed attempts at apologizing for LePage while getting in as many liberal bashing comments as possible. I guess the conservos are way outnumbered here.
You’ve posted three times about your interaction with Ms. Paradis.She hurt your feelings.Enough already.I don’t know her and am not her constituent but I don’t see a lot of people saying they were mistreated by her.On the other hand Mr. LePage- the list is long and not showing signs of abating.
Oh Please! What an insipid defense! ” because of his upbringing” C’mon – get real. Many, many people have upbringings as bad or worse than his and yet they still manage to be polite. You should start getting used to the idea now that this is a one-term administration.
If I recall, the governor stated he intended to be a one-term governor. Therefore there is no need for me to get to used to the idea of a one-term governor. And besides, the governor is polite most of the time, and, in fact, nearly all the time. I’m afraid you have an over-blown negative image of him for mere political reasons.
So the ideal governor to you is one who can humiliate his detractors better than anybody? What a civil world you imagine.
Anybody who dares to question Gov. Christie of NJ is indeed humiliated. But Christie is a stooge of big business who also attacks the poor and disabled and unions. Just this week he went around talking to the media about how paid sick days will bankrupt NJ. Of course, Fox broadcast the remarks without checking the facts.
What Christie said was that the state and local governments were on the hook for 3 billion dollars. In fact, the number is nowhere near that, he uses the most extreme numbers to get to 3 billion. He lies, and complains when he gets caught. So Christie is only a more efficient little dictator. You must like thin skinned demagogues who want to be absolute rulers. Me, I prefer humans who don’t whine that the media is out to get them every time an unflattering story appears.
Whoa! Your putting words in my mouth. People who attack others on a personal level need to be put back in their place. That’s what Gov. Christie does well. I admire him for that. To his credit he insists on civil discourse. What is he supposed to say when someone makes a personal attack? “Oh, it’s okay to put me down. I’m so sorry you feel angry and spiteful. How can I help you?” That attitude is wrong and only encourages disrespect.
That said, maybe you should look to criticize members of your own party for a change. If you’re sincere it won’t be long before you discover they’re not any better. But if you apply different standards of judgement, then you’ll never see the light. For example, members of the opposite party “lie”. Members of one’s own party “misspeak” when using the same words.
Christie is going around citing a number his own staff won’t support without verbal contortions that make a bowl of cooked spaghetti look orderly. This myth that social services is the biggest drag on the economy leads some to say it is all money down a rat hole. The right thinks that if only we could end all welfare the budget would right itself. A simple answer to complex problems, as usual.
Cutting education to the core and slashing medical services for the poor is long term foolish. It will lead to a system of education where only the rich can go to college and higher costs because as a society we haven’t yet gotten used to the sight of poor, disabled and old citizens dying in front of an institution that won’t treat them. Somebody has to reimburse the hospital, it usually falls to the taxpayer anyway.
So far as calling a lie a lie, I do. I would never say that it ok for a governor of any party to lie as consistently as LePage has. And I’m not talking about campaign promises, they aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on from any pols mouth. That said, for you to defend LePage by saying the other side does too speaks volumes. It is an admission of his boorish lying behavior, and for you to defend only encourages it. When his blind followers tell him it is unhelpful, then he’ll …. nah, forget it. He’ll do it anyway. It’s just him.
And no, the progressives aren’t known for using the same standard as the right, thankfully. From where I sit, the right tends to blame the messenger. They are always lambasting the liberal media, ignoring the fact that Rupert Murdock’s orgs (NewsCorp., etc) owns more media outlets than any other in the world, and they are solidly very conservative. They are also known as biased and somewhat unreliable in the details. (They are also known for lying big time about circulation figures and hacking the electronic accounts of thousands of people, but we can’t possibly think that this stuff happens here.)
It’s strange isn’t it that all those accusation you made apply to liberals as well, and what’s worse, you don’t seem to realize it. Maybe it would help if you just tempered your views a bit. I know, that might be asking too much from you. All I can say is that I had the same liberal mindset you do until about twenty five years ago.
What I find strange is that you just reject my story without doing one iota of research! Iam not making “accusations”, I am telling you what is going on now in NJ. Why can’t you just google Christie and 3 billion or something like that? That is one constant from you in particular, you assume that what I write and what you postulate are equal. No, your dismissing the Christie story as an “accusation” shows that you think it is equal to your denying it, or your just saying “It ain’t so.”
Sorry to tell you, you Conservatives always want to equate facts with opinions. The fact is, Christie is going around NJ claiming something that is shown to be false. And the best you can come up with is that liberals lie? First of all, I’m not on here repeating things shown to be questionable at best, and political lies at worst. I am not the one on here telling people that so what if liberals lie, conservatives do it too. Your attitude of defending everything a lying politician does as ok because other people do it is what allows them to continue and keeps Fox in business.
I don’t think anything I say to say will make any difference to you. Right now the conversation is just between the two of us. Maybe, when there’s a greater audience, I’ll be more apt to take time to give you a more measured response to a challenge. Right now, however, you I sense want me to answer every objection you make. You ask why and I tell you why. Not satisfied, you want to know why for my reply and then again why again to my last reply ad infinitum. So far I’ve probably given you at least 10 responses. I think that’s enough for now.
This aint New Jersey and you aint Chris Christy!
You missed the point obviously. Anyway, I never claimed Maine was New Jersey or that I’m Gov. Christy.
He needs to learn how NOT to let them “get under his skin”. This was an informational meeting not a bar room brawl. He needs to grow up and learn to control himself. f He is expected to be a professional He is not expected to need a babysitter. It appears his staff is constantly acting in the baby sitter role.
” OH he didn’t mean it ,Oh it’s just his way, oh he was just joking , blah blah blah “
It amazing, after reading this BDN article, how the mood of the meeting was not picked up by the local newspaper (St. John Valley Times) that reported on it, incidentally. It also amazes me how folks like you have a tendency to reverse the tables by casting blame on LePage for a minor incident he did not instigate. What used to be right, like defending oneself from personal attacks, is now wrong. And what used to be wrong, like baiting someone with a personal insult as Ms.Paradis did, is now considered right. It wouldn’t surprise me if there was a public cry for an apology from the governor for an offense a former legislator is responsible for. Oh my, the world has topsy turvy gone mad, hasn’t it?
Krispie Kreme R-N.J.? lol. You actually like that buffoon? He was born with a silver foot in his big fat mouth and he can’t wait to waddle in front of a mic and lecture the working men and women of N.J. about sacrifice. Something he has never known. He was born on third base and has spent his whole life crowing about the great triple he hit. Which while insufferable, is still not as bad as him telling everyone else what they are doing wrong at the plate! lol. The only thing that man is truly an expert on is how to eat Hagen Daz with a barn shovel. If Krispie Kreme and Poor Paul are your political idols, you need some new idols. They are the ones causing the bumper on the Republican clown car to drag on the ground.
I’m not in agreement to those exaggerated notions you hold about Christy or LePage. I don’t like buffons to be sure. And yes, I like like these fellows.
enough of cutting LePage slack because of his upbringing. His life is a success story but he had people who helped him also, such as Peter Snowe. He is a grown man & needs to learn some manners and develop some class. Surely he is smart enough to deflect some awkward situations with humor.
I think he answered Ms. Paradis’s tacky comment well, considering her past support of failed liberal policies he is trying to correct.
His upbringing?? Please, how long are you going to use that excuse; and that’s exactly what it is, an excuse. He’s now a 60-something yr. old adult with adult children, get over your bad self. Also, in response to other comments (above) have you bothered to look at the ‘likes’ corresponding to your comments verses the others you debate? I have. Not many agreeing with you…that alone should tell you your thinking is in the FAR minority; you are not surrounded by many like-minded thinkers (thank the good Lord for that!)
Yes, I realize I’m a minority in a far-left wing crowd. Sorry, but if this bothers you, you’ll have to learn to live with me. As far as I know this is a public forum for free expression. Unless it changes I see no reason to change.
PS: Incidentally, see how many “likes” are attached to my reply to Skeejun: 112 so far. Not bad for someone who tries real hard to “tell it like it is”.
Maybe the governor wasn’t there because you didn’t fill in his scheduled for him and it’s strange that Paradis wasn’t there maybe she knew something that you pretended you knew.
Whhhhaaat?. Is that you saying “roses are red ..violets are blue….I’m schizo…and so am I to!”…..that makes no sense.
Try harder to make a point would you? The Governor’s office scheduled these events, he planned to attend them all. Read yesterday’s newspaper.
“point ” don’t believe everything you read in the paper because they want to sell you a paper.
Well, apparently….alot of people bought and read the paper, because there was a hell of alot of people there.
It was on the official schedule published on Maine.gov too.
La La La I can’t hear you! Ignorance is bliss!
Considering Aroostook voted heavily for him and they are going to take the hit from the insurance bill giveaway AND a good part of these MC cuts,I’d say the TP’ers up there got what they deserved.Too bad the rest of Maine has to suffer.And gutless of him to skip 2/3 of the meetings.Apparently the heat was too much.
How could she be doing things right and we now have huge shortfalls and corruption everywhere
“You come off as a bully” is not bullying.
This statement was totally uncalled for. Ms. Paradis was merely trying to provoke the governor. I wasn’t there but a close friend of mine was. This is not unlike her to be provocative. She’s attacked me, a private citizen, publicly on two occasion. She’s done that to others without being provoked. I’ve come to the conclusion Ms. Paradis is very self-righteous, and because of that, she doesn’t see her own reflection. Public debate is fine in my book, but there is never any need for personal remarks. That said, the governor had every reason to lash back, if that was his intent.
lepage is crude,rude and classlees and as he himself says, he is full of bullsh*t
just quoting the gov, there laddie,, in fact if iwas as crude as he is, I would say he could kiss my butt and go to he*l—just governor talk
Ah, but you didn’t threaten bodily harm as the governor did to a small female reporter who had the audacity to do her job and ask him a valid and pertinent question.
You need to brush up on your crudeness. You are still significantly less crude than Lepage.
are you saying,I dont insult enough people? why, a minority of my friends approve of me, of course 61% of my friends dont approve and they say they never want to be a friend again.
Threatening bodily harm to a female? That’s a new one!
The Swearing in of Governor Lepage !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8erlOgLxK8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5OfgxWqP2A&feature=related
Well, I guess he is helping to keep a few reporters and comedy writers employed.
… and so it goes.
That is why he didn’t attend the other two meetings!!! He can’t stand the heat!!
At least he is doing something Baldacci or King would be picking up the scraps and giving people their warm and fuzzy bleeding heart speech. Just as they do when a business shuts down and people are out of work making these folks feel miserable and even less of themselves, as the new Liberal Eliot Cutler said on the campaign trail.
And neither can you apparently!
The worst governor the state has ever had.
Lepage has repeatedly and unashamedly bullied many people in public forums. He has used foul language and done a lot of name calling too.
When you are the top dog and have more power than those you are harasing in this way, that absolutely is being a bully.
It is appropriate for a constituent to point that out. In fact she did it in a fairly gentle manner (“you come off as a bully” is much kinder than pointing out “You ARE a bully”).
The statement was called for and was overdue.
people need to start being confronted about off topic and provocative statements.These meeting are not for grandstanding and gaining partisan points.We face a big financial situation and all the dems want to do is personal attacks.This is why they lost the election and will probable lose alot more now that Mainers see their true colors.Grow up and fix the economy.
We face a big financial situation and all the dems want to do is personal attacks
Governor Lepage IS the financial Situation!
Tax Cuts First at ALL costs!
http://www.pollways.com/journal/2011/12/25/government-out-of-balance.html
thank you for proving my point
Dlbrt did not prove your point..instead proved how mis-led the Republican party has become..
The Republican Party has done more harm to this country in the past ten years than 911. Take the SAVE AMERICA pledge: I WILL NEVER VOTE FOR A REPUBLICAN EVER AGAIN.
What has the Democrats done for the last 36 years here in Maine. It sure hasn’t worked their “investments” they want us to make has driven our economy into the dumps. The huge tax hikes, massive spending increases, borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars each year for roads and bridges. Only to have the money instead going to massive DHHS mismanagement and welfare expansion to unsustainable levels is no longer acceptable. We need TABOR styled Government at all levels. W e need all people in Government to be accountable and be fiscally responsible. We need to have consolidations at all levels of Government. We still have school districts refusing to follow the consolidation law that is unacceptable. We need to curb the Welfare and Unemployment dependency here in Maine as well. You can’t have more than 60% of Mainers on Unemployment or Welfare it bankrupts Maine. Until we get these changes Maine will continue to flounder at that bottom.
When your house catches on fire I’ll notify all the volunteers that you desire consolidation.
They might get there the following day with a 55 gallon drum of water!
Nice scare tactics. If consolidation was enforced things would be alot better than what we have now. The Liberals like to blow hot air. They fight anything that saves people money and gets better service for a better bang for their bucks. Liberals like youself would rather see us spend more money on failed bureaucratic nonsense that costs taxpayers money and does nothing. The Democrats need to go back to their caves and find something new to whine about.
TABOR? What a farce. We voted that down at least twice. Remember?
What is wrong with putting in a system that demands fiscally responsible and everyone being accountable. Democrats know nothing about it since the mess the left this state in. With it being a welfare haven, every state deparment in a mess, our failing schools, crumbling infrastructure, huge unemployment rates. So to call it a farce is calling for repeating more of the same failed policies of the last 40 years.
At it again? Darn those evil Republicans – they might even make Christmas go away – you seriously have an issue…..
I agree most are evil.
To state that most people who disagree with your politics are evil is ignorant. It isn’t any more difficult or intellectually challenging than two kids in a schoolyard calling each other big poopie heads. Step up the brain activity, please.
The Republican ideology and policies Today are so destructive for the vast majority of Americans including myself and my family that the ones who actively support them and their leaders personally disgust me. They support a party who ONLY work for the rich and the daily lies and misrepresentations are shameful. God help us if they gain the Presidency because we’ve seen in many states nationwide how Republicans in total control are abusing their power. PS I used to be a Republican, but they no longer come close to representing my ideals anymore!
I agree wholeheartedly with every word you say about the GOP. That being said, it is too easy to label those with whom we disagree evil. The leadership and corporate minions arguably are for being greedy and selfish and disregarding the environment and public health and welfare, but the poor schlubs who actually take Hannity, Limbaugh, Beck, etc. seriously aren’t necessarily evil. I believe they are easily duped into voting against their best interests and have fallen for the post 9/11 demonization of the left. That isn’t evil so much as intellectually lazy and looking for easily drawn lines between good guys vs. bad guys. Black vs. white.
It is simplistic and childish, but I wouldn’t use the word evil. I am friends with a handful of these types. They seem misguided and like to have a scapegoat to blame like liberals, Obamacare, taxes, regulations, hippies, etc. It is not a new mode of thinking. It is as old as man himself. I do, however agree with your posts 100% other than the evil label. Cheers.
And I will never support anyone who want to keep taxing and taxing, rich or poor. The mentality that says “what’s mine is mine and what’s yours in mine too” has to cease, and most assuredly people like me will see to it that it does by pointing out its inherent unfairness as often as necessary to drive the point home.
The unfairness has been 60 years of tax cuts for the rich which have led to a massive redistribution of wealth to the rich. Why weren’t you whining about class warfare when the top tax rate was cut from 92% to 70% then cut to 60% then cut to 39.6% and then cut to 35%. You don’t have a clue about fairness!
So a man gets rich and in the process creates a lot of jobs and wealth to boot for everyone. A 35 percent income tax is fair, you say? Tell me, why should he pay more percentage(wise) than anyone else if what he does is good for the general welfare? One more thing: I’m not the one who brought up the taxation issue. So why are you saying I am whining about it?
How many net jobs have been created since Bush’s tax cuts?????
Here’s a little fairness for you Mr. Genius. The top bracket in 1969 was 77%. Why was the predecessor Minimum tax also known as the Alt Minimum tax enacted in “69? I’ll spare you the agonly of having to look it up. Here’s what wiki has to say about it, “A predecessor Minimum Tax/alternative minimum tax was enacted by the Tax Reform Act of 1969[14]
and went into effect in 1970. Treasury Secretary Joseph Barr prompted
the enactment action with an announcement that 155 high-income
households had not paid a dime of federal income taxes.[15] The households had taken advantage of so many tax benefits and deductions that reduced their tax liabilities to zero”.
So on top of all the tax cuts they got, the rich have also bribed Congressman to insert special loopholes into the IRS code, adding even more to the redistribution of wealth gap.
When was the last time the Federal Budget was balanced …
when a Republican was POTUS ?
I have been doing that Since Reagan!!!!!
Thanks for proving my point,
Those of conservatives views read in only what they want.
They live in a fantasyworld where they think 25% is the majority and so they tell the rest of us lies, misrepresentations and fantasies to back up their minority radical positions.
Are you that suprised by the reaction from the left? They depend on those sucking the system dry for their votes, when somone threatens the status quo, they panic.
It appeared people were trying to tell him the impact of the cuts; he wasn’ interested in listening. He doesn’t seem to do so well in a crowd, not orchestrated by his teaparrty supporters . Facing the public is called accountability. It’s what leaders do.
The governor usually listens well when people speak about the impact of tax cuts. But he doesn’t have to stand in one place while certain individuals throw darts. It’s time we insist on treating political leaders more respectfully regardless of their political views. With that, Ms. Paradis’s comment was totally unwarranted and uncalled for. The governor rightfully deserves a public apology from her for her malfeasance.
Right after the GOP stops calling the Prez anti-American, a socialist, etc etc etc
Are you referring to the GOP candidates for their party’s nominee? If so, I don’t recall any of them saying the President is anti-American. In fact some of them have stated the opposite: They believe the President is sincere about his basic beliefs even though some of his policies are anti-American. Yes, I think he may have been called a socialist. That’s not necessarily a pejorative term. Lots of people, especially from the liberal left, embrace socialistic concept. The president happens to be one of them as well.
Why would he want to listen to these bleeding heart libs. They are afraid their freebies are going to end boo hoo get them a crying towel. Cuts are going to be made too bad they aren’t more than what is being cut. In my opinion Welfare should end, DHHS should be cut, Dirigo health needs to end now not later, education should be cut and major consolidations should happen not be rejected as some districts are doing. We need to create an environment where our job creators , working people thrive and become prosperous. What this state is still a haven for the lazy, moochers , special interest and wealthy ex-liberal politicians. All of which are putting their hands out want more more more.
You could always move to Alabama or Sudan.
You can move to Canada and continue to mooch off of them. I like the rest of the working folks are fed up paying for these moochers. They want wine, cheese and a crying towel. Boo Hoo I have no sympathy for them at all. It is time for them to go back to their caves and cry us a river and find something new to complain about. It’s time to move Maine to being a business friendly, low tax , prosperous, free and conservative state.
You refer to the people of Northern ME as bleeding heart libs. I believe LePage carried every town in the County and won because of their votes. Too bad they were so foolish as to vote for him. Hopefully, they are learning a very valuable lesson.
Really this room was filled of Liberal Democrats who are crying now that their freebies are going out the window. It is time to make these much needed cuts. The fact is the state is broke it is always in a deficit. It is time to make these cuts and start focusing on business, job creation, prosperity and lower taxes. Being a Welfare Haven doesn’t accomplish these goals.
You’re absolutely right. The Democrats see themselves and their agenda losing. As a result they are acting desperately. Nothing unusual about that I might add because personal attacks are their modus operandi. The rest of us non-Democrats are not too bright and unenlightened. Well, if they want to attack me that’s fine. Always, however, I reserve the right to defend myself, much to their chagrin.
You guys lie and deceive everyday but it’s the dems who are desperate. What a joke!
Now, you’re not calling me a liar, are you? As your friendly poster, what harm have I done to you to deserve this treatment? You make me cry. Sob, sob, sob….
She is a political activist and a member of the opposing party. Not a simple constituent with some innocent point to make.
She’s just speaking out.
She is an operative of the competing political party attempting to throw a wrench in what this political party is trying to accomplish.
Not exactly some poor granny just speaking out, now be honest.
When your side just once was honest we’d have something to be proud of, but your side lies and misrepresents every single day in the hopes of fooling the 99% to vote for the Party who only work for the top 1%.
She could have criticized the governor’s stand on spending cuts or on some related issue. Rather, she chose to make a personal attack. Just speaking out? No way!
Le Page KNEW exactly who he was speaking with whawell. The minute he saw her there, he should have prepared himself for some hard questions. He did not, and was not, nor ever is prepared to answer hard questions.
That’s not a governor that takes his preparation duties seriously.
What do you want him to do give a Baldacci or King bleeding heart speech. So he should be nice and have milk, soda and cookies with them. No he is telling the facts and is telling them to get used to what is and should be coming and that is massive cuts and ending these programs.
But he did not react to any hard questions. You’re making a wrong assumption again! He did however briefly react to an untoward personal comment. I applaud him that.
and lepage should learn how to handle opponents.
Well if folks like Mrs. Paradis didn’t go their and make an idiot of herself maybe the Governor would have been more civil. But when you got all of these mooching leeches knowing their days of dependency are numbered. They want to do everything to keep their last grips on Maine as long as they can. If Lepage was smart he would have NO BS and start putting the hammer down on these folk. With start putting htem on a Greyhound or Vermont Transit bus like he said he would do while campaining. It’s time to say bye bye to these leeches.
He handled the situation correctly. Was he supposed to say something, like, “I’m so sorry you feel so badly about me”? Come on, get real!
Actually, I thought she was too kind. Nonetheless, she deserves a Hoo-Rah, for it was the first time he has been publicly accosted for his role as a bully. Each public utterance by this man must test the resilience of Ms Bennett, constantly trying to sweeten each face-off.
The best way to deal with bullying is to confront the bullying person. That’s what Lepage does and that is exactly what has earned him the reputation of being a bully. That said, Ms. Paradis’s comment was not provoked by the governor. It appears to have come out nowhere. This is a typical liberal faceless attack, and the governor responded appropriately.
How about discussing issues that affect Maine people rather than being focused on the negative?
You do know, that that statement can be perceived the other way around. Paradis confronting the bullying person. Regardless what you say, she was never a cog in the wheel, nor was she ever a bully when she was at the legislature.
How about discussing the issues that are affecting Maine people, such as the governor’s conduct? And his inability to maintain control of his temper when he is pressed for answers that he does not, or cannot provide? That’s an issue, like it or not.
The governor’s conduct is not so much of a real issue as those who deliberately attempt to take him down because of his political agenda. People are sick and tired of politics of personal destruction. They want to see our leaders working together rather than cutting each other down at every turn. The governor met in Fort Kent to discuss the future of healthcare in Maine. A liberal former state legislator took the opportunity to knock him down. He was not bullying anyone as some posters have conjectured. He merely responded to the unwarranted personal attack briefly and then went on to answer her concern as if nothing untoward had happened. Still, some posters it seems won’t be happy until governor is thoroughly ripped apart piece by piece.
She’s attacked me, a private citizen, publicly on two occasion
Well!
Stop being a Bully!
If you want to be taken seriously, state what actions of yours caused her to criticize you, otherwise there is no indication that she did criticize you.
?????????????????????
Dlbrt was quoting Whawell.
Ah, the importance of punctuation. He should have placed quotation marks around the quote.
Her attacks were unprovoked. She can out of the blue each time. I can’t help it if I exist. What am I supposed to do? Disappear every time she’s around?
He certainly disappeared after that fiasco, irregardless of his press releases and own web page stating that he was attending every meeting.
so let’s all agree NOT to vote for Paradis as governor, because we all agree bullying is a negative trait.
fair enough?
I didn’t see her comment as provocative – she was ‘just tellin it like it is’ – the man is a bully and a buffoon and needs to go!!!
The man was elected fairly and squarely for a term in office. He may not have been your choice, but he was mine and many others as well. My advice to you and many others is this: Attack the message if you disagree with it. But don’t kill the messenger on account of the message.
He’s more than the messenger; he’s the CEO of the state. He was your choice and you call 39% ‘many’? That’s less than 2/5th, not a very commanding or convincing victory; and this is why…as some applescruff said “he’s a buffoon and a bully”, period. Why do you keep trying to defend him?
I defend him because the accusation of bullying is not warranted, plain and simple. Since when is bullying not okay when one is defending himself against a personal stab? This has nothing to do with the so-called lack of a commanding victory he had. He was duly elected governor, wasn’t he? So what’s the problem? Certainly you’re not implying that his victory makes him a buffoon and a bully, are you? And I hope you’re smart enough to understand that he should not be ripped apart because of his less than commanding victory. Also, if his victory is not convincing, why was he installed as governor? He was installed as governor because he won the title fair and square.
“The man was elected fairly and squarely for a term in office ”
Kind of, but it just proves that we need run off elections.
It doesn’t prove the need for run-off elections if one is generally satisfied with his job performance.
It doesn’t take much to provoke this man.
That’s why his handlers sent him home and changed his so called scheduled appearances on “short”( ie. no notice). LOL…”lepage has left The County”(apologies to Elvis)… Pay attention citizens of The County.
No, all one has to do is to keep needling and needling him. Your right, he’s not superman. But I voted for a human being, and I think this is what the citizens of this state got. Liberals like you must have trouble sleeping at night.
“What planet are you on?” seems like a fair question to ask of Judy Paradis, one of the architects of the 70% plus increase in Medicare recipients over the past few years of failed liberal policies.
Blah, blah, blah…..you say the same thing, at least once, in every news story.
Because the truth is worth repeating.
Yes, indeed, that’s a very good observation. Thanks for your input.
If it waddles like a duck, looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…guess what???
Is that why some liberals call the governor “Penguin” rather than his own name? I smell a whiff of racism here on the liberal side of the aisle.
Why did you call the last governor “Bald Archie ” ?
Because I didn’t. :)
It’s not necessarily a duck! Quack, quack.
What is it other than off topic and provocative.It is showing Mainers just what has been happening in Augusta .Stop the partisan crap and fix our economy.If you just want to rant get out of important meetings and join the BDN blog.
What is it other than off topic and provocative?
It’s an open forum, this isn’t Fox News where you get handpicked conservative question. In an open forum everyone gets the questions and comments they don’t want to answer, and I can’t believe the penguin wasn’t expecting and wasn’t ready to answer these question/comments, especially after the way he’s been acting.
thank you for proving my point.
timmy …taking a lot of credit today for all your nonsense non-points
You are right!!! It’s the truth!! He is a bully!!
He is the most condescending and bullying man ever to sit in the Blaine House.
no but it is not showing respect to the governor of the state of maine. she is a head case. a real legend in her own mind. she makes john martin look like an angel. even john martin ackknowledged there is problems with the maine system and it is hurting. the governor is frustrated with the ignorance of some of these people that have blinders on and think that money is falling from heaven. it shows that these people think that saddling the kids with debt for the rest of their life is fine. unbelievable.
Two wrongs do not make a right. As the governor, he should be above rude behavior. It’s unprofessional.
I agree with you that two wrongs don’t make a right. She was wrong by choosing to pick a fight. The governor was right when defending himself. Tell me, since when is it wrong to defend oneself?
It is never wrong to defend oneself, but it is possible to disagree without being disagreeable. One does not have to be rude to defend oneself. The governor needs to learn professional restraint and behave decorously, even when those around him are not. Actually, hurling barbs is not a sign of strength, but a sign of weakness. The truly strong never need to stoop to name calling to win an argument.
The governor made a sharp reply and then went on to answer Ms. Paradis’s concern. Had he delivered a diatribe, I would agree with you.
It is never wrong to defend oneself, but it is possible to disagree without being disagreeable. One does not have to be rude to defend oneself. The governor needs to learn professional restraint and behave decorously, even when those around him are not. Actually, hurling barbs is not a sign of strength, but a sign of weakness. The truly strong never need to stoop to name calling to win an argument.
You May Have needed to be straightened out And Judy Paradis had the GUTS to do it, Unlike many other who just go with the flow not to make waves, She Is Very Outspoken, To The Point, And Very Professional!!!! Put That In Your Pipe and Smoke It… IT IS WHAT IT IS!!!
Baiting a public official with a personal attack is totally uncalled for in public discourse. That’s what Ms. Paradis attempted to do. The Governor merely defended himself. Now who acted unprofessionally?
Anyone who openly admits and laughs about the fact that to that they bullyed little children for their halloween candy as a kid deserves the full onslaught of 1000 Ms Paradis’s.
Anyone who defends the likes of him deserves Ms Paradis relentless attacks as well!
She may be a Bully, but she is a Bullys Bully!
“These proposals are not cuts. ”
What are they?
Wait a minute, you say she bullied him by criticizing him? You mean that we are not supposed to criticize? Are we all to become Republicans by listening to the gov and nodding in unison? If he thought when he got elected that he would get to say “Off with her head!”, he is in the wrong century. Maybe 1350 France, maybe 1850 Russia, maybe 2010 North Korea, but here and now the governors are elected by the people, not appointed by God.
The right always likes strong leaders, and by that I mean petty dictators. Your side likes to say that they are the ones watching that everything stays constitutional, and then they do pretzel contortions to try to match that position. It is indeed 1984 all over, all the time from the right. They talk of freedom all the time, and do their best to stifle dissent.
Let me be more specific. Ms Paradis criticized the governor WITH A PERSONAL ATTACK. She could have attacked his policy decisions or views, but no, she decided instead to bait him by attacking his character. The governor in turn defended himself rightly so. I suspect people in this forum either can’t distinguish the difference between what is acceptable criticism or don’t won’t to make that proper distinction for partisan reasons.
As to your generalizations concerning Republicans, I not going to respond to that because it’s an entirely different issue.
Oh LePage is OK because Paradis is worse. Great defense. The guy is a tyrant, doesn’t know how to govern, is in the back pocket of special interests and needs to go ASAP.
We are talking about what went on at the meeting, not what you think of the governor. Since when has defending oneself against an untoward attack become an act of tyranny?
LePage was duly elected. What do you propose to get rid of him? A gang of thugs who insist on their ways?
Well I haven’t met Ms Paradis, however it is still possible for that fact and the fact that the governor is a bully to be true.
Yeah, it’s possible that the governor is a bully. But how often must one bully to be classified a “bully”? Judging from the knee-jerk reaction so far by some of the posters to the BDN report, wouldn’t you say some of the posters hastily concluded after presumably reading the article that the governor had engaged in bullying at the Fort Kent meeting?
Yes.
she did not call him a bully like most people do ,she said he came off sounding like one and he is one maybe she is too but don’t take away that hes our Gov. and people are ashamed of him for his talks, and lack of respect for others including the president of USA
A bully for putting a end to the welfare state Maine has become. I am very happy with him but wish he would do more. About time a Governor of Maine stood up for the workers and not the non working welfare class.
How can you defend him? He is treating people like a commodity. His “frustration” came from the realization that the people up here in “The County” aren’t the rubes he took them for. He figured out that you can’t fool us so easily, and now he doesn’t want to attend the Presque Isle or Houlton meetings because he can’t answer intelligent questions intelligently. Sounds like what usually happens when you stand up to a bully, they take their ball and go home whining, “They were mean to me!”
The bullying is not the problem. The problem is that there are too many sore losers out there that can’t accept what the governor stands for, besides his agenda. That’s the real truth of the matter.
Common sense approaches to financial problems brought on by past administrations do not seem to be acceptable to many, especially those who are used to the handouts.
Give me a BREAK! John Martin and Judy Paradis are two liberal Democrats who contributed to the creation of this DHHS budget shortfall and now they criticize LePage, who is trying to fix the problem that they created. The real reason Martin and Paradis are criticizing LePage is to shift the blame away from themselves. Had Martin and Paradis done their jobs, we would not be in this mess to begin with. I support the Governor on this issue.
John Martin and Judy Paradis, all of a sudden shot a Wile E Coyote Acme rocket missle under LePage’s butt and suddently caused him to go ballistic, on two separate occasions and in two different towns? Apparently the gentleman who voted for him is having some disconcerting thoughts about that guy you support.
You don’t suppose he didn’t realize that these questions by people he invited were not “pre-screened”? He announced the informational gatherings, what did he expect? You aren’t going to fool the County folks, not for a minute.
Rusjan, the county people, specifically those in her former district as a state legislator, were fooled and re-elected her and her husband for several consecutive terms until they got fed up with them, especially her. All too often I’ve seen her ranting and raving in public and in private as if there was some conspiracy going on against her. The only conspiracy there was, was in her own brain. I’m not exaggerating neither.
I believe Ms Paradis termed out. And as I said, there is no “fooling” county folks. Why on god’s earth do you defend this behavior? It doesn’t matter if she was there asking questions or not……the man is the Governor of the State of Maine, you don’t go throw a tantrum in front of the people that may or may not have voted for you just because you can’t handle a question.
His behavior is embarrassing to himself, his party, and this state.
He didn’t throw a tantrum. She cruised for a bruisin’ with her unwarranted remark. That remark was not a question, as you put it. It was an outright attacked on the governor whom she despises. (I know she despises him from prior conversations with her). He had every right to defend himself, especially against a former state legislator who has not learned her lesson well on what constitutes acceptable public behavior. No, the governor didn’t embarrass himself. Ms. Paradis did that to herself. She has tired to do that to other people like myself on other occasions.
Yes, I believe Ms. Paradis may have termed out as you stated. This however didn’t prevent her from running in the other legislative seat, something she had done in the past, like going through a revolving door.
Did I hear you say County folks can’t be fooled? Both she and her husband have been telling these folks they were “pro-life”. They got away with this lie for years and years even when they were occasionally asked if they supported the right of a woman to abort. When that question arose, they cleverly avoided it by not answering it directly. Instead, they would emphasize they were “pro-life” or talk about what they had done to prevent abortion, or simply changed the subject. Finally, one person took Mr. Paradis to task. He gave him no leeway as other people before him had done differentially. Mr Paradis finally admitted his support for the right to abortion. Lucky for him, this all happened after he and his wife no longer served in the state legislature.
Yes, being pro-life usually means that a woman can be forced to carry a fetus to term. Then we will deny the family enough welfare to raise it well, crowd the schools so he/she will fail, then execute the child after he/she turns 18.
At what point do you think the state should butt out of people’s private affairs? We should be able to force completion of an unwanted pregnancy. Maybe we can toughen divorce laws to force unhappy marriages to continue? If mom is an alcoholic, should we be able to terminate her parental rights? Lord knows we don’t want the state to raise children, and the gov is trying to end welfare, so maybe we can just take up the cry from the right and get the kids to more away? Can’t we just force people to act like WE (the state) wants and call it “freedom”. This is what the Republican agenda looks like from here.
I’ll be brief. Taking the life of an innocent human being is always wrong. It is also wrong not to defend against the taking of a human life in society, even when that life is not one you consider your own (a stranger for instance). Before abortion was legalized, abortion was much less rampant and so was welfare. Not surprisingly the fabric of our society, the family unit, broke down as more and more people became dependent on the government.
Again, before making a link to higher welfare rates, can you show some figures for you claim. Can you prove, other than by just saying it is so, that rates of poverty rose because of abortion? Any study, any reputable survey?
I lived through those times when abortion was legalized in states like New York and when the Roe v Wade decision was made known. I also live in the aftermath. The social structure of the country changed much for the worse, especially with the coming of age of the “me generation”. If you’re interested in a sociological study, do it on your own if you care to scan through pages and pages, manuals and manuals of dry studies. What precipitated the downfall is the emphasis on self, which undoubtedly is what abortion, greed, and the surge in a general sense of self-entitlement is all about.
she called him what he is all plain speaking like; and he couldn’t “take” it
The county folks reelected her for each and every term she was legally allowed to run.
Your revisionist history is pretty silly.
No, my facts are correct. Her husband followed her in the legislature after she termed out. Finally he lost in a re-election on account of voter sentiment that they (both he and she) were “too big for their breaches”, that is, too arrogant. Each was perceived as joined at the hip as Ms. Paradis became more vocal and strident in public.
Too big for their breaches???
What exactly were they breaching?
Between the two of them, they were elected and served for decades. He served 3 terms after she was termed out.
Your spin is silly.
Why is the spin silly? Because there’s no spin, period. I told you why voters finally booted Mr. Paradis out of office. “Too big for their breaches” is not my term. That phrase was actually being used by voters who voted against Mr. Paradis. No, my reply is not spin. It’s factual.
I suspect they said too big for their britches, not breaches – IF the story is true.
Yeah, term limits termed her out. And Martin keeps switching from House to Senate and keeps getting reelected. That doesn’t mean the voters were dissatisfied with either one of them.
Most voters actually dislike Martin. The only reason they keep re-electing him is because of his ability to bring home the bacon.
As has been pointed out above, The County and Downeast are taking the brunt of the cuts, and they voted for LePage in higher proportions than the rest of the state. This must mean 2 things:
First, since they are facing the biggest cuts, they must be the biggest welfare consuming, lazy non-working adults in the state. This is LePage’s base?
Secondly, since they supposedly knew what his program was, they voted against their own self-interest. This means either they were fooled into voting for him, or they are very altruistic. My guess is the first.
Thirdly, the next election will show just how wonderful he is.
I wasn’t going to respond to this comment, I will nonetheless. You need an attitude check. Also, you need to relax a bit. The world is likely not going to end tomorrow or before LePage leaves office for that matter.
I need an attitude check? Why would you say that? Because I challenge you for facts and correct your parroting of the Republican Party? That’s not an attitude problem, it is probably thin skin, like the hero of the Tea Party LePage. It bothers me when people go off and spout myths instead of facts. Lately the Reagan myths reared their lying heads again, I didn’t mean for you to take it personally, but neither will I let it pass as fact that he saved the Western world, slashed taxes and that everybody had it better after 4 years of the man.
I tend to write dry and use precise words, and that might make me come off as angry, you can choose to interpret it any way you want. Angry is fine, I think people should have some passion about things. When they are proven wrong, (and each human has been wrong at least once I bet) this teaches humility. Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt, but there is no shame in defeating myths even if somebody’s feelings get hurt.
Acountian, calm down. You’re saying things that are inaccurate if not true. I gave you facts and you apparently disagreed with me over the facts by putting words in my mouth. Certainly, I’m not aware of anyone having said Reagan saved the Western world. He is however responsible to a substantial degree for the Soviet Union melt-down. And he did cut taxes, just as the chart you referenced showed. Furthermore, he was re-elected by a landslide because people believed they were better off than they had been just before he took office. I’m not making this up because I remember the situation in existence then very clearly. None of what I told you or am telling you now is myth.
The myth that he was more responsible for the fall of the Berlin Wall or, as you put it, responsible for the “melt down” in the Soviet Union. Read books from the Poles who resisted, or the Czechs who did. You would see that Reagan neither inspired them nor helped them much.
Reagan did cut taxes, but as the chart shows, while the middle class got crumbs the rich had their taxes slashed. I guess cutting the tax rate counts, but when the rates are slashed and the debt is tripled, that means that the rich will pay a much smaller part of the debt that was incurred giving them tax breaks. That might seem fair to you, but what it did was to transfer billions of dollars from the middle class to the wealthy. Rah, rah, Vote Republican.
And can you show some surveys or polls that show that people were voting for RR because they were better off? Again, that is a myth. Republicans did ask, “are you better off that you were 4 years ago?”. and the voters did vote for RR by a wide margin, so how are the 2 things linked? Were attack ads the difference? (Good ones for RR and stupid ones for WM for instance?)
Also, before you think the US peaked under RR, consider that faster growth was achieved under Bill Clinton. He also is known from your side as one who raised taxes, including what Repubs called the “largest tax increase in American history”. So much for your acquired theory that RR tax cuts spurred the economy while tax increases on “job creators” always drags the economy down. As an aside, RR years also marked the time when the US went from being the worlds biggest creditor to the world’s biggest debtor. Look it up, the year was 1982.
You like to say that the poverty rate did not increase under RR, and I point out that 2.5 million were poor after his terms were up. Which number matters? One is a number on paper trotted out by apologists for RR, but 2.5 million is a real number with men, women and children needing help with food and housing. Which number really matters?
You can demonize them as sluggards and parasites if you want, but what do you think when you see a “crazy” person pushing his/her stuff along a road without sidewalks in Bangor? What do you think when you hear of some old women dying of hypothermia because her heat was shut off? What do you say to a veteran who went to war for this country (whether you supported the war or not) and comes home to no job, and benefits he can get by driving 200 miles in a car he doesn’t have? I know what your side says, I read it on here all the time.
Where’s the family? He should get a job. Why don’t they move? Those are the most common responses. Simple answers, with no compassion, and no real solution.
Overall I disagree with your assessments, and frankly, I am getting tired of your misrepresentations concerning my positions. I never stated or implied that Ronald Regan was solely responsible for the fall of the Berlin wall or the demise of the Soviet empire. As to the tax rate map you referenced, readers of these posts can make their own assessments. You made your point and I made mine, so there’s no need to go any further as they have enough input already. Also, as I stated earlier, the poverty rate matters more than the actual numbers you are focusing on. Now let the readers decide which one is more important. And as far as compassion is concerned, I may not be the most compassionate person there is, but I’ve learned from experience to discern when people need compassion and when they are taking undue advantage of their fellow brother’s tendency to be compassionate.
How can Adrienne Bennett get up every morning and look at herself in the mirror … ???
It’s easy when you just tell it like it is. Try it.
You mean like Paradis did? You mean like that?
he can dish it out; and not take it . There are alot of plain speaking people like that They CAUSE a lot of fights. They are usually under 10 years old.
I think you are confusing LePage with Ms. Paradis who instigated the incident. She’s was the “disher”, not LePage.
EASY< It tells her what she wants to hear!
http://www.collegefashion.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Evil-Queen-and-Mirror-550×395.jpg
a well paid babysitter scary that we have a governor who NEEDS a baby sitter .
Not a LePage supporter here, but, I have yet to meet an Aroostook Cty person that I didn’t like. They are down to earth, decent folks.
Some Floridian/Waterville types that I have heard from a lot in the last year come across as real losers. Bennett should heed Martin and keep the governor on a short leash or maybe send him on another vacation. He makes our state look pretty sad.
Married to a Fort Kent girl. :-) Lovely family. Hard-working, generous, salt-of-the-Earth Catholic family. Even accept me, a hethen Atheist, into their fold without judgement. When they tell me our Governor is a rude, uncivilized man, I listen.
And sight unseen I’d be willing to bet they vote Democrat to boot. What I find ironic is that most of these “salt-of-the-earth Catholic families” living in that area of the state, sometimes referred to as “The Valley”, vote for Democrat candidates who support the right to kill an unborn child.
Catholics also vote for republicans who start unjustified unpaid invasions of foreign countries and kill thousands of people. So what is your point?
Aroostook County went heavily for LePage in the election, I think. They vote their views at the time of the election, it’s not Democrat County.
They vote for people who support the government not telling women what to do with their bodies. If the government can do that, they can do anything.
And the extremist R’s are out in force all over Iowa.Try to support the Wadsworth Center and Planned Parenthood if you can.They do more good for more people than any right wing clown ever would.
brilliant just brilliant :-/
Quite a bit of hostility toward people you don’t know anything about, eh? Could we possibly be prejudging and assuming here? Why are you assuming the worst about those people? Are you a misanthrope?
Lets be nice now. Have I called you any names? Need I remind you about the prohibition on name calling in this forum?
I asked if you were a misanthrope because of your hostility toward “salt of the earth” people you never met. I was curious as to your motivation in slamming these people. Asking is different from calling names. I didn’t actually call you anything, right? Besides, you deflected my questions and didn’t address my points, simply zeroed in on a non issue. Care to address my query or is that not how you roll?
By asking if I was a “misanthrope” you were suggesting I was one. That’s name calling. To answer your question: no, I’m not a loner by any means and I love people besides. My understanding is that misanthropes are either loners or don’t care to be with people. That doesn’t apply to me.
Furthermore I am not hostile towards “salt of the earth” Catholics in Fort Kent. I just find it strange that some of these people continue to support politicians committed to keep abortion legal when the church’s stand against abortion is clear: Taking the life of an innocent person is always wrong. Catholics have an obligation – not an option – to bring an end to abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia. This obligation applies to all Catholics everywhere, not just the “salt of the earth” ones in Fort Kent. This is not a hostile attitude on my part.
I am glad to hear you aren’t a misanthrope. I see you are anti abortion and seem to center your political views around that issue and form opinions about whole segments of the population based on this alone. I fail to see what this has to do with our very unpopular Governor’s less than impressive tenure thus far. You will find you are in a small, but vocal minority and will face much opposition for the rest of your living days. Cheers.
Your response was in response to my earlier comment:
“MaineIsMyHome
wrote:
Married to a Fort
Kent girl. :-) Lovely family. Hard-working, generous,
salt-of-the-Earth Catholic family. Even accept me, a hethen Atheist, into
their fold without judgement. When they tell me our Governor is a rude,
uncivilized man, I listen.”
Just for the record, my in-laws are Republican.
My thoughts are this: The decisions of former politicians at all levels of government made poor decisions and didn’t pay attention to the numbers or verify what the others were doing with the money their deartments were given. I believe the shortfall we are experiencing should be paid back by the politicians-both current and former politicians. I know this isn’t practical however I don’t think people that live in Maine and need the wide array of services that were created to help should suffer by losing these benefits. There are some ways I agree to cut services-drug testing recipients; not allowing people who move to this state access to the state benefits for a set number of years. Probably a few more as well. I do believe Mr. Lepage is very short tempered and if a person disagrees with his decisions or ideas he stops listening. Pray that someone on his staff can convince him for another way to handle this shortfall. Pray for all individuals that need these services. Thank you.
John Martin is one to talk. He is one of rudest, arrogant and ignorant people I’ve ever dealt with.
I agree Judy Paradis is another one who shouldn’t be complaining either. She when on several committees in her time in Augusta was unbearable to deal with also. The Democrats are in denial about the problems this state has.
King John, the bully of Aroostook County and Queen Judy, the queen of denial. Two fools that are responsible for the mess we are in. It was their irresponsibility and self serving policies that have cause much of the mess. They thought nothing of handing out other people’s money, so they would be “popular”.
He is a bully. A thug. A truly classless act. But what do I know? I’m just a voting, tax-paying resident of Maine.
Yes, you got that right. The instigator and real bully at the Fort Kent meeting was former Democrat State Legislator, Judy Paradis. I think you got everything backwards.
Judy Paradis is not this state’s governor, she’s as you said “former”. That means she is nothing other than an informed citizen. He appalled many, many more than Judy Paradis, he surprised his very own staff.
If anyone was appalled, they were most likely Democrats. What Ms. Paradis did was outlandish. She attacked the governor personally and then she tried to reverse the tables on him to make him look like he was the instigator. Believe me, this is Ms. Paradis in living color. Seen her doing this act before. Unfortunately, we have too many people like her who debate the issues only when they think it serves them. So what do they do when they sense their side might be losing ground in a public debate? They attack the messenger on account of the message they don’t like.
Look at the numbers on likes for posts criticizing the governor. There are more than “liberals” who think he is inept.
The truth matters more than numbers. On which side are you on?
Your Very Self-centered.. Stop trying to change the attention From Mr. LePage To Mrs Judy Paradis… Trying To Bring an innocent party to the forefront to HIDE the real Problem “Mr LePage” is not working for you, Quit While Your Head Is Still Buried In The Sand.. He is who he is … VERY RUDE, and the biggest Fake I have ever seen in office.. not knowledgeable enough to Govern the State Of Mane….
Of course you are talking about your perception of the governor. Personally, I don’t have a problem with him, just like I don’t have a problem with Obama the man whose policies I generally disagree with.
until we see the tape we will never know; will we? BUT Lepage’s off ther cuff repuatation preceeds him…
That’s true, we haven’t seen the actual tape. But even judging by the BDN report, we can or at least should agree to one thing: Former State Legislator Judy Paradis baited LePage with a personal insult and he responded to it in a proper manner. Just because someone is a public official is no reason to make an untoward personal accusation against the official. Ms. Paradis should have been booed for her instigation.
In response to my earlier comment, you replied (above.)
“MaineIsMyHome
wrote:
He is a bully.
A thug. A truly classless act. But what do I know? I’m just a
voting, tax-paying resident of Maine.”
No, I didn’t. A classless thug. Yes, I got that right.
This man is so far away from his skill-set that it’s actually frightening. He was supposedly competent at pricing water-damaged toasters and getting poor people to settle for them at 60% of their original price, but he can’t sell a social policy without coming across like an incompetent bully. He can’t even handle simple, polite opposition without resorting to school yards tactics. He bailed on the Presque Isle event because there were too many un-screened guests in attendance. This guy is not Governor material. He can’t even hit a softball without looking bad.
Were you at the meeting in Fort Kent and how do you know he ” bailed “. There was no mention of this in this article.
He announced that he won’t be attending the Houlton event tomorrow, that’s a bail. It’s right there! In the 2nd paragraph of this story.
You better reread that paragraph. It only states that there would be 3 fourms and it didn’t say anything about him attending the others. How did you get he announced that he won’t be attending.
Read the paragraph, Bennett says that he wouldn’t. The newspaper and his own web site said that he would be. Don’t you read english?
As far as you know, did anyone bother to ask him why he wouldn’t be attending the meeting scheduled in Houlton? Before you say anything further, maybe you should find out why before accusing him of “bailing”. Rusjan, I’m not trying to be nasty here, but for some reason you seem to be making some hasty conclusions. Unfortunately, I might add, you’re not the only person who has made unfair comments towards the governor.
Why would they ask the Governor the reason he is not attending his own scheduled meeting? How are they going to ask the Governor this, when he’s gone?
I’m not making “hasty” conclusions whawell, you, yourself, indicated that he has a problem with criticism. Furthermore, my conclusions are based upon his behavior; this is not the first time he has run into trouble with his behavior. You don’t just go sit your butt down in a legislative committee’s work session, which is closed, without being invited to provide the committee with information. You especially don’t do it, when you represent an entirely separate and distinct branch of government.
And no, I’m not jumping to conclusions, I’m basing my assessment on what he has done. And no, I’m not the only person who is making comments regarding his behavior. But you seem to make it criminal to criticize it, well if it is, and as LePage would say. “Put me in jail then, and we’ll go from there”
That State House doesn’t belong to him. It doesn’t belong to the House or Senate, it belongs to us. It will be respected.
You’re making his behavior the issue. Why? Is it because you don’t want to talk about the unacceptable behaviors of his detractors just out to do him in politically? That’s the type of politics frankly Mainers like myself are sick and tired of. It’s not about discussing or even arguing issues that’s important anymore. Rather, it’s always about personality it seems. What goes one way has a tendency to come the other way around. You see, when people play games, a vicious cycle emerges and minds get more and more polarized.
It’s getting late, so I am going to sign off. Thank you for this discussion.
As governor, it is his job to listen to legislators AND constituents NOT tell people to kiss his you know what or go you know where.
Wonderful! You’re right on. (Part of) the governor’s job is to listen and not to tell his constituents to kiss his butt or to go to hell. You know what? He did none of that. He acted very professionally, yup, you heard me right, very professionally.
He couldn’t take the heat – and he bailed…It’s as plain as day. I can just hear him thinking to himself “” I’m the governor. I don’t l have to put up with this %$#^”
It’s funny but I can’t hear him saying the same thing. Also, today I read the main page article in the local newspaper (St. John Valley Times) concerning the meeting. Not even one mention of the incident of baiting by the former legislator nor the response by the governor was made, not even a reaction from those present at the meeting. Oh that governor is such a arrogant bully!
Simple polite opposition? Give me a break. The former state legislator, who seems to have an axe to grind against anyone who declares to be a Republican, is the one who attacked him. She has become a real pro at it, and her constituency, mostly Democrat, finally came to that realization when they booted her husband out of the state legislature after both had served consecutive terms. If there was ever an act of justice, that booting out of office had to be the epitome of it.
Hahaha….”bully”…there is that liberal word again…hahaha!
“These proposals are not cuts” I wonder what governor One-Note considers a cut.
Failure to reduce taxes by more than we can afford maybe?
We are all very grateful for our fantastic Governor! It’s pretty amusing to watch the lib’s that ruined this state respond to what responsible leadership is doing to fix the problems they created. Hopefully the county can do it’s part and get rid of John Martin.
If those present asked the same questions over and over again, I would be impatient and abrupt too. How many times should the same question be answered. The problem is that there are those who do not wish to listen nor to understand that money is non-existent. Dollars can only be stretched so far before there is nothing left to use for the programs. Cuts are inevitable. Stop the nonsense of criticizing everyone who is not of your party and try to compromise instead of holding out on any suggestions from the other side of the aisle when it comes to straightening out the budget in Maine.
He could have saved $40k the day he took office.
If he had bothered to answer the questions they would not have to be asked more than once, would they?
He either doesn’t know the answers or wants to keep them secret from those of us pat=ying the bills, including his and his daughter’s salaries, benefits and room and board,
I wonder how many of the mad people voted for him…..
… but never will again, and in 2012 will be helping to flip the legislature to the Democrats to keep that mad man in check.
Do you mean the same Democrats who controlled the Maine House, the Maine Senate and the Blaine House for the past 8 years? If they did such a good job, then why did LePage INHERIT such a budgetary hole of a disaster?
Inherit? He has dug the hole several million deeper.
Maine, by law, has to have a balanced budget. The current budget was prepared by the LePage Administration and was voted upon by the legislature last spring. Any problems within the current budget can only be blamed on the LePage Administration.
Maine’s economy is part of the economy of the US. The US economy is part of the world economy. The world economy is in a recession, therefore the US economy is in a recession, therefore the Maine economy is in a recession.
Even the administration now admits the budget deficit at DHHS was caused by their own math errors in creating their budget.
Do try to keep up.
Keep up the good work Governor LePage!!
Augusta still needs more cleaning up…
Failing to attend the other two forums in the County certainly tells you that Mr LePage was not all that interested in hearing what the citizens of the County had to say about the situation. Sounds like they were not all that impressed with his proposals but did have some legitimate concerns about the programs which he did not seem all that interested in. Some of his supporters will undoubtedly respond that he never intended to attend the other forums. Strange that several newspapers from the Boston Globe to the Bangor Daily reported on Tuesday that he was in the County for the forums to listen to their concerns and explain the needs for the cuts he is proposing.
Even his supporters seem to come off with differing renditions of the meeting. ” I thought he was rude and dismissive to some people. ” ” … the governor had been classy .. ” ” … he answered the questions well …” Are these your final answers?
Ms Bennett’s response ” These proposals are not cuts ” What else does one call them ? A bonus?
” There were some people in the crowd who came to attack the governor … ” I have some news for our politicans— republicans, democrats, tea partiers, independents , etc. The ideas and proposals you come up with will never be supported by 100% of the citizens. And some of them will have not nice things to say to you. But if you can not take the heat then get out of the kitchen. Perhaps that was Mr LePage decided before facing more citizens in the County.
78% increase in maine care with only a 7 % increase in populations since 2002. You can call him names all day but he’s not gonna kick the can down the road anymore. This whole country better wake up to the fact ” were broke”.
Take the 7% increase in population and add in the high increases in health care costs for everyone and you will get much more than a 78% increase. The MaineCare increases have been LESS than the national average over the same time period.
http://insight.milliman.com/article.php?cntid=7628
Cost of healthcare for family of 4
in 2002 = 9,235
in 2011 = 19,393
That is an increase of 110% (more than doubled) even before the increase in population by 7% is added in!. Adding in the population increase gets us to an increase of 118%.
oops. There’s that pesky math again. It keeps tripping Lepage up!
Maine care or medicaid has enroll up 78% since 2002. Thats 35 % higher than the national average. Medicaid consumes 21 % of the budget. Theres more people on mainecare than there are students enrolled in school. Theres the math thing again aint it great what you can do with numbers
Actually I think he went back to the kitchen. The one in the Blaine House.
It does not matter if Judy Paradis and John Martin were there. You DO NOT act disrespectul, impatient, rude and obstinate when there are crowds, in two different towns at two different times. These people were in attendance because the governor asked them to be there. It says much when you have a person who has indicated that he voted for him, and now is obviously quite disturbed at his behavior.
LePage, whatever he is, isn’t and wasn’t ready for the scrutiny and microscopic criticisms that come with the gubernatorial territory. He is not looking capable, and is ruining any legitimacy he may have had with unenrolled voters. He cannot and should not, at every appearance have “pre-screened” questions. That’s not an informational meeting, that’s just another publicity stunt.
He deserves every and any criticism he has got and is getting. Governor’s don’t act like this.
He can act the way he wants he is doing his job something Liberals like Baldacci, King, Brennan, Longley, Curtis failed to do. He along with the Republicans are cleaning up the 40 years of mess the Democrats did to this state. Unfortnately it is going to take 20 to 30 years to clean up the mess and rebuild Maine into the state it should be.
Go to bed backbone of America. Need you ready in the morning to work and keep me in the money. See you in the morning buddy.
Let’s assume you are correct that the democrats made a mess of the State of Maine over the last 20, 30, 40 or how many years you want to claim. Who is to blame for electing the democrats? Did the democrats suspend elections? Did the democrats use some form of force like guns to take control of Maine government? Did they only allow ballots that were marked in favor of the democratic candidate to be counted? Or was it maybe because the people of Maine voted them into office?
FYI, King and Longley were Independents, not Democrats.
So in the face of criticism that he was impatient, abrupt and rude LePage was, well, impatient, abrupt and rude. That’s what happens when you question the conduct of any right-wing fanatic. They can’t stand the heat, so they should get out of the kitchen.
Your basic used car salesman. Changes do need to be made. Like work for people who can’t find jobs. Training, better education, finding ways to bring long term tech industries into the state rather than call centers and other short term low wage jobs that are here today and gone tomorrow chasing cheaper labor and tax breaks, less control by corporate interests… the list goes on. Being at the end of the line transportation wise is not the best situation to be in but we have one advantage being close to Canada and having several deep water ports can be turned to our advantage if the right people were in Augusta. But this is not the man for the job. Or the party either.
It is difficult to defend budget cuts when LePage doesn’t really understand them. He is attempting to do just what he wants not necessarily for budget reasons. He can’t justify all the cuts he wants so he makes things up. I am not saying we don’t need cuts, but he wants to go overboard.
He’s making the cuts and not fixing the system. DHHS is broken and the Governor has not put any competent management in place to fix it. Fix it and the “cut issue” will disappear.
Zer vill be no kweztions…you vill do zaz zee Hevitge Polizee Zenter Zays…NEIN KVEZTIONS!! Do you hear?!?!
Ya, die republican Partei uber alle. Nicht!
Good for LePage! The people of Maine have been pandered to and coddled all to long by politicians without any “cojones”. It is time that the electorate has a “Dutch Uncle” to tell them like it is, rather than assuaging their all too tender egos. If some people had their feelings hurt–good. We are a state that has a population that is all too thin skinned
Lets recap: Kissing their butts,passing out roses,liberals,leeches,sugar daddies,clueless,move to Canada and Liberal Welfare Haven(in the south?). Very colorful and could appreciate if I was in the six grade and trying to prove my GI JOE could beat up Ken. Perhaps you could make all those words rhyme and you could be Mr. Lepage’s poet laureate. I agree Maine has an economic issues and needs to deal with them. Using terms that can not be quantified into a plan is not helpful and worse not amusing or clever. The beauty is we are allowed to speak our opinions in this country and for that I salute you darkcat33. God Bless America for our Liberties and God Bless you D. Cat the 33rd.
Q: What do Barack Obama and Paul LePage both have in common?
A: One term!
The poor Governor, attacked by the folks in Aroostook. Give me a break.
Is it OK to dislike LePage AND still want cuts in MaineCare???
I want people to lose MaineCare if they test positive for illegal drugs — but their children should still be covered. Yes, maybe as addicts they need help, but they certainly do NOT need free Oxys.
If you want to live the good life in Maine,be a prisoner or a former junkie.THOSE are the programs to cut,not the DEL program.The elderly who get this program paid into it.
Satan is a Republican
No, Satan is lazy and wants to live off of everyone else that most certainly makes him the ultimate crybaby poor me lib…look what they have and what I don’t have is Satan, pure and simple
How mind-numbingly predictable: the BDN hit piece of the week against LePage.
Right on schedule!….
screw you lepage, we wouldn’t be in this situation if we had someone else in office, GO BACK TO CANADA!!
Correction, we were in this situation under Gov. Baldacci. Where have you been? Do you think these budget deficits all started on LePage’s inauguration day? What about the 4.5 billion dollar state pension deficit that Baldacci left LePage? My my, short memories.
Where he’d get free,well run not for profit health care.
Okay, where does the line for the Re-call petition start ? These antics are almost a clone of what happened in Wisconsin and Scott Walker’s temper tantrum’s. Walker smacked the public workers and the teachers to try to solve a basic problem, the State’s budget, by claiming that they were responsible for the financial services sector’s repeated refusal to practice basic financial due dilligence in Wisconsin. LePage is doing the same thing here in Maine. He’s putting the health insurance industry’s greed and grasp for power ahead of the needs of the citizens who elected him. Is it a wonder why he came out so strongly against the Public Option when it was proposed ? Had Public Option come out and been instituted, MaineCare would have been all but guaranteed, it’s being made official and providing coverage for almost everybody, and most importantly, the immediate elimination of the current stranglehold that Anthem has on the current health insurance sector in Maine. Now, a plan that guarantees everyone access, at a uniform and affordable rate, that both controls costs and provides affordable cae can’t be a bad thing, now can it ? More importantly, it would have ended, once and for all, the almost clockwork-like cycle of Anthem and the other healt insurance carrier’s whining and crying and tying up the Court’s everytime they want to increase their profit margin while at the same time cutting services that they are obligated to provide under the terms of their operating Charter, which the State holds by the way.
It is now blatantly clear that LePage is more than just a Republican. He’s worse. He’s clearly using the position of Governor for the sole benefit of the Big Business community and has absolutely no problem with tossing the public interest, not to mention the most vulnerable of the public, the elderly and the children, right under the bus in order to silence them. Walker tried to do the same thing in Wisconsin and he’s now on the verge of getting not just removed from office but a VERY short step from being subpoena’ed for a little ‘chat’ in front of a Federal Grand Jury regarding campaign contributions being used to specifically advance a private interest’s political agenda at the expense of the public benefit and in violation of the State’s Constitution. Walker’s little ‘problem’ is just the tip of a very nasty and ugly iceberg. The question we have here in Maine is does that same iceberg extend to Maine or do we a whole seperate iceberg here we need to find out about ? 2012 is rapidly approaching. The time to decide what to do is now, not when the iceberg hit’s.
The biggest problem with the PNMI’s is that even though they are supposed to be “cost settled” and are, if you prepare the forms the way the State has them, you make a profit. The state gives 35& on top of the direct labor and service provider tax even if it goes above what the program cost. Agencys have been making a profit in what was supposed to be a break even progam, and it is the State/s fault. Maybe the State should be like the Feds, pay reasonable direct labor, medical direct expenses, and negotiate a fee of up to 10%. A lab I worked for got 3% on some contracts, it is amazing what you will bid to stay in business. No guarenteed profits there.
It is not just the PNMI’s it is all of DHHS. To many providers making to much profit off of a broken system. The issue here does not come down to spending cuts it comes down to gross mismanagement of the system. If the system were well managed there would be no cuts and there actually may be more people eligible for the system. Compare Vermont for child behavioral services they spend one fifth of what Maine spend to service 6000 clients. Maine spend five times more to service 3000 clients.
The mismanagement issue is not new, however the Governor being the “executive” he claims to be obviously does not have a clue how to manage anything but leftover salvage.
Perhaps he should resign and return to Marden’s and save the voters the expense of a recall campaign.
What a gutless wonder he is. You County folks made him mad so he took his ball and went home to Augusta. How dare you disagree with his lordship? His next proposal will probably be to give Aroostook county to Canada.
Seriously though, I hope the representatives that have been siding with him open their eyes & realize he’s an idiot and they should jump ship before the voters make them walk the plank in November.
It is unfortunate that this man should obviously be re-called but no one gets the ball rolling aside from just talking about it. We can get Betty White to Host Saturday Night Live in a Grass roots Face Book Campaign but we cannot get this man who is obviously not equipped to run a State re-called. I think he knows deep down that his days are numbered in office so he is going to reek as much havoc as he can on Maine before his time runs out. He looks and talks down to his constituents and is just a plain old Big Bully. He banks on the people to not advocate for themselves and just continue to lie there and take whatever is dished out because people generally are afraid to speak up for themselves.
Bully or not, it’s his proposals that are unacceptable. We cannot let this man dump disabled people into the streets. The decent people of Maine have to stop him.
Where does all this hate come from.are we a sick society or what.We put someone in office and then proceed to destroy him/her.Any one involved in politics has got to be sick in the head.
That is why there is so much trouble filling the low level positions such as Selectman and School Committee.So then who takes those jobs?People with a radical agenda.This was spelled out 25+ years ago by the right wingers and it has worked beyond their wildest dreams(see Texas Board Of Education and the school book controversy,among many others)
Obviously, running out of money for funding all of these programs at ALL levels of government isn’t going to sit well with all the folks that benefit from them, and they are not going to take this quietly. Armed with the fact that there isn’t any money, neither state or federal, available to pay for these programs, what’s the solution? To come up with $125,000,000, you would have to tax 250,0000 Mainers $500 each per year. That’s digging beyond the taxpayer pool as it currently exists. What is the solution? Take wealthy people by the throat and tax the crap out of them? Most will just move their residency out of Maine. No easy or painless answers here, but cuts now are better than a total system collapse later.
Plenty of money for wars though to drain our coffers. GUESS WHAT Afghanistan today sold its first oil contract to…CHINA and IRAQ has sold tons of them already. THE GOP sold this country out to CHINA and now there’s no money. Blame them and LePage is simply stuck in the seat while the roosters come home to roost.
Hey Dumb,
Maine is not at war with anyone. Just so you know…
After reading this story, I had three reactions (1) Judy Paradis continues to be the most ill- bred former Democrat legislator I have known in my lifetime (2) the BDN (Baldacci Daily News) would never report anything negative in this way about the previous governor. but Governor LePage can do no right in their reporting. (3) Few people in the non-profit world understand the meaning of “the State of Maine is broke”.
Please tell us exactly how this was supposed to be reported then. God, it’s like any dissent against Republicans and you all scream, screech and cry about being victimized by the media. Get over it. If you can bully people around you better be able to take it back.
An unprepared bully who may have been impaired. that pretty well sums up the package.
Judy Paradis and John Martin in the audience….do you actually think that was going to be a nice group of people? These are the folks that had a huge role in getting Maine in this position of promising more than we can deliver or sustain. Lepage is not polished or politically correct and does not want a career in Augusta holding power by having people dependant on his welfare checks…people who work or want to work appreciate that someone is actually try to address the problem…..not good press but responsible task for the taxpayers of Maine.
If the Gov was having a meeting in my district,I would want my representative to be there no matter who I supported.I want my rep and all officials to be informed and to listen to their constituents.
It must be nice for Paradis and Martin to sit there like Cheshire cats watching Lepage take the heat for the mess they created.
As long as people do not grasp the seriousness of the situation and can not come to terms with the fact that the state can not afford MaineCare, what do you expect. It wasn’t Mr. Lapage who got the state into this mess, shake your fists at the people who set you up all those years knowing that someday this house of cards was going to crash. I applaud the Governer, this stuff isn’t going to just go away. It’s a very frustrating situation. Get used to it though. Our country is set to go through a correction because of the liberal left spending that is going to make our lives miserable for generations to come.
Stopping free trade is the only way to save whats left of America!
The first lesson we all learn in kindergarden is .. How to get along with people , as adults we learn to communicate with people and learn compromise. Someone needs to ask LaPage what plannet he is from. He’s so rude, crude and abnoxious it’s sickening.
We have the wrong person trying to be governor. Although the idea of smaller government is correct, this guy is trying to do too much too fast. He would be living in Florida if he had not stumbled into the governorship.
This unfortunately is a businessman with no political awareness. He is accustommed to just walking in somewhere, speaking his mind, hiring or firing at will and then leaving. Politics just isn’t that type of business and he has really left a mark on many people with this most recent faux pas. I presume he won’t be re-elected. I agree the Mainecare system needs revamping but you can’t leave people out in the cold. I don’t think he realized how close knit they are in the Valley and they will protect each other to the end. Good luck cleaning up this one, LePage
then let lepage give the requested numbers and info to the legislature so what needs to be done can be done. why is it that mentioned requests have been ignored? could it be he doesnt have the requested info and numbers and is just flailing on dry land like a beached whale? why just attack the most needy? why not start at the top of the food list and work down? this state, and country, have lived off the poorest for far too long! let these entitled officials live on the wages they force us to live on…let them struggle with the same insurance issues we are being forced to live with. its past time for some fairness and equality in this state and country. we have a govenor who cant answer questions and provide concrete evidence but appears to be quite efficient at bashing this state and the people of this state whenever the going gets tough.
And 125 million in tax cuts.Perhaps if that hadn’t been done.. giving the most to the rich… would we have a 221 million shortfall in 2013?
Ans, where are the jobs that was supposed to create?
The Governor of Maine makes me want to puke.
Horrible human being!
Martin and Paradis are the problem..
He Needed To Be Put Out The Door From The Get Go, People Are So Blind To Him….WAKE UP!!! He Has No Clue What Hes Doing!!!!!
This Governor doesn’t even pretend to respect his constituents.
So are you a bully too?
This is the guy who starts the fight at the office Christmas party.
I’ll bet that not many of you were there, but I was. The Gov. was “RUDE, DEMEANING TO ALL, and an A**HOLE!!! Try that on for size. Next time you want to put something on about a meeting, make sure that you attend it so you get the fact “RIGHT”!!!!!
I can picture him on the playground, “I’m rubber, you’re glue; what bounces off me – sticks to you!”
he’s boorish and crass. He’s also disrespectful and the people of Maine deserve better than that….
I gave LePage a chance, but tax cuts for the wealthy yet the state is broke? Now he is taking from the disabled and senior citizens…….this yahoo is out next election!!!!!!!
LePage, because he is a Republican, will get no respect from the Democrat loving folks up here. Does not matter what he has to say.
These are the same folks that think Martin is looking out for them. Sad.
I figure the reason he is here is because most of the cuts are going to be here in this already poor county…what a shame
Paradis’ comment does not make LePage a bully. LePage’s behavior does that, and does it quite well.
Once again LePage has shown (one of) his Achilles heel. He doesn’t take criticism well and lashes back at those who disagree with him. In short, the guy’s a bully.
I’d suggest that it’s incumbent upon ANY elected official to accept any comments critical of how they handle themselves and to reflect on their behavior ask themselves, “Is this person right? DO I do this?”.
Being introspective rather than immediately defensive would go a long way toward getting a higher approval rating. But then again, the more he gets out in public the more people see the REAL Paul LePage and the less chance there is of his getting reelected – and that’s got to be a good thing!
Lepage is a rude, crude and HEARTLESS Governor, and must be replaced with the next election… He does not give a damn about the average working person especially those who cannot afford health insurance, or those who are not fortunate enough to have employer provided insurance… So tell us LePlague, what planet are you from…???
This article is just all “he said, she said” nonsense. Three people claim he was rude, with one of the three admitting that she told him he “comes across as a bully”. Now, was that a nice statement to make to the governor? Three people claim he was “classy”. Governor LePage is hardly ever classy—save that for the Obama type politicians. Well, I wasn’t there at the meeting so I can’t determine whether I felt he was classy or rude. But the determination of how he came across is a subjective matter.
Yet another in the long line of non-stories that the Maine liberal media believes is newsworthy. “LePage is mean”, “LePage won’t listen”, “LePage is a bully”. The real headline should be “LePage is not a liberal”. For far too long our politicians have been trained to sit down when they pee and the Maine media believes this is natural. Guess what, leadership is about making unpopular decisions, not pleasing everyone. “Pleasing everyone” is why we now need someone like LePage to clean up the mess.
Leadership is about making intelligent and fair decisions.
Leadership is about being able to explain and discuss the decisions you have made.
Leadership is about leading people to understand and accept your decisions.
Leadership is about being smart enough to know answers to questions about your policies.
Leadership is about being able to talk to the people you govern without calling them names
Leadership is not the same thing as running a two-bit discount store.
Leadership according to msallyjones is not necessarily leadership to me. To me, LePage is making intelligent and fair decisions. I understand his decision making–but I don’t expect the political left to ever accept or understand his decisions.
Leadership is standing up for what you believe in and not backing down to every criticism that is leveled at you.
Leadership is inspiring others to believe that change is good and will produce a brighter future.
Leadership is being able to make ostensibly unpopular decisions because you know it will be better in the long run.
Parents should be leaders; politicians should be leaders; and running any two-bit, or four-bit discount store is being a leader.
And therein lies the problem of most LePage supporters they do think that bullying employees as boss in a discount store is the same as leading a state as governor of all the people.
How is it fair to give the wealthy a tax break and take health care away from 63, 000 people?
How is ignoring everyone except yourself and bulldozing ahead with your agenda inspiring others?
How is threatening labor, education, the unions, critics and the poor leading the state to a brighter future?
How is cutting funding to education, health, research, community services going to make Maine better in the long run.
Face it. This governor covers his lack of intelligence with a loud mouth and bullying ways that uniformed interpret as leadership
And this statement from an X “two-bit discount store” worker who was fired because she couldn’t figure out percentages.
Figuring % is a no brainer, it’s leadership that takes brains.
LOL, don’t be a hypocrite. When a Republican makes a decision you like, you laud them and say “leadership is about making unpopular decisions, not pleasing everyone.” When a Democrat does the same exact thing, they’re “shoving it down the peoples’ throats.”
What a joke some of you people are.
What a jerk!!! Just to proof that we are the other Maine. Comes here 1 time in his 4 years through 161 where roads are smooth sailing, what happens to Rt. 1 people that there houses are almost falling down and probably got the heat to 60 because they can’t afford to put it higher. Don’t worry Gov. you won’t make it another year. Your vocabulary is sick.
Again, just another daily attack on our Governor. Sounds like the crowd was rude initially. They showed no decorum and when the Governor gave tit for tat they did not like it. A case of baiting. Paradis cannot finger one thing she has ever done for the state while our Governor has done more in less than a year than any governor since Longley.
Not really, We all agree we need to make cuts in the state of Maine. These cuts don’t need to be made today. If you start cutting services now with the way the ecomony is and so many people unemployed what do you think this will do to the State of Maine? You will have more homeless, family with kids living on the streets. Will this be productive? And more people racking up charges in the ER. LaPage was once homeless and he doesn’t seem to care that others will be as well. Is the the best way for a Governor to handle all the problems in Maine?
LaPage needs to focus on bringing jobs to Maine. Making this state more friendly so companies want to come in here. Get these people off Mainecare. You need to fix this problem before you make cuts.
dhhs is broke .So lets take money from where roads, cant do that, take it from the schools, cant do that. I think all the accounting tricks have dried up. Tuff times ahead for alot of people so lets put on our big boy pants and hang on till the jobs start up hopeful.
Ok, repeat after me, “If it walks like a bully, talks like a bully…”
Maybe he’s just always “liverish,” you know, bad digestion. It’s a common complaint of people who always eat the wrong foods.
Correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t forums set up to develop a dialogue about some topic. Apparently our governor didn’t realize that people would ask questions at a forum and came unprepared to answer any. Governor “Not Too Bright” should have stayed home hiding behind Ms Bennett’s explanations.
But…but…but reading comprehension is way beyond the republican skill set, rusjan.
LePage needs to stay behind closed doors. He is so out of touch with the people. He reminds me of the family drunk. His speech is slurred, he makes no sense, and he’s hateful and demeaning to all those around him.
When are these partisan hacks going to quit trying to muddy the waters with personal attacks.How about stopping the temper tantrums and realizing they lost the election.It is time to get over it and move this state forward or they will never get reelected.The state has extremely important financial decisions to make over the next few years. The reality is government can not be everything to everybody .So how about joining the real conversation and try to solve problems rather than feed the BDN with partisan gotchas .
The Governor can’t be everything to everybody….except a blowhard. Just like he was at Mardens.
Oh phew! My dyslexia made me see “santa” at first. I had a very nice Christmas, so he couldn’t be a republican.
Plus the economy hasn’t hit the bottom yet !! :-/
so true — it hasn’t hit the bottom yet!!
Bernard Ayotte, R-Caswell, called LePage “classy”? What planet does he live on that Paul LePage could ever be called classy?
Corporate $$ are more to blame for our circumstances than so called liberal spending. Corporations control Congress and most politicians and the country has huge subsidies going to already rich corporations and laws that allow them to not pay their share of taxes and to take their operations overseas and rip off our good jobs. Why should these companies be allowed to sell their goods here and why should we buy them? Companies that don’t manufacture goods here should be penalized relative to those that do. LePage should be providing leadership on supporting and increasing Maine businesses and training Mainers for decent jobs.
How about some facts?
Taxes of the top 10 US companies (ranked by sales)
RankCompanySalesPretax incomeIncome taxes*Tax rate1Wal-Mart Stores$401 billion$20.9 billion$7.1 billion34%2Exxon Mobil$311 billion$37.3 billion$17.6 billion47%3Chevron$172 billion $18.5 billion $8 billion 43%4General Electric$157 billion$10.3 billion(-$1.1 billion)N/A5ConocoPhillips$152 billion$10 billion$5.1 billion51%6AT&T$123 billion$19 billion$6.2 billion32%7Bank of America$120 billion$4.4 billion(-$1.9 billion) N/A8Ford Motor$118 billion$3 billion$69 million2%9Hewlett-Packard$115 billion$9.4 billion$1.75 billion19%
I’m willing to bet all but GE paid a much higher real tax rate than you did and certainly more than the 47% of Americans that paid none at all. Isn’t it time to stop the OWS, bumper sticker sloganeering and realize that the problem is not a lack of revenue but spending all there is and than some?
Corporation income gets taxed twice in fact, once as a corporate rate as above and than again as income to the shareholder when distributed. Corporations are not bogeymen waiting in the dark. they are a collection of ordinary people (shareholders) who invest their hard earned income with the hope of getting a favorable return for their risk. Many times that risk means a loss but it is the willingness to invest that keeps businesses growing and creates jobs. So unless you work for the public sector, be thankful that people are still willing to do so not withstanding the criticism they receive. In fact, be thankful in either case. It’s the corporations that pay the taxes that pay public sector salaries too.
Let’s see– how about Forbes Magazine– http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/01/ge-exxon-walmart-business-washington-corporate-taxes.html
“Some of the world’s biggest, most profitable corporations enjoy a far lower tax rate than you do–that is, if they pay taxes at all.”and
Money Magazine: http://money.cnn.com/2010/04/16/news/companies/ge_7000_tax_returns/
“General Electric filed more than 7,000 income tax returns in hundreds of global jurisdictions last year, but when push came to shove, the company owed the U.S. government a whopping bill of $0.”
there are many more such articles.
So the gimme-gimme crowd got their feelings hurt when they were told the cookie jar was empty.
Too bad, so sad.
Common civility would be nice.
and the world economy hasn’t hit bottom yet :-/
The people that don’t like what La Page is saying can’t handle the truth. The state is broke and according to La Page, as of April 1 the program will run out of money. Maybe he should let that happen? Then what? Will be a HUGE mess then. Can’t suck blood out of a dry turnip!
“He banks on the people to not advocate for themselves and just continue to lie there and take whatever is dished out because people generally are afraid to speak up for themselves.”
Not in the valley they won’t :-/
People don’t want to hear the truth. Maybe LaPage should let the state run out of money for these programs. Then what? Preparation instead of crisis is better!!
LePage could be eating a cracker and these people could find something wrong with that! “Look at LePIG eating that damn cracker like he owns this place!”
Read the article next time. Watch the videos next time.
OMG! He is a bully, loud mouth, obnoxious individual. And I am so sick and tired of his people always having an excuse for his behavior.
I LOVE this guy! He tells it how it is, not what people want to hear. The truth stinks, and some people can’t handle it. The reason so many people cant handle the cuts to Mainecare, is because everybody is on Mainecare (mind as well say) and do they want to lose their Mainecare bene’s?? Well, no! What about medicare? A lot of these people are on medicare as well as Mainecare. Its not like they will be losing health care all together.
right on there overynormal…..
Wrong. This will explain the difference.. http://www.mejp.org/health_resources.htmWhile Medicare does cover many medical services, it is not comprehensive insurance. For example, Medicare does not cover routine physical exams or nursing home care.
Read my post again orono-man
oops, woman
I did and you can’t read my name it’s ” Orono Woman”
Abrupt-Rude-That about sums this guy up—Everyone knows this is fact, and the only defenders are the people who voted for him!!
And many of those now wish they had never voted for him!!!
Paul LePage needs to be fired from his josb of Govenor Of Maine. He is totally incompetent.
And you are more qualified there outspoken? The programs need to be streamlined, not eliminated. Too much abuse that can’t go on any more.
And what would you propose Kittery kid. Keep things status quo?
No, the problem is just as you demonstrate, the right wingers are small time dictators. They don’t want to hear anybody else’s opinions because they have all the answers. Republicans like photo-ops with the audience screened beforehand so that no impolite questions are asked. When somebody dares to say the emperor has no clothes, they react badly and use name calling and vitriol to try to intimidate the other side. Your post is exactly why you should consider marrying the dear gov’s daughter and getting a job in his administration as another 40,000/yr spokesperson.
To all the Lepage bailed supporters. Nothing on the web site about the governor attending the other two forums that I can find and in the next article the spokeperson for governor said nothing was ever “confirmed” that he would, but someone from his staff would. Maybe a little play on words by the reporter which wrote both articles. Sounds like alot of people read things into the article that just wasnt true.
This’ll be on the national news in three…two…
I know plenty of people who are bully’s most of them Democrats
Boy is that a shocker the gov rude to people, guess he’s mad that 62% still won’t back him and do not trust him.
OK, but he IS abrupt, impatient, and rude.
It is his modus operandi, part of who he is. We need to keep revisiting this? Defend all you want, GOP pals, but this is just him. We hired a thug for governor.
I supported Governor LePage but I am deeply troubled by his abrasive manner. Those who oppose his policies have every right to ask questions and he should anticipate being questioned and must be prepared to answer them in a nonconfrontational manner.
What do you want him to do – tuck folks in bed at night and read them a nursery rhythm about how “great” things are and leave food stamps or disability checks under their pillows? Check into Reality!!
The only questions he wants asked at these forums are questions that are written down and looked at before it begins. if they don’t like your questions they won’t let you ask them.
If the governor would stop belittling Maine and Mainers and start talking up that good qualities of the state maybe more companies would come to Maine; there would be more jobs, the economy would improve and there wouldn’t be a need to cut off health care to so many people.
What company is going to want to come to Maine after the governor has trumpeted around lies like Mainers are lazy, most Mainers cheat on welfare, Maine’s energy costs are the highest in the nation, Maine has the most restrictive business laws in the nation, Maine has the worst environmental laws, Maine is unfriendly to business. This is a really stupid way to go about getting companies to look at Maine.
Hey there sally jones…these aren’t things that LaPage did to the state. Maine has been in this position for a long time. Blame it on the ones before him. How long has LaPage been in office? Not lone enough to sink the state!
But he’s certainly doing his best to bad mouth it every chance he gets.
“According to a citizen’s videotape of the session, she criticized LePage during the meeting, saying, “You come off as a bully.”
And than she calls HIM rude! Don’t pick a fight expecting the other guy to cower away lady. It’s entirely legitimate to give back what you get from an antagonist even if you are the Governor.
throw LePage out of office
if you or a family member is disabled…why should the government have to take care of your financial needs and give you such freebies as mainecare?
We’ve had some really polished governors. These proffessional politicians left us as with the worst place to do business in the country. I don’t like rude and crude either. What are we all going to say if we become the 40th best state for business?
i am running for governor…i will give everyone mainecare plus
free booze
If it’s Allen’s Coffee Brandy, you’re a shoe-in! ;-)
Imagine that!
Democrats aren’t happy with LePage and wish to paint him in a bad light!
Who would have thunk it.
That and the BDN trumpets every nonsense claim they make.
It’s like the whole world had been turned upside down.
So how was this story supposed to be reported? Are we supposed to treat LePage like he’s a delicate flower for fear of offending the crazy fringe right? You guys can’t stand up to any amount of scrutiny without screaming and crying about the phony “liberal media bias.” If you’re going to stop around like a child in public, the public is going to know about it — that has nothing to do with politics.
I’m guessing it could be reported the same way the BDN handled all of the criticism of the Democrat governor we had last.
They go on to report what a wonderful success the meeting was even though there were a few political activists representing fringe elements that spoke out about the governor’s plans.
End of story.
That is always how they have handled any objections our side has made in the past and how they will handle them if they ever get this state back to their color again.
Oh but of course they can’t do that now can they?
Though LePage is crude and rude with one foot in a bucket of manure and the other foot with a self-inflected wound all of this nonsense would be avoided if there were a public option. I really think team extreme prefers the schloug and bail method over something that would truly work.
Bravo, bravo… What more does Judy Paradis need to know about the DHHS shortfall ? It was
brought on by increasing enrollment, declining federal matching funds and loss of one-time stimulus money that was used in recent years. If she has a solution, why doesn’t she just
come out with it rather than criticize Gov. LePage for telling it like it is. What planet DOES she live on ?? The bottom line is that we have to get people who are on unemployment back to work.
Stop those endless benefit checks and they WILL go find work.
“The bottom line is that we have to get people who are on unemployment back to work. Stop those endless benefit checks and they WILL go find work.”
Really? Where? Is there a new company moving to Maine? Or a home grown “Start up”? Considering many of Marden’s employees qualify for DHHS benefits (and have for a few years now), are you suggesting those who are unemployed would save us all that much if they got jobs at Marden’s? Or maybe you’re thinking McD’s, Burger King? Perhaps you are thinking of those other jobs like at Dexter Shoes…oops, now manufactured in the Puerto Rico. Or maybe one of the many updated and thriving paper mills…oh wait, now the paper is being bought from China. Ah, maybe Pride’s Mill… oops again, milling wood is cheaper in China so they had to close due to loss of business. Oh well, I’m sure you can supply us with the names of all those places just champing at the bit to hire.
Be all that you can be !!! Does that make sense to you ?? Follow your passion. Find something that you like and pursue it. Don’t expect everyone to step up to the plate and take care of you. Goodness gracious, when you go to the meat market to buy some meat, the butcher isn’t giving you a good cut of meat because he LIKES you, he’s giving it to you to feed HIS family with the money he earned. He is entitled to make money and just because Obama tells you that it’s not fair that he makes more than you and we should take his money and give some to everyone is WRONG. Go start a cleaning business, do odd jobs,
bake food to sell, start a daycare service for those who are working. DO SOMETHING. Don’t sit and whine that “there are no jobs so you must pay for my a*s until there are some”. You would probably be a lazy employee and not be able to keep a job now because you have been on unemployment so long anyway. STOP listening to Obama and start listening to Rush Limbaugh. Do you think that 8 hrs a day is all that self-employed people work ?? Heck no !! They work 24/7 many many weeks to “make it” and are thankful for the opportunity that they can. Our great nation was not built by lazy people. What has Obama ever done ??? Not one single thing !! STOP letting him ruin our country and divide everyone. GO TO WORK !! BE ALL YOU CAN BE !!!!
Be all that you can be !!! Does that make sense to you ?? ”
Considering that’s what I did, yes, it makes sense to me. I grew up in a time when you could get a job doing what you loved to do and turn it into a career. I started out as a yard rat for a small contracting company and ended up being an independent contractor. I was lucky enough to find a place that would hire me and help me learn the industry from scrap hauler to owner. I was lucky enough that I did this at a young age. I had the fortune to be able to retire because of such endeavors. However, the key part is, I was lucky enough to get a job that would train me for a business I enjoyed doing, so much so that I still keep my hand it as resource for those needing some answers of their own in the same business.
If one does not have the skill, one cannot do the job. That applies to your desire that they start some “cottage industry” to working a machining lathe. Your suggest to “follow your passion” is great, if somebody has the time, money and lack of familial responsibilites that they can afford to wait out the 2-5 years it takes to distinguish it from a hobby or and income. Is knitting mittens and shawls really going to reap enough income to put food on the table, pay for you and your family’s health requirements, keep that roof over their heads? “Heck, you can make it selling cupcakes on the street, we’ll cut any and all services. You don’t really need it, your just lazy.”
I have no idea as to why you dragged Pres. Obama into this discussion. I was asking where are all these jobs you assume are out there for people to be work.
Or, are you of the similar opinion of all the rabid Gov. Lepage supporters that only lazy people are trying to subsist on the safety nets? The man who had a decent job cutting leather at the shoe shop, that pulled up roots and left for foreign climes, is lazy? The woman who worked as an Assistant Manager for a store that got pushed out of existence and now has to fend for her family on either limited or no income? Maybe that mother who worked for a big box store for 8 years only to have her hours cut so she could be considered part-time and be denied job benefits and now relies on DHHS to help her continue existing, not even really living.
I guess you figure in the mean time, until their passion starts to actually make an income, they can just sit in a tent somewhere, trap rabbits and scrounge for produce while hunkered around a campfire. Or, they could move out of state and make our limited work force, one of the things Forbes used as measurement as to why we are so low on the list, even more limited.
Arrrgggg, you just don’t get it. YES, I believe people should do whatever work they can find to do until they can start a business or find better employment. I once had a worker out on worker’s compensation and the insurance company called to say “GET HIM BACK
TO WORK”. I told the agent that he was a good employee and I didn’t feel he would take advantage of his sore arm (He had a piece of metal out of a muscle) ..They said, “we don’t care if he counts nuts and bolts, but you need to get him back to work to do SOMETHING”. Then they went on to say 80% of the workers who went out on WC for five weeks or more got so used to the lazy lifestyle (sleeping late, sitting around watching TV, etc) that they will never go back to work. I was amazed, but believe them. It’s just too easy to do nothing !! Starting your
own company is hard. You put 80 hrs a week or more in and might not see results for 5 yrs or so, but IT’S YOUR
COMPANY and you have pride for supporting yourself. You are also building equity to sell your business when you retire. Shut off the internet, lay off the tattoos,
piercings, cell phones and all those expenses that aren’t needed to survive. Exercise, eat healthy and ride the
storm like everyone else is. Back in the day…..oh never mind !! HAPPY NEW YEAR !! GO GET A JOB !!
“Be
all that you can be !!! Does that make sense to you ??”
As
a mater of fact, yes, it does make sense to me. That’s exactly what I did.
Started out in my youth for a small contractor who helped me learn
everything from being a yard rat to running the company. Allowed me to become an independent
contractor on my own. I was lucky
enough to find a company that would do this.
I was lucky enough to do it at a young enough age that I didn’t have
familial responsibilities. I enjoyed
what I did and it allowed me to semi-retire.
I still keep my hand in at the request of many of the contacts I have
made through out the years.
If
one does not have the ability, one cannot do the job. Whether it is, as you suggest, a “cottage industry” or a machine
lathe operator. Do you really think whittling bird calls, or baking cakes,
knitting caps and mittens or baby sitting the neighbors kids are going to create
a viable income during those first crucial years to distinguish between hobby
and income are really going to cut it?
It’s going to keep a roof over the head, food on the table and required
medical care for the family? “Oh, you
can make it selling cupcakes on the corner.
We’re going to cut any and all services.”
Or,
do you, like all those rabid Gov. LePage supporters, believe everybody using
the support services are just lazy?
That man who cut leather for years at the shoe shop only to have the
business pull up roots and move off shore, is just lazy? That mother who worked for 8 years at that
big box store that recently cut her hours so she is now a “part time” employee
so doesn’t qualify for the health plan she relied on before and was a major
component as to why she kept that $10.00 an hour job? That $10 an hour job that now pays her $250 a week?
Perhaps you figure they can
just tough it out in a tent, hunting rabbits and scrounging vegetables when
they aren’t huddled around a campfire while they hope that “follow your dream”
opportunity pays enough to put them back on their feet.
“Be all that you can be !!! Does that make sense to you ??”
As a mater of fact, yes, it does make sense to me. That’s exactly what I did. Started out in my youth for a small contractor who helped me learn everything from being a yard rat to running the company. Allowed me to become an independent contractor on my own. I was lucky
enough to find a company that would do this. I was lucky enough to do it at a young enough age that I didn’t have familial responsibilities. I enjoyed what I did and it allowed me to semi-retire. I do still keep my hand in at the request of many of the contacts I have made through out the years.
If one does not have the ability, one cannot do the job. Whether it is, as you suggest, a “cottage industry” or a machine lathe operator. Do you really think whittling bird calls, or baking cakes, or knitting caps and mittens, baby sitting the neighbors kids are going to create
a viable income during those first crucial years to distinguish between hobby and income are really going to cut it? It’s going to keep a roof over the head, food on the table and required
medical care for the family? “Oh, you can make it selling cupcakes on the corner. So we’re going to cut any and all services.”
Or, do you, like all those rabid Gov. LePage supporters, believe everybody using the support services are just lazy? That man who cut leather for years at the shoe shop only to have the
business pull up roots and move off shore, is just lazy? That mother who worked for 8 years at that big box store that recently cut her hours so she is now a “part time” employee so doesn’t qualify for the health plan she relied on before and was a major component as to why she kept that $10.00 an hour job? That $10 an hour job that now pays her $250 a week?
Perhaps you figure they can just tough it out in a tent, hunting rabbits and scrounging vegetables when they aren’t huddled around a campfire while they hope that “follow your passion” opportunity pays enough to put them back on their feet.
LePage is the central issue of any meeting. I voted for Cutler (after proudly voting for Peter Mills in the GOP primary) and I stand by that vote. Libby Mitchell was a hack for the failed left and LePage is a bomb thrower for the ignorant right wing religious nuts and those with an 8th grade education. Those of us in the middle must wait 3 years for a chance to vote someone in who is competent.
it is a shame that Maine must go through 3 more years of this guy — LePage, please do the right thing for a change — resign!
It looks like he can’t take the heat in the kitchen.
I think it is critical for the governor to meet his constituents and to hear first hand the impact of his decisions It is called “accountability”…IF he can’t take the heat he has no business being IN the kitchen. If he is not willing to listen to the criticism of Mainer; he is NOT leadership quality.
He needs to listen and learn.
Who cares if he’s a bully or not as long as the job gets done ? We had an excellent successful “business man” on our committee of selectmen but because of all the bickering and criticizing, he resigned. He didn’t do it to make money, he was elected to get this town out of the dumps. Now look at where we are!! Same thing is going to happen to Maine. I once read that LePage left something like a $300,000 job at Marden’s for a $ 70,000 job as Governor. Look at all the thanks he DOESN’T get. JUST LEAVE HIM ALONE and let him do his job.
IMO Judy Paradis can run for Governor next if she thinks she’s so smart !
Although LePage was elected by 38% of those who cast a ballot, he is bound by the constitution to represent all Mainers. He is perceived as a bully by many Mainers and, unlike you, they find his “governing style” to be reprehensible. Further, you state that Mainers should simply let him do his job. Alas, his job is to provide leadership so that our government can effect policy as proscribed by the laws enacted by our representitives. For your edification, we elected a governor, not a dictator. I’ll be pleased when he moves his carcass back to Mardens or perhaps, Florida may entice him with its fair climate.
That’sEXACTLY the attitude that continues to defeat his progress. Obviously,
you don’t own your own business and could care less if we have a balanced budget or not. The new line of attack being used by opponents of structural reform at DHHS is to
attack Maine’s small businesses and job creators. In fact, I bet you are on MAINE CARE, your relatives are all on MAINE CARE, and you think it’s an entitlement! Go take a long walk off a short pier, sir !
I’ve been a self-employed commercial fisherman for 30 years… Walk east until your hat floats. LOL!
There is no structural reform going on in Augusta. The governor doesn’t seem very bright and really doesn’t appear to have any plan other than threatening people and slashing the budgets of people and organizations he dislikes. This is not planning. This is getting even.
http://www.mainepeoplebeforepolitics.com/2011/12/help-fix-the-dhhs-structural-gap/
You need to go read up on what’s going on in Augusta and stop blabbing all your b.s. on blogs. YOU are uninformed.
If Maine People Before Politics is your source of information it is not I who am ill informed.
Why do they call Bennett a spokesperson? Her title should be “apologist”.
But what can you say? This is who 37% of the people of Maine wanted for a governor.
Get rid of this half wit now!
Vote of no confidence.??
An absolute embarrassment and a running joke.
This is what a leader does?
Half wits? Baldacci left office on Jan 5, 2011. Talk about a joke. He did not know what 2 + 2 is nor could he balance a budget without gimmicks.
Of course. Point being lets all simply acknowledge the elephant on the room.
There is no difference between the left and right. Divide and conquer.
Look at Obama. Campaigning on change. Yet he intensified the bush agenda.
Doublethink in action. It’s no different at he state level really.
Look at Collins and snowe. Just more corprprate shills acting as “politicians”. Sickening.
It seems the only answer is to demand change. Though how to do that is beyond me?
Seems the elections are just as crooked as the politicians. Look at 2000. No riots in the streets? Bush stole the presidency. Plain and simple. And the press played right along—- yucking it up over ‘dangling chads’ rather than covering the obvious sabotage and negligence!
“What planet are you on?” seems like a fair question to ask of Judy Paradis, one of the architects of the 70% plus increase in Medicare recipients over the past few years of failed liberal policies.
It is a shame that Maine must go through 3 more years of this guy —
LePage, please do the right thing for a change — resign!
He’s got 40 years of failed liberal policies to clean up. Give him a break!
Like I have said many many times. If you want a laugh for the day just hand the mike to Paul. It appears in this case he didn’t want to let go. He just goes on and on about issues he has not facts to defend. He still cannot prove the debt is as bad as it really is. He also likes to put up smoke screens like this to take the focus about all the benifits he is supporting for his special interest republicans.
What a bozo.
let’s try to think of a cartoon character that LePage reminds us of…I”m shooting for the chicken thief Foghorn Leghorn..any others?
Superman comes to mind.
Superman helped the weak and underdogs…hardly an attribute of Paul Lepage’s…i think that mean dog Scrappy-Doo could well be played by LePage
Baldacci bankrupted this state. If LePage does nothing to fix the structural DHHS gap, there will be no Medicaid for anyone. LePage’s proposals will provide Medicaid for 295,000 Mainers. You know, the ones who are truly needy.
My my, the liberal BDN prints a fabricated opinion from liberal Judy Paradis and it is now fact. Judy Paradis was only there to cause problems and paint a negative picture of LePage. Anyone who knows Judy Paradis, knows full well that she is the bully, not LePage. LePage is a truth doctor, not a spin machine like Paradis.
Answer to a simple question whawell, The governor acted unprofessionally. End of story.
Its another case of “If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen”, oh, he did that too, didn’t he?
No matter what his excuse is, HE BAILED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Accept criticism? Never! Deflect it? Always!!! Make sure to blame the liberal media…and gays…and pro choicers…and the homeless…and teachers…and state workers…and unions…and swamp gas…and the second shooter on the grassy knoll…but NEVER accept blame or criticism…right, LIEpage?
What planet are you on and what lies did LePage say? For the first time in 40 years, Mainers are finally being told the truth about Maine’s poor state of affairs. The DEMS were the ones who hid all of this. How can you be upset at LePage? Does the truth hurt?
LePage deflects criticism after Fort Kent event
Recurrent Theme!
Dodge the question and deflect with his hate for Money going to Welfare Recipeants!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCszcknZb_Y
If you can’t stand the heat mr. lepage then get out of the kitchen.
He can stand it just fine. It’s you liberals who find fault with everything he does who can’t stand the heat. You have no solutions, but are quick to point the finger at LePage for cleaning up 40 years of a failed liberal budget mess.
Oh really? So when you say “you liberals” that’s not pointing fingers. That’s what love about yoooooooooooooooooooooou conservatives… thank god you are hear to save us from ourselves!
PS If you could take a slightly more condescending and divisive tone that would be great. Because this country is always at its best when the population is completely divided unyielding.
Of all people, you are calling the kettle black.
of all people? would you care to elaborate on what you mean by that???
Do you have any facts to support these statements? or are you just talking out of your GOPhole?
I keep hearing republicans running for office that want to make America great again… What they are basically talking about is great again like in the 50s right after WW II. I’m all for bumping the 1%ers tax rate back up to 92%. The reason that America isn’t as great as it used to be is because at some point we equated capitalism with patriotism. Now instead of one nation it’s every man for himself trying to grab as much as he can an to hell with everyone else. That attitude has pretty much as snowballs chance in hell of ever making America great again.
As for Governor Lepage, if you want to sit in the big chair you need to be able to take the tough questions. So stop being such a crybaby (which is what a bully really is ) and start leading!!
Tyke, don’t tell me you have never thought that a particular reporter on the scene of some event or news conference was being a jerk for asking the same question that had already been answered. Sometimes people don’t want to listen and ask the same thing in a different set of words. He answered with what they did not want to hear—
The state was already languishing at the bottom and LePage needs to get it afloat. Sinking it was a lot easier than trying to salvage it.
A healthy 35 year old man works hard at his job 40 hours per week and makes $500.00 per week gross before deductions. He and his healthy 35 year old wife have two healthy children of school age. They make the decision to have Mom stay at home and not work. Obviously their family can not afford to buy insurance at most private employers. Should this family qualify for Maine Care or any other government programs?
Why have mom work to pay daycare, and part of the insurance? There was a time when Insurance for your whole family was included in your Benefit Package at work, then Came the Union Busters and took that away because it would save our jobs. I am still wondering where are the jobs they saved?
Well well..the Cowardly Lion in Blaine House wasn’t ready..maybe if he got off his high horse and took a closer look at what is happening in Aroostook County because of little concern shown by Augusta he might at least have a clue..I sincerely hope you folks in Northern Maine have had enough of LePage and are willing to start a Recall before he makes Maine the way life SHOULD NOT be!
WHAT??? Pepe LePew acting impatient, abrupt, and rude??? NO! It couldn’t be…
What if ……………..
What if, instead of focusing his attention on denying 63,000 people health care our governor had, right from the beginning of his term, spent his energies and our money on persuading Jackson Labs and Maines colleges and universities to work together to keep those 600 research jobs in Maine. Very likely the added revenue from 600 high paying jobs with health insurance would have gone a long way in preserving health care for the 63,000 that will lose theirs.
It seems that the governor didn’t really mean to keep his promise of working to bring good jobs to Maine. He couldn’t even hold on to the good jobs that were being offered. Connecticut’s gain is Maine’s loss. However he has developed a laser like focus on hurting Maine’s out of work and poor.
as some1 said being president is a 24/7 365 days/yr job. it is not 40 hrs a week with 2 wks vacation per yr.
i dont want my tax money to pay for mainecare to disabled people. you read that right. no mainecare to able bodied and no mainecare to disabled. why is the state obligated to help disabled people?
He does it again! Yes, he should have stayed in Augusta. If you can’t stand the heat (which should have been expected), stay out of the kitchen. Or the County. Or …
When you finally take away your child’s “security blanket” it cries. Just like what you are hearing now from all the cry-babies in this forum. LaPage is doing it right for their future but the cry-babies don’t care. They just cry and cry and cry. What amazes me is that there are so many “babies” hooked on their “security blanket”. The estimate of thirty percent receiving aid is is overshadowed only when you add the fear of their extended family who might have to pick up the slack.
There were obviously a certain percentage of attendees who were there with the sole intention of berating and attacking Paul LePage. They didn’t attend to address the topic of the meeting. Gov. LePage was prepared to answer all and any questions about the revamping of Mainecare.
It is impossible to prepare for a “Mainecare Topic” meeting that is deliberately turned into a Bash & Clobber Paul Lepage session. And, of course, there is a contingency in that neck of the woods that delight in pumping people into a lather…….needlessly frightening them with unsubstantiated innuendo. That Paul Lepage intends to “kick” elderly and infirmed off Mainecare is unjustified, unforgivable and a LIE. But certain people will spread that grimy LIE for political gain. (And because they hate Paul LePage)
How merciful and benevolent is it to terrify the elderly into swallowing the LIE that Gov. LePage is itching to put them all out on the street? It’s not beneath “some” politicians.
probably was ashamed to show his face in PresqueIsle and Houlton the other Maine that he could care less about, I would like to know what planet he is from, he just proved what a rude person he is, a big bully