AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine Gov. Paul LePage says uncertainty over the economy — in short, jobs or lack of jobs — is Americans’ biggest worry.
In his weekly radio address, LePage says it’s even a bigger concern that national health care.
The governor says he’s hosted workshops in Brunswick, Springvale and Presque Isle with business leaders, who tell him they have jobs, but need skilled workers. He says the road to economic recovery will require change in attitude and policies.
In the Democratic response, Sen. Margaret Craven of Lewiston accuses LePage of using “flame-throwing and exaggerated rhetoric” when talking about the national health care law. Craven says LePage’s refusal to move forward in implementing the law by working with the Maine Legislature is frustrating and counterproductive to the health of Maine people.
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Suggest you read some other states and city newspapers and you will find that our Gov. is correct about the economy. Many places in the USA are now facing financial realities of their 911 dispatch centers in financial strain.
We all need to put forth solutions to help the economy and the Gov. is doing just that. Time to join together and find solutions and end the blame.
kcjonez: LePage is No. 1 Maine worry.
is this your only news source about Maine?
Anything is a better source than “right from the horse’s mouth,” especially when the horse is full of empty promises and bull.
Perhaps you should write the Gov. and ask him your horse questions. If you can’t do that, then try reading other News sources. I would like a list of all of the Gov.’ s Empty Promises and Bull that you insinuate.
Gee, don’t you think that’s ever occurred to me? But thanks for the suggestion. Of course I never got an answer…because he has no answers.
And here is the list: jobs, jobs, jobs.
apparently you did not read in the BDN about the Gov. conducting meetings in towns around the state to discuss solutions to the high rate of unemployment. I believe one town in N. Maine, said they had jobs But lacked skilled people to do those jobs. Time to stop the hate and turn to positive to provide solutions. This is not simply a One Man’s job. It is up to each citizen in this state to offer suggestions.
I would hope you’re getting paid for such praise.
“Your Governor’, does that mean you are not a registered Maine voter or resident?
There are Many sources for Maine News. I suggest you start reading them. and No, I do not get paid for my comments.
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Name calling is for fools. this is America and last I knew, land of the Free. that includes freedom of speech. Gov. LePage is doing his job. He may irritate some but noone on earth can Ever please all the people, all the time. I see so much negative crying in BDN comments and it is pitiful. Too many jump on the Band Wagon of hate and forget to think for themselves. I call it as I see it. Perhaps you could do a better job as Gov.? Then you should run for office and if not you can always run back to your cave.
This is the end of the conversation.
You best get back on the Hate Train. There is absolutely no point in attempting a conversation with you. You wear blinders and I suggest you pursue higher education.
It just may open your eyes to reality.
ugh
Apparently you could use some refresher courses. You can get back into the conversation when you get your diploma. Best of luck. Be Happy.
I apparently have picked up a troll and now I must stop feeding it.
Certainly hope you are not jobless. If you are, there is a town in northern Maine that has plenty of jobs but does not have people qualified to do them. Perhaps you could help them up there. You could volunteer. That would be the decent thing for you to do. It would definately open your eyes. Ciao.
In other words after a year of complete failure to do anything close to job creation Mr. LePage is doubling down on the same do nothing conservative rhetoric that has gotten us nowhere (i.e. Businesses are good and willing to hire but Maine people are ignorant, lazy, and unable to learn). Hey Paul, here’s an idea, how about on the JOB TRAINING? You know, let people WORK and get PAID to learn while producing. EVERYBODY wins. For some reason I don’t think “everybody” winning is what Paul wants, but that’s another conversation.
read that as there are jobs but nobody able to afford to work part time for minimum wage
While LePage made numerous speech’s to the business community about Maine’s educational system, and the business community told him that they need worker’s with skill’s for job’s they have, no where do LePage and the business community make any statement about what they were prepared to do to get Maine’s workforce more and better educated, and trained, for these job’s. LePage makes all these speech’s but, for what ever reason, fails to connect the logical dot’s that are so ‘out there’, in the public’s view, that the reason for these meeting’s and speech’s is a little more than curious. That the business community heard the same speech, and openly calls for investment in education in Maine, is even more sad since they have both the need and the resources to address it.
The shipbuilding industry, more specifically, the G-D Newport News Yard’s in Virginia, have an in-place and working educational and training system of Apprentice’s going to school in the morning, and then working and using what they learrned, in the Yard’s on actual ship’s under either construction or repair in the afternoon, that could be used as the model for a business community / educational system partnership here in Maine. Why LePage, and Bowen (who’s from Virginia by the way) haven’t researched this and mentioned it, even in passing, is another question that needs to be asked. BIW was, at last report, working on a similar training program in their Yard. Marine, and any technology job’s, require both a formal educational and training program to get qualified on and to stay current in. The current NMCC Construction Program is a local example, But these Program’s also need to be kept on-going, since the one big issue that both Party’s don’t even mention, age, is ever discussed. Demographic’s and the age of the workforce are an issue that Maine’s numerous business’s, for whatever reason, are almost terrified to openly discuss. Manpower retention, both trained and developing a ‘Next Generation’ follow-on workforce, even if it need’s periodic re-training and updating, is an issue the more and more the business, and government, are reluctant to address. Folk’s, aging is gonna happen no matter how much we wish it wasn’t. The business community needs to step up and address this manpower and training issue now, with at least some idea’s and model’s for the educational system to look at and try, if Maine has any hope of improving the educational system for our kid’s and business’s that they need both now and in the future. That the Governor himself has made this point, even if he didn’t connect all ‘the dot’s’, shows that even Maine itself has seen it. Time, and aging, wait for no one, no matter how much we wish it didn’t. It’s time for both side’s for come together and take that ‘next step’.
training costs money, trained people cost money, They can’t stand paying money, The only kind of money they like is what they get to keep. They only train if they can’t get the government to pay for the training, through tax credits and grants. Training your own workers used to be a priority. But it diverts from the bottom line, which is the only thing that counts anymore. Where I live the paper mill wants a multimillion dollar tax abatement, which the community cannot afford. This is after a bankruptcy that afterwards the valuations were set and agreed to by the petitioner, their attorneys, the courts and creditors and the town yet that is still not good enough for them, they want more. Well there is no more! Money is the only thing they care about and how to get more of it. Oh and next year is a contract year. Guess how much they’ll want the employees to give up this time?
So Governor, where are these jobs you keep talking about? Non existent. People say he’s only had a year give him a break. Well guess what you kept pinning that on Obama asking him where are the jobs, Governor how the heck are YOU any better……….
Tax abatement’s are not gonna happen, no matter who’s in office and the paper company’s know it now. The recent employment number’s notwithstanding, these companies are looking to increase production here since their plant’s in China are now in serious trouble given the fact that the Chinese gov’t is being forced to set the value of their currency, that their export good’s are valued at, at world market level’s. In short, the Chinese can’t afford to keep artificially floating the value of their currency at a lower rate to keep their export’s cheaper to world market’s. Paper is fast becoming a commodity that is being affected by this ‘no floating’ policy. That makes North American paper more cost competitive against the Chinese import’s. And local Government’s are in no position to go and start giving tax ‘freebie’s’ away. The recent LP&T power ‘incident’ is seen as the reason for that position to be taken. And with all of the recent TIF’s being fully extended because of the windmill’s and power systems being built, it’s going to be a very long time before any of those are available for tax relief. If these Company’s really want to get a steady supply of trained labor then they had better start, now, putting their money where their mouth is and help the educational system get their next generation of worker’s educated and trained so they can learn these so-called job’s that are supposedly open for them. The cost of training is a business expense and these Company’s know it. So do the Business Agent’s. It’s time to quit the posturing and just get on with business and concentrate on that, not these useless and wasteful ‘moosepoop’ theatric’s that benefit no one……..
For the third week in a row the Governor of Maine has used his weekly radio address to talk about things on a National level. The first two weeks it was all about how the IRS was “the new Gestapo”, this week he is all about the National Economy. Now the Governor of Maine has a right to say any stupid thing he wants. That is one of the nice things about being an American. However wouldn’t it make more sense for The Governor of Maine to be concerned with what is happening in Maine? Nationally we are seeing a very slow economic recovery. Unfortunately that isn’t the case in Maine where unemployment is on the rise and has been since December of 2011, personal income is down and there are less jobs available today then the day Paul Richard LePage took office. Perhaps if the Governor of Maine were to spend more time using the considerable talents that his supporters claim he has (which others have claimed are limited to saying and doing stupid things) doing the job the good people of Maine elected him to do which is take care of the State of Maine and spent less time parroting the radical right tea party line Maine people might actually see unemployment go down, personal income rise and the number of jobs in Maine at least match the number that there were when he took office.
Absolute Genius. Why couldn’t anyone else figure out that the economy was a problem?
And Maine’s no. 1 worry is … our Governor.
WOW! He figured that out all on his own?