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Dick Bradstreet of Vassalboro is a state senator.
An old adage says that elections have consequences. It’s true and we can see that big time here in Maine.
For nearly a decade, Democrats have had complete control in Augusta, and what do they have to show for it? You’ve heard it all: Much higher electricity costs, big increases in property and other taxes, failing schools, a huge budget shortfall and the list goes on and on. These issues are Maine problems and I believe they’re caused by the passage of bad policies. So why do we keep electing people who make the bad policies?
Many Democrats are blaming everything on Donald Trump, and of course all Republicans. It’s a good campaign strategy because it takes our eyes off their failures and forces us to see Republicans as the real villains. But the issues that are specific to Maine were here before Trump took office and will remain long after his tenure is done unless we do something about it on election day. I think they’re hoping we all have short memories.
Has anyone asked Hannah Pingree where the hundreds of millions of dollars in new programs she is proposing so that she and her legislative allies can get elected will come from? It seems to me that all of them are becoming more and more extreme, even to the point where they have rejected the most progressive governor we have ever had in favor of catering to the radical wing of their party. Sadly, it seems the old reasonable Democrats who would work to find consensus on important issues have been tossed aside. It’s not the party it used to be.
Normally, more government spending can be partially covered by economic growth. Did you know that the state’s own forecasting commission has predicted zero job growth over the next five years? Can you wonder why?
Our remote location here in the northeast and our cold climate already put many Maine businesses at an economic disadvantage, so you’d rationally think that the Legislature would do whatever it could to help our businesses be successful. Not in Maine, from what I see. We Republicans have sat in countless committee meetings and long legislative sessions in strong opposition to the passage of destructive legislation, but the unified Democrats tend to get their way. You would hope that enough of them would see the need to join in opposition to bad policy, but the reality I see in Augusta is that they are hard pressed by the powers that be to fall in line with the party dictates. It’s sad, but that’s the way I think it is.
The proof of bad policies, created and passed by those who make bad policies, is in the conditions mentioned above that our state is suffering from right now. Why would any right-minded person vote for legislators who repeatedly support legislation that hurts our state? It makes no sense.
I believe the majority party in Augusta is very partisan. Compare this to Sen. Susan Collins, who has repeatedly been accused of being a President Donald Trump sycophant yet was ranked the most bipartisan member of the Senate in 2023. I thought that’s what we wanted — people who can work across the aisle compared to the totally partisan candidate who is running against her.
Both parties in these elections are focused on “winning.” I think it’s high time for Mainers to finally win. The only way I see to accomplish this is to vote out the people who have created the mess we’re in and instead choose candidates who will fix it.
If we want to turn Maine around, we’ll need sensible, rational people in our Legislature and an experienced, focused and able chief executive as our next governor. I think that person is Bobby Charles. Together, they can bring common sense and accountability back to Maine. Our best chance to do that is for all open-minded people to cast votes for Republicans so that we can finally set Maine back on the right track.