MILLINOCKET, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage was named one of the defendants in the town’s latest filing in its lawsuit seeking $216,000 in state funding he denied to the town in a dispute over the funding of the Dolby landfill in East Millinocket.
According to an amended complaint filed Sept. 12 at Kennebec County Superior Court in Augusta, Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen was obeying the state’s Sudden and Severe Impact law when he indicated in a report titled “Payments Made by the Commissioner of Education” that Millinocket “had been paid” $721,000 in education aid as compensation for the severe devaluation of the Katahdin Avenue paper mill.
“While such payment has never been received by the Town, the report demonstrates that the Commissioner of Education may indeed have taken all of the ministerial steps prescribed [by state law], excepting only physically remitting the issued check to the Town,” attorney Jeffrey T. Piampiano’s filing states.
Instead of receiving the check, the town received a letter from LePage offering to pay the town $504,000 in Sudden and Severe Impact funds – if town officials agreed to assume landfill operational costs for several years, the filing states.
That’s when the dispute began. LePage claimed that town leaders broke their pledge to pay $50,000 annually toward the estimated $250,000 annual cost of the maintenance and operation of the Dolby, which is used by the region’s two paper mills .
Town officials angrily denied the claim and produced correspondence that they said made clear that their commitment was for one year only, and the Maine Municipal Association called LePage’s actions unprecedented.
The state’s assuming ownership of the landfill was a crucial part of the LePage administration’s enticing a New Hampshire investor to purchase the two mills last fall. The East Millinocket mill’s restart returned about 225 jobs to the region.
Adrienne Bennett, LePage’s spokeswoman, has denied that the governor committed any wrongdoing and has refused to comment further on the dispute. State education officials assured LePage that his actions would not adversely affect the quality of education offered to town students, she has said.
Piampiano’s filing claims that LePage never appealed Bowen’s decision to issue the $720,000. LePage’s effort to deny the town less than state law requires “is inconsistent with the Governor constitutional obligation” to ensure that state laws are followed, Piampiano’s filing states.
The matter is pending.
Good luck with all of that, Millinocket. Not happening.
Lepage = Sudden and Severe Impact!
This man will go down in history as the worst governor in the state. He doesn’t have a clue!
Just the opposite my friend.
And if you believe that, we’ve got a landfill to sell to you….
would that be mt baldacci?
Whatsamatter Timjy…the “Likes” get under your skin?
You seem very alone in this discussion board!
never have been a sheep!
But of course you’re unable to tell us why you think that is.
You’ve got to be kidding.
LePage is not incompetent when it comes to serving his bosses, the Big Health Insurance companies. Small businesses in Maine have been hit hard by his “reform” measures, and so have the elderly and those living in rural areas:
http://www.iwatchnews.org/2011/10/06/6883/analysis-health-insurers-win-big-maine
bangordailynews.com/2012/09/04/health/report-young-mainers-pay-less-for-health-coverage-elderly-pay-more-under-insurance-law/
For example, “Six months after the state’s rules took effect, no new insurers have entered the state – and premiums have gone up for the vast majority of small businesses.”
Is that a lot like when democrats serve their bosses, big labor and big trial lawyers?
I’m glad you admit that LePage is as bad as people you consider to be horrible. But, because you don’t supply any evidence, all you’re really saying is that you think LePage is bad.
Lame argument, but kind of cute, if you are a grade schooler.
I think you used that same sort of reply to one of my posts. Don’t pick on us grade schoolers just because you finally made it into middle school. LOL
It is amazing the words you put in peoples mouth’s. I did not see anything that resembles what you said.
You could use some words put in your mouth, entitled. At least if they spilled out, they’d be something other than the lies you like to perpetrate.
When big labor and trial lawyers are successful the people they represent get to share in the success but when the Republicans and most of their big business buddies succeed the people they represent don’t do as well.
Big labor being the Middle Class? in case you didn’t notice, the big ones have been eating the little ones for quite some time now. The Trickle Down has become the Tinkle Down. LePage seems to be supporting the Trial lawyers single handedly with State funds!
I retired from the United Steel Workers Union after 37 years of service and during that 37 years I enjoyed good pay,good benefits,and safe working conditions,all of which allowed me to provide for my family and support my community. As far as lawyers go, a lot of people hate them until they need one.
just like the entitlements for votes program the dems have used for years.
The Dems don’t need entitlements for votes. The intelligent part of the electorate in our country has caught on to the fact that trickle down economics DON’T WORK.
big labor? boy there is a lot of that going on in maine
Takes a lot of effort to get to the PO or mailbox to pick up the monthly cheque.
Hence the “big labor” reference.
Since you have used the Canadian/British spelling of “check,” does that mean you are “from away orginally? If so, you might want to study Maine’s history…before it became the rotten state Lepage has made it.
It always comes down to that with you doesn’t it. Can’t address LePages faults or mistakes, so you make it Dems vs. Repubs. Get some new material. If you can’t stay on subject, don’t post.
Competition will bring in lower rates.
Lowering Taxes Will Grow the Economy.
If you Build the East West Highway, it will bring jobs and prosperity to Maine.
Medicare is Broke.
Social Security is Broke.
Entitilements are destroying the economy.
Regulations hurt job growth.
ONE COMMON DENOMINATOR
LIES!
Takes more than a year to cleanup the disaster and job loss over the past thirty years.
When the Aetna and Anthem go up on deductibles they keep the money and keep investing in whatever they want. This affects the working people bit not the emplyer. the premium stays the same in some small business.
you mean like Angus King and windmills
Take a look at the date on the first link. Actually, health insurance premiums have gone down for most people and continues to do so.
http://www.themainewire.com/2012/05/individual-health-insurance-rates-set-drop-60-result-maine-health-care-reform/
The costs are scheduled to go down for the young and healthy, AT THE EXPENSE of the old, the rural, and people with certain conditions. The article deceptively says savings “up to 60%” for the young and healthy. As one commenter said under the article you provide:
“I just received my notification from Anthem of the change in my premium
for a $15,000 deductible, individual policy. I am between 60-65. The
increase in cost is 18%; $239/month to $281.64. Where is the cost savings?”
But shafting the elderly, and small businesses, is just efficient capitalism, is that what you’d say?
Actually, the overall cost of healthcare premiums has only gone up 1.6% since the change, a great improvement over prior years when the annual rate of increase was much higher. Even with that slight increase, the rate is expected to go down as younger uninsured people buy coverage. Your cost of health insurance is $281.64. That amounts to $3,379.68 per year (12x 281.64), which is still well below what most insured people dish out, even for single coverage. Judging from your age category, you’re getting a deal. Keep in mind, the purpose of any insurance policy, including healthcare, is to protect your assets and to keep you from going way under water with, say, a $200,000 hospital bill, for example. In the longer term – maybe a year or two from now – I think everyone will benefit, including people in your age category and small businesses. If I recall, in the 4 years prior to the LePage Administration, four insurers left the state, leaving Anthem as the principle insurer. The changes brought about in this administration were intended to bring in much needed competition as well as lowering premium costs. I’m confident the premiums will go down and can only hope some competition will be restored in the not-so-distant future. Obviously all of this merely represents a small overall gain, which is better than pursing policies of the past several years that have contributed to ever-expanding insurance premiums.
The person’s rate went up 18% under LePage and your response is, well, that’s still a deal.
You think that kind of logic is going to fool people? An 18% increase is just that–maybe possible because LePage took away the rate caps on the elderly, the poor and the vulnerable.
The Insurance companies are laughing all the way to the bank.
And guess what? Young healthy people don’t often buy insurance–unless it is mandated, such as under Romneycare in Mass.
Your whole picture is (a) distorted and (b) based on suppositions that are wrong and hurt Mainers while helping Big Insurance.
Gotta love Maine Heritage Foundation–they sure know how to spin things to make you dizzy.
The lack of competition and excessive regulations is what led to ever-rising premiums in the past, not to mention an aging population and a poor national economy. With that, a mere 1.6% overall increase in the past year has to be a considerable accomplishment. If anything, it shows a changing trend for the good. In the meantime, unless the economy takes a dive, check with me a year from now. Never mind what Maine Heritage Foundation says. Just stick with my prediction.
I’ll leave you with this anecdote: My dad was a successful small businessman. When he saw competition increase in his line of business, he was not perturb. He believed competition was good for just about everyone. Those who thrived deserved to thrive. Those who did not thrive in competition deserved their ultimate fate. They died out and probably tried out some other venture. According to him, in a competitive business climate the consumer always wins.
Let’s hope the GOP doesn’t even try to run him up the flag pole next election. I’m not voting for the GOP candidate one way or the other. But I just don’t respect LePage to believe he should have another chance of holding such a high office. Surely there is someone else chomping at the bit. His party should persuade him his time has come and gone.
Lepage needed the money for a republican lobster feed. The blimp needed refueling.
You never would vote GOP anyway, so your threat is worthless. And it is ‘champing’ at the bit.
But is there a single Republican Candidate that is seriously gonna trust Charlie Webster’s bunch after the Washington County Caucus’s ? LePage has been an absolute disaster given his repeated disrespect and disregard for the voter’s of both Party’s. One can but hope that the state GOP Committee has a huge infusion of common sense, political moderation, and reality, to find a Candidate that can bring folk’s together. LePage has done nothing but fragment the entire State into a reasonable facsimile of a skunk going toe to toe with a Kenworth. The time is now to get moving since if the GOP doesn’t move now it’s only gonna get worse, and be seen as more fragmented and frantic, as 2016 gets closer.
You are so right. He’s a proven liar over and over. Justice would be that he not be granted any immunity from the lawsuit and this case drag on in the court for several years. Wonder how he’d like coming back to Maine from his Florida home several times a year to participate in this? I hope Millinocket wins this in the end, but would like to see LePage inconvenienced himself, for once.
You have a terminal case of sour grapes. It’s one thing if you are a T-Ball league player crying over a bad call, but it isn’t becoming of an adult, although it is common among the angry liberals who can’t grasp reality and responsibility.
So adults wearing BIG boy pants like you and Mr. LePage must believe that extortion (the crime of obtaining money or some other thing of value by the abuse of one’s office or authority) is a legitimate method of running State government? Lord help us through the next two years!
Folks we don’t have to tolerate a foolish bully at 100%. Vote Democratic in November and erase LePage’s advantage that currently permits him to bully average Mainers. When he loses his slim House and Senate majorities he’ll just be an angry chubby dude screaming into the wind. Hey, maybe Senator King can hook up a windmill to Paulie’s growing longer by the day nose and we’ll all end up getting free power for two years? Then we can all say, hooray for big adult boys who are full of wind! On second thought, given the stench coming out of Augusta since Paul and family moved into the Blaine house (and two too many State jobs for family…corruption at it’s most primitive level) maybe there’s another spot to hang that turbine off Paulie.
I hope people recognize that this kind of behavior by LePage is what people can now expect from the Republican Party. This once Grand Ol Party has become contaminated by mean-spirited bullies who don’t think the law applies to them. Remember this in November and let LePage know Maine is full of decent, moral, and caring people who will not put up with his brutish behavior.
Extortion is taking from Paul (the taxpayer) what rightfully belongs to Paul to give to Peter (the town of Millinocket in this case) that does not deserve a handout. The governor knows the difference. I applaud him for that.
It isn’t up to you or Lepage to decide if Millinocket “deserved” this money. State law mandated that it be given to them. If you and Lepage didn’t like it then you both needed to lobby the state and change the law .
Page should just be impeached, period! Or perhaps a jail term in one of his Private prisons?
Gosh, I hope it’s not terminal. Not a liberal & don’t play T-Ball. Take your “LePage is God” blinders off. He’s successfully done one thing in two years, turn this great State against itself.
Ah, but not to worry, oldboy3, he’ll become such a lame duck after Nov. 6, he’ll be yelling for crutches.
Reclaim Maine Vote Democrat 2012
Obviously you do so fill us in.
He’s already there!!!!
Funny you should mention that. We have a president with that chronic condition.
At the rate that he is going, and considering the national attention he has brought his way, he might just go down as one of the worst Governors in the entire country.
He is fantastic. He is getting rid of the freeloaders.
And you can prove that, right?
Didn’t think so.
you are right. he got rid of his freeloading daughter by giving her a job!!!
======
So, how much is this lawsuit going to cost us after the court system rules in favor Millinocket, wins the case and the state has to pay for their lawyer fees as well. Not to mention if the judge supports compensation for the town not getting this money and any harm that has caused. Very foolish move here by the state. Just give them their money!
OtherMainah, sounds to me like you’re an Obama supporter. I say, “Good job Governor”. It must be tough dealing with people who believe government owes them a living and show absolutely no gratitude when government gives them a handout. This governor knows it’s wrong to take from Paul to give to Peter. Hang in there, Governor!
And, they keep mixing more Kool-aid and handing it out with the same sorry lines …
Get real, if you were a real Mainer maybe you could spell bozo mainah. Free money to Milli guess what no money is free. While I go to work in the Kat region you keep posting these liberal posts. I have had enough!! Maybe the region should appreciate what Lepage has done for our region even if the CEO & Georgie boy appear to be running it back in the ground. Recent firings of the the manager Everett oneil & others who are intelligent enough to think for themselves canned for competence what a shame. Why is he going down as the worst gov because he is willing & trying to cut your liberal entintlements like Me care & your free trips to the meth clinic. No more free ride the problem isnt just in milli its every drug addict, liberal and section 8 they are not much different.
Angry much, telos?
Come on all you 61%ers. Start your name calling and bashing as you all do on any LePage stories. I have never seen such a mean spirited and hateful bunch as I have seen on here. I guess after sixteen years of do nothing but what the party line and public unions wants Governors, one working for all the people of Maine must be a shock. So come on and try and spread your hate.
Cheer up Gramps !
It will all be over in a couple of years!
LOL
I’m guessing about six years.
Glad you like the governor, but no one operating in reality truly believes he has a chance at re-election. Don’t let your preference cloud reality.
In your dreams.
I’m guessing you are real wrong
You should not blame Jock for everything:)
I’m one of the people of Maine. He’s pretty demonstrably not working for me, unless by “working for” you mean “trying to do measurable harm to”. You may want to reconsider your use of words like “all” and “any” – they have boundary problems when applied to most situations in real life.
Help us Grumpy.. list out the things that LePage has done for “all the people of Maine.” No unsupported claims please.. lets hear the evidence. By the way, another way of saying “61%” is “majority”. Do you think our state should be run a minority of citizens that thinks it knows best for everyone else? There’s probably another name for that system.
By mean spirited and ” hateful” do you mean willing to state the truth?
Do you mean spreading hate as in “sixteen years of do nothing but what the party line etc etc etc”?
You got a lot to learn still old man.
This is the only issue I have ever agreed with Penguin on. We bought the toxic dump in order to lure the charcoal factory to town. The least Millinocket can do is pay it’s share of the bill.
I know this is hard to remember, but the “toxic dump” isn’t even in Millinocket, and last I heard their mill was still closed. LePage is lying.
The only people who bother to distinguish between Millinocket and East Millinocket are the people who live there. To the rest of us, it’s all the same.
They are two different municipalities.
.
The fact that you don’t recognize that only reflects on you.
.
Do you also consider Portland and South Portland to be the same city?
Yes.
Really? Strange…..
Okay, now this was a silly little debate that just took up time and space. At first, my reaction was as Bangorian’s: ‘yes’. Until Dolbylandvill posted “”just like Bangor and Brewer”. Perspective, kids. Those of us who live outside of these communities, just as with cultures, view them differently than do those who live within them. To me Millinocket and East Mill are one big community, as are Portland and South Portland; I’ve never lived in either area. I have spent the majority of my life in the Bangor/Brewer area, and view them as different communities that share some events of impact. This article is about the Millinocket/East Mill area and the impact LePage’s possible decisions have and are continuing to have on that area. If we’re going to take about ‘trickle down’, let’s remember that anything that effected that area also trickles down to all the outlying towns: Lee, Howland, Enfield, Lincoln, etc. LePage made a statement not long ago that the state of Maine is lax (paraphrasing here) in properly educating our young people and that our level education is thought to be substandard by ‘outsiders’. I couldn’t help but notice that the State Dept of Education has apparently done it’s job with reference to obtaining the monies apparently due the Millinocket area, however, our governor apparently has chosen to over ride the work of the Ed Dept and put a hold on monies due. I can’t help but wonder if LePage’s statement with ref to substandard education might be linked to the possibility that the Ed Dept may have done a job that he wished had not been done, i.e. if the Dept of Ed is incompetent, surely the entire education system of the state is lacking . . . just a thought. As far as ‘outsiders’ viewing our educational system as substandard, perhaps we should pay attention to 1) monies that have been allocated to the educational system have not been distributed, and 2) “outsiders” are using the names Paul LePage and Sarah Palin in the same breath.
Just like Bangor and Brewer.
Correct.
ha! Ignorance is no excuse.
Well, there you go. There’s not much to be done with a mindset as concrete as that!
On the other hand, it must be very liberating in its way to be completely wrong in a way that is easily shown, know it full well, and just not care.
So stupid…Yeah just like only the people who live in Brewer and Bangor are the only ones who bother to distinguish the difference between the two…To the rest of us…it’s all the same.
Millinocket and East Millinocket don’t even share a border. There’s a stretch of unorganized territory between them.
Can you do us all a favor, and just ask the USPS why Millinocket and East Millinocket show a different zip code for each town? Typically a town or city has it’s own zip code to distinguish itself from, other towns a cities! Do you think Caribou and Westbrook are the same……?
Except for Portland, that has 5. 04101, 04102, 04103, 04104 (po Box’s) 04011 (po Box’s).
Actually we bought the toxic dump to relieve a speculative, asset stripping owner of that ginormous legal liability and allow them to take their profits free and clear. The truth, as reported in these very pages, is that the former profiteer owner represnted that he had a buyer who would actually run the mill if the state would take over the landfill. That buyer never materialized and the state took it over not conditioned on that sale.
It was also not in any way conditioned on the town maintaining and operating it. Ther is no written agreement nor is there any credible evidence of an oral agreement.That was LePage trying to rewrite history. (perhaps shocked when her realized that the taking would entail $250k per year in operating costs not menton a potential liability of $17 million)
The governor had no authority ( was acting outside the scope of his authority) in refusing to give the town their legally due payment.
Taxpayers don’t have to foot the bill for acts of any official outside the scope of their authority.
We should insist on that.
His act was personal..not official..his defense should be on his own nickel..not ours.
Well stated and absolutely correct.
Good job lapage keep it up
gooad jobb pull lepiggeee you doinn goood good jobb evrthying helping peoppple in main gooood best govvvannna evrr in main
The previous message was brought to you from China!
If the Tea Party’s hero is held in confinement for telling the Chinese Party Chief to “kiss his butt,” will Bill Clinton be asked to go and plead for his release?
The Maine Constitution just keeps getting in the way of the tea party parrots’ hero Paul Richard LePage. Playing by the rules doesn’t seem to be a strong point for LePage. He just thinks he can make them up as he goes. The problem for LePage is that not everyone wants to play by his rules. We don’t have to look very far to see what happens when LePage thinks that his rules trump the ones everyone else has to obey and live under. Last weeks ruling by the First Circuit Court of Appeals is an excellent example. The rules stated that the Feds had 90 days to rule on Maine’s application for a waiver in order to cut 30,000 Mainers from Mainecare. LePage demanded that they rule within 30 days and then petitioned the First Circuit when they didn’t. The court tossed that petition out like it was a stinky diaper. I wonder how much that cost Maine Taxpayers? Now he is being sued personally by the Town of Millinocket. The keyword there is personally. If you or I get sued we are responsable for hiring and paying an attorney to represent us in court. I wonder who will pay for LePage’s defense? It shouldn’t have to be Maine Taxpayers. Remember what LePage and his tea party parrot followers have been telling us. WE ARE BROKE. It hasn’t been a good summer for Maine’s Commander in Chief. First he came out on the losing side in the ACA (Obamacare) Supreme Court decision. Maine was a party in that action. I wonder how much that cost Maine Taxpayers? Now LePage and Maine are being sued by The Town of Millinocket. Defending lawsuits is a very expensive thing. I wonder how much that will cost Maine Taxpayers? Remember WE ARE BROKE. We still have the matter of the 30,000 Mainecare recipients who are still covered under Mainecare and no money in the budget to pay for it. Maine’s Budget is required to be balanced. It is required to be by that pesky Maine Constitution. Under LePage’s rule Mainers have seen their personal income drop (US Labor Department) jobs have disappeared from the State (US Department of Labor) and now we have unemployment on the rise since December of 2011. Maine is one of only five States in the Nation to have rising unemployment. Talk about incompetence. Unemployment is up, personal income is down, jobs are disappearing, the Budget isn’t balanced and lawsuits are flying. Someone really needs to tell this ignorant jerk that he was elected Governor of Maine and not appointed God. This tea party parrot insanity has to end. November 6th would be an excellent time to end it.
Walker hit the dust last week!
The Courts overthru his attack law on public unions!
These Tea Party Miscreant’s keep Losing everywhere they go!
Soon enough their followers are going to figuere out this Constitution Thing.
It has More than “Three” lines in it so they get a little confused but they may come around!
Not quite. The law remains mainly in effect for state workers.
Check out the 14th amendment!
Gramps, read the Wisconsin court decision. The Judge ruled that what’s now known as the ‘Walker Rule’ is suspended pending a review by both the State Supreme Court AND subject to the Wisconsin State Legislature’s review and possible amendment. That means that SEIU and ASFCME can both represent, subject to that representation being held valid by either court ruling or Legislative amendment, the various State Worker’s until either a final State Supreme Court decision comes down or the ‘Walker Rule’ is sustained in Legislative review. Either way Wisconsin is the opening move in what promises to be a very ugly fight for the working ‘stiff’s’ the we all depend on. And remember that those ‘working stiff’s’ are the one’s who are gonna be plowing the road’s this winter. Last year we ALL got off easy. Knock on wood !!!!!
Sounds a lot like the US Constitution getting in Obama’s way. Obama doesn’t even know what a tax is!
I wasn’t aware that this was an article on taxes or Obama. Nothing like straying from the point.
What part of the Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare don’t you understand?
Everything apparently.
Yessah
The deciding vote came from a republican judge who was appointed by a republican.
Blame your own party of misfits. Romney has already said he will keep most of it, time for you to find a new tea crew.
He’s not adverse to paying more taxes. Says he doesn’t need a tax break, anymore than other top millionaires. So, he must know a little something about taxes.
The Dems. spent sixteen years getting us here. One did call himself an independent. Wow and LePage hasn’t fixed it in two years.
Conservatives gave Obama two years to fix the nations problems, why should LePage get more time to “fix” Maine’s problems?
Obama had almost four. I see Obama new way of fixing things is just print more money.
Totally clueless about how the country has been under the tyranny of the Republican minority in the Senate.
and Sen. Reid has really helped, not to mention the deficit under the Obama Admin
that would be ben bernanke, not obama…..the federal reserve and the president are two separate entities and one does not control the other.
Right???? I bet Bernanke goes against Obama ALL the time. Yes…..goes right off on his own he does.
… if by “two years” you mean “about an hour”.
Obama didn’t have 2 years. Two ill D Senators frequently missing votes and one contested Senator that couldn’t vote until late 2009 doesn’t exactly add up to that “super majority meme” being truthful.
The fact is Obama had Democrat Majorities in both chambers of Congress and nothing really got accomplished. Who’s fault is the Dems going to blame it on Bush. Obama’s policies have failed and they failed miserably. We have had 8%+ unemployment the entire 3+ years of Obama’s time in office. The stimulus was a joke nothing more than a bailout of the states and to expand welfare programs. Every bailout has failed from Wall Street, Auto Companies, Solyndra + Siga (both under federal investigation), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Chellie Pingree’s Multi-Billionaire Wall Street Hedgefund Husband, Ethanol Companies etc.. The fact is our debt is above $16 trillion now, credit downgrades possibly with huge downgrades coming. We have more than 70 million Americans collecting Welfare Benefits , with the same amount not paying taxes. The people are fed up with the high costs of bills, gas + heating fuel costs, food costs etc.. We want change from this embarrassing 4 years we have had. The fact that Obama is winning against the worst candidate the republicans can field is amazing Obama should be 20 points down because of this mess. The same thing here in Maine Democrats should be the favorites to knock out the republicans in the legislature. But thanks to their pure stupidity they already lost 11 seats including Bill Diamond’s seat (safe seat) without people voting thanks to them not fielding enough candidates. Who is the blame for that. It’s the Dems because they know if they go back with that awful agenda of the past 40 years in this economic climate they will get booted.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzz, has nothing to do with reality. You’re just regurgitating talking points that aren’t based in reality.
Very true as well as the conveinent fact that seemingly no one wants to acknowledge that Bush had a 8 year running start in screwing up the economy. Add Cheney’s help and now it’s 16 years running start. And we wonder why things are taking so long ? Please, Patriot, get a life and a sense of time. Even FDR didn’t have this big a mess to begin with !
Same ol’ darkcat33 with the same old talking points and political spiel, ad nauseam.
Time for your nap.
You sound like “Darkcat.” You weren’t even around 40-years ago.
Sure sounds like the angry one………..
and all Obama has done is tripled the deficit.
Sorry, just not true but you’ll never admit to it.
Of course I will admit when I am somewhat inaccurate. The below are not my words. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33348615/ns/politics-more_politics/t/federal-deficit-triples-year-ago/
The federal budget deficit has surged to an all-time high of $1.42 trillion as the recession caused tax revenues to plunge while the government was spending massive amounts to stabilize the financial system and jump-start the economy.
The imbalance for the budget year ended Sept. 30 more than tripled last year’s record. The Obama administration projects deficits will total $9.1 trillion over the next decade unless corrective action is taken.
The $700 billion financial bailout fund and increased spending and tax relief from the $787 billion economic stimulus program that Obama pushed through Congress in February drove the increase.
It isn’t that he is not fixing it. It is that he is making it worse.
Go back to the days of Bush in 2008 if want. The country is better off now then it was under that drunk!
Jake I was responding to grumpygrampy’s post about LePage.
We are, we are getting into a mess with Egypt, Libya, Syria, the deficit is up, oil is up hmmm I guess if you consider that is better. I am paying more for oil the beginning of this fall than the before. Medicare will be going up. hmmm this is better.
Ummm . . . the dispute about the landfill didn’t exist until after LePage took office. He CREATED the problem, just like lots of other problems, including a lot of budget shortfalls that he created through his tax cuts.
Most people can tolerate a politician who as differing views than their own. What is tough to take is a “leader” who has no skills in diplomacy, no communications skills, no leadership skills — and who takes his marching orders from out-of-state corporations.
Where we are today is the result of Reagan Trickle Down, and the daming and diverting of the trickle into Canada , Mexico, and China!
Hopefully his vacation trip to China won’t give him any more stupid ideas on Authoritarian Government.
Yessah
And all that said, think about how D.O.T. is raising the tolls considerably on commuters. During the worst possible times for Mainers!
Use the old road.
That is all well and good but it takes longer, it takes more gas, and it defeats the purpose of having a highway at all.
Start earlier. Drive slower. Save gas. Enjoy the view. Not for everyone. Most drivers don’t seem to mind the high gas prices, though. At 55 mph motorists pass leaving me with the impression I’m parked.
Sometimes, the old roads provide the shorter route. Check ’em. Save gas at lower speeds. Don’t fill up the tank. When a station’s volume starts to drop, so does the price.
excellent post!!! thanks
I see the BDN liberal attack dog is going after LePage again. Is it me or is the BDN’s constant attacks against LePage getting old?
It is you:) The BDN is a good newspaper!
The BDN may or may not be a liberal attack dog as you have charged. What in the article did you find not to be true?
How about we start with the biased headline?
How is it biased?
yeah really..says what is..LePage was named in the law suit..reporting fact isn’t bias.
When your hero gets named in a lawsuit for doing something stupid some people grasp at straws.
I guess….!!!
What about the headline was untrue?
No, I think LePage’s bullying and lies are getting old. Just two more years.
That must be why Maine Voters kicked out the Dems because they were sick of their awful economic agenda. Not everyone wants to be live on EBT cards, MaineCare, LIHEAP etc. How is that going to pay the utility bills, food costs, gas/heating fuel, mortgage payments and car payments.
Quiet darkcat33, I asked you not to reply to any of my posts before you changed your username. In turn I won’t respond to yours. It’s a waste of time talking to you anyway , you’re obviously angry, but I don’t know if you’re a taxpayer, and a patriot believes in moving his country forward and allowing all people to prosper. Bye.
Once again, the party of “personal responsibility” trying to blame someone else for their shortcomings.
So when is people going to start taking care for themselves. We can’t keep “feeling sorry” for those who refuse to help themselves. Maine people are struggling themselves they can’t pay for other people. What we need is a rising tide that lifts all boats in this state. We need economic development. We need to stop subsidizing everyone. Stop giving handouts to the Angus King’s , Enviros etc.. So they can buy more land, or put those ugly wind turbines up everywhere. What we need is real jobs, real transportation projects and expansion, more of the private sector coming in and helping out. Until Maine embraces jobs like the State used to do with its state budgets before King and Baldy got into power Maine is going nowhere. Maine’s budget used to be pro-growth and to grow infrastructure. Now more than 80% of the budget is spent on Welfare/DHHS and that dinosaur Education System we have. Democrats/Liberals don’t want jobs and real CHANGE!!.
Huh?
I thought you tea trolls wanted fraud stopped?
I thought you wanted everyone involved in fraud put on the front page and thrown in jail?
You should be jumping for joy – yes fraud is alive in Maine just like the tea trolls said.
Just a news story. No opinion by the BDN. The truth about this man does hurt, though.
Since the Government works for us it is our “responsibility,” too excuse from public office, those who vote or make decisions which are not in our best interest.
I have never really liked the heavy underhanded way the Great Gov operates, but in this case, I do not think the town can have it all their way, either. Paying 50.000 is not a bad buy considering all that is at stake. Just maybe the Great Gov is ah, well, just maybe this time, he might be somewhat right.
Millinocket probably should never have paid the 50k in the first place. They’ve gotten nothing substantial out of it and the dump belongs to East Millinocket. They are two totally different towns.
What don’t you get about the fact that this is all laid out in state law? LePage is a bully. Maybe even a criminal if it could be shown that he conspired with others to intentionally break the law.
Well, I thought I did have the facts, but, seems maybe I didn’t, I probably am wrong this time, 9 times out 10 I am wrong.
As I understand it the amount is $50,000 per year forever, not just a year.
How does Millinocket plan to get this money?
I think to be rewarded by LePage you have to first kiss his butt. Then kowtow three times, and say “God Bless the Tea Party”. Or just sue him in court like they’re doing.
From Quimby….
Wish he’d pull a Palin and just resign.
If both houses of the legislature go to the Democrats he just might. They would select new anti LePage Secretary of State, Attorney General and Treasurer too.
Time for all Mainers to vote Democratic this fall and get this Bum out of office. No Republican legislature, LePage has no power.
He is a big fat bully, he tries to use his power and control to get what he wants by ruining the lives of the wonderful people who have made their families in the beautiful state of Maine. He has done nothing positive for this state.
Sue Milli Sue. Try a civil lawsuit and go for his house in Florida too. LePage is nothing but a crook anyway.
Maine is so far outside the mainstream in the extraordinarily
high number of people in its welfare system that not a single
other state ranks in the top twelve for enrollment in all three major
welfare programs. The state closest to matching Maine’s level of welfare
system dependence is New York, which ranks 13th in Food Stamps, 10th in TANF and 4th in Medicaid. Maine ranks second in the nation in all three.I understand why some people in Maine hate Lepage, and rant and rave every time he does something he was elected to do: help Maine TAXPAYERS actually keep some of the money they earn instead of spending it on someone else’s problem. Dolby is the Millinocket region’s problem. Why do the rest of us have to pay for it?It’s tough to see your meal tickets disappear isn’t it? Bring on the hate posts. Yadda yadda yadda.
“I understand why some people in Maine hate Lepage, and rant and rave every time he does something he was elected to do: help Maine TAXPAYERS actually keep some of the money they earn instead of spending it on someone else’s problem.”
The governor’s job is to govern, not “help” some taxpayers keep “some” of their money to the detriment of others.
How much has Lepage saved you as a taxpayer in the last 2 years?
The answer is zero.
Yay! Great job……… not.
Yadda yadda yadda………
You must be getting you number from some Right wing nut job source.
Here is a map of the US with the
Geography of Government Benefits
As percentage of the populations most government checks go rural and mostly red states.
He definitely bit off more than he could chew it seems.
Go LePage! I love to see the liberals cry.
Looks like your hero is a fraud.
The state can not lie and say it paid when it did not.
It really is that simple.
LePage loves you just like God. Do as he says or he will punish you for eternity.
I’m part of the 61% who did NOT vote for LePage.
Millinocket cannot afford to sue anyone. The town is broke. However if they want to sue someone they should nail Mr. Conologue. He should have protected the town and made certain there was a clear written agreement between the town and the state. There was a lot of money at stake and he failed to protect the citizens of Millinocket. Now they have to spend a lot of money in legal fees to get all there money. Just a another town manager super bungle. How he kept a job is beyond comprehension.
We get it, you hate Conlogue. Let it go.
You mean they spent all the money the mill paid in taxes for the last 100 or so years??? OH the endless supply of rich business taxes on mills along with the unions drove them out of businesses and now your crying…. Look around your town and you will see where the money went, they are the ones driving the new cars and running your town hall.
Apparently the gov.is finding out slow but sure and the hard way that his blustering and bullying ways are not being tolerated any longer and the people are digging their heels in.But as long as he has his perks and the backs of the maine taxpayer to fall back on,his law suits cost him nothing.He must need all the cuts to maine care to pay for his mistakes and lawsuits.
Good luck Millinocket! It was cruel that LePage held back money to support education in the community. The mill in Millinocket is not in operation as of yet. The Dolby landfill has been used by East Millinocket exclusively for years! Shouldn’t they pay more? I don’t support LePage or any of his Teaparty supporters. He is out to make money for himself and big business. Read the articles across the state where he has been investigated and connected to accepting donations from the K-12 education program for charter schools. They are under investigation in Florida. The list goes on and on and on…. No I’m not satisfied with this current Governor…
“Commissioner Stephen Bowen was obeying the state’s Sudden and Severe Impact law when he indicated in a report titled “Payments Made by the Commissioner of Education” that Millinocket “had been paid” $721,000 in education aid”
Sounds like fraud to me – lock Mr Bowen up and anyone including Lepage that told him to do it.
How long does a town receive the sudden and severe Impact money??? If it is a State funded law why not change the law that it’s good for one year?
“Get everything in writing” that’s the first thing they teach you in Business classes at Husson where Lepage says he got his degree.
Paul Lepage must have skipped school that day so he could hang out with his mentors Rev. Bob and Bill Beardsley
I think it’s pretty funny that he tried to bully the federal government and got smashed down. His
“I’m the CEO and everybody better do what I want them to do at all times or they’re fired” doesn’t work in politics and he doesn’t have the smarts to be a good gov. Hopefully, this November will put the stop to his shenanigans.
Mr. Romney has the same failing. CEOitis.
Tea Party mouthpiece Le Page believes has his own interpretation of the law. Besides, the Tea Party believes in Charter Schools as the only way forward foir education. Refusing to ante up, is one way to attack the system. Then again, as usual, this issue is a boardwalk for him to demonstrate his stubbordness and miserable insubordination to both courts and public.
Grin and bear it. In two more years, we’ll have survived the worst four years ever foisted on the state.
Amended, interesting he was named in the first lawsuit, guess this was for making more news.
Keep up the great work Mr. Lepage….
Yes please Mr. Lepage, keep committing fraud at the taxpayers expense so we can keep paying for your 3 hots and a cot after you land yourself in jail. It may not be as nice as the Blaine house but it should still work out for you and your desire to live off Maine taxpayers.
He is the Commander in Chief of the great State of Maine, he can do no wrong…
Hey, stop doing the multiple periods when you post…..someone will be getting suspicious…..
I know, I wouldnt want to be accused of being a multi handled poster…..We havent heard any compaints lately about multi handled posters…. Maybe they finally gave up…
Roger dodger good buddy…..
Send LePage back to Au Canada where he dodged the Vietnam draft….
Make him a ONE term governor…
why do millinocket and east millinocket have their own schools? The population has been declining for decades.
My Joy is boundless!! LePage could NOT baffle us with his BS , so now we’ll Blind him with our Brilliance!!
Mill towns of any sort abuse the taxbase that industry brings to their towns.. The millons papermills pay in property and equiptment taxes are squandered and nothing saved by the towns and cities. All of a sudden they are in trouble. NO!!! they have always been in trouble… Mismanagement by their city leaders….. Look at Bangor, They depend on the big box stores and the slots parlor to pay their bills from overspending.. There is comming a time when the malls will close and our brilliant city leaders will say We didn’t know that was going to happen… They spend more then everydime they receive in taxes…
No matter what any one says good or bad it is still your tax dollars going for something that sounds like it could have been avoided with a little common sense which seems to be in short supply in augusta these days.
Well lets start by saying I work more hours in a week than any mill worker & obviously more than a section 8 unless they are working for meth clinic & food stamp status. I am what I consider a true Mainerrrrrr. I hunt, trap,fish, fly fish & teach my children all the great things the Maine outdoors has to offer. I show them oppurtunities and and give them praise if they are interested and if not show them another wonderful option for why Maine is such a wonderful place to live. Ever watched the sunrise from Nesowadnehunk or Chamberlain Lake??? Most have not that are are reading this because most are not true northern Mainers. No disrespect to downeasters but any Mainer worth there salt should be able to navigate with a compass, tell me where true north is and how to handle themselves in the woods. Imagine when God gets us that message to stop. No gay marriage what will happen then. I will live off the land no armagedon for me and the morals I learned from the Bible!!! Amen