MATTHEW GAGNON

Maine GOP should be bold and visionary, not meek and conciliatory

By Matthew Gagnon

Posted Sept. 29, 2011, at 4:25 p.m.

Well that was much ado about nothing.

Republicans caved on redistricting and abandoned their ambitious, if controversial, “Western Maine” plan. The new congressional lines will look an awful lot like the old congressional lines with only a bit of lipstick applied to make the 2nd District a tad more attractive to the GOP. For all that talk about forcing through the change with a simple majority vote, at the end of the day a compromise was reached, a showdown was avoided and it seems everyone is happy. Hooray bipartisanship.

Well, I’m not all that happy. I like bold and confrontational — maybe sometimes even (gasp) controversial — leadership, and I was really hoping to see the map altered substantially. But this is Maine where compromise and congeniality rule, so a deal was made and little was changed.

What bothers me the most about this capitulation is that I simply can’t make heads or tails out of what kind of lawmakers are in Maine’s new Republican majority. Ask me one week and I will tell you that they are bold, visionary libertarian reformers set to reverse the course of 40 years of creeping statism in Augusta. Ask me the next, and I’ll tell you they are soft allodoxaphobes (they fear opinion, for those without a dictionary nearby) who defer to consensus and the status quo rather than fight for radically needed changes.

Maine Republicans aggressively spearheaded the fight to reform the health care industry in Maine and risked a lot to do it. They dealt head-on with entitlements like welfare, and in one session managed to deal with the lurking budgetary nuclear bomb that was the unfunded pension liability, showing no fear.

They crafted a visionary budget which actually lowered taxes — in Maine! — and soberly dealt with the structural problems that the state faced. They even raised the speed limit on I-95 between Old Town and Houlton and killed off the fireworks ban, two actions that were both needed but took political courage to do given the cries of apocalypse from the nanny-staters. And of course, they took an incredible risk by deleting the words “same” and “day” before “voter registration” in Maine law.

Yet just as often, the GOP lions have roared loudly only to later meagerly squeak out a meow.

Take Gov. Paul LePage’s defiant declaration that Maine Republicans were “going after right-to-work” and that the Wisconsin labor protests would come to Maine. This one piece of legislation could have done more for job creators in the state than almost any other law, yet after relatively minor protestations and almost no fight at all, the bill was put on the shelf to be “considered later.”

Then there was the “voter ID” law, arguably a much more important and popular election reform than the same-day registration repeal. Despite having a much better rhetorical case for its passage, Republicans decided to shy away from a voter ID law, putting it on hold. This was always more than a little curious, especially considering voter fraud was supposedly the big concern in Augusta.

There are, of course, a number of other examples of the new Maine Republican majority backing down and turning over on their own ideas and instead groping for a “middle way” to appease the weak and disorganized Maine Democratic minority.

I suppose one bit of good news in all this compromise and watering down of audacious, radical reform ideas is that the logic behind Eliot Cutler’s “OneMaine” group has been completely obliterated in the process. I’ve had all I can stomach of sanctimonious nonpartisan belly-aching, myself.

But for Maine Republicans I have a message: decide. Either be radical reformers or conciliatory collaborators. Pick one.

I say be bold. Stop being afraid of governing. Stop acting like you are still the minority party in Augusta. Be visionary. Risk. Lead.

If you do, you might lose everything you have gained, but in the process you can make some long-lasting, important and needed changes to the state you love. And you know what? By being weak and surrendering to an even weaker minority, you’re probably going to lose everything anyway. Mainers like guts. Prove that you have them and maybe you might just stick around for a while.

Matthew Gagnon, a Hampden native, is a Republican political strategist. He previously worked for Sen. Susan Collins and the National Republican Senatorial Committee. You can reach him at matthew.o.gagnon@gmail.com and read his blog at www.pinetreepolitics.com.

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http://www.facebook.com/people/John-Day/100000234116470 John Day

Great column.
http://www.facebook.com/people/John-Day/100000234116470 John Day

Great column.
Anonymous

With over 50,000 Mainers unemployed and all the other serious problems facing our state you cite raising the speed limit between Old Town and Houlton and making fireworks legal as things you considered needed? Nice to have maybe, but needed , really? You mention the right to work legislation as something that would help job creators? Just who in your opinion are the job creators in the State of Maine? I was of the impression that it was small businesses that created most of the jobs in this State. If that is the case and until someone shows me differently I will continue to believe it, just how would the right to work legislation benefit the 5-20 person operation? It certainly wouldn’t have anything to do with unionization because small companies are not the ones that are unionized.
Anonymous

With over 50,000 Mainers unemployed and all the other serious problems facing our state you cite raising the speed limit between Old Town and Houlton and making fireworks legal as things you considered needed? Nice to have maybe, but needed , really? You mention the right to work legislation as something that would help job creators? Just who in your opinion are the job creators in the State of Maine? I was of the impression that it was small businesses that created most of the jobs in this State. If that is the case and until someone shows me differently I will continue to believe it, just how would the right to work legislation benefit the 5-20 person operation? It certainly wouldn’t have anything to do with unionization because small companies are not the ones that are unionized.
http://profiles.google.com/sdemetri Stephen Demetriou

This column is stupid because there is a long tradition in Maine of true center of the political spectrum politics, regardless of whether dems or repubs are in power. IT IS A VIRTUE that the rest of the country would do well to learn from.

Matthew is a reasonably good writer but resorting to common right wing buzz words may have kept him at a reasonable number of words but do little to enlighten. “Nanny-state,” and that oft misused term “job creators,” both rightwing fantasy notions that suppose much but define little of anything is a good way to puff up those that agree with you, but do nothing to make actual problems the state faces clear.

Voter fraud, and the need for voter ID’s, was a non-issue because voter fraud is virtually non-existent, regardless of how exercised Charlie Webster got when he had a little too much spare time to waste on his partisan witchhunt, but not enough to dig up anything that would stand the light of day.

Every study done by credible researchers (this doesn’t include the partisan antics of the Maine Heritage policy center) have shown those that prevail upon the welfare system are far and away those that actually need the assistance, and use it by and large until they get back on their feet. It is not the trap some try to make it out to be. This dishonest meme about the “nanny state” is more right wing rhetoric showing the right’s true uncaring colors.

Even Adam Smith (he wrote The Wealth of Nations, the classic treatise on capitalism and the utility and limits of free markets) knew that for a job to be created requires two agents, the employer and the employee. With the GOP playing nothing more than the lap dogs for the wealthy in this country, trying to frame the plight of the poor, misunderstood (but extremely well off upper crust) “job creators” as the only noble enablers of the country’s well being while sticking it to the working American and the unemployed, the GOP finds itself the advocates of corporate welfare — think subsidies, deferred royalty payments, tax cuts, well funded lobbyists writing legislation, inefficient and sometimes outright larcenous privatization, de-regulation, and a couple of spare trillions in cash reserves — while taking food, literally, out of the mouths of babes.

Maine is in the unique position often to lead by virtue of the ability to compromise. Calling for division and more partisanship is unwelcome and counterproductive.
Anonymous

Yeah, the Dems really compromised when they adjourned the legislature back in 2004 or 2005 and then called a fake emergency session at a cost of about a half million tax dollars so that they could pass a simple majority budget full of gimmicks and without Republican support. Funny how compromise wasn’t even on their radar screen then. The Dems said we have the votes and we’ll do it our way even if it cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands to do so. Now that they’re rightfully in the minority compromise is all they can talk about.
http://profiles.google.com/sdemetri Stephen Demetriou

Politics is always messy. Bill Diamond was once a republican, if I recall correctly. He is certainly very middle of the road. A lot of his support in his long and various roles in state govt have been from other conservative dems and moderate repubs. I stand by what I believe to be true over the longer sweep of Maine political history.

At any rate, calling for MORE divisive politics doesn’t serve anyone.
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

Was just an example of them doing something that is politically precarious, but beneficial to the state. Making any change like that sends people screaming. No I wasn’t arguing that either change was somehow a needed economic issue… they were only minor throwaway examples of doing something unexpected and counter-intuitive that the other side hates.
Anonymous

Thank you Matthew for your reply. How about the right to work legislation as it pertains to the job creators here in Maine which are our small businesses?
Anonymous

Thank you Matthew for your reply. How about the right to work legislation as it pertains to the job creators here in Maine which are our small businesses?
Anonymous

Did you find his answer to your question very satisfactory ? I did not.
Anonymous

Did you find his answer to your question very satisfactory ? I did not.
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

Yes, the basis of Maine’s economy is small business, however, right-to-work legislation is a major factor in ATTRACTING businesses to the state, especially in key industries. I’ve talked to certain folks who work to attract business to the state, and they have said time and time again that many companies don’t even CONSIDER states that aren’t right to work… and Maine being RTW when the nearest RTW state is down in Virginia would be a huge benefit to the state. ”I’d love to consider Maine, but…” is the beginning to too many conversations of that type.

Not only would it send a major signal that Maine is serious about businesses coming to the state, but it would provide Maine with a competitive advantage – finally – over states like New Hampshire or Massachusetts. New Hampshire is a much freer, business friendly state with a certain reputation, and Massachusetts has a massive education/infrastructure advantage… Maine needs some kind of anchor that would allow it to stand out. RTW would be a signature that gave us a major advantage in competing against the rest of New England.

And on top of it all, it is a no brainer. It simply allows the worker to choose to be in or not be in a union, and they can not be compelled to be in one as a condition of employment. That’s all. If I were in the legislature it would be the first bill I would offer.
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

Yes, the basis of Maine’s economy is small business, however, right-to-work legislation is a major factor in ATTRACTING businesses to the state, especially in key industries. I’ve talked to certain folks who work to attract business to the state, and they have said time and time again that many companies don’t even CONSIDER states that aren’t right to work… and Maine being RTW when the nearest RTW state is down in Virginia would be a huge benefit to the state. ”I’d love to consider Maine, but…” is the beginning to too many conversations of that type.

Not only would it send a major signal that Maine is serious about businesses coming to the state, but it would provide Maine with a competitive advantage – finally – over states like New Hampshire or Massachusetts. New Hampshire is a much freer, business friendly state with a certain reputation, and Massachusetts has a massive education/infrastructure advantage… Maine needs some kind of anchor that would allow it to stand out. RTW would be a signature that gave us a major advantage in competing against the rest of New England.

And on top of it all, it is a no brainer. It simply allows the worker to choose to be in or not be in a union, and they can not be compelled to be in one as a condition of employment. That’s all. If I were in the legislature it would be the first bill I would offer.
Anonymous

Not really but I figured I would at least be polite. He didn’t even go near the job creator and right to work legislation part in his answer. Apparently he feels we need more polarization.
Anonymous

Not really but I figured I would at least be polite. He didn’t even go near the job creator and right to work legislation part in his answer. Apparently he feels we need more polarization.
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

I didn’t touch it? Look up…
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

I didn’t touch it? Look up…
Anonymous

Study after study has found that states who have right to work laws also have some of the lowest wages as well. Are you really in favor of the Maine wage scale being even lower then it is now? If that is the case why can’t you just come right out and say it rather then trying to dress it up in pretty clothing. I seem to remember someone else who seems to share a lot of the same ideology as you saying something about putting lipstick on a pig. As far as attracting businesses to the State are you trying to tell me that the only reason that these mysterious businesses you speak about are not coming to Maine is because the State has not passed right to work legislation?
Anonymous

Study after study has found that states who have right to work laws also have some of the lowest wages as well. Are you really in favor of the Maine wage scale being even lower then it is now? If that is the case why can’t you just come right out and say it rather then trying to dress it up in pretty clothing. I seem to remember someone else who seems to share a lot of the same ideology as you saying something about putting lipstick on a pig. As far as attracting businesses to the State are you trying to tell me that the only reason that these mysterious businesses you speak about are not coming to Maine is because the State has not passed right to work legislation?
Anonymous

“GOP should be bold and visionary, but when Democrats engage in the same behavior, we’ll say they’re shoving legislation down the throats of the American people” — Matt Gagnon, paraphrase
Anonymous

“GOP should be bold and visionary, but when Democrats engage in the same behavior, we’ll say they’re shoving legislation down the throats of the American people” — Matt Gagnon, paraphrase
Anonymous

Your reply hadn’t posted when I replied to Lynne14
Anonymous

Your reply hadn’t posted when I replied to Lynne14
Anonymous

Your first sentence speaks volumes. Strange that major point was not mentioned or overlooked. It is not a minor point. It’s kind of like Texas. Look at some of the statistics there (educational results,etc……low wage jobs, etc.) and then you get more of the total picture.
Anonymous

I think , but not sure, what he is trying to do is muster the republican troops. From the sounds of it he is advocating being even more polarized then is presently the case. I guess he feels that we need more of what we are seeing in Washington.
Anonymous

Right to work laws already lured manufacturing to the South where these laws are in place and the populace is brain washed to fear unions. Now those very same industries are leaving the south for S.E.Asia due to the stability of the region, plus some of the lowest wages in the world, a total lack of workers rights and non existent environmental laws.
Anonymous

It may be that the newly empowered Republicans have been turned off by the extreme rhetoric comming from the Governors office.

They are also being led around by the nose by Charlie Webster leading the fight against all those radical college students who have exercised their right to vote.
Anonymous

If so, not very admirable. Promoting more blatant partisanship and divisiveness is not at all needed or laudatory. And what is up with his “lipstick” remark….strange. (what is that about….shades of Palin?! I always thought that was such a stupid remark of hers….snarky or something. But, that is in the past, thankfully.)
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

You are confusing correlation with causation. Most right to work states are in the deep south who are by nature a great deal more rural and have always historically had lower wages than the industrial northeast. More farms, less industry/production, etc.

Yet where I live – Virginia – is a right to work state, and we are the best state in the country for business and our wages are quite high, especially in the more developed/urban northern areas of the state.

Wages are less about the presence of labor or no labor… and more about what kind of natural resources are present, what kind of industries are present, etc. Maine’s wages are what they are already, and RTW legislation isn’t going to drop them.. just look at what is happening in South Carolina with Boeing… the non-unionized workers they are trying to bring in to that state have wages that are below the union wages in Washington, but are still dramatically higher than the median wage in the state, so we aren’t talking a drag on wages in the least bit.

That is and always has been a straw man argument.
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

You are confusing correlation with causation. Most right to work states are in the deep south who are by nature a great deal more rural and have always historically had lower wages than the industrial northeast. More farms, less industry/production, etc.

Yet where I live – Virginia – is a right to work state, and we are the best state in the country for business and our wages are quite high, especially in the more developed/urban northern areas of the state.

Wages are less about the presence of labor or no labor… and more about what kind of natural resources are present, what kind of industries are present, etc. Maine’s wages are what they are already, and RTW legislation isn’t going to drop them.. just look at what is happening in South Carolina with Boeing… the non-unionized workers they are trying to bring in to that state have wages that are below the union wages in Washington, but are still dramatically higher than the median wage in the state, so we aren’t talking a drag on wages in the least bit.

That is and always has been a straw man argument.
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

You are confusing correlation with causation. Most right to work states are in the deep south who are by nature a great deal more rural and have always historically had lower wages than the industrial northeast. More farms, less industry/production, etc.

Yet where I live – Virginia – is a right to work state, and we are the best state in the country for business and our wages are quite high, especially in the more developed/urban northern areas of the state.

Wages are less about the presence of labor or no labor… and more about what kind of natural resources are present, what kind of industries are present, etc. Maine’s wages are what they are already, and RTW legislation isn’t going to drop them.. just look at what is happening in South Carolina with Boeing… the non-unionized workers they are trying to bring in to that state have wages that are below the union wages in Washington, but are still dramatically higher than the median wage in the state, so we aren’t talking a drag on wages in the least bit.

That is and always has been a straw man argument.
Anonymous

Obamacare anyone? Talk about legislation being forced down peoples throats!!
Anonymous

Any evidence to demonstrate the fear of unions? Boeing?
Anonymous

Great column. The Dems would not hesitate, as the past demonstrates, to use the power vested in them by the voter. The Republicans should not be conciliatory but bravely lead.
Anonymous

If polarization means Republicans in Maine making bold decisions for the good of the State, I’m in favor of plenty more.
Anonymous

Pot calling the kettle black?
http://twitter.com/DirigoBlue Gerald Weinand

Why are wages high in northern Virginia? Hmmm – I’ll bet it has nothing to do with the close proximity to Washington, D.C.
Anonymous

Hold it. You live in Virginia and are telling Republicans in Maine what they aren’t doing right. Advocating for more polarization rather then trying to get people to work together. I don’t know how long it has been since you actually lived in Maine but traditionally we usually solve our problems best by working together rather then by trying to pick a fight. As far as the wages in Northern Va. are concerned isn’t that the part of the State that is closest to DC?
Anonymous

Hold it. You live in Virginia and are telling Republicans in Maine what they aren’t doing right. Advocating for more polarization rather then trying to get people to work together. I don’t know how long it has been since you actually lived in Maine but traditionally we usually solve our problems best by working together rather then by trying to pick a fight. As far as the wages in Northern Va. are concerned isn’t that the part of the State that is closest to DC?
Anonymous

I didn’t call anyone black or any other name.
Anonymous

I didn’t call anyone black or any other name.
http://twitter.com/DirigoBlue Gerald Weinand

For those that don’t know what “right to work” is, let me explain. Some states have laws that support closed shops, that is, if a workplace is unionized, the union can require membership as a condition of working there.

Maine prohibits that, but does allow unions to charge a service fee to non-union members that work in a union shop. Federal law requires a union to represent all employees in a union shop, whether they belong to the union or not. The service fee is the amount it costs the union to represent non-members.

Tom Winsor (R-Norway) two bills before the 125th Legislature to prohibit the practice of collecting the service fee from workers who are not union members. One (LD309) was carried over to the 2nd Session. Keep in mind that the law requiring a union to represent non-members would not be changed.

In reality, this prohibition leads to the end of the union, as members realize that they are guaranteed representation for free, and drop out of the union. As members dwindle, so does the revenue unions need to operate, and at some point they don’t have enough, and decertify.
http://twitter.com/DirigoBlue Gerald Weinand

For those that don’t know what “right to work” is, let me explain. Some states have laws that support closed shops, that is, if a workplace is unionized, the union can require membership as a condition of working there.

Maine prohibits that, but does allow unions to charge a service fee to non-union members that work in a union shop. Federal law requires a union to represent all employees in a union shop, whether they belong to the union or not. The service fee is the amount it costs the union to represent non-members.

Tom Winsor (R-Norway) two bills before the 125th Legislature to prohibit the practice of collecting the service fee from workers who are not union members. One (LD309) was carried over to the 2nd Session. Keep in mind that the law requiring a union to represent non-members would not be changed.

In reality, this prohibition leads to the end of the union, as members realize that they are guaranteed representation for free, and drop out of the union. As members dwindle, so does the revenue unions need to operate, and at some point they don’t have enough, and decertify.
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

There is a big difference between aggressively pushing legislation and trying to pass it, and passing legislation in the face of massive public backlash, like the health care law.
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

There is a big difference between aggressively pushing legislation and trying to pass it, and passing legislation in the face of massive public backlash, like the health care law.
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

There is a big difference between aggressively pushing legislation and trying to pass it, and passing legislation in the face of massive public backlash, like the health care law.
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

Again, those non union jobs still paid a great deal of money compared to the median wage in the state. Your argument is hollow.
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

Again, those non union jobs still paid a great deal of money compared to the median wage in the state. Your argument is hollow.
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

Again, those non union jobs still paid a great deal of money compared to the median wage in the state. Your argument is hollow.
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

They are higher around all metropolitan areas, Gerald. Northern Virginia – just like the Richmond, Virginia area – is developed and urban. Wages are higher. Not rocket science.
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

They are higher around all metropolitan areas, Gerald. Northern Virginia – just like the Richmond, Virginia area – is developed and urban. Wages are higher. Not rocket science.
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

They are higher around all metropolitan areas, Gerald. Northern Virginia – just like the Richmond, Virginia area – is developed and urban. Wages are higher. Not rocket science.
Anonymous

The GOP needs to go the way of the Whigs, Federalists, and dinosaurs. Keep up with the ALL FOR THE RICH ALL THE TIME agenda, and it won’t be long.
Anonymous

The GOP needs to go the way of the Whigs, Federalists, and dinosaurs. Keep up with the ALL FOR THE RICH ALL THE TIME agenda, and it won’t be long.
Anonymous

The GOP needs to go the way of the Whigs, Federalists, and dinosaurs. Keep up with the ALL FOR THE RICH ALL THE TIME agenda, and it won’t be long.
Anonymous

You guys just don’t get it and continue to lie and misrepresent everyday about healthcare. Half of the people who complain about Obamacare are unhappy because it didn’t go far enough, but your side likes to mislead by lumping those people in with your side, the side that doesn’t care at all that 50 million Americans don’t have health insurance. Do a poll Medicare for all would be approved by 60-70%.
Anonymous

You guys just don’t get it and continue to lie and misrepresent everyday about healthcare. Half of the people who complain about Obamacare are unhappy because it didn’t go far enough, but your side likes to mislead by lumping those people in with your side, the side that doesn’t care at all that 50 million Americans don’t have health insurance. Do a poll Medicare for all would be approved by 60-70%.
Anonymous

You guys just don’t get it and continue to lie and misrepresent everyday about healthcare. Half of the people who complain about Obamacare are unhappy because it didn’t go far enough, but your side likes to mislead by lumping those people in with your side, the side that doesn’t care at all that 50 million Americans don’t have health insurance. Do a poll Medicare for all would be approved by 60-70%.
Anonymous

The GOP is bad for America. Take the SAVE AMERICA pledge: I WILL NEVER VOTE FOR A REPUBLICAN EVER AGAIN.
Anonymous

“paid”, that’s the key word. Past tense. Those manufacturing jobs are leaving for even greener pastures.
I hope you aren’t going to tell me that we should be a ‘service economy’.
Anonymous

Too bad that the polarization means that the extremes of both party, put blinders on and refuse to even consider that there might be alternatives. That is why we have the single worst Congress in DC in my memory. I hope and pray that we don’t end up with that here.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SHNOU64ZBOBIKWUF5IM6WSH7WA entitled4life

I am definitely on the side that could care less who has insurance or who does not. I have insurance that I pay for and because I do, there are other things that I want that I cannot have. Most people that do not have insurance have everything that they want and then expect the government to make insurance an entitlement and get their insurance for nothing. I really care nothing for the many able bodied Americans that do not have health insurance. Get off your lazy rear end and get a job, two if need be and buy your own insurance.
Anonymous

My first time in the south was in the Navy where I worked with a lot of civilians back in the early 60′s. Unions were considered to be much like communists by most of the workers.
Over the years of driving truck down south, I never really saw much change in that thought pattern. My youngest now lives in NC and reports much the same attitude.
Anonymous

The main difference I see is the media’s characterization, which is what the backlash really was. The strongest negative responses were towards distortions of truth, such as death panels.
Anonymous

Matthew, you are just plain wrong here. Everything we here is that Maine needs to be like New Hampshire. Business is booming in New Hampshire. New Hampshire does not have the “business-greedy” right to works law, and they seem to have no problem attracting business. You are the one that seems to need to get his story straight and decide what you are saying.
Anonymous

Maybe not. Conciliatory is not equivalnet to meek. Governing usually involves compromise, not the imperial iron fist. After all, not all of us are of the same opinion and we possibly represent a majority on a lot of issues. Some of the measures you describe as “needed” are debatable. As for your spin on the proposed Republican redistricting maps, you and other zealous Republicans are the equivalent of Elbridge Gerry, significantly a couple of centuries behind the times. It’s no surprise you no longer work for Sen. Collins. Her gain, our burden. Take a hint: don’t run for public office.
Anonymous

Maybe not. Conciliatory is not equivalnet to meek. Governing usually involves compromise, not the imperial iron fist. After all, not all of us are of the same opinion and we possibly represent a majority on a lot of issues. Some of the measures you describe as “needed” are debatable. As for your spin on the proposed Republican redistricting maps, you and other zealous Republicans are the equivalent of Elbridge Gerry, significantly a couple of centuries behind the times. It’s no surprise you no longer work for Sen. Collins. Her gain, our burden. Take a hint: don’t run for public office.
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

No, many of those jobs – like in South Carolina’s Boeing facility – are trying to stay in America. And, hate to tell you sir, but if non-union jobs that pay marginally less than union jobs (but still very very very well) are being “shipped overseas”, just what do you think would happen if every manufacturing facility in this country was a union shop? Think they’d stick around with higher wages?
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

That is because New Hampshire has had decades of experience instituting pro-growth policies that attract business… tax structure, regulatory environment, etc. If you are looking to move your business to northern New England, they have the monopoly on being “business friendly”. Maine should attempt to be more business friendly as well, but RTW would be a powerful statement about how serious the state is about it…
http://twitter.com/DirigoBlue Gerald Weinand

These are often two sides of the same coin.

You also mischaracterize the protestations against the Affordable Care Act as “massive.”
Anonymous

This response is flawed at many levels, but let’s start at the premise: “…there is a long tradition in Maine of true center of the political spectrum politics…” Maine may have been at the “true center” sometime historically, but it hasn’t been there for a LONG time. Right now we are represented by two very liberal Congressmen, and two very liberal Republican Senators. I fail to see the center there. In fact, what makes Maine unique, politically, is that two women have discovered that a moderate Democrat can’t be beaten in a liberal state if they run as liberal Republicans. Every few decades Maine Democrats surpass even Maine voter’s gag reflex and they flush out who’s there and replace them with some real Republicans, but that won’t last long.

So, Maine isn’t in the center, it’s solidly Democrat and quite liberal. YOUR perspective is that Maine is in the center, because you are not in the center.
http://twitter.com/DirigoBlue Gerald Weinand

Those of us that support a single-payer system (as outlined in H.R. 676, the Medicare for All Act), understand that it will need to be paid for, in much the same way Medicare is currently funded – through additional taxes.
http://twitter.com/DirigoBlue Gerald Weinand

I’ll note that Winsor also sponsored LD788, An Act To Prohibit Forced Payment of Labor Union Dues or Fees by Workers. It will come as no surprise that nearly identical bills were introduced in Missouri and New Hampshire this year -

All three bills use model legislation from ALEC as a guide:

http://www.dirigoblue.com/diary/2740/right-to-work-in-maine
Anonymous

Do you even have a clue? During the Obamacare period, there were polls all over the place showing that it lacked public support and was opposed by a MAJORITY of the people. How much more “massive” can you get than a majority? Have you seen the Teaparty movement? Is that massive enough for you?
Anonymous

Don’t let the facts get in your way. No one had even READ the bill before it was passed, so how can you characterize anything as a “distortion?” A distortion of what? Something no one had a chance to read? lol.
http://twitter.com/DirigoBlue Gerald Weinand

Much of New Hampshire’s success is due to its close proximity to Boston. The Maine Heritage Policy Center (MHPC) tried this same argument regarding New Hampshire in its report, The Great Tax Divide: Maine’s Retail Desert vs. New Hampshire’s Retail Oasis, which I pick apart here:

http://www.dirigoblue.com/diary/2940/the-latest-mhpc-report-is-a-desert-alright-one-barren-of-facts
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

You can’t be serious. The town hall fiascos all over the country? Massive protests? My God, this is basically the thing that galvanized the tea party in the first place man… holy wishful thinking batman…
Anonymous

Your place on the political spectrum is obvious, everything/everone towrd the center from your far right position is not only liberal but “very liberal”. Not necessarily so.
Anonymous

Loud but not “massive”.
Anonymous

Have you read it since?
Anonymous

Quoting, you described fieworks and 75 mph as “needed”.
Anonymous

Guess I should known that from your bio, but you still live in Virginia? And you know the situations and issues in Maine how? Not first hand. Your “advice” approaches the credibility of that from ALEC, but I guess nobody has to pay for your advice.
Anonymous

Nope. Opposition to polarized thinking is not necessarily polarized.
http://twitter.com/DirigoBlue Gerald Weinand

That 60 to 100 Tea Party supporters showed up and shouted in front of TV cameras is not a massive movement. It made for great television in that it was controversy, and controversy sells ads.
http://twitter.com/DirigoBlue Gerald Weinand

Boeing cannot leave the US if it wants to continue to sell products to the US government.
Anonymous

Most people like most parts of the health care law.
Anonymous

That’s a Fox News talking point. The bill was on-line beforehand for weeks and weeks. Lots of people reviewed it and wrote about what it said on particular pages.
Anonymous

You solved your problems by having a powerful Democratic majority which most times voted along party lines.
Anonymous

top 1% pay 40% of the income taxes. 49% pay no income tax. Seems like the non-payers have more power than the wealthiest of America. If the wealthy were so powerful, why are they paying most of the taxes.
Anonymous

Not many people like or relate to the tea party movement.
Anonymous

600 people own 50% of the wealth in this country. They should pay more than 40% of income taxes.

Besides which, people like Warren Buffett pay a lower percentage of their income in taxes than their secretaries do.
Anonymous

Being of Irish decent, I’ll answer with a question. What do you think the standard of living in this country would be if there were no unions?
Anonymous

That goes both ways though.

Why was Sarah Palin and all of Fox News screaming there were going to be death panels if they hadn’t read it?
Anonymous

The only thing massive was the distortions by the media. There was nothing shoved down the throats of people. The process was extensive and drawn out. They spent the better part of the year trying to strike a deal and appease everyone. They should have just done single payer and been done with it. God knows the Tea Party and masters of hyperbole like Mr. Gagnon will vilify them regardless.
Anonymous

If the poor are so powerful, how come they have a total 1% of the wealth and nobody on the Republican side who gives a damn about them.
Anonymous

There are a lot of heartless scumbags on the GOP side.
hasacluemaine

After decades of being an independent, I am going to register as an R, so I can vote in primaries. Raye and Nutting, have displayed very weak leadership. Note to Raye: If you run in a R primary for Congress and have anyone opposing you with a backbone, they will get my vote.
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

I think that it would be lower than it is today, historically. But I also think that the nature of the economy has changed to such a degree so as to make unions highly un-necessary… mobility, information industries, and global competition via free trade make unions not only un-necessary in most cases, but actually counterproductive.

I don’t need nor do I want a union representing me.
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

Okay, keep telling yourself that… it isn’t like an entire political movement was born out of that, or that it dealt a historic and massive electoral wave to the American political scene over a year later… nope… just a handful of angry people shouting in front of the cameras… nothing to see here… move along…
http://www.facebook.com/matthewgagnon Matthew Gagnon

Uh… no they don’t. They like the pre-existing conditions provision and letting your kids stay on insurance later… but the centerpiece of the legislation, the entire motivation for it – the mandate – is extraordinarily unpopular with pretty much everyone. As are the additional taxes… the additional spending to fund the program… and essentially everything that makes the bill what it is.

Citing some of the minor and non-contentious parts of the law is pretty disingenuous.
Anonymous

You’re good with those Fox news talking points. And why do you keep commenting back and forth? I never saw a columnist do that before. How is the Republican strategist business these days? Enjoying those birthers? They’re not wussy like the compromisers you don’t like.
http://twitter.com/DirigoBlue Gerald Weinand

Maine already bans the prohibition on pre-existing conditions.

Can you provide poll data that supports your claim on the individual mandate? Personally, I’m not sure it is constitutional, although I understand its necessity.

Again, extending Medicare to all would have been so much cleaner and simpler. But it would have cost for-profit insurance companies too much money.

You know who they are right? The companies that do not provide any actual health care and have demonstrated that they can do nothing to control costs.
http://twitter.com/DirigoBlue Gerald Weinand

Why do you think the standard of living in the US would be lower today “if there were no unions”?
Anonymous

The standard of living would be much lower and the wealth of the upper class would never have reached the hights it has today without unions and the wages and benefits they were able to gain. Not only for their membership but for all other workers. Even those who dispise unions.

Who knows, maybe if every union in this country were to close up shop maybe those who hold the purse strings would suddenly find it in their hearts to not take advantage of the situation and treat all their employees fairly. I highly doubt it myself.

If they were to be disbanded, I think that the money people would be hell bent to rewrite the labor laws.
Anonymous

Not what the Left says when the shoe is on the other foot. It’s political rhetoric.

Perhaps Mr. Gagnon thinks “this is our moment” and the Rs should do as much as they can before Maine swings left again. I couldn’t disagree more…they should show leadership, vision, and conciliation. That’s what makes the state run effectively, and that’s what the Rs should hope to take credit for.

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Maine GOP should be bold and visionary, not meek and conciliatory

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