No state borrowing was put before voters last year, a rare occurrence indeed. But then, Republicans winning control of the Maine House of Representatives, Senate and Blaine House also is a rare occurrence.
As the Legislature nears the finish line of this session, Democrats are putting bonds back on the table. Republicans should give serious consideration to approving the borrowing plan, which focuses on boosting and sustaining the economy.
Despite the likely hue and cry against bonding — the phrase “you can’t borrow your way to prosperity” is sure to be a refrain — Democrats are right in returning to this mechanism of paying for big-ticket items for several reasons. First among them is the clear need for investment in several key areas; such investment has been impossible in the last several years as the Legislature has scrambled to keep the budget balanced.
Rep. Emily Cain, the Democrats’ leader in the House, outlines five key areas where bond funding should be directed. They are roads, bridges and rail; research and development; educational infrastructure; water and wastewater treatment; and land conservation. These are areas that Maine voters have agreed to borrow and fund before, so they are likely to embrace such spending again.
Making the case for the road and bridge work is easy, Rep. Cain says. She’s right. Bond funding would not be applied to some new sexy projects, but rather to the Department of Transportation’s existing work plans. The state is behind on many of those projects, as anyone who travels Maine roads knows. Railroad improvement also would get some funding. Transportation bond spending produces jobs quickly.
A better way to support research and development has emerged in recent years. The Maine Technology Asset Fund was created to field grant requests. The fund needs to be replenished. Winning applications are those that join public, private and educational endeavors. And endeavors that boost business and create jobs also get high marks. This is investment that will see returns over the next decade, helping Maine turn the corner from relying on low-tech jobs toward jobs in biotech, marine science, innovative agriculture, composites and energy.
The educational infrastructure bond would pay for new or improved classrooms and labs in the state university system. This is part of the state’s recognition of the importance of focusing on STEM education: science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Giving lip service to the importance of these disciplines is not enough; we must provide the tools to teach them.
Water quality and wastewater treatment bond funds help municipalities upgrade or expand these essential facilities. Often, upgrades allow new commercial or residential development in a community, so in addition to providing for public health, spending in this area is a way to help the local economy.
Finally, the Land for Maine Future fund would be replenished with bond money. In recent years, the fund has paid to preserve working waterfront property and farms. All of what the program does enhances Maine’s quality of place, which is essential to our future.
Interest rates remain at historic lows, so the time is right to bond, even if the total borrowing is in the $100-million-plus range. The state treasurer is likely to predict that Maine’s bond rating will plummet, interest rates will rise and the sky will fall if bonds are put on the ballot. But voters will have the final say.
Rep. Cain notes that Maine typically bonds for 10 years, not 20 or 30 as other states do. The rule of thumb in Augusta is that payment for bonds — past and present — should not exceed 5 percent of General Fund spending. This group of bonds would remain in that range, she said.
Republicans in the Legislature should tweak the spending plans as needed, but prepare to support them. It’s time to return to investing in our future.
“I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today!”
This phrase is is from the cartoon “Popeye”, where the character Wimpy would frequently utter this phrase. He was a glutton, and would consume burgers at a ferocious rate but could rarely pay for his habit.
Let’s not let Wimpy run our state!
If you look at our governor, it appears we already are.
I don’t think anyone would call him Wimpy.
He is one of the few politicians who is willing to stand up and try to make our state fiscally responsible, even to the point of having to endure the ire and name calling of the special interests.
I think most people would. He whines and cries when he doesn’t get his way and throws temper tantrums constantly. He is either whimpy or he has the mentality of a 4 year old, I am still trying to figure out which one exactly.
I don’t see that. But I do see people like you acting like a child because you’re not getting funded.
Sure, could you point out exactly what I have asked to be funded?
I said ‘like you’ not you.
Can you please provide evidence to support your claim?
When he doesn’t get his way he calls people names and whines that everything would be better if it wasn’t for the mean old Democrats. There was just a case of this last week with the representative from Portland.
Yes, I understand, you basically restated what you said in your first comment. But I would like supporting evidence that shows he “whines” or “bullies” when he doesn’t get his way.
Also, I don’t know of a particular instance where he has said that we would be better off without “the mean old democrats”; he may have said that we would be better off without the (regular) democrats. If he did, then that is a reasonable thing to dislike about him as that is one of the very things that drives me nuts about Obama.
I suggest actually reading the paper. As I stated, just last week he was whining about a democrat from Portland. You asked for a case, I supplied you with one.
That must make Baldacci “Bozo the Clown” then. Because Baldacci ran things like he had no clue what he was doing . It was one screw up after another. The guy was spineless and cowardly never standing up to his party. To also add it was comical to hear about him breaking his ribs all the time. Because it only created news because he did nothing in his time in office from Govenor, Congressman and Legislator.
Your ignorance runneth over. Baldacci was ten times better than this BUFFOON we have now who is a walking embarassment and a low class disgrace to the Blaine House.
Thank you for your post John ! I do happen to agree with darkat33.
Baldy was horrendous and a disgusting bully behind closed doors.
What you call special interest most people call the majority of Mainers.
You better rephrase that I think you should say it’s the Majority of Liberals who have issues with the current government in Augusta. Because the rest of the Mainers like where Maine is headed.
Yeah, keep wallowing in fantasy land. The majority of Mainers think LeBUFFOON is just that, a BUFFOON, and your GOP TeaNut Party is going to be OVER in a big way come November. Try looking up the term “reality” in your nearest dictionary.
At least some of us think he’s looking out for our hard earned money vs the theiving unions and democrats
Too bad your analogy is meaningless… Food is a consumable good. You borrow for it you eat it it’s gone and your on the hook for the full cost. Roads, bridges, sewer, water, internet infrastructure are not consumable goods. They have returns on investment. When you improve those things you improve the chances that business will be able to operate in and look on Maine as a favorable place to do business. If you let them crumble, well you get the opposite…
Roads, bridges, sewer, etc. infrastructures are all consumable. That’s why we’re continually having to rebuild them.
Their expenses should be part of the normal annual budget, that way we know what we’re spending on them.
And the analogy isn’t about food, it’s about spending money that we don’t have and pushing it to be paid off in the future. If we keep pushing more and more expenses and liabilities into the future, then the future we are leaving our children becomes unsustainable as a result of our greed for immediate gratification.
They are not “consumable” goods they are “durable” goods. Meaning they last more than 10 years and are most defiantly not a one time use product like food.
I agree that their repair should be in the annual budget. However, that is not what we have allowed to happen and at some point are going to have to make a massive investment to “catch up.” We are handing our kids debt either way. One is monetary and one is the necessity to fix crumbling infrastructure (which will still cost them money).
If we can borrow today at a much lower rate than they will be able, we are saving them money.
I understand that is what he intended with his analogy. However, by choosing food as the basis of the analogy it failed to be an accurate analogy.
It would be true if the money were spent on infrastructure.
The sad part it isn’t they won’t spend it on infrastructure. Look at where they want the money to end up in the same Liberal programs as before. It is just more of the same few jobs at best from paving a “skim” coat on a few roads while the rest gets blown on things that do absolutely nothing. Mainers need to say no to this scam.
Hey look, the BDN gave some more free publicity to the Dems. Your blatant bias shows through so much, it’s hard to give you any credibility at all.
They do it and then deny that they do it. But we must not forget, it is their newspaper and they are entitled to use it as they please to report in a way that promotes their agenda.
Pingree’s hubby is an owner of the BDN, what do you expect?
Really??? You might want to let Rick Warren in on that. He seems to think his family is the owner of the BDN.
Well it might as well be owned by Donnie Sussman because this paper’s views are predictable. More bonds are these guys nuts. But what do you expect from Liberals they would love to see Mainers get hammered by another 20 year tax increase to pay off these bonds.
Really. an owner. check it out buddy. these guys are all limousine liberals. post me when you get learned
Better adjust your aluminum foil hat. buddy.
Sussman owns part of the Portland Press Herald and other MTM papers, not the BDN.
You’ll want to amend your conspiracy theories accordingly.
Sorry know-it-all you are wrong. Sussman has invested in Maine Today Media which is a separate entity from the Bangor Daily News. Of course you don’t have to let simple things like facts mess up your idiotic rants. Okay buddy?
Try giving the same advice to the Kennebec Journal, the Downeast Coastal Press, Fox News, and Clear Channel, all of which are shills for the right wing. Go ahead. Prove you aren’t a typical right wing hypocrite and do that.
Yeah, let’s sell bonds and accept debt-induced fiat money as payment. Makes perfect sense! All they need to do to buy more bonds, is print more money! Everyone wins!
If only it actually worked.
The interest rates will never be lower and the infrastucture of Maine is in need of repair.
Historically, you are absolutely correct. Investment means jobs, and a future.
The difference between being poor and being self sufficient is the judicious and intelligent use of the resources available to build a better future.
You can see the clear difference in states that have failed to do this; they lack the infrastructure to support development and tend to remain relatively backwards and impoverished.
That’s not the point. Who cares if the rate of debt-inflation goes down when you’re still essentially borrowing money that has no value for bonds that have a real value?
The point is, we’re accepting fiat money as payment of bonds. This money is printed by the Federal Reserve Bank, which is a private bank backed up by federal regulations (Federal Reserve Act of 1913). They print this money and loan it to government as debt. We can’t buy our way out of debt with money that has debt immediately attached to it.
Investing more debt into the system and expecting to get out of debt, is crazy.
Funny, it seems to be working out great for China, and has always worked for the US.
Maybe if you actually understood how investment works in the real world. You keep referring to currency as “fiat money”; THAT just shows a lack of comprehension as to how a currency based system works. There isn’t a government on earth that doesn’t manage currency in this way.
Penny wise, pound numb.
The same China that has been buying tons of physical GOLD? Yeah, I know. They ARE doing it right, to our detriment! It’s a currency war, and we’re losing.
So the tin foil hat, flat lander, tbag society thinks things that society needes are created out of thin air. There will always be debt, it’s just a matter of will it be for the public good or will it be for making a few already wealthy people even wealthier through debt that the rest of us will pay for.
We need good roads,bridges and other infrasture improvements now or it will be much more expensive and unsafe for all in the future. A biproduct of infrastructure improvement will also include benefits to the economy. It’s a win-win for infrastructure and the economy.
Fiat based money systems do not work. We’ve become so lazy, we borrow printed money backed by nothing to pay other people to do things we don’t want to do.
We’ve also allowed government to make all things fair, as if some how middle-ground could be found between two polar opposite ideals. To make everyone happy, we fund projects for both groups, and it keeps us quiet. Politicians see this, and pander to get votes, not really caring one way or the other. So how do you continue to pay for this never ending cycle of entitlement? Borrow more money, hot off the press!
What do you think happens to every government that installs a fiat money system? They crumble under the weight of debt, and descend into anarchy, and then into a totalitarian system. What do you think is going to happen when the government can no longer fund itself, including payment to its employees? When it comes to survival, humans are indeed cannibals, and our government will turn on us and force us to comply as slaves.
I understand what you are saying, but what country in the world is NOT utilizing fiat based monetary systems? (for the record I am going to write in Ron Paul’s name come November, there is no difference between Obama & Romney)
Yeah….actually, all U.S. Currency is backed by the “full faith and credit of the United States Government”. They do operate a printing press, and an electronic issue, but all countries do this. The Yuan is backed by the Chinese Government, the Confederate Dollar was backed by the CSA government, so when the Confederate Government ceased to exist is dollar became worthless.
Here is how it should work: When a country has a strong economy, like China, the value of it’s currency goes up, because it’s government becomes more stable, and it’s people become more affluent. As the value of it’s currency goes up, another countries currency should go down, like the US. As the other countries currency goes down, it becomes worth less on the world market, so a commodity like oil becomes more expensive to buy with a US dollar, and cheaper to buy with a Yuan, or it least it should.
What a country like China does to put a fly in the ointment, is that it manipulates its currency by artificially keeping the price low, or by propping up the value of the other currency, by buying US debt.
So actually since the US debt is priced in dollars, the US Treasury could print 13 Trillion dollars tomorrow, and pay off the entire US debt. This would call in to question the “full faith and credit of the United States Government, and most likely drop the value of the dollar (inflation) to record lows.
As long as our democracy stays strong and we can stay self sufficient at times, agriculture, some manufacturing, etc, it is near impossible we will end up like Greece.
The world has been playing with Monopoly money for a long time, but if it is allowed to adjust as it should, it works better than anything else.
JFK said it best when he said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country.”
We need to be productive citizens to pay off this debt, or the whole system collapses. The dollar is artificially based on GDP, and we are seriously lacking in the department as we’ve had a trade deficit for a while now in the negative. We’re currently at -$52.6 BILLION (this year alone) and rising.
(http://www.census.gov/indicator/www/ustrade.html)
The problem is, we have a trade deficit because we can’t be productive citizens and pay off the debt. Due to legislation by corrupt politicians who want you dependent on the system so they can get votes, we’ve fallen into a never-ending cycle of printing more money to pay for things we don’t want to do ourselves. (Which we think that we get the government to do for us, but in reality the politician just won by getting you more dependent on the system).
It’s gotten so bad, the government legislates responsibilities to non-governmental organizations which are funded by rich people, who don’t want to lose their power. The rich guys and the politicians are in on it, keeping you deaf, dumb, and blind.
Great points…and I agree with most of them, particularly the part about corrupt folks in government. Gold however is valuable only because of it’s rarity. If all gold vaporized tomorrow, life would go on just fine. The gold standard is a flawed argument.
I would also agree that China is manipulating the system, and we as a country are counting on financial manipulation. We need to be a country that is agriculturally and manufacturing driven and functional. When we start building new factories and companies start investing in capital that is for long term success, I’ll stop worrying a little.
Now, when the Maine North Woods is being opened to more and more development by legislation that is changing planning, zoning, permitting and mining standards, the People of Maine need to be placed in a competitive position to purchase land now for the common good that will be critical to our future.
We need to purchase easements to protect deer yards to restore the deer herd that serves as part of the important foundation of our wildlife economy, to purchase and protect coastal and lake shoreland for future public access to our great ponds and Maine Coast, to purchase development easements on our farmland soils of statewide significance to keep farmers in business and ensure our future ability to produce food.
We surely do need the opportunity for the people of Maine to decide if we want to support funding for Land For Maine’s Future. Thank you for the wisdom.
RIGHT. Maine has protected enough land as it is. We have used taxpayer dollars bought tens to hundreds of thousands of acres so we can protect trees, birds and bugs noone has heard about or even cares about. How about creating new jobs investing in new businesses. Wow a concept that is foreign to Democrats. If it isn’t a Liberal Pet Project, Welfare Program , or Special Interest Group to prop up and buy votes from they could care less about. That is why they want borrowing so they can do more of the same failed stupidity that we have seen the past 40 years.
It’s up to the people to decide what they want to do with their money, in just the same way each of us decides whether we want to take out a loan for a truck, home, private business or anything else we value or need.
It happens that on four previous occasions, Maine voters have given the LMF program
resounding support – passing four separate bonds , all by 2:1 margins,
in 1987, 1999, 2005 and 2007.
All we ask is the opportunity again to decide what the majority wants to do. Many true conservatives everywhere understand that purchasing land that has real value contributes to the wildlife, recreational, and farming and commercial fishing economies. Ask a few fishermen what they think about the working waterfront purchases.
There are many other places where public money can be had for private businesses – a good many of them fail, but our land lasts and produces value forever. And conservatives, liberals, democrats, republicans and independents all know that now is the time to buy when prices and interest rates are low.
Check it out:
http://www.maine.gov/spo/lmf/
Well the Democrats don’t run the place anymore. Even if they were to regain the Legislature they won’t get the Republican votes that they would need to put in bonds or LePage’s signature for it. The Majority of Mainers don’t want anymore borrowing not in these economic times they care about tax cuts , welfare reform, lower spending and no borrowing. That is why Republicans are in the Legislature and the Governor’s office. So the Liberals Land for Maine’s buying program can take a back seat to what is really needed more private sector businesses and good paying jobs.
However, Maines record of managing public lands concerning our deer herd must be taken into account. What really happens is the land is managed according to the tenets of the new bio-diversity mindset. No herd improvment has occured, in fact nothing but declines have. I’m tired of “investments” being portrayed as something they are not.
Ah, yes, liberal pet projects. Like making sure the bridge you cross going to and from work every day doesn’t collapse.
Thank you for you post Roxanne , but your approach is wrong ! There are programs in place that already do these things , many I might add are self supporting .
To paraphrase Homer Simpson, “We can borrow our way out of debt!”
It’s high time that we start living within our means in this state. Some bonds are justified for there perceived “value added”. But to borrow money for roads and bridges like we have done many times in the past is like a person borrowing money for normal maintenance on their car, or routine expenses on their house. These should be included in a normal household budget. A lot of that money just goes into applying a “top coat” to an existing unimproved road and rarely lasts for much more that 4 years especially when 100.000 pound trucks operate on these roads. We need to be borrowing money on long term investment projects, and leaving the normal maintenance items to the general budget.
Borrowing does not boost the economy. If it did i would be one of the richest men in Maine. We should work towards being above the board at all times. Once all the loans are paid we will have all the payments and the interest to go towards building the economy. We will be that much farther ahead. Paying banks do not put people to work.
We should take the 100 million in bonding, and distribute it between the wealthiest Mainers. They are the job creators. If we give them the 100 million, they will invest it in a better manner than the common folk could, and the trickle down effect will cause unemployment to cease in the state.
Government can’t do anything right. A second idea would be to borrow the 100 million and give it all to a private equity firm or to JP Morgan Chase to use it to do what’s best for Maine. Their CEO, Jamie Dimon, made $23 Million in 2011, so he has to be the best at what he does – handling money.
In any case, the money should be put in the hands of those who know what they are doing – the job creators.
I would support not borrowing myself, but as long as we are letting the job creators make the decisions, we will be A-OK!!!!
Great satire!
A more intellectually accurate title to this article would take out the work “invest” and replace it with “spend.” I’m not suggesting that we don’t need to spend some money on infrastructure, but let’s all start being honest and call spending what it really is. Otherwise, we’re not being totally honest with ourselves.
So, this round of borrowing and investing will differ from the borrowing and investing Maine’s been doing for the last forty years, how? And will have what different results?
Here’s a suggestion: once the Democrats have re-taken the state, let’s change Maine’s motto from ‘Dirigo’ (I lead) to ‘Prodigo’ (I waste). Truth in advertising and all that.
Stop saying “invest”, “invest in”, and “investment” when you mean spend. The BDN wants the state to borrow and spend. It’s that simple, but they won’t say it. It’s almost as bad as when the BDN falsely said that the wife of the skier at Sugarloaf was “kicked out” of the ambulance.
Did it ever dawn on you that you can’t invest without spending ? Unless of course you are running a scam like our Governor !
“can’t invest without spending” Wow, so profound. Maybe I’d better write that one down.
But then again, I don’t know why I would, because I wasn’t talking about spending to invest. I was talking about spending to spend. When the liberal left BDN and politicians talk about borrowing to invest, you can be sure they really mean borrowing to spend. They just like to use an easy euphemism – “invest” – to sugarcoat it.
“Euphemism” Holy Toledo !!! Now that is a profound word !!! Sorry my friend but this has nothing to do with liberals or right wing extremists. Maybe you in your “infinite wisdom” can explain to me how one would invest without spending ? Sounds like maybe you are sugarcoating your reasoning ? Although I guess that one could invest in their soul.. by praying ?
Obviously you do not understand economics and investments. If you “google” State bank of North Dakota, you will see that the state of North Dakota is one of three States that are solvent. It is a rural State with a population of 700,000. It has a $2Billion surplus. Since 2000 the state’s GNP has grown 56%, personal income has grown 43%, and wages
have grown 34%.
Demographically, Maine is pretty much the same as North Dakota. Maine can do the same thing. It can start its own bank, pool it’s resource’s, finance it’s own projects, it’s own universities, guarantee loans for businesses and home ownership and receive a percent of the interest from the payments on the loans.
What I am saying here is, rather than the state of Maine paying big banks interest, they pay no interest, and any loan that is guaranteed by the State they are making money on or getting a “return on investment”.
Rather than moving the Pension fund money to a trust to earn $785Million in interest the State should keep the $11Billion in a State bank account earning $785Million in interest per anum through investment management.
Think about it. If the State kept it’s fiscal resources in a State Bank and managed it’s investments it would earn millions in interest each year….not pay millions in interest each year.
The State would also be able to finance it’s projects off of interest without floating any bonds.
(only one thing standing in the way….politics)
That is what INVEST without spending means….are we home yet????
How obvious ! Did it occur to you the Cain’s “land for Maine’s future” means a national park in northern Maine ? Do you realize that she is a Roxanne Quimby puppet who will spend your money to finance a park that will honor them into etermity while investing the ” up front” money which she earned by moving jobs out of Maine. These are self serving individuals who shouldn’t be in politics and only you can vote them out. Did it occur that the money for education while financing some class room improvements will really go to the increased salaries of the staff and teachers , the increase in pension funding for said employees. Did it occur that the environmental concerns are really the issues that keep businesses from expanding to Maine . I can only say to you and Emily Cain , raise the money before you spend it , earn it , don’t borrow it at the expense of the Maine taxpayer and their children !
WOW! Thanks for all the great innuendo ! That was wonderful !
No more bonds.
In these dire times, it is not the time to borrow. Typical BDN.
Is the BDN serious more borrowing especially in these economic times for more Liberal pet projects. No thanks. Say No to Bonds/Borrowing. Every time the Democrats claimed it was for roads and bridges it instead went to expand Welfare or more Land Buys. Though with LePage in office the money may actually end up going to roads and bridges. But until Augusta gets its fiscal house in order. Just Say No To Bonds.
Oh Yeah ! That’s right….. according to the right wing extremists we are only allowed to borrow money providing that it’s to give subsidies to the oil companies and lower income tax rates for the wealthiest Americans among us ! We will see how much the LePage damage has tallied up to in 2014
Yeah let’s buy more land and expand welfare that sure creates jobs LOL. Stop drinking the Liberal Kool-Aid that folks like Emily Canin gives you. If Democrats put businesses and jobs first we wouldn’t be broke and the state wouldn’t have these huge shortfalls. Nice try with class warfare , I bet you would rather have Government get into every business they can think of. It sure has worked under the Emperor Nobama that is why our credit ratings are in the toilet , we have 8+% unemployment and over 20% total unemployment and underemployment. I think I would rather get Maine’s fiscal house finally in order something that Democrats in Maine could care less about they would rather see Maine go bankrupt if they had their choice.
I am not a liberal nor a Democrat and I don’t drink Kool-Aid ! I was simply responding to your posting that didn’t seem to make any sense to me !
Did you even read the Op-Ed ? Or were you just “blowing off ” some steam ?
“I am not a liberal nor a Democrat and I don’t drink Kool-Aid !”
If that were true, you wouldn’t rely so heavily on the Kool-Aid drinkers’ favorite phrase, “Right wing extremists”!!! and other liberal talking points about the “wealthiest among us” in 90% of your comments.
I will state the facts once again ! I am neither a Liberal or a Democrat. Get it straight !
I know one thing for sure though .. Right Wing Extremists, not being based in fact,have a real hard time with the truth ! Please don’ drink the Fox News Kool-Aid anymore my friend.
Precisely. It’s a shell game, and many Maine residents have had it with the borrowing and the over-spending in Augusta.
BDN- all aboard with the limousine liberals
Oh Yeah ! That’s right….. according to the right wing extremists we are only allowed to borrow money providing that it’s to give subsidies to the oil companies and lower income tax rates for the wealthiest Americans among us !
Right wing extremists seem to have no problem spending money for oil company subsidies and tax cuts for the wealthy ! But when it comes time for investing in something that might actually pay off in the end…. they “cry foul” ! Go figure !
Pretty hard to lower income tax rates for people who don’t pay any.
In the United States of America, if you earn below poverty wage you don’t have to pay income tax. This does not exclude you from paying taxes.. let me name you a few of them my friend !!!
Property tax, gas tax, excise tax, sales tax, tolls, and many other taxes and levies. Everyone pays taxes, rich or poor (even after you are dead) !
That being said… do you have any idea what you are talking about or are you insanely proposing that we make the poor…. poorer by taxing their (below poverty wage) incomes all in an effort to cut taxes for the wealthiest amongst us ?
Oil company subsidies are left wing noise brought to you by folks like Al Sharpton, Chris Matthews, and Rachel Maddow. These “subsidies” are a tax exemption from which ALL businesses benefit. They do not have to pay income tax on monies they spend for sales tax, and they can depreciate the value of their equipment over a number of years. This is exactly the same break given to your local restaurant, except that Oil companies must pay all their employees minimum wage, while restaurants can pay some of their employees 1/2 minimum. Now THAT is a real subsidy.
…and absolutely my friend below. Standing up for below minimum wage workers sounds exactly like something Fox would do.
Sounds like you got that one from Fox News ! Nothing but Right Wing Extremist noise my friend.
Let’s waste more money…
Every year for the last decade (and longer) we heard “Borrow for Maine’s Prosperity!” If borrowing money was truly good for Maine, by now we should be #1 in the nation for jobs, security, and economic well-being.
In past years, the drumbeat and justifications for bonding and borrowing has been exactly the same, with exactly the same results — somehow, last year’s bonds are never enough.
The definition if insanity ” doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results ” STOP THE INSANITY ! Good post by the way , thanks.
And people wonder why we are broke. Barry wasted money on Turtle fences wind power and Solar What did we get for our “investments”?
Voting for any bond is the same as voting for a tax increase. If you pay no taxes and have no children, you should have no problem with more borrowing or higher taxes.
Rep. Emily Cain; is she the big spending leftist wacko who took over from MAine’s biggest proponent of tax and spend Comrade Mary Cathcart?
Absolutely Orono Emily, we need to borrow more money, and create more debt to help us get out of debt….
Taxpayers are struggling now. It costs $60 to fill the average gas tank. It costs 30% more at the grocery store for just the necessities. The Doctor, the Dentist, the cup of coffee all costs 50% more than 5 years ago, and Emily wants us to approve what amounts to a tax hike (you do plan on paying off this bond right?)
We kicked the last legislature out for a reason. It seems we missed a few….
No one should risk borrowing for anything with Paul LePage in Blaine house.
the major investment banks TARGET guys like LePage.
You want a bond going out that that…..on the surface looks fine, and five years from now swallows the state?
Google Jackson and Jefferson counties in Alabama.
NO MAJOR FINANCIAL CHANGES SHOULD BE MADE WITH LEPAGE OR HIS PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE DECISIONMAKING.
Wall Street sees guys like him as chum.
I challenge the editors at BDN to provide link to ONE editorial where they unequivocally rejected the idea of a tax hike or passage of a bond.
Gee, Im sure this will work, just like in the past! HAhahahah
They Dems want to bond, I found it a great relief that there were no bonds on the last ballot…
Lets name the bonds nice and pretty, Like the prevention of the ends of time, maybe save the adult children from having to work bond.
We need bond names that they can use to make us want to vote yes.
Republicans wont spend a dime on Maine. With Maine’s bridges and road in collapse they rather give tax breaks to millionaires and OIL Companies instead. Let the poor Mainers go homeless, starve and freeze. That is the Republican way. Now they have declared a War on Women, go figure.
Of course Emily Cain and the Democrat/Liberals are in favor of spending as this gives them opportunities to pay back their union masters and buy your votes. Privatise as much as possible