Sketchy Mitt
Uh-oh!
One of Mitt Romney’s senior advisors suggested that when Romney becomes the candidate they can just shake up the Etch A Sketch and come up with a more focused and likeable candidate. Don’t be too quick to take him at his word. Mitt might morph into someone more accurately described as “Etch A Sketchy.”
Webster’s definition of sketchy: “roughly outlined, wanting in completeness, clearness or substance.”
If this is the best we can offer, this Republican thinks Charlie Webster should be less worried about preventing people from voting and more worried about holding on to voters from his own party.
Chris Young
Caratunk
Dental fix is sensible
I recently watched an episode of MaineWatch on MPBN that featured a segment on a new type of midlevel dental practitioner that a lot of health leaders see as a way to improve access to dental care. Although it seemed like a small and reasonable way to test this approach, a spokesman for the Maine Dental Association dismissed the idea.
Why does the Maine Dental Association oppose giving this approach a try? Better yet, why is it disputing that there is a problem with dental access in the first place? Although many statistics were thrown around during the show, it takes a single trip to rural Maine, where I’m from, to understand the seriousness of the dental access shortage in this state.
Has the Maine Dental Association been outside Portland or Bangor?
Judy Canney
Bradley
Speak your mind
As a long-term resident of Maine, I am deeply concerned with many issues that affect our older residents. At 84 years old, I am on a very limited income and worry about what would happen if I didn’t have Social Security and Medicare.
It was awful last summer to watch as my benefits were debated again and again while Congress tried to figure out how to balance the nation’s budget. Social Security didn’t contribute to any debt problems of this country, so I really don’t believe that those benefits should be considered an appropriate cut to make.
What was really troubling, though, was that all of the deals and discussions going on were happening in a way that was not transparent. I worked all my life for my benefits. Without them, I would not be able to make ends meet. I did my best to save while I was working, but everything is so much more expensive now than it was then.
I’m excited to finally have a way to voice my own opinion on Social Security and Medicare. I filled out my AARP “You’ve Earned a Say” questionnaire and it’s nice to know they are listening. Anyone who receives these benefits should have a lot to say! I think we all have the right to speak our minds, especially in such an important election year.
Margie Higgins
Bangor
King for Senate
I have been an active Democrat for years; yet I now enthusiastically support Angus King in his independent candidacy for the U.S. Senate.
The polarization along party lines in the U.S. Senate and Congress is no longer tolerable. Angus King has pledged that his sole guide in reaching policy decisions will be the best interests of the people of Maine. During his terms as our governor, Angus proved that he can work effectively with people regardless of political affiliation, and I believe that he will be an effective advocate for us in the Senate.
Until we return to the time when our elected officials supported positions based on the public good rather than party loyalty, we need Angus King as our U.S. senator. I am sure that both the Democratic and Republican parties will nominate capable people to seek the Senate seat. However, I am equally sure that these candidates will succumb to the crushing pressure to follow the party line and perpetuate the gridlock that has frustrated the legislative process in Washington. We can’t afford to put these people in the Congress.
Angus is a man of high integrity, wide intellect and strong character, and I trust his judgment. That’s why I am supporting this highly qualified independent candidate for U.S. Senate.
Daniel E. Harris
selectman
Boothbay
DHHS and state budget
House candidate and former Rep. Lisa Miller’s column (BDN, April 9) illustrates an ideological position that chooses to ignore our recent history concerning MaineCare, the Department of Health and Human Services and the state budget.
In 2004, when former Rep. Miller first ran for office, MaineCare enrollment stood at around 260,000 members. Since that time, we have gained another 100,000 members, bringing us to one of the highest Medicaid enrollment percentages in the country.
A full 49 percent of all state spending, besides transportation, now goes to the DHHS. Unsustainable is not the word. Suicidal is more like it. The taxpayers of this poor state simply cannot afford this continued expansion of this very expensive program.
The problems with MaineCare and the DHHS have been growing and festering for a long time. Candidate Miller should know this.
I can agree with candidate Miller on better cost containment programs. Republicans have been advocating more accountability in all facets of the program for decades. Democrats seem to have been satisfied with simply pouring more money into it, including hundreds of millions of Obama “stimulus” money.
Mrs. Miller also argues that MaineCare is somehow not a welfare program. Yes, Mrs. Miller, it is and in every sense of the word. One must fall below a certain income guideline before being assisted with their free, government-supplied health care. They are not required to pay a cent either before or after they receive their benefits.
Donna Carlton
Damariscotta
Community Teach
ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, has been called the poster child for the corrupting influence of corporate money in politics. ALEC is an octopuslike, shadowy network backed by corporations such as Koch Industries, Exxon-Mobil and big pharmaceutical companies to further their special interests. ALEC crafts “model legislation” that it distributes to state legislators to introduce — in areas from undermining voters’ and workers’ rights to health care and the environment, to so-called Stand Your Ground laws and attempts to privatize public education. They aren’t working for us regular people; they’re working for their big corporate sponsors. They are very busy right here in Maine: Sens. Richard Rosen and Brian Langley are ALEC members. Lately, under pressure, many corporations and state legislators are dropping their membership in ALEC.
Ellsworth 99% is sponsoring a Community Teach-In about ALEC, its influence in Maine and what we can do about it at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 25, at Ellsworth City Hall. I encourage all to attend and check out www.alecexposed.org.
Nancy Glista
Franklin
And, Nancy, don’t forget to let people know about ALEC Watch in Maine (Facebook page) where they can help keep up with all of the machinations. More ALEC members in Maine’s legislature are listed there with the towns they represent and with their email addresses so constituents can let their legislators know they know.
From what I could determine, ALEC is a reputable organization being discredited by organizations funded by billionaire George Soros in his quest to destroy America, capitalism, conservatism, etc. Listed on a group’s site trying to discredit the Koch brothers and others, is the Tidewater Group–
The Koch brothers are being discredited because they are conservative and support candidates who are.
They are being discredited because their actions and the politicians they back are antithetical to what it means to be American. America is not about buying influence and then raiding the publics coffers for profit. Being American is about rolling up your sleeves and pitching in to help make this country great and it’s people prosper. It is not about being greedy and self serving, no matter what ALEC may tell you. They are being discredited by their actions alone.
Somebody should have told Violette, McCormick, and the Maine bond bank about that not being greedy thing. Thanks to 40 years of Dem crony rule in Maine, government is infested with political hacks like them. Very little rolling up of sleeves was being done there. More like bellying up to the trough.
I’m still reserving judgment on that. To me, McCormick has yet to be found to have done anything wrong, Violette is certainly a crook. As is Nutting. Personally, it should have nothing to do with Politics, but when one party is backed by Alec, whose intention is to take anything of value from the American people, then it becomes political.
Continue to reserve judgement just like all those Dem apologists did in the Violette case until it was impossible to ignore it any longer. Wasting $1,000,000 on green energy that actually used MORE non green energy when it was running and build quarter million dollar, 1,000 square foot “affordable” housing units should be all of the evidence needed to show that she was inept at best and criminal at worst. Thanks to the sweetheart contract written by the Maine Dems, we’re paying this hack for the next two years AND providing her health insurance. If a private business ran like Maine government does under the Dems it would be prosecuted under the RICO statutes. When the crooks are writing the laws, then thievery becomes legal.
Liberals just go crazy when conservatives start community organizing to affect legislation and public policy.
Major corporations funding secret legislative actions is not “community organizing”.
Unless you believe corporations are people, people organizing for themselves.
I am curious, if it is secret legislation how did you find out about it? Sounds a bit paranoid to me.
That is a dumb question in the age of the internet, so I’ll give an appropriate answer. It is for me to know and you to find out.
You do understand that you said it was SECRET don’t you?
If its all over the internet how do you figure its secret?
I thought that since you are a conservative and have an imagination like the conservatives that make up lies about Obama’s foreign birth, death panels, fraudulent voting, etc. that you might be able to figure it out. But I will give you a some help. Look at how many politicians are members of ALEC. Then look at how many of them across the country submit bills which are almost word for word duplicates of each other. Then check how many times someone has leaked a document from ALEC headquarters. Now put 2 and 2 together. See, in this age of instant and widespread communication via the internet, it is very difficult to keep a secret, in spite of ALEC’s best efforts. If it is still too difficult for you to understand I suggest you click on the link provided by Nancy Glista in her letter.
Of course, there are those who either wish to remain ignorant, or are actually trolls for ALEC, who will deny any such attempt at shaping public policy is taking place. Some of them even post here.
Noone is trying to keep anything secret and that is your paranoia. The moment that Conservatives took office early in 2011 the BDN ran an editorial with ALEC as its subject.
They even mentioned their agenda that they hoped to pass nationwide. They even said that it is normal that groups of various kinds organize on their own behalf this way to push legislation. The BDN disagreed with the agenda but acknowledged it was nothing unusual. It just makes a great organizing tool of the left to demonize and spread paranoia about some “secret” cabal at work. There is nothing secret about “Legislative actions” as you call them. It is called Democracy.
Only liberals are paranoid about the other side having secrets?
And yet rightists are constantly saying that moderate Republicans are secretly Democrats, all moderates are secretly socialists, and all liberals and progressives are secretly communists. Go figure.
At least when I call a Republican a Democrat I have my tongue in my cheek and a smirk on my face. I never say they are secretly part of some nefarious plot. The Irony is that Republicans acting as Democrats are out there for all to see.
What really frightens me is that people of your ilk believe Democracy is only what YOU say it is and only exists when those exercising it agree with you.
My “ilk”? It’s true that liberals insist, rightly I think, that conservatives are not the only ones who support constitutional freedoms, liberty, and protections. Rightists keep telling us that we are not patriots, and we insist that we, too, are indeed patriots. Right-wingers tell us that only they love this country, and we insist that we also love this country. Now you accuse US of claiming that we are the only ones who understand democracy … after all the decades when your “ilk” (pardon the expression) have been telling us that only right-wingers are true patriots who understand the Constitution and its liberties, and that all liberals are secret communists. And that Obama is a secret Muslim from Kenya. Let’s get real, please.
It does seem obvious that many of the leftist type posters here don’t accept that ALEC has a right to put forth legislation. The NEA for instance has been writing education legislation for decades. It is the way things are done. Nothing nefarious, nothing secretive just the way things work in a Democracy.
So … your’e avioding my point that the right-wingers have, for many decades, been accusing liberals of being unpatriotic and secret communists. And this business about President Obama being a secret Muslim, I guess because he’s biracial. And he must be from Kenya because Hawaii is probably in Africa somewhere.
I am not addressing your point because you don’t have one. As you choose to fly away on tangents instead of addressing ALEC and the points ademain was trying to make. Of course there are those kinds of paranoia out there to which I do not subscribe… but so what? Now will you tell adamain he’s paranoid. thought not.
You seem very reluctant to say there is some paranoia on both sides, but I see something that looks like a grudging admission that some folks on the right might go too far at times. Good for you. Yes, of course, ALEC has a right to propose legislation. They’ve had a strong nationwide campaign this year, and they try to make it look local, but we all know that’s a sham. And I think most of their proposals are bad for the nation. But of course, in a free country, they can make proposals.
Again I am addressing a specific issue it just doesn’t happen to be yours… Are you taking over for Sprucie or something?
There is a difference between NEA and ALEC. If you understand that the 4 essentials to making our political system work are , transparent government, educated citizens, impartial judiciary and an ethical financial sector you can compare and assess how each of those organizations is trying to affect the balance of those 4 ingredients of a political system that is trying to provide equal opportunity and equal rights to all.
So what you are saying is that writing legislation is ok for one special interest group but not another? Is that right?
Yes. For the same reason that it is OK for George to use the art room at school because understands its purpose, respects the materials and leaves it so others can enjoy it. While, it’s not OK for John because he destroys the materials, has no respect for the purpose of the art room and nobody can use it after him.
They have a special name for people who deny rights to others while claiming those self-same rights for themselves.
NO…the right has their paranoid fantasies too. I talked with a very conservative guy who not only thought Obama wasn’t an American citizen, but was convinced he was a Muslim–and he concluded that Obama was the Anti-Christ too.
Now, the left-wing paranoia about the Koch brothers and ALEC is just as outrageous, based on some wild belief that Republicans want to starve kids, leave the masses uneducated and poor, kill off the elderly, poison the air and water and food supply…
Yes, wandini, I agree that there is some paranoia on both sides. Cheesecake seems to be saying that only the side she disagrees with is paranoid.
Not what I said. It is your misinterpretation and false assumptions and putting words in my mouth.
I said “seems.” If you are willing to agree that there is some unwarranted paranoia on both sides, I have no problem with that. Just don’t put it all on one side, please.
I don’t know–omitting something is not the same thing as positively stating it. Cheesecake is more concerned with the effect of left-leaning misinformation and manufactured outrage on the political arena, as am I. So we focus our comments on that. That is not the same thing as believing that none of that misinformation and manufactured outrage happens on the right.
For instance, I’ve never understood the fascination with Obama’s birth certificate. Verifying one’s place of birth is such an easy thing to do. If there had been any question of Obama being eligible to run for the Presidency based on his birth, it would have been out long ago. Hillary Clinton certainly would have obtained the evidence, if it existed.
I think the difference is that right-wing nonsense doesn’t get much play in the mainstream media–unless someone is mocking it. Left-wing nonsense does, and it is treated with respect that it does not deserve.
Wandini, thanks for acknowledging that there are some unwarranted accusations, some sense of persecution, and some paranoia on both sides. Cheesecake still doesn’t want to admit that, it appears, but that’s her hang-up.
Please cite a single left wing charge against the Koch brothers or ALEC that is factually untrue. The Kochs rarely let their sponsorship of groups, such as Americans for Prosperity, come to light. Only digging by journalists and activists has uncovered it. Go on the AFP website and you will discern no Koch connection.
I found it on my first search of Wikipedia….
When I go to progressive websites I have no idea who supports them either.
I am glad the press informs us of who is behind things. But there is no bogey man here.
Wikipedia is not AFP’s website. When I suggest you take a bite out of an onion, don’t bite an apple and pronounce that all is well.
Tellingly, you point to no falsehoods spread about the Kochs or ALEC.
I like onions.
I meant I found out that the Koch brothers support AFP from Wikipedia. I don’t have time to scour the AFP site right now–maybe later.
The falsehood spread is that there is something secretive and sinister in ALEC that is unlike anything we’ve ever seen in politics. It simply isn’t so.
The claim that President Obama is a Kenyan born, Muslim Anti-Christ is not the equivalent of saying that ALEC operates sub rosa and the Kochs spend an enormous amount of money on elections and allied efforts. The former is utterly false, the latter, true. The former is insane, the latter part of the honest debate. Yet you say the claims about ALEC “are just as outrageous.”
That is an outrageous moral equivalency and I won’t let you get away with it.
I didn’t set up that equivalency. The equivalency is that those who think ALEC and the Koch brothers are cloaking their actions, trying to deceive people into enacting their “dangerous” legislation, working in secret to steal all the money and sell out public education, deprive people of food and health care, poison the water and the air…all of this done in “secret”!; on the other side you have people who think Obama is foreign born, that his birth certificate has been forged, that he is a Muslim etc….
Both arguments show a high level of unreasonable paranoia. The Koch brothers fund two very well known think tanks: The Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute. There is nothing secretive there. ALEC has a website that is very upfront about its goals, who is involved on its board, where their legislative agenda is at in various states. There is nothing secretive there.
Once again, feel free to disagree with the content of the Koch brothers and ALEC’s political philosophy. But stop this nonsense about them being some kind of subversive agency out to steal all that is good in America by hook or by crook.
Nowhere in the legislation is ALEC’s role disclosed. Obviously, the bill itself is there for all to read.
Can you let me kn0w the next time a piece of legislation is put forward by the Progressive States Network? Just curious. They have a bunch of stuff out there I understand.
The secret is in the sponsorship, not the content. Some backwoods representative proposes the bill and no one realizes that ALEC wrote it.
Ok Come on. That’s absurd. THE NEA writes legislation all the time. Then they pass it off to their favorites in each State legislature the same as any lobbying group on any issue does. There is nothing new here and you should be smart enough to know it. Perhaps you are trying to stir the paranoia pot yourself?
So if the content of the bill is fine and unobjectionable, the mere fact that it was sponsored by ALEC would render it harmful? That doesn’t make sense. The content of the bill is what is at issue, not who sponsored it–unless you can prove that the person sponsoring it has something personal to gain from it….say, for instance, you owe some company money, but then you sponsor a bill for some other segment of that company’s empire…and maybe that debt just one day up and disappears….
I am not saying that could ever happen, but what if…?
The content of the bill is objectionable, which is why ALEC tries to hide its sponsorship. We benefit by completely open processes. Every bill should indicate the role outside organizations played in its genesis.
Among the more objectionable ALEC bills are those designed to make it harder for everyone to vote.
Out stirring the paranoia pot?
Out trying to take the lid off the pot so we all can see how the stew is made.
But you are smart enough to know how the system works and has always worked. Nothing new to add recipe except disinformation?
I am glad to see you finally admit to disinformation. NEA has publication that announce its legislative goals and is quite public about the legislation it helps write. ALEC seeks to stay behind the scenes.
Have you googled American Legislative Exchange Council? If you did, you would see a full list of the Board of Directors, a full explanation of their political philosophy, updates on where their initiatives are at and more.
ALEC is very public.
If the content is objectionable, then argue on the content. I agree we all benefit from open processes. It doesn’t seem as if ALEC is doing such a good job hiding their sponsorship–since all I hear from left leaning posters is that every right leaning politician is fronting for ALEC, and every piece of legislation they propose is from ALEC…The proverbial cat is out of the bag, methinks.
Not so much secret, more like a puppet master working the strings in it’s (puppet) Republican politicians
Just like other lobbying groups do. Left or right.
Nothing that is not a part of the normal process.
Just better organized.
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
Baseless. Can you comment on the merits of any argument or have you been sentenced to espousing personal defamations only?
Yes, I suppose one can view the 1/10% wealthiest who strive for unbridled wealth accumulation as a community. Actually, the ultra wealthy would prefer to be called “Heritage Families” from now on.
I love irony.
Please great one inform the ignorant masses. How does what the Koch Brothers are doing square with what the founders of this country intended? If you can not find that link, you may no longer call your self a conservative.
You just said that I’m the one who is constantly critical — then you sarcastically call another poster “great one.” Are you projecting your own behavior on to others?
I do not think you constantly critical at all, in fact I find you to be unbelievably patient. To be fair, criticism can cut both ways. I think the word criticism has gotten a bad rap.
As for ‘great one’, the poster herself makes that claim with her own ‘tag’. But in the name of fairness Mr. Snyder was indeed sarcastic, something that he often is.
Thank you.
He is the “great one”…. He has a lot of great info….
Where are you in the Philippines? I was in Dumaguete in February.
What do you find so reprehensible about them using their money to support conservative and libertarian causes? Is it the fact that they have so much money?
No, I don’t care how much money someone or organization has.
I do care when they use that money to weaken things that are important to me like the environment, workers rights and safety, safety nets for the poor, etc
It’s great that you care about those issues. But that does not mean your view is the only one that should exist on these issues. Not everyone agrees, for instance, that ethanol in our gasoline is a good environmental move–although that is why it was touted. If I had a million dollars, I’d use it to attempt to repeal ethanol mandates. Some might say that was a good move for the environment and the poor, as it would reduce the incentive for mono cropping of corn, and drive down the price of corn as a food staple. Others would say it was a bad environmental move because ethanol is a renewable fuel source.
So I would suggest we attack the issues with facts, not the people who support the opposing viewpoint.
“and drive down the price of corn as a food staple.”
Using acreage that could be used to produce food drives me nuts. What is worse is the government subsidies for it. There are people starving around the world that would benefit from lower food prices.
The western media has focused on the politics of the Arab spring but what brought people into the streets was the high cost of food.
The philosophical core of our Constitution is that all citizens have equal opportunity and equal rights. To promote this our founders created a fragile and innovative political system that only works when and if there is:
A transparent government
An educated population
An impartial judiciary
An ethical financial sector
The financial sector is made up of entities that have absolutely no interest in equal rights or equal opportunity for citizens. Their philosophical core is profit for themselves. Which is fine if there are laws that help them control their behavior and keep them ethical?
Unfortunately, for many years the business and financial sector have used pressure and money to make government opaque and subservient and the judiciary partial to their wants. This sector has become powerful and has upset the delicate balance that is necessary for equal opportunity and equal rights to flourish.
Name something you think is essential to your happiness: family? Education? Financial security? Property? Do you think a coalition of corporations working to make your government less transparent to you and the judiciary less concerned with interpreting the Constitution’s philosophy of equal opportunity is a good thing? If you do they you should be very happy with reduced opportunities and fewer rights that ALEC has in mind.
Bravo.
So, do you support unlimited corporate influence over our politics?
Please tell us exactly which policies ALEC and the Koch’s support that you favor.
More like disreputable.
The Koch brothers are being discredited because they have their very wealthy fingers in every slice of pie in the USA.
I find it difficult to believe that someone who claims the mantel of conservationism would publicly defend them.
Then why aren’t Warren Buffett, and Bill Gates accused of the vile things the Koch brothers are accused of?
Buffet and Gates do not control several “think tanks” and “policy groups” whose main intentions are keeping the rich in power and increasing the wealth of the richest while keeping the rest of American’s without the mean to improve themselves and also working to weaken environmental protections, workers rights, workplace safety, workers pay and benefits and anything else that may decrease their power and wealth.
Soros does.
But Soros does not work to weaken environmental protections, workers rights, workplace safety, workers pay and benefits and anything else that may decrease his power and wealth.
He does do harm to us economically and causes lost jobs, to benefit his holdings in other countries. You really should look into this guy. If there was an environmental law that stood in his way it would be gone in a fortnight.
It might be that Buffet and Gates aren’t trying to re-write laws in every state in the union.
are you kidding me?
Interesting article about ALEC recalibrating its strategy in today’s The Nation
http://www.thenation.com/blog/167425/alec-disbands-task-force-responsible-voter-id-stand-your-ground-laws
Romney’s mouth is huge. He’s talking out of an infinite number of sides of it.
Chris Young, Margie Higgins, Daniel Harris, Nancy Glista: good letters.
Well said, Donna. Thanks for calling Lisa Miller on her ridiculous column that tried to explain away the problems that she and her party created with MaineCare. Democrats were more than irresponsible and Ms. Miller was with them every step of the way.
Funny how MoveOn and ACORN are just community outreach, but ALEC is the boogieman.
Acorn no longer exists, but in any case neither Acorn nor MoveOn underwrite or write our laws. ALEC has and does.
Lots of organizations craft legislation. Can’t say for certain but perhaps Acorn or a segment of MoveOn did. Hard to say. I do know that there are any number of non-governmental legislative policy committees exist with just about every lobbying group you can think of. Do you really think that the NEA has no committee to write legislation that is forwarded to every state legislature in the country? If you said no you would be wrong.
How about Progressive States Network. The Progressive policy group that sends legislation to Progressives nationwide in legislatures just the way ALEC does.
I remember years ago in NH, the legislature passed a homeschooling law that was horrendously burdensome on homeschoolers. It was quickly replaced. Legislators actually asked the homeschooling community to help craft a bill that would be acceptable to them.
It’s not unusual for people who have expertise, or a vested interest, in a particular law to be part of drafting the bill, or to offer legislation for a representative to introduce. It is part of the democratic process. The bill then goes through the representative system of checks and balances.
Absolutely correct.
You’re comparing lawmakers asking the homeschooling
community for help with writing laws governing their existence to multinational mega-corporations writing environmental and tax legislation specifically designed to increase their profit margins. You really see these as the same thing?
The only similarity is that both are legal. One situation however is not healthy for a functioning democracy.
The ‘expertise’ part you bring up is correct, people who home school have expertise in home schooling. Asking them to help draft legislation makes
sense. Most of these corporations are not considered experts in the legislation they are trying to influence. I pay taxes, does qualify me to draft tax legislation? I live in the environment, does that qualify me to draft clean water legislation? Considering these corporations invest heavily in campaigns, it smells more like buying influence then providing ‘experitse’.
You don’t think green energy investors aren’t attempting to draft legislation that encourages–or, in some cases, forces– the use of their product over fossil fuels? There is no segment of the population that is not trying to influence government in their favor, mostly through the passage of laws. And they all use money to get there.
And, yes, if you wish to draft a bill on taxes or the environment, you may. And then you can ask your legislator, or another legislator, to submit it for consideration. That doesn’t guarantee they will, but, if the bill has any merit at all, you probably will find someone willing to submit it to the legislature.
I don’t have a problem with people arguing against the merits of proposed legislation. I just don’t agree with people who want to maintain that someone, or some group, does not have the right to engage in the legislative process in their interest. I also disagree with those who get hysterical over the mere existence of an organization such as ALEC, but don’t see any problem with the former ACORN, for example.
GE lobbies the Obama administration for those Green Energy Credits to be part of the stimulus bill.
What would be unhealthy for a functioning Democracy is to tell a group of people, any people, they have no redress to their elected legislature. This is how it has always been in America. Now you want to change that?
Really? ACORN (and their progeny) and MoveOn don’t craft legislation? I seriously doubt that.
Sketchy Mitt?
??? How about this:
When the current resident of the White House was running primary ads against Hillary Clinton, he railed against the “mandate” in the health bill he later signed with a mandate for which he advocated.
Politicians…ALL OF THEM…. will say anything, do anything, and sell anything to get elected or re-elected.
Ron Paul is honest… he is also going nowhere. Voters in the USA seem to like liars.
Dental fix is sensible
last time I checked, Bradley was right across the river from Bangor, and next to Brewer.
I live in Washington County (17 miles out of Machias) and I have had absolutely no problem getting EXCELLENT dental care.
Speak your mind
I agree Mary. BUT don’t worry, it is the job of politicians to scare people. They do this so they can become the rescuers
King for Senate
Really? The candidate who as governor left us with debt and poor roads? This Virginian is not fit toi be dogcatcher in Whiting, much less Senator of the State.
DHHS and state budget
Donna you have painted this problem in partisan terms. Maine’s “Medicaid” problems have existed under Republican, Independent, and Democrats administrations going back at least a quarter of a century. In the early 1990’s John McKernan’s D.H.S. commissioner Roland Ives billed the Feds hospital rates for juvenile delinquents residing at the old Maine Youth Center. This charge was disallowed and charged back to the State. When McKernan left office we (the State) were in debt in amounts ranging to $6,000,000.00. Similar events plagued the administrations of Angus King, and John Baldacci.
Community Teach
I defy you to provide one scintilla of evidence regarding your claim that ExxonMobil “backs” the American Legislative Exchange Council, or has any ties to this organization.
You are wrong…do the honorable thing and retract your claim.
From Bloomberg,
Koch Industries Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) are among companies that would benefit from almost identical energy legislation introduced in state capitals from Oregon to New Mexico to New Hampshire — and that’s by design.The energy companies helped write the legislation at a meeting organized by a group they finance, the American Legislative Exchange Council, a Washington-based policy institute known as ALEC.
Enlarge imageKoch Industries Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corp. are among companies that would benefit from almost identical energy legislation introduced in state capitals from Oregon to New Mexico to New Hampshire — and that’s by design. The corporations, both ALEC members, took a seat at the legislative drafting table beside elected officials and policy analysts by paying a fee between $3,000 and $10,000, according to documents obtained by Bloomberg News.The opportunity for corporations to become co-authors of state laws legally through ALEC covers a wide range of issues from energy to taxes to agriculture. The price for participation is an ALEC membership fee of as much as $25,000 — and the few extra thousands to join one of the group’s legislative-writing task forces. Once the “model legislation” is complete, it’s up to ALEC’s legislator members to shepherd it into law.“This is just another hidden way for corporations to buy their way into the legislative process,” said Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause, a Washington-based group that advocates for limits on money in politics.
Glad you are Nancey’s publicist.
Again show me a link something more credible than your cut&paste form anywhere.
How foolish of usegoodsense. When you demanded “one scintilla of evidence” they assumed you meant one scintilla of evidence. In fact you meant two scintillas of evidence. Or am I mistaken and you meant three scintillas of evidence? four? five? six?…..
To save time, just google “Alec source of funding”. If legislators in Wisconsin and other states are successful , ALEC will be required to reveal their funding sources if they wish to promote legislation in the respective states. Currently 98% of ALEC’s funding comes from corporations and only 2% is from legislative membership dues. Exxonmobil has contributed over 1 million dollars since joining.
I’ve only been posting here for a couple of days, I’m really impressed with the Great One, Harry and Cheesecake, keep with the great comments..
Yeah, those personal attacks and jabs of theirs are pretty impressive.
I didn’t see those comments, must be old ones..
Stick around.
Putting aside the usual sniping from one camp to another, and the arguments of the form “Well x does it so that must make it ok for y to do it.”…
I think it is reasonable to be concerned about any organization that tries to “pre-write” legislation that has no ties to the jurisdiction it is in. The whole point of local and state government is to allow local control over local concerns and to have solutions that reflect what the people in that area want.
There are too many examples of organizations from outside a state coming in and spending a lot of money to promote a cause, but actually writing our laws for us is a step too far! It was seen here and in California on the gay rights issue how influential outside groups can be. Its being seen in this ALEC legislation to the point that a number of business groups are talking about withdrawing from ALEC. Companies like Coca-Cola are revising their support. Initially they stepped up to avoid laws against fizzy drinks, and you’ll note that the shortwash of outrage over purchasing soft drinks with food assistance stopped as soon as the soft drink lobby discovered what this might do to their profit margin…so conservative pushes for prohibitions suddenly stopped short and the public ire was directed away from the topic. Conservatives upset about the use of public nutrition funds should feel very betrayed by that.
The point I’m making is that whichever side does this effectively hijacks democracy! And they aren’t doing it for principle, they are doing it for profit.
I would ask all legislators to refuse to sponsor bills that are written for them by outsiders! If a topic is not brought forward by a genuine constituent in your district, show the person the door!
ALEC Exposed is an excellent article, and I urge all Americans to read it. Another area they have affected is the cost of education. They have members who are looking out for the banks and lenders, who are part of the problem in the predatory lending, student aid scam. ALEC works for the 1%, and all those who try to assist them hope to become a 1%er. Please see how they have affected the banking industry, helped remove and keep legislation loose and assist banks in making money off the backs of the borrowers. Student loans are another bubble that will burst, and Maine has a very high student loan debt rate. The influence of this group on our legislators has brought about an infestation of special interest money into politics and the dysfunctional legislation they have influenced has helped remove consumer protections, and banking regulations for many years now. They are working for big money… and for those who wish to do their bidding and ride their coattails to wealth, at the expense of influencing dysfunctional legislation and bringing down the middle class. Stand up and change this nation..for the better.. read ALEC Exposed, and while your at it, check out Exporting America link at CNN, and see the thousands of corporations that have left this country to pay cheaper wages elsewhere, and who have exported Americas wealth and corrupted Trade/Tax/Banking legislation for he past 25 years, with the help of ALEC special interest money. It’s time for Reform. No special interest money in politics… it should be totally illegal. Instead of Congress spending 60% of their time raising money, they should be spending 100% of their working hours representing and looking out for the good of our Nation and The American People!