Where’s the beef?
A number of my friends seem to be assuming because Angus King was a feel-good governor during a reasonably pleasant economic time, because as an independent he hasn’t been tarred by the vexatious partisan obstructionism of national Republican legislators (including our two senators, by the way) and because he has been virtually silent on issues calling for political leadership since leaving the governorship in 2003, that he is a shoo-in for election as U.S. senator for Maine.
Excuse me? Standing in the middle isn’t going to help one party or the other organize the Senate.
Keeping mum on the issues so as not to displease voters on either half of the partisan divide is no way to exercise the kind of public leadership the times require.
The 2012 campaign is not time for nostalgia. The circumstances are very different. Voters should be highly skeptical of King’s supposed credentials for candidacy.
As one of my colleagues said the other day (oh, how I wish I had), “Hey, Angus, where’s the beef?”
Hendrik Gideonse
Brooklin
Bring unions back
Gov. LePage and his Republican cohorts are trying to pick the bones of the middle and lower classes while reducing taxes on the rich. Incomes for average people are going down, down, down. Our chances of a better life are decreasing.
Bring back the unions. Unions fought for a living wage, 40-hour workweek, health care, safety in the workplace and all the other benefits we now take for granted. Gov. LePage and the rest of the tea party buffoons are raping the poor and threatening our great democracy by trying to eliminate unions and our rights as citizens.
It’s time for the working people of the country to take back our place in society and restore America to what it was and was meant to be.
John W. Prenier
Calais
Republican no more
For well over 40 years I have been a proud member of the Republican party. Today I intend to re-register as an independent. I can no longer support a party that continues to make excuses for Gov. LePage.
I am tired of hearing the Republican party leaders make excuses for his talking and acting like Archie Bunker. Calling all Mainers who don’t agree with him idiots or dingbats and then last week calling government middle managers corrupt was the last straw. The governor feels many teachers are not qualified to teach. Look at what he is teaching the children of Maine — bullying and calling people names is not what a person in his position should be teaching our children. In Maine you have to earn someone’s respect. You cannot, as he seems to think, demand it. As a Mainer I do respect the office of governor, but not Gov. LePage or the Republican party that defends his every action.
Only a few Republicans have had the guts to speak out; however, it is too little too late for me.
David Crockett
Augusta
14 days dedicated to fortnight
Recently there was a letter to the editor regarding a “massive demonstration against president Obama’s attack on religion.” To clarify, the U.S. bishops are announcing that the 14 days from June 21 to July 4, Independence Day, will be dedicated to a nationwide “fortnight for freedom — a great hymn of prayer for our country.” The fortnight will be focused on education and awareness and special events are planned to highlight the importance of defending religious liberty. In Maine, possible planned events include a Mass to be celebrated by Bishop Richard Malone, bell ringing by all churches, prominent displaying of flags by faithful Catholics and ecumenical discussions on religious freedom. Any public action will be nonconfrontational.
Claims made by various groups insisting that the purpose is to demonstrate opposition to the Obama administration are patently untrue. The church is nonpartisan and addresses contemporary societal issues; it does not support specific candidates or political parties.
The church seeks to educate and motivate the faithful on the core principles and values of the faith and urges them to vote for candidates based on a properly formed conscience. The full letter on the Fortnight for Freedom can be viewed at the Diocese of Portland’s website at www.portlanddiocese.org.
Marc R. Mutty
Director, Office of Public Policy
Diocese of Portland
Don’t like Angus’ spinelessness? Want workers’ rights? Can’t stand LePage? http://cynthiadill.com/
Hi Bob, How are you?
Woops wrong Bob.
Your Cynthia Dill voted in favor of LD2283 Gov Baldacci’s emergency bill on wind power development. Today on MPBN she said “The more I learn the more I question whether or not there should be a real rush to do these kinds of large projects because of the impact they’re having on real people.” These recent questions she is having about industrial wind are questions she should’ve had before she voted in favor of LD2283. It’s rather convenient for her campaign that she is now questioning these farms when she is running for Senate against a recently divested owner of just such a holding.
It’s good to listen to all sides and, if appropriate based on new facts, be able to change your position. Actually, it’s the only way forward. But you have to have a position to be able to change it. It’s King who has the conflict when it comes to the wind industry.
I didn’t suggest Dill had a conflict. I did suggest that she voted in favor of a law without doing any due diligence, or perhaps because it was a Democrat governor shoving this travesty through. Had she done any research prior to casting her vote she would have discovered the many things that are now apparently just coming to her attention. She is not changing her position based on new facts – those facts were available all along. Dill is taking a political opportunity to paint an opponent in a bad light. If King were not in the race would she be making wind an issue? Her website certainly doesn’t (or at least didn’t last evening) mention any issues with industrial wind.
Governor LePage is a middle class worker who was elected by the people and for “We the People” to do the job that he is trying to do, after almost 40 years of out-of-control spending, out-of-control welfare, bonds w/interest due having to be paid back, and the list goes on. He is a genuine conservative and really does have the people of ME in his regard to save us from the brink of destruction.
He will not agree to any borrowing and bond issues–they are not grants–they come due with interest!
As with George W. Bush, history will be kinder to him.
Very insightful comment. Great leaders and fore-thinkers like Governor LePage only come around every century or so. He presents Maine the opportunity to become the shining jewel in the U.S. for the 1st time in 40 years.
You are 100% correct…
Fore-thinkers????????????? Never heard of “fore-thinkers”. You are perhaps describing the Amorphophallus a plant that blooms only once every century and stinks so badly that it’s common name is Corpse Flower. I’d say that’s describes our governor. Thank goodness it only comes around once a century.
How many middle class workers do you know who make a quarter of a million dollars annually?
Tell me again how many “of the people” voted for him?
More than voted for Baldacci.
Neither here nor there. Baldacci is no longer the governor, LePage is. He is the topic at hand.
That being said, I don’t think that he was voted in “by the people.” He is my governor, but he was unwanted by more people than the number who wanted him.
More voted for him than for any other candidate. He’s the governor. Deal with it just like we had to deal with Baldacci running the state into the ground for 8 years and never getting the majority of the vote either.
I am dealing with it. But I can’t deny that more people wanted someone OTHER than him.
This issue is not about Baldacci. He is not our governor and he is not the topic. Deal with it.
Your point is irrelevant.
No, YOUR point is irrelevant!!!!!
So there!
Since he has taken office even more people want someone other than him !!!
That’s very true.
Got any unbiased research to back this up?
Got any statistics to back this up?
The only polls I have seen indicate a higher percentage of the population support the Governor than voted for him.
In a three way race, it is not uncommon for the winner to garner less than 50% of the votes. This doesn’t mean however that LePage would not have won in a two-man race, especially against the Democrat nominee Libby Mitchell.
Theoretically, that is possible. But in this specific case, I don’t think that Cutler supporters would have voted for LePage had Cutler dropped out and the same for Mitchell.
But again, really, if this is the mandate that SOME supporters claim that election was, then it would have been greater win than it was.
Sure, that’s neither here nor there at this point-it just irks me when people claim that he’s the man that Maine wanted when that really isn’t the case for all Mainers.
I understand where you’re coming from. It’s not pleasant to witness a leader whose agenda goes against one’s own preferences. As you probably sensed already, no leader or governor can appease everyone, especially when there are so many issues that divide us.
And by not becoming the ‘loyal opposition’ and backing the governor when he acts as the governor in our best interest; you widen the partisan divide and should your candidate win next time out, encourage others to oppose him or her for their full term.
You lost and you can’t get over it, can you?
I’m not quite sure what you are talking about. For your information I voted for LePage and would vote for him again if he was running for governor today.
I wish I had this argument after Baldacci was elected in a 3-way race; ….you know you’re not really our governor; just a minority elected you….yeah, that’s the ticket!
As was Bill Clinton.
As was Bush
Agreed!
Who do you think would be more likely to be reelected now, Bill Clinton or George W. Bush ?
Are those my only choices…?
Cute.
Correction, those votes that were cast for candidates other than LePage were not necessarily by voters who rejected LePage. Rather, it is more accurate to say that those voters preferred someone other LePage.
Bada- bing!
John, Gov. LePage has very little to do with taxing rich and trying to lower wages around the nation. That would be the great non-leader Obama’s lack of accomplishments. Unions at one time were good but have become very corrupt and greedy, which has caused the massive job loss in this country. Unions = dinosaurs.
And certainly employers never have their workers work in unsafe condition or are unfair in their employment policies anymore.
Unfair employers = dinosaurs,
So quit and find another job. If the employer has no employees he/she will have to change his/her ways
With the unemployment situation as it is you would quit and not be able to find another job and the employer would have you replaced in less than a week.
A generality…it is a royal p.i.a. to screen people for even entry level jobs. Resumes are b.s.; as are claims. Hiring ex-offenders is always a risk, and people hide health and other defects very well. If a person needs supervision and training, that’s a big cost in a small business. I once kept a guy on until he learned a particular food prep. technique; never did, but was a great person to work with.
As an employer, an injured employee costs in lost productivity, in health insurance, and in morale. One could say this is workplace Darwinism; where only the fit survive and I reward them accordingly. Work in food service and you are surrounded by knives and machinery…klutz’s need not apply.
There was a time when unions were needed for unsafe conditions, but anyone who is in the work force today knows that with OSHA standards and OSHA inspections, there is certainly no need for unions other than to attempt to force inflated wages for doing less work. The company is not going to absorb extra labor costs, they are going to pass it on to the public. So in the end we are the ones paying inflated prices for goods to benefit a few union workers.
Unions should get credit for starting the safe work conditions and fair wages, but all it takes a phone call to OSHA and any company will be inspected, union or not.
You are 100% correct!!!!!!
The fear is not that the fair labor laws will be swept off the books in one grand repeal. The fear is they will be attacked and abolished one tiny bit at a time, just as LePage did with the child labor law in Maine. A little nibble here and a little nibble there and pretty soon the protection is gone.
You are completely wrong
I don’t think so…..
Like the mines.
And all it would take would be the Corporations, who are the biggest donors to Congresss to cut the funding for OSHA. Go visist Mexico and you will get to see the vision of ALEC and the Heritage Policy Center for American workers.
Are you yet another troubled vet coming back from one of Obama’s many wars?
LOL!
President Barack Hussein Obama saved this country from a Great Depression brought on by criminal GOP trickle-down supply-side laissez -faire voodoo economics.
He put millions of Americans back to work.
This is the chart that the GOP does not want you to see….
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/09/10621597-jobs-picture-continues-to-improve-economy-adds-227k
He saved the US auto industry (the dog abuser did not).
He killed Osama bin Laden – and most of the Al Queda leadership.
He restored America’a good image on the world stage.
I, for one, will not ride on top of the GOP station wagon.
Obama 2012
yessah
I suggest you have plenty of Excedrin on hand for the morning of November 7th after the resounding thumbs down coming from the American people.
The Tea Party boasts of resounding November victory seem very much like the playground bully boasting of what he is going to do.
Because Tea Partiers listen only to their own cacophony they think the quiet thinkers do not exist
Keep your head in the sand and when it aches on Nov 7th, you can reach for the Excedrin too. Your party is over.
Against Obama, even prison inmate gets some vote
May. 9, 2012 – Just how unpopular is President Barack Obama in some parts of the country? Enough that a man in prison in Texas is getting 4 out of 10 votes in West Virginia’s Democratic presidential primary.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/against-obama-even-prison-inmate-gets-some-vote/2012/05/09/gIQAXnGFDU_video.html
Bye, By Barry!
We are not all from West Virginia.
West Virginia allows any person to vote in a primary regardless of their party affliation. How many of those votes do you think have come from Republican’s?
I guess you know the tea party backed governor in Wisconsin got more votes in the recall election, than the two Democrats combined…by any stretch of math, that’s a major win!
Better to ride on top of the GOP station wagon than to be served as the main course at the Obama dinner table. Just sayin’.
One guy’s dog rides on top of the car; and other one eats them when in Asia.
Yeah, when he’s ten years old and served it. Romney was 36 when he put his ‘beloved’ dog on the top of a car going 70 mph. And when the dog got sick, Romney cleaned him up and put him right back on top of the car. Big difference.
with this comment you lose all creditability
If OBAMA didn’t back–heck, he even lobbied the Black Caucus, the BUSH bail out package, he’d have nothing but an empty teleprompter. BUSH bailed out OBAMA.
No Bonny, the greed of the top 1% and there incessant need for more has led to the job loses in this country, not unions. Private union membership in this country is down to 7% Bonny, I think it is time to stop hiding from the scary union monster hiding under your bed. The wages in this country are stuck in the early 90’s while a handful of greedy s.o.b.s have a contest to see who can become the first trillionaires. My money is on the little Walton brats, America’s largest under employer and the poster children for unmitigated greed. The are millionaires 93,000 times over, and yet they still can’t scrape up the money to give their employees a raise. That is why we need more unions, not less.
Name all those unions that are corrupt. Then define exactly how a union is greedy? These two standard accusations always get throw into a discussion about unions by TPers. They have no meaning. They are simply ugly phrases used by those that, for reasons they never divulge, hate unions. When the Rapture comes we will still be waiting for a list of corrupt unions and a definition of greedy unions.
I personally witnessed a corrupt deal worked out by the Teamster union & an employer in Chicago when I was a member there. The only people that lost were the employees.
Well, there you go. I guess that proves that all unions everywhere are corrupt and not needed. I guess I should just quit my union. My partner should quit his union. Just a burden and they clearly do no good at all whatsoever that a simple phone call to a big-government regulatory agency couldn’t fix…
Generalizing from a single example again?
Personal experience is a great teacher.
The unions are only as good as their membership. Unfortunately most members don’t participate to the level they should.
Unions have and are destroying America. They are the reason that so much has been out-sourced and we have so many imported, cheap junk. Unions keep wages so high (mostly because of their courrption) that people can’t afford to buy “American made”. As for workplace safety, yes, it is very important but it has become unreasonable and overly expensive to comply with. Why should the state have to worry about it. Let the insurance companies take care of it. The state can mandate businesses have insurance then let the insurers take overseeing safety and compliance. It will save the state money and make unions unnecessary in that area.
Good point. Why not pay Chinese laborer wages to Americans! If we didn’t have the unions, we could do just that and keep all the manufacturing here! Those unions are definitely the sole reason why manufacturers have moved to other countries. Not at all the greed of the manufacturers themselves, but the selfish desire of the workers to live a good American life too. The bas’ards!
Mr. Mutty, please don’t try to defend my “liberty” as an employer to tell my employees what prescription drugs they can and cannot buy. That is an intensely personal question that does not involve the Catholic Church, which remains free to use the pulpit to convince Catholic women that it is a sin to use birth control.
Should a Muslim employer require that his employees comply with Sharia law in their health care choices?
Let’s focus on the core missions of the Catholic church: ending war and helping the poor. Keep out of my employee’s bedrooms.
Well said!
It is fair to assume you are not a Catholic hospital, therefore Mr Mutty’s beliefs would have no bearing on either your employees or mine.
When he seeks to give an employer the extraordinary power to control the health care choices of its employees based on any moral or religious objections of the employer (the Blunt Amendment which Senator Collins cravenly supported), he infringes on the liberty of employees nationwide.
Taken to an extreme, your logic suggests that if I would not require my employees to work 100 hour weeks without overtime that I shouldn’t support the FLSA, which requires employers to pay overtime.
I don’t travel 160 miles per hour on the interstate, but I still support a law that makes such conduct criminal.
Still, even if the Catholic Church were able to operate its subsidiaries within the confines of its religious doctrine it would still not effect you nor your employees.
Were I as an employer were to not pay overtime… it still would not effect the rate you pay yours. Your argument is specious.
The word is affect. You have reached the core difference between Republicans and Democrats: you say if it doesn’t affect you it doesn’t matter; I say that we need to consider the interests of the nation as a whole. Having access to birth control, livable wages and requirements for overtime rates of pay affects us all generally.
Martin Niemoller addressed the notion of guiding one’s actions only by self-interest: “First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak out because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.”
I don’t have to have a stake in any debate to take a position on it. That I was not required to fight in Iraq did not lessen my opposition to the madness of that war.
Bravo.
Thanks.
Still specious as it relates to religion. I expect at some time the courts will decide and your own personal morals will not in the least impact that decision.
Don’t you enjoy arguing with people who lump all Republicans together with a common core of beliefs; as if they were indeed devote Catholics or Evangelical Christians? And using homilies that are barely relevant, to political decisions which are made on the basis of aggregated self-interest. Maslow’s need’s hierarchy is must reading, since it really explains political behavior very well. Or in other words, it’s jobs and free coverage and insurance which doesn’t cost more no matter what kind of sexual partners you have or how fat you are or how much you engage in high risk sports.
….and that is called socialist welfare!
And which ‘liberty’ is that? The one where the employee purchases their own health insurance or the one where the employer purchases it and allows the employee to supplement it with special coverage that extend beyond the limits the employer has negotiated?
There is often a convergence of the religious and moral wishes of the employer in regard to the behavior of the employee and their health care choices and their job performance. The automatic coverage of unsafe health practices and risky behavior can get expensive; while having a moral and even religious workplace can temper and even change an employee’s behavior for the better.
In Schools, the character of teachers was considered a major attribute; now it’s not a selection criteria…and we all know how well the schools are doing.
Speaking of strawmen, why are you using Mr. Mutty’s announcement to introduce your biases on health care coverage?
Negotiating limits on one’s employees’ health care coverage is a slippery slope that allows an employer to impose his moral or religious choices on the employee (Sharia law being but one example).
The requirement for contraceptive coverage to be provided at no charge actually reduces premiums, as it costs less to cover birth control than to cover unintended pregnancies. Preventive health care will be mandatory for all policies as it drives down health care costs.
Georgetown, in the Sandra Fluke dispute, was controlling the group health insurance policy for which students paid 100% of the premiums!
Get the church out of our prescription drug closets. Let them preach all they want, but don’t let them control behavior. That is the essence of liberty.
Research indicates that facilitating promiscuity carries a greater risk of STD, and lifelong incapacity; while pregnancy coverage is routine medical care. Nor does research bare out your claim of unwarranted pregnancies, which is more a function of class and relationship.
Then there is the gender bias of not covering protection for men engaged in dangerous sports. Why her pills and not my body armor?
You mask the fact that contraception prevention is not health insurance, but a health related service; and one provided on a monthly basis. Insurance covers ‘risks’ of adverse health incidents; not regular services. It is under Democratic regimes that health ‘insurance’ was slowly converted into a quasi-health care plan with expensive routine services like mammograms driving up the costs for everyone.
Were Fluke married, the policy would then cover contraceptives; so is it in the best interests of the university to limit the sexual activity of unmarried students and cover those who marry?
This is why parents pay for the education of their children at a religious institution, for both quality of education and quality of place.
A libertine is one devoid of most moral restraints, which are seen as unnecessary or undesirable, especially one who ignores or even spurns accepted morals … drugs, sex & crime….mmm……mmm…….mmmmm
Ah, the infamous “research indicates,” without any citation to any research.
The word is not “bare,” but “bear.” My research bears out the claim that Republicans cannot spell.
Had you read Fluke’s brief testimony, you would realize that Georgetown wouldn’t cover contraceptive coverage even for married students or employees.
Do some research before you post. Ipse dixits don’t cut it.
blah, blah, blah
Catholic hospitals, universities, schools, social agencies etc hire and serve the general public in these institutions. They sign a non-discriminatory agreement. They accept government and United Way funding, grants, contracts, stipends. Tell us why these quasi public institutions should not have to provide full health insurance coverage? How is it not opening an uncontrollable can of worms to start allowing exemptions for moral objections.
Sally.. I am speaking of chenards claim that her employees are directly impacted by Mr Mutty’s opinion. I assume she is not a Catholic Hospital or Charity.
I was speaking to the problem in general.
Ok.
That is, of course, a claim I never made. My initial post denied that I or any employer was at “liberty” to control the health care choices of our employees.
Please cite anything in my posts that claims my “employees are directly impacted by Mutty’s opinion.”
Your straw man argument fails, both logically and substantively.
Keep out of my employee’s bedrooms. ~~~~ chenard
Who has a straw man argument?
John W. Prenier, good letter. Too bad the average person today has no idea or connection with the conditions that brought about the rise of unions. If the current hard right Republican/MHPC/ALEC/Tea Party has their way, they will get to enjoy the glory days of unmitigated greed that was the norm prior to unions.
Government has been ruined by public sector unions as have the public schools. the unions don’t give a damn about the mission of a government agency, just maximizing their pay, benefits, time off , and grievances.
Would you prefer if they didn’t try to look out for their own interests? I thought that was the norm in this capitalistic society. If we privatize the schools, do you actually think that all the teachers will be willing to work for nothing with no benefits?
David Crockett, too little too late. The handful of Reublicans who want to pull the reins on Governor LePage had an opportunity to delcare themselves openly but bowed to their leadership in the legislature. I feel that they are just trying to get themselves re-elected and not part of the purge that is comming in Nov.
Marc Mutty’s letter is as dishonest as was his opposition to Maine’s earlier gay marriage law/referendum, as illuminated in that documentary that revealed his shame at having coordinated Maine Catholic Church lies like supposed forced endorsement of the “gay life style” in public schools if the legislation was not overturned. True, the Catholic Church in Maine and elsewhere in America doesn’t endorse specific candidates, but it condemns Catholic candidates who don’t follow its anti-gay marriage obsession. So where does one draw the line? One can only imagine what Mutty and Bishop Malone will do now that Pres. Obama has belatedly embraced gay marriage.
You shouldn’t be shocked at religious dishonesty. Consider becoming an adherent of Bokononism, the religion Vonnegut invented in “Cat’s Cradle.” Its central tenet is that all religions, including Bokononism itself, are a pack of lies.
Now that’s funny
I agree totally with you! The “Fortnight of Freedom” planned is an indirect assault on Obama and a seething message to the President, but it is NOT warranted. Obama is NOT attacking religious freedoms. He is protecting the rights of ALL people in the United States both in his decision to endorse Marriage Equality for ALL people and in his compromise with the church on the birth control pill.
“The church seeks to educate and motivate the faithful on the core principles and values of the faith and urges them to vote for candidates based on a properly formed conscience……….. Pfft
“A properly formed conscience” ostensibly meaning unquestioned obedience to the Church, and the absence of free will. A conscience by definition must include the exercise of free will.
Makes me wonder who Jesus would tell me to vote for.
I’m guessing that the wealth, power and ostentation of the Catholic Church is not what Christ had in mind when he said to Peter, “Upon this rock I build, my church”
Is Marc Mutty a confessed liar? He admitted to pushing the disgusting narrative that gays were out to infiltrate and indoctrinate schools.
John W. Prenier- Good comment. I would like to share with you a quote from a distant relative of mine, Teddy Roosevelt, we share a common ancestor who came over on the Mayflower named John Howland. He said ” America can only be a great place to live, if it is a little great for everyone”. Not just the top 1% and the political fecal stains that grovel to them.
We are all waiting for the Republicans and Romney to acknowledge this thought.
I wouldn’t hold my breath. The dim ones are a lot slower on the uptake. The lower one’s intelligence level, the easier one is blinded by greed. A total lack of conscience is a big help as well when endeavoring to exploit people and look out for only one’s self.
Hendrik Gideonse – So he registers as a Republican, but gets run over by the ultra-conservatives. OK. So he registers as a Democrat. And gets run over by the ultra-conservatives. The beef is in the middle where you can do some good. Both sides need your vote.
ANGUS hasn’t changed since his days with MPBN. He invites warring sides to a carefully staged debate; listens to both sides as the moderator, than as the self-appointed judge issues a verdict.
It only appears he’s in the middle; but he almost always has a fixed opinion or leaning; and uses this venue to express it. Inviting ‘straw men’ who weakly present an opposing viewpoint is a well honed debating tactic; and Angus has mastered it.
His closed mindedness is capped by his stubbordness to listen to facts and scientific evidence; his mind closed to the evidence on MBT for example, and he thought he could overcome the outcry against CARTEST. There are other issues as well.
Angus only appears to be in the middle of an often one-sided debate; but he’s staged them rather masterfully so the winning side is exactly the result he intended.