AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine House Speaker Robert Nutting on Friday responded to a Freedom of Access Act request from Democrats, saying his office conducted an “anonymous poll” to ask whether GOP House members wanted to return this week to address Gov. Paul LePage’s line-item vetoes.
Of members polled, 53 said they did not wish to return, while 21 said they wanted to come back. Four members were not reached by late Tuesday, Nutting said in a statement.
Senate President Kevin Raye’s office had provided the Bangor Daily News earlier this week with the results of the Senate Republicans’ poll with names attached. A strong majority of GOP senators said they didn’t see the need to convene.
Nutting’s office, however, did not provide results to the BDN after being asked Tuesday.
“My office used an anonymous poll, which is used frequently by both Republican and Democrat caucuses in other matters, such as electing caucus leaders,” Nutting said in a statement.
Last Saturday, Gov. Paul LePage used his line-item veto authority to eliminate two lines from a supplemental budget package that passed with overwhelming legislative support.
Those lines were: funding for an estimated $8 million shortfall in the general assistance program for the 2013 fiscal year and about $3 million in “disproportionate share” funding to hospitals and psychiatric facilities to offset losses in federal funding.
This was the first time since Maine voters approved a constitutional amendment in 1995 that a governor has used that power. Since no precedent exists, there has been confusion and disagreement on how to proceed.
The constitutional amendment that allows line-item vetoes does not get into specifics. It says a governor can use that power, but it also says the Legislature can consider and overturn those line-item vetoes with a simple majority vote.
As for how that process happens, lawmakers must refer to their own rules. Both the House and Senate rules have language that says the Legislature “shall act” on the governor’s line-item veto within five days.
Democrats and Republicans agree that “shall” in this case means “must,” but there has been disagreement about what constitutes “action.”
Democrats have argued that “action” means calling the Legislature back and taking an on-the-record vote. Since the House Republicans did not keep or release an official tally with corresponding names, some could argue that the vote was taken in secret.
Republicans, however, have said polling its members about whether to come back was action enough.
“It is clear to me that because the Democrats don’t like the results, they are now more interested in playing political games than in addressing important issues like general assistance funding and payments to our mental health hospitals,” Nutting’s statement said.
House Minority Leader Emily Cain said Friday the results are meaningless without the names attached. “This poll has the same impact as an official vote but it wasn’t taken in public,” she said. “The people of Maine should know how their lawmakers felt about this.”
Republicans also have said that the two items that were vetoed by the governor are likely to be put back on the table when lawmakers begin discussing a 2013 supplemental budget for the Department of Health and Human Services in May.
Follow BDN writer Eric Russell on Twitter @BDNPolitics.
Oh yes Mr. Nutting, using an anonymous poll that keeps Maine voters in the dark as to how your GOP/Tea Party members responded to your “polling” was by all means the best way to have proceeded here. We certainly don’t want to let people know who was or was not behaving responsibly. Funny how old habits are hard to break. In your business it was the government you deceived and the people you cheated, now you’re using the government itself to cheat the people on a wholesale basis. I’m pretty sure most voters won’t see this as some kind of positive transitional growth on your part. See ya in November!
Just more of this administration’s “transparency”!!! Is there any reason why the individual Representatives can’t come forward with what their vote waas?
I wonder if Charlie Webster conducted that poll?
I don’t think so because good ‘ole Charlie has difficulty counting and I think 53 or even 21 for that matter would be difficult for him.
He already has the results of this years election results, I hear town clerks will waste their time counting and reporting numbers. The results are in the same place the Mural is stored at.
they found it! they found it! it’s gonna be on display in Lawrence MAssachusetts.
A replica….
we better hope they don’t decide to change to computerized vote counting
What could possibly be wrong with computerized voting? They are only going to use the same computers and software DHHS has been using!
Sounds like the Republican poll was riddled with voter fraud. Better call in the two Charlies to investigate and clean it up. (ha ha)
I wonder if Charlie has a list of these anonomous people who voted.
Wow Bob Nutting talking about people playing “political games”. What exactly was it that he, Kevin Raye and “Lame Duckie” LePage played in regards to the budget? November 6th is coming soon and then Maine Voters will play a “political game” of their own when they send our current legislative republicans to the trash pile of political irrelevancy.
send our current legislative republicans to the trash pile of political irrelevancy….
That’s true but they will have left a path of destruction that will hurt many for a long time.
Very true.
It’s the first time in my life that I have wished the summer away. Even if it doesn’t come out the way I want, just voting against these guys will please me.
You may have missed this but it explains what you obviously do not understand.
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2012/04/19/opinion/contributors/the-vetoes-that-werent/
An article by a Republican strtagest? no bias there…lol
And that same “strategist”, if you wish to refer to him as that, lives in Washington DC, and seems to have a problem writing ANYTHING relevant. For instance, how long was the Steve Abbott article under his pic, it must have been at least a couple of months, and who cares about Steve Abbott!!! He’s not elected…………..to anything. Who cares what Matt Gagnon thinks.
Don’t be so hard on Matt. He is just doing what his bosses at the Republican Governor Association tell him to do.
No I didn’t miss the article. I like to read fantasy from time to time. I see you use Matt Gagnon to justify your insulting remarks to me. I’m sure in your fair and balanced world Matt is considered an objective source. Of course Mrs. Gotti always felt that her Johnny was a good kid as well. I forget how many did he get convicted of killing? Speaking of killing ……………….no never mind I don’t want to get into a discussion about people dying in Maine just because they are poor.
I am sorry Mr Nutting but you and the republican party of Maine owe us the Maine Citizens the results of how the members by name voted on reconvening. There are those among us who support the line item veto and those who do not. We deserve to know how our legislative representatives voted.
We know how the democrats voted. Does the republican party have something to hide or are they just afraid of how we the Citizens of Maine might react. Like maybe we will not vote for you in November ??
Time for you and the republican party man up. You owe us. Stand up and be counted — good, bad or in different.
And do not try and hide behind the agrument that the anonymous vote is how you all pick your caucus leaders. That really fails the apples and oranges argument. We the Citizens of Maine do not really care who you elect as caucus leaders. But we are entitled to know how you vote on issues that affect us the Citizens of Maine. You and the republican party are playing the same political games you are critizing the democrats of.
Very well said! Are you going to mail this to them too I hope? Maybe even a letter to the editor so those without computers can benefit from your very good points? It is time we hold these people accountable. Complacency is part of how we got here. Not saying you have been complacent but we all have to some extent. If they are held accountable maybe there will be less of this nonsense.
We keep hearing the tea party republicans like Bob Nutting talking about how expensive welfare is in The State of Maine. Nutting is also one of the leaders to cut cut cut welfare recipients. He is also one of the voices speaking out about welfare fraud. Bob could be the poster boy for how to defraud the welfare system. Oh by the way Bob, nice suit. I guess you can buy a few of those for $1.2 million can’t you.
Nutting gives new meaning to the term “welfare cheat” that the tea party pretends to be so against–oh that’s right, the term only applies to the serfs, not to the lords and masters of the concept or for rampant corporate welfare.
Putting the emphasis on welfare fraud keeps the focus off the political theft/coruption of the GOP and continues to breed hatred of the less fortunate. I just pray daily that folks will eventually see the smoke screen!!
My attention has not been taken away from welfare fraud. I can look at Nutting’s record and remember it clearly.
Funny all of you Liberals keep bringing up Nutting he made a settlement with Baldy, Brenda Harvey and Steve Rowe (AG at the time). If they didn’t feel satisfied with what Nutting settled for they would have not closed the case. Give it a rest for crying out loud please move on its old news and find something new to attack them on .
Voters in the Ultra-Liberal Waterville/Fairfield/Oakland area district wouldn’t have
re-elected him by landslides each time even after what he did. The same Democrats who couldn’t even field a candidate to run against him a few years ago. This is the same area (Waterville) who elected Paul LePage mayor twice. They must love the job both of these folks are doing because they voted them in every election they have ran in (even LePage for School Board, City Council). They know what a disaster Democrats have been in what they are doing to these areas currently and how bad they have been for Maine.
Nutting had to deal with the federal government, not the state officials that you referenced.
WRONG. He had to deal with the state on a settlement for Medicaid overpayments, he owned True’s Pharmacy in Oakland. He made a deal with Baldacci , Brenda Harvey (DHHS head) , Steve Rowe (AG at that time) the state was happy with the money and closed the case. The voters in Nutting’s Ultra Liberal Democrat District (Waterville/Fairfield/Oakland area) re-elected him several times after with landslide victories each time. They also didn’t run a candidate a few years ago either. It goes to show you they were happy with the job he has been doing. If they didn’t he would have been gone.
Darkcat are you actually being critical of me for bringing up Bob Nutting when commenting on an article about…………………….geeze ……How do I say this? BOB NUTTING.
Yeah I am being critical of Democrats who keep bringing up a dead horse and will continue to do so. You folks keep bringing up NUTTING, if Baldy and company didn’t agree with the terms of the settlement he would have been jailed. They didn’t feel it was worth wasting tax dollars on this. One of the few things I agree with Baldy on. If voters didn’t like what Bob was doing they would have voted him out they didn’t. Democrats couldn’t even find someone to run against him for crying out loud a few years ago. Which tells you how much Dems in that area like the job Bob is doing , they even voted LePage into different local offices he ran for every time he ran. So it tells you Democrats especially in the Ultra-Liberal Waterville/Oakland/Fairfield Area has alot of work to do to regain registered Democrats trust in that area. Democrats also have work to do in Maine as well because they only have support of folks in that party. If they had done the jobs to improve the lives of Maine Working Folks they would be in power. But they have been catering to those who are dependent on Handouts and Subsidies folks who have been living off of the Maine Taxpayer for decades. As I stated to you the other day if you lose the support of the Green Party and having them repealing the Democrat agenda through referendum. You know Democrats in Maine have hit rock bottom. Because the Green’s and Dems have been stood together on most issues. Now the Greens want no part of the Dems and in some cases have aligned themselves with LePage on a number of issues.
Nutting’s district is Sidney and most of Oakland. Not Fairfield or Waterville. Nor is it a Democratic district, Sidney is red as red can be, which is why Dems couldn’t find a candidate to run against him.
So now Baldy’s a hero? I’m glad he’s gone.
Wonder if it is one of those $5,000.00 Silk Suits hand made for him in Hong Kong ?
Who had one of those, Violette? Nutting should be wearing the same suit.
If you get a prescription for methadone, that is fraud. If you steal $1.2 million, declare bankruptcy, put your employees on the street, that is called a clever business strategy.
Isn’t Nutting one of the reasons that health care in Maine is so expensive. What the heck does it take to throw a crook in jail?? Is anyone even investigating? May I please take 1.2M that doesn’t belong to me? AND, did he pay taxes on it? Good deal, get the money tax-free? That’s justice for the 1%, I guess.
Oh, and when Nutting do you plan to repay all that Medicare debt that you dodged through bankruptcy and they make you the Speaker of the House. What a sad joke when your own party thinks it is okay to do with you did with Medicare etc. Your need to shave as the beard does not hide the shame!
Annonymous poll
Annonymous e-mail
Annonymous neighbors
Seems like we have found out who is running the state of Maine. Their name is ‘Annonymous’.
and their imaginary friends
Wasn’t it Anonymous who was upset about a mural?
The reality here is the legislature is up for re-election. Voting overwhelmingly in favor of the budget was the politically correct thing to do.
Was it a coordinated effort – did the governor’s office tell the republicans to support the bill because he was prepared to utilize the line item thus salvaging the parts of the budget he approved of?
The governor isn’t running for re-election this year – what does he have to lose???
The governor will lose his party’s majority in the legislature which will make him an impotent lame duck for the remainder of his one term.
Anti democracy moves like this one could just give Democrats veto proof majorities to begin to undo the damage that has been done by LePage and his enablers in the legislature.
Well if Democrats go back to their antics trust me they won’t be in the majority for long. Mainers have shown they are getting fed up with the Democrats and their interest on every issue. From Dirigo Health , Dirigo/Soda Tax Referendum which was repealed by voters with large margins. Bogus Tax Reform which would have been a massive tax hike to majority of Mainers which was repealed and Gay Marriage repealed 3 years ago and could get a huge defeat this year as well.
Mainers for years have been calling for wanting smaller government, less taxes, more jobs, freedom, less folks on welfare etc.. I haven’t heard one Democrat from Ben Grant (Dem Party Chairman) , Emily Cain, Cynthia Dill, Justin Alfond , Peggy Rotundo talk about doing anything positive about the economy. It’s either attack Paul LePage and Republicans or wanting us to go back to more of the same. Democrats better check recent polls on LePage because every poll that has been taken on his approval ratings, the Democrats in Maine have polled worse than him. Mainers will only take so much because the garbage that is coming from any politician in Augusta is getting old. I have said on here that its going to take 20 to 30 years to fix the mess that King, Baldy, Democrats have made that not even LePage can do it in 15+ months.
LePage ran on a promise to immediately eliminate Dirigo Health, yet I hear ads on the radio every day from his administration seeking new members in Dirigo Health
Lepage’s first budget was a half BILLION dollars higher than Badacci’s last one.
LePage keeps telling you lies. Why do you believe them?
Really, Mr Speaker. The legislators should “put aside” their philosophical differences like you “put aside” the money you owe the tax payers of Maine and the US from your pharmacy days.
Nutting is nutty if he thinks we Maine voters are all blind or stupid. His regime asked their minions if they wanted to reconvene–of course they didn’t WANT to reconvene. He also made sure to inform them of the cost of reconvening–$15,000 a day. Our representatives don’t want to waste our tax dollars so it is easy to understand why they would answer “no” to his inquiry.
That does not mean they would vote “no” to overriding the vetoes.
In reality, Nuttings JOB is to call the legislature back so they can vote on this veto. We have been manipulated, misrepresented, prevaricated upon and hornswoggled. He should be ashamed. He should also be pilloried and most definitely replaced in November.
This is NOT what democracy looks like!
Baghdad Bob Nutting : ” Nothing to see here, and nothing is an acceptable action”
Political games? Political games? HUH? These people are ruining the society and they accuse the other side of Political Games?? Just who do you think you are Mr. Nutting? First pay back what you stole from the people, then we’ll talk.
Anonymous poll: Does anybody trust this guy? I believe he has a pretty serious criminal background. Something about defrauding the federal government by overcharging Medicaid. And he has the gall to say “let’s not play politics”. Sounds about as genuine as the “people before politics” guy!
“Anonymous” is sure a popular name in this administration.
Anonymous is at the top of the LP payroll. They won’t release his name because it probably ends in “Lepage,” again.
Keep it going
Nutting is a crook and a liar. Throw him in jail with Charlie Webster.
Perhaps the Speaker could conduct an anonymous poll to see how may Mainers think he should repay the 1.4 million he stole from the State of Maine! What a joke this guy and the rest of LePages flunkies are.
There was a great republican who lived on the same street as Nutting when he was a youngster. Would Margaret Chase Smith have condoned such a breach of trust with the public as you have displayed in playing this political game with the state’s budget and the public’s right to know? I doubt it. She had something that the current batch of republican legislators seem to lack: INTEGRITY.
More grandstanding and time-wasting from Maine Democrats. Don’t they ever get sick of the nitpickery?
Why is it a big deal for the house members to declare how they voted on this matter? You may agree with their vote, but don’t the people they represent have a right to know where each one of them stood?
we would have a right to know where they stood if we weren’t currently living in a dictatorship…….you’re confusing it with democracy
Oh enough of the right wing hypocrisy. If Democrats were pulling this shameful cowardly stunt you’d be howling like a coyote about it. Face it. Your joke of a right wing governor and your TeaFool legislators, which together have now tossed every municipal budget in the state under a bus out of sheer right wing arrogance, are going to take a royal pounding at the voting booth come November. Everything LeBuffoon and his right wing allies in the legislature touch turns to total stinking rotten crud before our very eyes. They are a disaster. See ya in November.
Oh please the Republicans are taking a page out of the Maine Democrat Party handbook. Democrats did this all the time when they were in power for nearly 40 years and they got away with it. Now that Republicans don’t want to keep the WELFARE STATE going which most working Mainers want. They are being attacked by Democrats, their supporters and ones who are living on the WELFARE WAGON. BOO HOO all of these folks need crying towels, these programs are UNAFFORDABLE HELLO!!!. Maine Working Taxpayers we want no part of it anymore we can’t afford anymore tax hikes. We Voted this way in 2010 for a reason.
Maine’s budget is out of whack because the Welfare State is out of control. Mainers deserve a government they can afford and a business state is what Mainers have been calling for. Not a haven where everyone can come in and get Lavish Lifetime Welfare Benefits. Democrats are proving what they are and have been the last 50 years here in Maine. The Anti- Jobs, Anti-Business, Anti-Citizen , Pro-Welfare and Nanny State Party.
How could Democrats “do this all the time” if this is the first time a line-item veto has ever been used?
More right wing lies…. Boy, they do it easily.
To people without a conscience, there is nothing they say that they feel is a lie. It is all to do with their wants.
Actually Naran, I agree with you, this is time-wasting. The Dems need to get themselves a spine and take Nutting, et al to court for subversion of the political process. Spend some money on lawyers, show the public exactly who they are!
If the constitutional amendment from 1995 that set up line-item vetos was unclear on the process, that is exactly what the courts are for–in a check-and-balance system of government.
This anonymous poll crap is just that: it would be wrong if Mother Teresa had tried it.
Process is product in this case–garbage in yields garbage out.
(Nutting is one of the people on my list that I have to stay alive long enough for to see justice done. Right after Cheney, Bush, Powell, Rice, Wolfowitz etc., go to prison for life for crimes against humanity.)
Why limit your accusation to Democrats? Politics has become grandstanding, time-wasting, and dollar-wasting big business. I can’t believe that a large Independent movement won’t come from this idiocy…. then people like me will have someone to vote for, rather than just having someone to vote against.
Don’t the Republican/MHPC/ALEC/Tea Party ever get sick of their rape an pillage of the American people?
I’ll be at the polls bright and early to NOT vote for our republican legislators.
Anonymous polls by political parties for caucus purposes, such as electing leaders, are light years away from an anonymous poll to determine whether or not to return to the Legislature to address the Gubernatorial line-item vetoes.
A number of Constitutional issues have been cited, such as the timeframe in which the vetoes become effective (will waiting until May be too late to potentially override the vetoes – a political fait accompli for the Gov). GOP claims that polling it’s members to determine if they want to convene now constitutes meeting the Consitutional requirement to act on the line-item vetoes within five days is “doublespeak” straight out of George Orwell’s book, “1984”.
What are you afraid of, Speaker Nutting? So, we have another example of the “transparency” that was promised. This administration is no better than the one it replaced.
The Constitution has no requirement to act vis-a-vis the Line Item Veto.
I don’t see how trying to deal with reality can be called playing politics. There are city councilors and mayors all over Maine right now ringing their hands over what to do with the mess the legislature has handed them. They have been given a mandate to care for the sick and needy, but only half the funds. Home owners are worried sick about their taxes going up because of the line item vetoes. Raye and Co believed it was okay to wait ’til mid May to decide what to do, yet municipalities need to have their budgets ready by end of May. This delay by the legislature to deal with the Governor’s compulsiveness is just causing more and more anxiety, and this is nothing compared with the pain that is in store for the weak, sick and poor. We are going to be reading about their plight every day and feel more and more horrified to think that this can happen in the Great State Of Maine. Election day can’t come soon enough!!!!!
SHAME on these rotten right wingers ! SHAME on them. If they had an ounce of integrity they would ORDER their caucus back, stick to how they voted on this budget matter the FIRST time, and override these vetoes. But no. They won’t do that because they are toting water for their boy in the Blaine House. And they won’t even release how their people voted so their constituents can know. So “nice” to have a stealth government, courtesy of the Maine right wing. What a bunch of cowards these right wingers are. Total shameful yellow bellied cowards. Well, that is going to change in a big way come November.
Wow, have yor cake and eat it too. Pass something, let the Governor take the hit by veto, and refuse to let the voters know who really supproted the vetoed items, and who was blowing smoke. Nutting, Medicaid fraudster, saying Dems are playing a game? The line item veto is a good thing, but needs to be used correctly. the items needed to come back for a vote. This was just a way of skirting the democratic process. Not suprising considernig te Republicans are also trying to limit voting also. The more peope that vote, the less they win….
We live in a representative republic – not a democracy. In a democracy all the citizens would have voted on the budget and gotten a crack at voting on any veto. We all have a representative in Augusta; take it it with yours. This is what a republic looks like…
These Teabillies sure do like to keep lots of secrets. The lack of transparency is transparent in itself.
An anonymous poll to select a caucus leader is not the same as an anonymous poll on a matter of public concern. Selecting a caucus leader is like voting for a person for office, and we expect a secret ballot. But not convening over this issue and making the decision anonymously looks like an attempt to avoid being held accountable.
I know this has nothing to do with the content of this article, but I galls me that Robert Nutting holds the position he does. He is the embodiment of misuse of public money with the scam he perpetrated a dozen years ago. What a hypocrite! I doubt if he was particularly forthcoming about that either.
the party line GOP lawmakers should all be removed in NOV. Any legislator who voted ONLY paryt line regardless of the issue isn’t there for their constituents……they are there for their party!!! Get them all out of there and clean house in NOV. Nutting…………you should go, you’re one of the biggest political theives in the state and the GOP protected your from having to pay back millions. Disgusting!!
Yeah let’s go back to having Liberals running amuck with no limits on spending like we had for 36 years. That will sure create jobs and create wealth for Mainers NOT. All we will have is a state that is bankrupt, welfare going back to being out of control, and everything else falling apart. While those living off of Welfare and other Government subsidies (Environmentalists, Special Interest , Politicians–Angus King) all laughing with their pockets filled while average working Mainers are dead broke. Liberals are just clueless they still don’t get it. They refuse to realize that their policies are the reason why we are in the mess we are in today. The refuse to take credit for creating these problems. Always wanting to blame someone else who is trying to make an attempt to get us out of this mess. Working Mainers want less people on welfare, more jobs, low taxes, better privately built roads etc.. How hard is that for Democrats and their supporters to grasp. Government isn’t the answer we have seen what extreme government is here in Maine and how corrupt and abusive it is. Getting the private sector involved is what Maine needs right now. As we are seeing with the East-West Highway, just take a look at how Government has done with our roads and bridges if that isn’t a clue enough then Democrats will always be out of touch with the average Maine Citizen.
Republicans: “On the record, I voted for the budget as presented by the Appropriations Committee. I did my part. What I did about it after that is not on the record so you can’t hold it against me on election day.” It defies comprehension that a unanimous Senate vote on the budget as it was presented gets line-item vetoed and the Senate republicans don’t have enough sack to stand up to their party leaders and demand to be counted. These people want to be leaders, but they are only sheep. Shearing date is Nov 6,2012.
——
Let’s do some simple math. All it would have taken to over-ride the line item veto is a simple majority. One can assume that all of the democrats would have voted to overturn. It would only have taken a few republicans to stand behind their original vote to thwart Paulie’s veto. But in order for them to do so, the legislature would have to reconvene. By not allowing the legislature to reconvene, much less than a majority, probably even less than 38%, have taken control of the issue. Minority interests rule! No political games here. Duh! Follow your own advice, Bob. Stop it with the political games and the bull crap.
These kinds of statements show a complete lack of integrity and honesty. We all know that to the extent Democrats are playing “political games” the Republicans are as well. It’s this obvious hypocrisy that makes people sickened by politics.
WOW, the Tea Party THUGS telling what the Democrats should do. They have their Head Thug LePage to back them up with his dictatorship.
The requirement is that they act in five days … not play games with secret ballots about whether or not they feel like obeying the voters demands & State Constitution.
Phrased in terms of: “A strong majority of GOP senators said they didn’t see the need to convene.” A strong majority of GOP senators said they didn’t give a damned about the law and wanted to assist the governor in screwing the voters.
Legally, ““shall” means “must”” — no choice — obey the law or declare yourself a criminal unworthy of public office. Of course, a third of the voters prefer criminals … so State is screwed.
Now the term “action” allows for some alternate possibilities: one is that the legislature enter a written vote — from wherever each member is … no need to return to Augusta, just vote on each veto — sustain or override. A written, on record vote, not necessitating a return. Any who don’t vote accept the majority results … end of story. But teh GOP wants to officially violate the law — so it ain’t going to happen … and it will be up to the voters to recall the criminals or allow them to remain and continue to flaunt the will of the people.
I do not understand how an ‘anonymous poll’ can be conducted by email. The example Speaker Nutting referred to was a secret ballot we use to vote for leadership. That vote is done in person. Any poll taken by email or phone is by nature not anonymous.
It’s really quite astonishing that they would try this in light of their constant carping about ” Voter Fraud”, and the caucus fiasco. It’s like they don’t care about the appearance of impropriety, as long as they get the preferred result.
I wish LePage had used the line-item veto for MPBN. Read this…http://wot7.com/?p=14.
This is why we need an Independent leader, someone who can compromise with both sides, because right now, we aren’t getting “nutting” done!