Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe is leaving the U.S. Senate after 18 years because she believes polarization and partisanship prevent Congress from addressing America’s most pressing problems. In choosing Snowe’s successor, Maine voters should acknowledge her assessment that, in its current state, Congress fails the American people because partisan politics inhibits effective governance at the federal level.
Former Gov. Angus King, an independent, is most qualified to carry on Maine’s tradition of common sense and moderation in the U.S. Senate. Without direct financial ties to either major political party, he offers the best hope for shifting the balance of power from elected officials indebted to political parties to more independent thinkers who are committed to consensus building.
King offers concrete suggestions for how to “nudge the institution of the Senate toward functionality.” His willingness to adapt his positions when new information becomes available would be a refreshing addition to the Senate. And his ability to extract good ideas from proposals — such as the Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction plan — rather than adhering to the “all-or-nothing” approach so prevalent among congressional Democrats and Republicans would be a welcome step toward identifying the root causes of national problems and solving them through compromise.
Mixing reasonable budget cuts with a plan for sustainable growth, as King advocates, seems the most rational course toward long-term economic stability.
King’s eight years as an independent governor of Maine, from 1995 to 2003, provide him with valuable experience in fostering collaboration between Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
State government is a much smaller stage, and King benefited from a comparatively prosperous economy throughout most of his tenure as governor. However, his demonstrated ability to stand squarely between two powerful groups with opposing political agendas and achieve consensus would be a valuable attribute in today’s U.S. Senate.
While leading the state, King showed backbone by fighting for changes even when they weren’t popular, such as requiring all school employees to be fingerprinted. His Maine Learning Technology Initiative, a first-of-its-kind program to give laptop computers to all students and teachers in grades 7 through 12, showed vision.
His eight years as governor also equip King with a deeper understanding of the relationship between state and federal governments than any of his competitors on the ballot.
King’s chief rivals, Democrat Cynthia Dill and Republican Charlie Summers, have spent much of the campaign solidifying the allegiance of their party’s core constituencies. Both are dedicated public servants and exemplary standard bearers for their respective parties, but they do not have the same qualifications as King.
Independent candidates Danny Dalton, Andrew Ian Dodge and Steve Woods have occasionally enlivened the campaign dialogue with unconventional viewpoints. But those perspectives have not shown that any of the trio would make an effective senator.
Whether through force of personality, good timing or statesmanship, King brought Mainers together during his years as governor. That type of unifying presence is what Maine and the nation need.
We believe Angus King has the strength, integrity, intellect and experience to be a powerful advocate for change in the U.S. Senate. Maine voters should give him that chance.
King is not tough enough to be an effective senator. When he mandated the fingerprinting of Maine teachers, I suggested that he also require the fingerprinting of physicians and clergy. To do so would provide even more protection for children. He pursued the educators, but did not have the stuff to add doctors and clergy to the order. To make it in Washington, you need to be stronger than this.
” I suggested that he also require the fingerprinting of physicians and clergy.”
yes, as if the patriot act and NDAA didn’t strip our rights away enough.
why stop there? why not fingerprint everyone?
I think it’s because of that nice little part in the constitution about:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, “
Point well taken. I have Angus’s book he wrote proclaiming all the wonderful things he’d do when elected governor….the liberal elite disaffected w/ trad. Democratic politics loved it.
Of course none, to my knowledge, were ever done making him no better than Obama with his nuanced promises.
Nor do I think he can play a woman’s coy game, and have both parties pursue his vote in ways that benefit Maine; esp. if there is a resounding vote for Democrats. What happened to Bernie Sanders and to a lesser extent Al Franken & his co-senator Amy Klobuchar of the Farm Labor Party, and Joe Lieberman will be the fate of King.
Then there are some health issues that may become of concern.
The illegal search element of fingerprinting a person who hasn’t been accused of anything was pointed out to King. My suggestion to him that he should also require doctors and clergy to be fingerprinted was designed to make him see he was suggesting something legally indefensible. Didn’t work. He was willing to be a hypocrite. He nailed just the teachers, the group least able to fight back. As I said, this guy is too weak for Washington.
Sounds like the start of Communism at its best. Strong in the sense of supporting wind power and big business, how can that be, being a Liberal Democrat.
anyone that talks communism doesn’t understand the term and has no conception of reality–look up plutocracy
maybe you are right, King is for the wealthy
Who would of thunk it…….
If he gets in office hopefully he can work with Mr. LePage over the nect 6 yrs….
why would he work with Lepage? He’ll be in DC, not Augusta
The President always works hand in hand with the Gov’s, its the American way…..
OK, but I thought we were talking about Angus King, not the president….
Let me pour a cold one and get back with you……
The Congressional delegation and the administration in Augusta always have a lot of interaction.
you forget, liar lepage only has a couple more years
ok…
Thats what you think!
no, not every one is a deluded as the liar lepage supporters
Yawn……………………………..
I can’t believe they didn’t endorse John Lovitz!
I’m still voting for Dill…….
Awww. I thought Dill was a shoe in… lol
I thought they were going to endorse Dodge. :P
“, is most qualified to carry on Maine’s tradition of common sense ”
what?!
how so?
is it because he has the most experience screwing the taxpayers out of money to enrich himself?
that seems to be the prerequisite of “public service” nowadays.
King Angus certainly fits the profile of a “successful” politician.
I understand why the D’s are voting for him. What is harder to figure out is why true Independents & a lot of R’s are. Weird pack mentality or more likely, just another case of voters getting what they deserve because they’re too busy working & living to actually look @ this guy’s record. He represents Maine & Maine ideals? He’s a carpetbagger who came north to escape the VN draft, stayed & enriched himself ever since. This guy will fit in well in D.C.
Escaped the Vietnam draft by coming to Maine? I thought we were a state, not a province.
Gee Buddy, that was really… I dunno, was that supposed to be your idea of wit?
King had a draft lottery # of 30 after using up his student deferment. The highest # called was 195. @ the time occupational deferments were nearly impossible to get. Fortunately Uncle Jack (in VA where King’s family were very influential Democrats – again, why did he become an “independent” back in ’94? Maybe because he knew he couldn’t beat Joe Brennan in the primary?) used his influence working on the Armed Services Committee to magically get King a job working for Pine Tree Legal as a divorce “consultant.” Keep in mind as mentioned earlier, that rarely did anyone get these types of deferments w/out being connected. Yeah, the rich & powerful made the rules then & are making the rules now. You want to be a sheep or a low brow comedian, go ahead. @ least you seem to understand that Maine is a state, so I give you that one.
almost as bad as no one collecting the reward for remembering bush was where he claimed to be
I guess your lengthy response begs the obvious question: Why didn’t you just say that King got a job at Pine Tree, because that got him his deferment?
Tell us what you mean, and then you won’t be assaulted by low brow comedians. We can’t read your mind, RJ.
By the way, your response is a bit convoluted. If you want to communicate with sheep such as myself, don’t make it too difficult. Weaving in the bit about King switching parties because he didn’t think he could beat King is…….unrelated, I guess would be the word. It is hard for us sheep to know which leader to follow, when then explain stuff as hard as you did, Mr. Shepherd.
No prob Buddy. Sorry that I didn’t realize that you didn’t know certain info, but should not have been surprised so I appreciate your advice. (My apology as well that I used a few multi syllable words in this response. I’ll try to cut those down next time.) Again, I do want to offer my congratulations on recognizing that Maine is indeed one of the 57 states… Way to go Wilson! What? Oh, Spaulding! You rock, Buddy!
You really brought up politicians hiding from service? REALLY? Cheeeenie? “W”? Practically every ranking right wing politician in Congress had a deferrement! Your man Mittens was chasing skirts on the Mediterranian while the war was going on, there are pictures! Daddy Romney sent him to France. Lepage went to Canada! and when the war was over come back and left his northern family in Canada. You really went there. Thank you!
Interesting to point out that none of the six candidates are from Maine: http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2012/10/08/politics/maines-6-senate-hopefuls-all-hail-from-elsewhere/
A “carpetbagger” like Summers, who was not born in Maine either? One more example of pathetic right wing WHINING and hypocrisy. What a bunch of PATHETIC CHILREN the right wing TeaBabies are. Boo hoo hoo. Why don’t you get some cheese to go with your pathetic little WHINE. Angus is going to take poor little Charlie to the woodshed !
Why did so many Dems and I’s vote for Olympia Snowe year after year? Weird pack mentality?
Poor poor right wingers. Your LIES didn’t work out so well for you did they. How about a little cheese to go with your pathetic WHINING. Right wingers. What a bunch of pathetic lying spoiled brat little children.
Wow, now there is the noted tolerance from the beneficent lefties, you know, the people who truly CARE! Your condescension and hatred are palpable. Stay classy, tinser!
uh oh
Good. Just say no to Charlie.
Ditto. The majority of Mainers appear to value Snowes’ opinion. Don’t you wonder why she has not endorsed Summers – he worked for her for many years. Isn’t that telling?
“Without direct financial ties to either major political party, he offers the best hope for shifting the balance of power from elected officials indebted to political parties to more independent thinkers who are committed to consensus building”.
I suspect that indirect financial ties also generate their own set of IOU’s. I am not persuaded that King is a true independent.
It figures-they seem to forget what a horrible governor he was
yeah, thats why he will beat tea party summers like a gong
king will beat summers, but definitely no based on merrit…king will win cuz there are so many uniformed voters that will vote for him based on his disengenious campaign that he is an “independent”….good greif….there’s a reason the democratic national senatorial committee is running adds to favor him and ignoring dill…they know either way they have another big spending liberal in their corner
So True!
big spending liberal? look at your boy bush for big spending and merit? all charlie can say is keep giving the wealthy tax cuts—where are the jobs from the bush tax cuts?
you seem to be the uninformed
What an ignorant comment.
Right back at you!!!
Heyrube, you need common sense schooling.
the truth seems to bother conservatives–even republicans say you’re wrong
…and you need some class
where are the jobs from the LePage tax cuts!!!?
Not surprising at the support for a Liberal
There is a liberal in this race.
.
Her name is not King.
Well I know Dill is,but also King is a Liberal. He certainly is not conservative.
King is a moderate a bit left of center. He is MUCH too pro business for liberals and they do not like his policies.
I am sure those in the windmill industry believe that, “a bit to the center” surprised the Democrats have nto come out in full support of him.
Hey BDN, recalling why you “said” you were endorsing Mr. Raye here has left me wondering if this endorsement may be because “Independents” have suddenly taken control of our State’s legislature? I haven’t heard about that big take over. You folks seem to be having some issues with consistency in thinking up there in Bangor.
What is it about $16 trillion in federal debt that the BDN fails to understand?
Let me explain it this way. It is six thousand billion dollars. It is six million million dollars. The debt is our most pressing issue, and in truth, when considering the unfunded liabilities of Social Security, pensions, and others entitlements, we are actually well over $100 trillion in debt.King has shown not one bit of interest or ability in addressing this problem.
And Romney wants trillions in unfunded tax cuts and more Defense spending. That’ll explode the debt even further. What part of that do you fail to understand? At least Obama has a plan that uses math that actually adds up.
Kennedy significantly cut taxes and federal revenues increased as the economy rebounded.
Reagan significantly cut taxes and federal revenues increased as the economy rebounded.G W Bush significantly cut taxes and federal revenues increased as the economy rebounded.Reagan won the Cold War by doubling down on military spending.G W Bush prevented another attack following 9-11 by doubling down on military spending.Those who fail to learn history are condemned to repeat it.
wrong– from business insider–The former director of the Office of Management and Budget for the Reagan administration, David Stockman, blasts Paul Ryan’s budget plan in a New York Times op-ed. Stockman calls the budget an “empty conservative sermon” and “fairy tale” and says it will “do nothing to reverse the nation’s economic decline and arrest its fiscal collapse.””David Stockman, President Ronald Reagan’s director of the Office of Management and Budget, explained in an op-ed piece, “Four Deformations of the Apocalypse,” exactly how the economic decisions of the GOP over the past 40 years, is destroying not just the economy and capitalism, but the America dream.
I agree with Stockman and his assessment. To be honest however I did not see one mention of Paul Ryan or the Paul Ryan budget in the “Four Deformations of the Apocalypse,”. You must be referring to another piece and i would like a link to it.
In “Four Deformations of the Apocalypse,” Stockman did point out that in effect Republicans have adopted the Democrats economic policy. We could have a really good discussion of why this has happened but the short explanation is that none of the reasons are good and a lot of them are due to progressive policies and ideologies now part of American society.
bush lied us into 2 wars on the credit card and demolished the economy , even republicans say so
I don’t!
you’re not as educated as the ones like stockman who got us into this mess
Your a Liberal for sure, if someone disagrees with you they are either uneducated or ignorant. You are the one who is blinded!
sorry lad, but one of the ones who started this mess knows more economics than you ever will—(MarketWatch) — “How my G.O.P. destroyed the U.S. economy.” Yes, that is exactly what David Stockman, President Ronald Reagan’s director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote in a recent New York Times op-ed piece, “Four Deformations of the Apocalypse.”
Get it? Not “destroying.” The GOP has already “destroyed” the U.S. economy, setting up an “American Apocalypse.”
Stockman sees a class-rebellion, a new revolution, a war against greed and the wealthy. Soon. The trigger will be the growing gap between economic classes: No wonder “that during the last bubble (from 2002 to 2006) the top 1% of Americans — paid mainly from the Wall Street casino — received two-thirds of the gain in national income, while the bottom 90% — mainly dependent on Main Street’s shrinking economy — got only 12%. This growing wealth gap is not the market’s fault. It’s the decaying fruit of bad economic policy.”
This whole mess started back in the 70’s long before Reagan.
Yea, everything you have about G.W Bush is flat wrong (He turned a surplus into a deficit), Reagan was the first non-wartime president to rack up massive deficits (“Reagan proved deficits don’t matter”-Dick Cheney) , and while Kennedy lowered taxes, even after he lowered them the individual rates (particularly on the rich) were almost double where they are today. Having the gumption to call the tax rates under Bill Clinton “socialism” is a true example of failing to understand history.
but the numbers don’t add up. An August analysis by the Tax Policy Center found it was mathematically impossible(PDF) for Romney to simultaneously cut taxes on upper-income households, keep middle-income tax burdens from rising, and prevent an increase in the budget deficit.romney lying again
You are right, the numbers do not add up. But they are way better than the Obama and democrats plan. Think of it as if the Ryan budget is running us off the edge of the economic cliff at 50 MPH. But the Obama plan is running us off the cliff at 100 MPH.
Now, a serious part of me would like to keep the Obama plan because I believe that the sooner this train wreck happens the sooner the reality of how the progressive policies and ideologies are a long term disaster. We are headed for a total collapse, like the former Soviet Union, or like Greece is headed for today.
But another part of that reality is that when, (not if), the collapse happens it will be chaos. No one can predict what the United States will look like afterwards. Will we still have the constitution? Or maybe in name only? Socialism, totalitarian, free market, anarchy, democracy, etc? History has not been kind to failed societies.
I am much more worried about what this nation would look like after the collapse with someone like Obama as president. Just think of Obama, Pelosi, Maxine Waters, etc. deciding what form society will take going into the future.
I’ll take my chances with Romney Ryan.
Reagan, Bush I, and Bush II exploded the debt, exported the manufacturing base, flattened wages, and nearly destroyed the economy. Thank heaven Clinton was there in between to balance the budget and create 23 million jobs, and Obama was there and WILL CONTINUE to be there to work hard to reverse the TeaPublican efforts to ruin the economy and destroy the middle class. TeaPublicans are plutocratic corporate toadie JOB KILLERS and nothing more.
What are you talking about… Reagan increased taxes 11 times? and! Reagan expanded the size of Govt more than any president in history! Reagan delivered arms to Iran! The Cold war is over! There are no more conventional wars to be fought, EVER! “W” invaded a soveriegn country that had no ties to 9-11 whatsoever! Your hero’s fail once you take away the right wing myths and fantasies.
The economy was strongest under Clinton who increased taxes on the rich! LOOK IT UP! And stop watching Fox News, it’s not serving you well.
Oh, and Jesus was an Arab Jew Liberal, just sayin’
:-)
Nothing Obama has done over the last 4 years indicates that he even knows there is a debt problem. Why would you imagine that it would become something he can deal with now? As for Romney he has promised that nothing he does with taxes will increase the debt.
Pres. Obama was handed the worst economy since the great depression. I think he has handled it pretty well. It took Pres. Bush 8 yrs. to get us into it. My guess is it will take Pres. Obama 8 years to get out of it.
It wasn’t the worse until his actions made it the worse. Printing 1 trillion dollars that was not needed only lowered the value of our dollar making it harder to crawl out of this hole. Blaming it on Bush and not the policies put in place by congress is a bit simplistic but it sort of explains why you don’t understand how things work.
You’re wrong. The economy tanked before Obama was even president. You have no idea how things work. Typical tea party thinker.
I didn’t say he tanked it. I said he made it worse and it has lasted longer because of his actions.
There is no way to support that statement and so it falls in the arena of what you choose to believe in the absence of corroborating evidence. I would be more prone to blame Walmart for the collapse of our economy. There is plenty of corroborative evidence for that.
I would say that your statement hold just as true for the claim that Obama saved us and things could have been much worse. Things could just have possibly gotten much better without his meddling which I claim did more damage than good.
But there is no way to support your claim. It is whistling in the wind. Hyperbole. Once again today the report is that jobs were created and jobless claims are down. Slow and steady progress. About as sensible as you can get given the unstable state of the global economy. But that is how I see it. And, I do understand that you might see it differently.
a depression was avoided… what else do you need?
And you know this how? You got some alternate reality machine?
And you know this how? You got some sortah time machine that allows you to put John “what recession” McCain in as president and then see what happens instead?
I know it the same way you people seem to know that he saved you from the end.
It was easy to see where we were headed…
from another poster——-Bush put EVERYTHING you blame on Obama in motion.. A vote for Bush helped cause the mess. Four years ago we were on the verge of total collapse, losing 700,000 jobs, yes 700,000 jobs per month when Bush left his mess for Obama, stock market at 6500, Osama Bin Laden still plotting against America, our auto industry on the verge of collapse. NOW ship has been steadied, 30 straight months of job growth, 4.6 MILLION new jobs, stock market doubled to 13,400, auto industry recovered, and Osama Bin Laden and 30 other top Al Qaida leaders DEAD. even 5th grade history students know it took 15 years to recover from the Depression.
Obama is the cause of this lack of recovery dragging on for so long. The housing collapse was not caused by Bush but by liberal social welfare programs that pressured banks to make loans to people who should not have had loans. Once Barney and the crew got that to be an acceptable practice and Fannie and Freddie made sure the banks were safe from fallout the end was pretty predictable. I think Bush may have actually even warned Barney and crew about it before it happend. You can’t really blame 9-11 on Bush or the wall street problems that developed because of it. You could blame it on Clinton for not taking out Osama earlier but you can give a lot of credit to Bush interrogation techniques which led your hero Obama to his brother Osama. And it is sort of funny how you libs were all upset about pouring water on someone and holding them without a trial but you are OK with just dealing death to them from above without a trial or anything. It didn’t even matter to you that two of them were Americans in a country we were not at war with. You seem to pick and choose your outrage issues at will. Are pro-death penalty now? Do you now trust the Intel you didn’t trust with the Iraq war? Enough to just kill people without any other evidence? Nice bit of wishy washy that.
Ya, so let’s put Romney in so he can cut taxes. That’s a great way to pay off debt.
Dude, you are wrong.
It makes as much sense to me as the libs claim that I can somehow spend my way out of debt. Sort of like shoveling my way out of a hole right?
There is not one business on this planet that did not start with debt.
Do you mean “that started without debt”?
In that case I would be guessing you have no idea what you are talking about. People start business’s with personal capital all the time.
That being said if I were to just go with what you mean to say then I would say this. We are not a startup business. At some point a business passes the point of the amount of debt it can pay off. When you are spending 200% of what you take in on a daily basis for years you are going to reach that point soon. That is what we have been doing for the last few years. How long do you thijnk this business can continue to do that?
Spending… that’s exactly how we got out of the depression, it was called WWII and Roosevelt spent our way out of it. Maybe that’s Romeny’s plan afterall! WWIII?
“You can’t really blame 9-11 on Bush or the wall street problems that developed because of it.”
The attacks may have still happened. However, if you read the 9/11 Report, you’ll find that the Bush Administration ignored warnings from the Clinton Administration that the intelligence community had picked up chatter indicating bin Laden was planning something big on American soil.
Actually I did read the report and if you look at the details of the chatter maybe you can tell me what you would have done as the President that would have stopped the terrorist attacks? What in that muddled mess of chatter would have shown you where to direct your forces if you were Bush. We still get the same chatter by the way and in the case of Benghazi much of it is much more specific but still the attacks happen. I know what was allowed to bypass screening by the FAA at the time of the attacks and I also know you could not have gotten the American people to accept the changes since 9-11 without the attacks happening. I also know that Airline and FAA guidance was to allow hijackers to have their way with the flight and to not interfere because it was assumed then that they would always land the plane safely somewhere allowing most if not all to survive as long as no dudley do right types tried to be a hero. Now, it is easy to look back and say he should have done this or that but honestly without knowing everything we know now what could he have done? Imagine the Patriot Act without a 9-11 first. What would and the rest of the left here have done if he had just put one of those in place?
In a Fox interview, Clinton went into great details about what his admin knew and when they knew it about …in that interview he told how ranking republicans prevented him from killing Bin Lauden when he had him in his sights, since they thought he was doing it as a distraction from his Lewinski bj troubles.. I wish some one had given “W” a bj, maybe we wouldn’t have gone to Iraq…
LOL yeah the Lewinski referance does a fine job pointing out how good Clinton’s word is. Honestly he is not what people think of when they think of the word honesty. As for the BJ you fail to mention all of the other sexual antics the President was up to with that child entrusted to his care when he should have been working. The guy is nothing but a pedophile who finally got old enough for his taste in young girls to be legal.
a complete falsehood–the housing collapse was caused by unregulated lending institutions. of the top 25 sub prime lenders, only ONE was subject to the regulation you mention–you can blame bush for not heeding the warnings ( even his administration officials say so)
i assume you support flopper romney, so you know wishy washy
The housing collapse was caused by lending money to people who could not afford to pay it back and then trading those bad loans around like they were good loans. This practice was not only encouraged by our government long before Bush came along but banks that refused to do so were treated harshly and even investigated for discrimination by congressional oversight panels. All in the name of social experimentation and the great society. You people stop playing with your socialist ideals in our free market system and you won’t create these sort of problems.
Baloney
Is it that you don’t believe our government pressured banks to make these loans since the start of Fannie and Freddie?
Is it that you don’t believe the Government went after banks that refused to make enough of these sort of loans to the disadvantaged?
What part do you think is Baloney?
Or do you just refuse to believe any of it?
Good post. Sorry that so many libs are attacking you. But they refuse to read history and will deny any facts that interfere with their belief system.
Good book explaining this and why is “Intellectuals And Society” by Thomas Sowell.
I like the attacks. That’s when you know they are afraid.
Afraid, after I stop giggiling, I realize you guys are serious, that’s a little scary alright, but not fear.
And you are being a bit short sighted by implying you know how it works. There is not easy solution because in complex systems there is no way to predict what will happen. You can tinker here, tinker there and hope for the best but there is no magic bullet. So far the President’s policies seem to be edging us in the right direction. We have avoided the crisis in the EU where I heard today unemployment is at 11%. We could just have easily gone there, or worse. Obama gets the credit for keeping us moving slowly but surely out of this mess.
I would say that our country was strong enough to keep moving IN SPITE of the horrible decisions made by Obama. What would you say exactly that HE did to make this better?
There may be no magic bullet but a Presidents policies do effect how markets and bussiness react. Do you believe that increasing the heavy foot of EPA on our throats lead to a better business climate? Maybe you believe that giving Millions and Millions of freshly printed cash to his political cronies so they could fail at some “green” job initiatives did it?
Do you think maybe instead of imprisoning people without a trial and getting useful information out of them, Obama’s practice of blowing them up where ever they may be based on the same intel that said there were WMDs in Iraq, gave our people a better feeling over all about how our government was run.
How about these:
THIS LIST IS NOT DONE / UPDATED. IT IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
1. Saved the collapse of the American automotive industry by making GM
restructure before bailing them out, and putting incentive money to help
the industry
2. Shifted the focus of the war from Iraq to
Afghanistan, and putting the emphasis on reducing terrorism where it
should have been all along
3. Relaxed Anti-American tensions throughout the world
4. Signed order to close the prisoner “torture camp” at Guantanamo Bay
5. Has made the environment a national priority, and a primary source for job creation
6. Has made education a national priority by putting emphasis and money
behind new ideas like charter schools, but speaking directly to school
children in telling them they have to do their part.
7. Won the Nobel Peace Prize
8. $789 billion economic stimulus plan
9. Appointment of first Latina to the Supreme Court
10. Attractive tax write-offs for those who buy hybrid automobiles
11.Authorized construction/opening of additional health centers to care for veterans
12.Renewed dialogue with NATO and other allies and partners on strategic issues.
13.Beginning the process of reforming and restructuring the military
20 years after the Cold War to a more modern fighting force… this
includes new procurement policies, increasing size of military, new
technology and cyber units and operations, etc.
14.Better body armor is now being provided to our troops
15.“Cash for clunkers” program offers vouchers to trade in fuel
inefficient, polluting old cars for new cars; stimulates auto sales
16.Changed the failing/status quo military command in Afghanistan
17.Closed offshore tax safe havens
18.Deployed additional troops to Afghanistan
19.Ended media “blackout” on war casualties; reporting full information
20.Ended previous policy of awarding no-bid defense contracts
21.Ended media blackout on war casualties and the return of fallen soldiers to Dover AFB.
22.Ended previous policy of cutting the FDA and circumventing FDA rules
23.Ended previous practice of forbidding Medicare from negotiating
with drug manufacturers for cheaper drugs; the federal government is now
realizing hundreds of millions in savings
24.Ended previous practice of having White House aides rewrite scientific and environmental rules, regulations, and reports
25.American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has created 2.1 million jobs (as of 12/31/09).
26.Ended previous policy of not regulating and labeling carbon dioxide emissions
27.Ended previous policy of offering tax benefits to corporations who
outsource American jobs; the new policy is to promote in-sourcing to
bring jobs back
28.Ended previous policy on torture; the US
now has a no torture policy and is in compliance with the Geneva
Convention standards
29.Launched Recovery.gov to track
spending from the Recovery Act, an unprecedented step to provide
transparency and accountability through technology.
30.Ended previous practice of protecting credit card companies; in place of it
are new consumer protections from credit card industry’s predatory
practices
31.Ended previous “stop-loss” policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan longer than their enlistment date
32.Energy producing plants must begin preparing to produce 15% of their energy from renewable sources
33.Established a National Performance Officer charged with saving the
federal government money and making federal operations more efficient
34.Established a new cyber security office
35.Expanded the SCHIP program to cover health care for 4 million more children
36.Expanding vaccination programs
37.Families of fallen soldiers have expenses
38.Provided the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with more than $1.4 billion to improve services to America’s Veterans.
39.Federal support for stem-cell and new biomedical research
40.Funds for high-speed, broadband Internet access to K-12 schools
41.Responded with compassion and leadership to the earthquake in Haiti
42.Immediate and efficient response to the floods in North Dakota and other natural disasters
43.Launched Business.gov – enabling conversation and online
collaboration between small business owners, government representatives
and industry experts in discussion forums relevant to starting and
managing a business. Great for the economy.
44. Improved housing for military personnel
45. Improved conditions at Walter Reed Military Hospital and other military hospitals
46. Changed failing war strategy in Afghanistan.
47. Improving benefits for veterans
48.Increased infrastructure spending (roads, bridges, power plants…) after years of neglect
49.Donated his $1.4 million Nobel Prize to nonprofits.
50.Increasing opportunities in AmeriCorps program
51.Provided tax credits to first-time home buyers through the Worker,
Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 to revitalize the
U.S. housing market.
52.Increasing pay and benefits for military personnel
53.Increasing student loans
54.Instituted a new policy on Cuba, allowing Cuban families to return “home” to visit loved ones
55.Cracked down on companies that deny sick pay, vacation and health
insurance to workers by abusing the employee classification of
independent contractor. Such companies also avoid paying Social
Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance taxes for those workers.
56.Limited salaries of senior White House aides; cut to $100,000
57.Limits on lobbyists’ access to the White House
58.Protected 300,000 education jobs, such as teachers, principals,
librarians, and counselors through the Recovery Act that would have
otherwise been lost.
59.Limits on White House aides working for lobbyists after their tenure in the administration
60.Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act on February 4,
2009, provides quality health care to 11 million kids – 4 million who
were previously uninsured.
61.Lower drug costs for seniors
62.Making more loans available to small businesses
63.Many more press conferences and town halls and much more media access than previous administration
64.Signed the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act, the first
piece of comprehensive legislation aimed at improving the lives of
Americans living with paralysis
65.New Afghan War policy that limits aerial bombing and prioritizes aid, development of infrastructure, diplomacy, and good government practices by Afghans
66.Announced creation of a Joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record
for members of the U.S. Armed Forces to improve quality of medical care.
67.New federal funding for science and research labs
68.New funds for school construction
69.Ordered all federal agencies to undertake a study and make recommendations for ways to cut spending
70.Ordered a review of all federal operations to identify and cut wasteful spending and practices
71. Negotiated deal with Swiss banks to permit US government to gain access to records of tax evaders and criminals.
72.Phasing out the expensive F-22 war plane and other outdated weapons
systems, which weren’t even used or needed in Iraq/Afghanistan
73.Reengaged in the agreements/talks on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions
74.Provided tax credit to workers thus cutting taxes for 95% of America’s working families.
75.Reengaged in the treaties/agreements to protect the Antarctic
76.Removed restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research
77.Helped reverse a downward spiral of the stock market. On January
19, 2009, the last day of President Bush’s presidency, the Dow closed at
8,218.22. In February 2010, the Dow closed at 10,309.24
78.Renewed loan guarantees for Israel
79.Restarted the nuclear non-proliferation talks and building back up the nuclear inspection infrastructure/protocols
80.Provided attractive tax write-offs for those who buy hybrid automobiles.
81.Returned money authorized for refurbishment of White House offices and private living quarters
82.Sent envoys to Middle East and other parts of the world that had
been neglected for years; reengaging in multilateral and bilateral talks
and diplomacy
83.Unveiled a program on Earth Day 2009 to
develop the renewable energy projects on the waters of our Outer
Continental Shelf that produce electricity from wind, wave, and ocean
currents. These regulations will enable, for the first time ever, the
nation to tap into our ocean’s vast sustainable resources to generate
clean energy in an environmentally sound and safe manner.
84.Signed national service legislation; expanded national youth service program
85.States are permitted to enact federal fuel efficiency standards above federal standards
86.Students struggling to make college loan payments can have their loans refinanced
87.Successful release of US captain held by Somali pirates; authorized the SEALS to do their job
88.The FDA is now regulating tobacco
89.Ended the previous stop-loss policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan longer than their enlistment date.
90.The missile defense program is being cut by $1.4 billion in 2010
91.The public can meet with federal housing insurers to refinance (the
new plan can be completed in one day) a mortgage if they are having
trouble paying
92.The “secret detention” facilities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere are being closed
93.US financial and banking rescue plan
94.US Navy increasing patrols off Somali coast
95.Signed the Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act to stop fraud
and wasteful spending in the defense procurement and contracting system.
96.Visited more countries and met with more world leaders than any president in his first six months in office
97.Improved relations with Iran
98.Improved U.S. policy on climate change
99.Set timetable for exiting Iraq (already started removing troops)
100.Improved relations with Russia
101.Improved relations with the Islamic World
102.Made progress towards greater cooperation on limiting nuclear proliferation
103.Economic stimulus plan has created jobs. (Unemployment rate decreasing)
104.Drastically slowed down the recession
105.Saved Wall Street
106.Passed the Lilly Ledbetter Act (equal work for equal pay) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilly_Ledbetter_Fair_Pay_Act_of_2009
107.HEALTHCARE REFORM
108.Ordered the military operation that killed Osama Bin Laden
109. Created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
I do agree with you about being held without trial. That needs to change. There is no President that will get it all right in every American citizen’s eyes. I think he has gotten it mostly right.
LOL that all reads better than a fairy tale.
You are claiming that promising to close Gitmo, which he never did, in some way helped the economy?
Hell some of the things you have mentioned have actually been the cause of the slower than death recovery that you are bragging about. His heavy handed thuggery with the EPA has done nothing but kill any start up that might possibly have had the idea to try. As a for instance. I think you may have wanted to edit your huge copy and paste before you even tried to make these claims but if you want me to I will shoot holes through each of them for you. They are baseless claims and in many cases never even happened.
yawn, but shoot away! (this is going to be a hoot!)
I hope he keeps a heavy hand on the EPA. You see that is a plus in my book. We all know that businesses that intend to pollute and not clean up their messes abound. Many have taken their business to other countries so they can pollute freely. Need me to post the quote by a previous oil company CEO to that effect? If that is your argument you lose. I greatly appreciated the work done by the person who posted the list but you are correct, I did not verify. Most I had already heard about so there are not too many left for you to poke holes in. And, Gitmo? This pretty well addresses the issues. http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/policy-and-strategy/263125-obama-faces-long-odds-to-close-gitmo-if-he-tries-again- . Seems it is Congress that is getting in the way yet again. But you will not convince me and I will not convince you. We are both allowed to see the glass as half full or half empty, in other words, any which way we want.
P.S. The Economist just endorsed him.
And you believe him? He has said nothing he has not reversed himself on. Oh, and there was Bush I with his no new taxes pledge. Remember how that worked out? How gullible are you? Anything to get elected, right? And that debt ceiling? Who had to approve that? Seems like it was a bi-partisan decision.
How is that any different than you believing Obama after the promises he made to you and failed to keep over the last 4 years. Romeny at least hasn’t lied to me yet. I would rather give a new guy a chance than re-elect the guy I know who lies, claims the glory that other men deserve, and has nothing but excuses of “I didn’t know what my people were up to” for everytime things go wrong. How in the world can you call someone else gullible when you are ready to vote for that again?
“Romeny at least hasn’t lied to me yet.” Silliest thing I’ve read here; Act of Terror, Jeep, Roe v Wade, Planned Parenthood, coal, working with Mass Dems (844 line item vetoes, most were overturned), Iran, Olympics, his daddy born in mexican exile, so many lies so little time…. as he pi$$e$ on your shoes and tells you it’s raining…. Come ON you guys! THINK!
You keep on chattering but you haven’t said anything yet.
no one is as blind as the one who will not see….
Please, save that for Kayak Momma
“As for Romney he has promised that nothing he does with taxes will increase the debt.”
Maybe so, but his numbers don’t add up.
I think the defining moment in the debates was during the last one, when a lady asked Romney how he was going to cut the deficit and taxes. Romney said he wanted to close some “loopholes” in the tax code and that he would give people a choice of which tax breaks they wanted when filing taxes.
In other words, Romney was telling middle class America that their taxes would go up — by limiting the number of tax breaks that can be claimed.
Furthermore, Romney wants to increase the defense budget substantially, even though the Joint Chiefs of Staff have said they don’t need any more money.
The joint chiefs are politcal animals saying exactly what their boss the Commander in Chief has instructed them to say. The troops know that they are as short now as they ever were when Clinton was cutting them to the bone. I was in then and we didn’t have bullets to practice with during the last half of a given year.
Romney has said that decreasing taxes will increase business activity which will increase revenue. The increase in revenue part is the the part your Obama number crunchers always leave out of the equation. They assume that revenue stays as dismal as it is under their guy because if their genius (still no college proof of that by the way) couldn’t do it than no one can.
As for limiting tax breaks I am actually for eliminating all of them and going for the flat tax so that I can simplify my life. Anyone who wants to do away with all of them has my support. Just waiting for the people to catch on go with the idea as well.
“But in the past, when military commanders have disagreed with presidents, they have found ways to get their complaints to the public” — http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/oct/24/barack-obama/obama-says-romney-would-spend-2-trilllion-military/
As for Romney’s “plan” to reduce the deficit by reducing taxes, trickle down economics doesn’t work. It never has. All the rich people do is pocket the money they save. That’s why they’re so rich.
As for a flat tax, it may sound good in theory, but in practice it is not, as it severely hurts the poor. And if they don’t have much money to spend, the economy isn’t going to improve.
In some extreme cases General’s have broken ranks and managed to get their complaints to the public, usually this followed by that General “retiring to spend some quality time with the family”. I tend to believe that the press tends not to print a lot of things negative to this President so any one speaking up today would be outing themselves and killing their career for nothing. Why get forced out when you don’t believe your message will ever be heard by anyone this time?
I was in from Reagan until the end of Clinton and the press was just as cozy with Clinton then. I don’t remember one report about how short we were one everything. He left us in a position that left the incoming President paying for things that should have been paid for during his term in office but heckyeah he made his budget look good for a couple of years.
Trickle down economics worked under Reagan and the effects actually paid off all the way into Clinton who was left with a cake 8 years.
As for the flat tax I want fairness. I see the poor with flat screen TVs and other electronics I can not afford because I buy their food. I see them going on trips because I charge up their EBT cards and they can use the money they get working under the table for their own pleasure.
I see the Rich living as the Rich always will live.
I want fair and my definition of fair is that I pay the percentage my neighbor pays no matter what my neighbor makes.
When I pay $1 for every $10 I make I want to know that everyone else is doing the same. No exceptions, no paybacks, no loopholes.
That is a fair tax system. That gets the lawyers and the other leeches out of it. That system is easy to understand for everyone and we can all finally see everything we are losing.
a peace time soldier!!!! thought so….
Peace time?
Clinton deployed troops more often than any of the warmongering presidents you all seem to hate so much. It didn’t seem all that peaceful where I was at and DS1 was for from peaceful. If we had been allowed to do it right we never would have had to go back to that sand trap later.
… for the most part it’s the peacetime vet that plays the vet card…. And to those men and women who serve with pride, humility and bravery, the citizen soldier, we owe you more that we will ever be able to pay.
You seem to be speaking out of both sides of your mouth in your last comment but that is pretty typical for a leftist. I think we all know and have seen how your party really feels about the vets. I didn’t claim anything about my service time other than the fact that I was a Marine and that you libs leave us without so much as bullets to shoot with in order to pay for your social experiments. What does any of my service have to do with peacetime or wartime. I signed up and served for more than one enlistment. I put myself out there and I chose a service branch that tends not to sit at home much. Is your issue that anyone who didn’t get shot at didn’t try hard enough and do you feel the same way about all the police officers who never have to draw a gun? Maybe they aren’t real cops so have no right to speak on cop issues? It’s usually those of you who never served at all that tend to go there by the way.
wolfndeer…ummmmmm…interesting nic….kinda makes sense if ur a liberal…big government (wolf)…tax paying citizens (deer)
hmmmm you make sense if you’re a conservative that wants the wealthy to keep getting wealthier while screwing the middle class
That is why he has added to the Federal deficit. His math is on the Golf Course. He keeps adding up the points as in the Deficit another 4 yrs and it will probably double.
and if Obama let us keep going in the direction we were going when bush left office and have another depression you’d be whining he was anti capitalist
This is the direction it is going…. right now. http://www.cbo.gov/publication/43656 Bring yourself up to date.
You really want to brag on the fact that we are spending more than 1 trillion more than we make every year?
What you complaining about? You get to sit in front of a computer telling us how hard it is bearing debt that doesn’t even affect you. Doesn’t seem you’ve got it too hard.
This debt effects all of us. Take a look at what has happened in history to countries that go crazy with their printing presses. It isn’t pretty.
Really hard to say if he keeps making a mess.
even bush people say they left obama the mess—-“John Bolton, President Bush’s ambassador to the United Nations: Yes Everyone agrees that Bush left Obama with a huge mess,
And Obama made it even bigger.
And you would have done what? established a plan based on austerity! Japan did that very thing 13 years ago and are still in a recession.
Can you outline the plan that Obama has because for the past four years, he has added $4 trillion to the national debt? Only to a democrat is that a plan to reduce the debt. Romney is not president and his policies are not in place. To comment negatively about nothing is ridiculous.
You mean the debt caused ENTIRELY by Bush and the right wingers? Reagan was the first right winger to explode the structural debt. Then along came Bush I who worsened it. Then along came Clinton who brought us into annual surplus and was on course to close the longterm debt. Then came Bush II who entirely squandered the surplus, exploded the debt, and caused the Great Recession which Obama is now in the process of fixing, no thanks to the TeaBabies. Amazing how the right wing hypocritical LIARS blame others for the problems they ENTIRELY caused.
Did Mayor Bloomberg buy everyone a super big soda? King is about as independant as Bernie Sanders is not a socialist.
Now Angus can caucus with Bernie Sanders to drive through the “Independent” agenda and elect the new leader in the Senate. Can’t wait until he proposes to Harry Reid that there should be no pay if there is no budget. More likely he’ll vote to return Harry Reid as leader.
Well, now here I think I kind of agree with you maybe. I think Reid is as bad as Boehner. There has got to be someone like a George Mitchell or Bill Cohen somewhere in that Senate.
Though no, he isn’t dead center between Democrats and Republicans (no such politician), he’s closest to center of the three top contenders and the best one to replace Olympia’s moderate approach. Further polarizing congress by sending Dill or Summers might electrify their respective bases, though it’s a recipe for more gridlock. It’s time to move back to center, not further right or left.
I am sincerely hoping that the RINOs take their party back.
Even after the anticipated defeat of the tea party next week, the republicans will still have to deal with Rove and the other neocons, who had control of the Bush administration.
One can only hope that sanity and moderation win out over what passes for Republicanism these days. There have always been fruit loops in politics, though when the fruit loops in ones party outnumber the reasoned…uh oh.
At least Danny Dalton has Criminal Minds to fall back on if he loses.
best comment so far IMO. Dalton is pissed the war on drugs is failing, no doubt. I can’t fault his intensity
Already voted for Angus!
The BDN endorsement scorecard is now 1 Democrat (Obama), 1 Republican (Raye) and 1 Independent (King). So why isn’t the ENTIRE E-nut Gallery happy? Everyone got a cookie! Hahaha.
One out of three isn’t bad.
Well, once McConnell has failed at his number #1 goal and Obama is re-elected, hopefully there won’t be the extreme partisanship and filibustering even uncontroversial measures. King can represent us and help squander that hyper-partisanship.
way to much kool aide for breakfast eh?
Do you have a real response or just your very tired jokes?
well laddie ,when McConnell says the most important thing is to deny Obama a second term rather than doing their business – it says quite a bit—now whos drinking the kool aid?
Please be around and posting on Nov 7th. Please, please please.
Who here is shocked at this endorsement? Raise your hands!
Charlie Summers 2012!
hahahaha
Charlie Summers when hell freezes over! this is the guy that wanted to limit voting right in Maine!
Summers is not going to win.
Independent my a.., saw Chris Matthews on CNBC last night say that King has indicated that he is going to vote with the Democrats on all issues.
Sounds like Matthews’ opinion.
He always has been a Dem
Oh, so THAT’s why the far left hates him as much as the far right does.
Why would you tell a complete lie that is so easily debunked? What Matthews said was that he thinks that King will caucus with the Democrats, not vote with them lockstep.
.
It was no more than Matthews opinion to begin with and he never even hinted that King would vote with the Democrats on all issues.
It may be his time but he isn’t perfect.
Just less imperfect than the alternatives.
Based on this endorsement, I would expect that the BDN will also endorse Mitt Romney.
Barack Obama has been the most partisan and divisive President in modern history, according to any historian. Mitt Romney has proven that he can work with opposing points of view and accomplish goals – to the point where he is labeled a flip-flopper or unprincipled for doing so! It’s time to elect someone who understands that leadership does not involved demonizing those with opposing opinions.
untrue—but you knew that
Look at Obama’s cabinet and you know that that’s not true. It’s not Obama’s fault that congressional Republicans put their own politics ahead of what’s good for the country.
Dem controlled Senate hasn’t passed a budget in three years
its the house
Have you ever even bothered to read the US Constitution?
Right and magically the the filibuster doesn’t exist?
Again, a right winger does not know how the Congress works. It takes 60 votes in the Senate to pass a bill. 51-49 will not work, so saying the dems controlled the senate is pure right wing BS.
i hate to remind you as to who holds the majority..dems
It does not matter who holds the majority if it is not a super majority of 60 votes. A bill will not be passed on less than a 60/40 vote, so claiming the dems control the senate is BS.
Pay attention Keith: now.. read slowly..the reread again..sloooowly… take time to think about the words… read once more…slowly.. a simple majority in the house and senate is not a supportable majority that will allow one party to overrule the other. Simple Majority, I can explain that for you. or if it’s still unclear for you, read ademain’s comment slowly, think reread, comprehend, that’s a good boy.
Obama’s budget was voted down even by democrats. 100 to 0.
They also voted down all republican budgets. It looks to me like a compromise is needed, something the republicans have vowed not to do as part of their plan to make Obama a one term President.
Because the right put dumb stuff in it!
And who fed you that maggot infested piece of baloney? Tasty? Seem to remember him meeting with Snowe and Collins and actually listening and using their ideas. ACA was built on compromises…… with all players. Remember….. we did not get universal health care which is what many on the left wanted. Why did we not get that? Because Obama met folks in the middle. But he would not be bullied. If the other side was not open to compromise then the line was drawn. Someone used this example: R says 20% D say 10%. R comes back with 20%. D comes back with 13%. R comes back with 20%. D comes back with 15%. R comes back with 20%. After enough of that our President drew the line. After all he is acting on behalf of all of us. Not just those who now control the Republican Party. When the RINOs can restore some measure of decency to the party then maybe we can talk. If the other side does not move to the middle there can be no bi-partisanship. Here is Eisenhower speaking as a Republican: “Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.” Oh, how far your party has wandered.
ya..dems. have not move have they?? there so far to the left there standing next to mao ..Lenin. and a few more Progressive! ..forward..where have I heard that political. statement before…hmmm oh I remember..Hitler!
You have no idea how moderate the Democrats are. Just take a look at what Progressives want and you will get some idea. I left the Ds, but happily voting for Obama, because they just could not get up the courage to stand up against big money. When we have a Progressive presidential candidate I will be sure to let you know.
you should remember , conservatives copy his policies
tsk tsk tsk… delusional
Lenin? Hitler? Really? are you 10 years old? or…. You’re just damn silly sometimes…
While governor of Mass, Mitt Romney vetoed 800 bills from the Mass legislature. That doesn’t sound like working with opposing points of view to me.
Sounds like he was doing his job.
So you think the job of a leader is to oppose everything the other party supports? So when the democrats retake the House you won’t mind when they filibuster every bill from the republicans.
Your thinking is exactly why I believe the only real issue in this election is to remove all tea party members and all who have signed Norquist’s anti-American pledge.
Note that Romney cannot even win the state where he was governor, which shows that he was not considered as a successful leader.
Obamacare
Rmoneydon’t
Really? Sounds like another representative of the party of no.
Saying no to the children is what a real parent or leader does.
Of Romney’s 844 vetoes, 707 were overridden by the legislature, some unanimously.
Not a chance I’ll vote for this meglomaniac. He is interested in what will advance the interests of Angus King… nothing else. I had a belly full of him as Governor.
Bad choice by the BDN
Dill for senate!!!
STUPID!!! OMG
King will never fill Snowe’s shoes. King is a big spender and a OBAMA supporter. A vote for king means a vote for OBAMA. So if you like King you will love the Socialist part.
only a fool uses terms they don’t understand, like socialism–look up plutocracy
Summers has an ALEC agenda in his back pocket. Kept it from his days as a
state legislator. Anyone have any info on the ‘model’ bills he introduced or voted in favor of? That is the agenda he will take to Washington. Won’t be representing us.
Check out the “big spender” here: http://www.cbo.gov/publication/43656 . It is down for 2012. That IS what you want right?
Another awe inspiring endorsement will the bdn never stop to amaze us.Who would have ever thought they would endorse a progressive liberal.
shocker huh! this is the liberal mecca!
why dont you head south to a conservative mecca-all their states are at the bottom of the list
Charlie Summers-
Opposes the ObamaCare Mandate
Has served our country as a member of the military
Opposes the Obama supported Quimby National Park
He has actual history of helping small business in Maine
He is genuinely committed to restoring Maine’s manufacturing base
He is the only one of the three that can go to Washington and get to work on day one..!
Angus King-
He left the State of Maine in a mountain of debt
He is tied with Mike Michaud for doing absolutely nothing to help small business
His history of working with green groups has always taken priority over “everything”
King is a well connected, well financed greenie, who has no intention of increasing manufacturing in Maine.
Cynthia Dill-
Dill “actually” wants to tax the internet…!
Dill isn’t willing to sit still until she bans all gun ownership
As a mindless Quimby minion, Dill has managed to totally offend those North of Bangor
Her views of unionizing, and controlling every aspect of free markets borders on Communism
She has no interest, history or track record of actual economic development, and has never attempted to reach out to the businesses in Northern Maine
Out of all of them, only Charlie Summers & Dill have come to Millinocket in the past 12 months— Charlie Summers to meet with his base and Dill to insult anyone that disagreed with her support for the Quimby National Park…!
Vote Summers 2012
.
Already have
Have you noticed that when you copy & paste into Disqus it rats you out by making weird disconnected paragraph breaks.
“But those perspectives have not shown that any of the trio would make an effective senator”
How does this apply to Dodge? Funny King in going to solve the deficit and it seems he is more or less for any liberal idea that evolves more spending. He is always vague on how he is going to fix DC and how can the BDN think he will not caucus with the Democrats? I think the press liked it when Angus got in the race because everyone seems to <3 him and it made the journalists job more easy. I respect that people might not agree with everything Dodge talks about but his campaign is all about the issues. Dodge is not playing up his "personality" will fix DC and I am pretty sure most of the Maine press promotes King as a secular Jesus figure…
After asking, “So how did the tax cuts work out?” Johnston paints a grim picture of economic failure:
Even if we limit the analysis by starting in 2003, when the dividend and capital gains tax cuts began, through the peak year of 2007, the result is still less income than at the 2000 level. Total income was down $951 billion during those four years.
Average incomes fell. Average taxpayer income was down $3,512, or 5.7 percent, in 2008 compared with 2000, President Bush’s own benchmark year for his promises of prosperity through tax cuts.
Had incomes stayed at 2000 levels, the average taxpayer would have earned almost $21,000 more over those eight years. That’s almost $50 per week.
And to be sure, the Bush tax cuts which have already drained the Treasury of $2.3 trillion were a major contributor to the record U.S. income gap:
In only two of the eight Bush years, 2006 and 2007, were average incomes higher than in 2000, but the gains were highly concentrated at the top. Of the total increase in income in 2007 over that in 2005, nearly 30 percent went to taxpayers who made $1 million or more…
One of every eight dollars of the tax cuts went to the 1 in 1,000 taxpayers in the top tenth of 1 percent, the annual threshold for which was in the $2 million range throughout the last administration.
for the bush lite-oops romney supporters–why would anyone be fool enough to want to go back to republican policies—when even the WSJ says bush policies were a failure and romney wants to cut more taxes for the wealthy—‘To be sure, George W. Bush provided the perfect bookend to era of modern Republican economic management ushered by Herbert Hoover. The verdict on President Bush’s reign of ruin was pronounced even before Barack Obama took the oath of office. January 9, 2009, the Republican-friendly Wall Street Journal summed it up with an article titled simply, “Bush on Jobs: the Worst Track Record on Record.” (The Journal’s interactive table quantifies his comparative failure.) Just days after the Washington Post documented that George W. Bush presided over theworst eight-year economic performance in the modern American presidency, the New York Times on January 24 featured an analysis (“Economic Setbacks That Define the Bush Years”) comparing presidential performance going back to Eisenhower. As the Times showed, George W. Bush, thefirst MBA president, was a historic failure when it came to expanding GDP, producing jobs and fueling stock market growth.
so…who had the house and senate 06/10? how’s that gdp now…fact check it.obama stated it was on” unpatriotic “the way bush spent..i wonder if he would like to recant ..dam near 6 t in four years.
saving the country from the bush depression– even sane republicans say so
guess you missed this, or perhaps just your usual comprehension problems
the Republican-friendly Wall Street Journal summed it up with an article titled simply, “Bush on Jobs: the Worst Track Record on Record.” (The Journal’s interactive table quantifies his comparative failure.)
Angus King is a liberal–he changed from a D to an Independent, knowing he would have a better chance of becoming governor of Maine.
A vote for Charlie Summers is the only way to cast your ballot November 6.
LePage killed Summers chances.
He has an ALEC agenda in his back pocket. Kept it from his days as a state legislator. Anyone have any info on the ‘model’ bills he introduced or voted in favor of? That is the agenda he will take to Washington. Won’t be representing us.
As most have pointed out…He is NOT an independant. He IS a Democrat! Through and through!
And he’s winning in the polls — what’s your point?
It is a Democratic State, and not even they are supporting Dill. They know which way King leans,and it certainly is not conservative. A vote for King is a vote for a Democratic Agenda. That is the point.
You’re going to end up with a liberal no matter what, so what’s your point?
write someone in lol
Actually, as in my case, many are voting against Summers and the ALEC agenda. Since Dill is the least likely to win it makes more sense to vote for King to keep Summers out.
In that case, voting for King is voting for Obama and the Democrat’s policies
That’s right. I have taken an oath to never vote for the lying republicans.
maybe its because of spineless liberals ..just sayin’
maybe it’s just because you don’t like elections? if only you had more than one vote!
its conservatives that have no spine, in fact you’re a good example
Saying that King is an independent is like saying Hurricane Sandy was a minor storm that hit New Jersey.King is a Democrat who will promote increasing taxes and incresed spending.Any questions?
part of the ryan tax plan is to take away the home mortgage deduction and tax employer provided health care so they can cut taxes for the wealthy again–what do you call that? even republicans say the romney tax plan is bs
oh stay away from cnn cbs abc. answer nbc ! it will make you foolish!…to late
its in his own plan- i guess he’s just another lying conservative then
You are correct about the Republican plan so join me in voting for Gary Johnson and we can end all this nonsense!
King will do more for himself and the ones who endorsed him than he will for the people of Maine.
As an independent he will not be destroyed if he votes against ‘the caucus’. He can actually cast an independent vote for whatever he believes is best for Maine and/or America.
no on angus …never trust a man named after beef! oh he is independent..ya ok..so we have no.idea where he stands! both sides of the fence ..na..liberal!
So long Charlie, and you can take that rotten horrid rat of a slime Rove and his LIES in his disgusting pathetic attack ads with you. Angus is going to beat you to a putrid pulp, and Rove the slimeball and the rest of the TeaSlime LIARS who have been attacking Angus with their rotten LIES have now wasted many millions of dollars. Bwahahahahaha… GO ANGUS ! Smash the right wing LIARS to pieces at the voting booth !
Angus King will do nothing to stop wasteful spending. Angus King will do nothing to stop spending 3 trillion when only 2 trillion comes in. Angus King will do nothing to streamline government and make government more efficient. In short, Angus wants to go because his ego is bigger than the moon, there can be no other reason.
Aha! The BDN just gave us proof that Angus King is a liberal democrat!
thats why he is ahead of tea party summers
No matter who get in office people will still whine about them
Which Senate candidate enriched himself from the public coffers? Angus King.
Bull. Angus King made his money through his enterprising energy conservation business BEFORE he ever ran for office.
Charlie Summers is the one at the trough. He’s held one political patronage job after another. Has kept right on collecting his State of Maine paycheck all the way through this campaign. How convenient his “vacation time” lasted all the way until the end of October… Audit anyone?
If it wasn’t for the government subsidies of the windmills AND the forced restructure of the “power” companies, King would still be an MBPN broadcaster.