AUGUSTA, Maine — Republican leaders in the Maine House and Senate said late Tuesday that despite pressure from Democrats and others they will not reconvene this week to vote on two line-item vetoes issued by Gov. Paul LePage.
For the first time in Maine’s history, LePage decided on Saturday to eliminate two lines of funding from the 2012-13 supplemental budget, which passed through the Legislature on Friday.
They are:
• Funding an estimated $8 million shortfall in the general assistance program for the 2013 fiscal year.
• More than $3 million in “disproportionate share” funding to hospitals and psychiatric facilities to offset losses in federal funding.
Earlier Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Barry Hobbins of Saco and House Minority Leader Emily Cain of Orono said it is lawmakers’ “constitutional obligation to convene to address the governor’s veto.”
“Failing to … will be an abrogation of our constitutional responsibilities and an erosion of the doctrine of separation of powers,” Cain and Hobbins wrote in a letter to House Speaker Robert Nutting, R-Oakland, and Senate President Kevin Raye, R-Perry.
In a response letter, Raye and Nutting disagreed.
“Two-thirds of [Republicans] have declined to consent to convening the Legislature,” they wrote. “Inasmuch as we do not have the consent of a majority of members of both parties, the Legislature will not convene this week.
“However, as the [fiscal year] 2013 supplemental budget will be considered in May, the Legislature will have an opportunity at that point to weigh the issues addressed by the Governor’s line-item veto. In light of that, convening the Legislature this week would be an unnecessary exercise and expense.”
Pressure for lawmakers to overturn the governor’s vetoes wasn’t just coming from Democrats on Tuesday.
Bangor City Council Chairman Cary Weston, a Republican and a LePage supporter, said he agrees with the governor about restructuring the general assistance program.
“But passing the buck to municipalities is not the way to change the program,” he said.
Bangor is one of the handful of Maine communities that would be most affected by the general assistance cuts favored by the LePage. Weston said that if the governor’s veto is sustained, the city would lose more than $1 million in general assistance reimbursement, or about $1 on the city’s tax rate if an equivalent amount of spending is not reduced.
Line-item vetoes are possible in Maine because of a constitutional amendment that was approved overwhelmingly by voters in 1995. The amendment gives the governor the ability to strike specific dollar amounts from any budget with a provision that the Legislature can override with a majority vote.
Since it passed, Maine has had three governors, but until Saturday the executive line-item veto power had never been used.
The Legislature is now technically in recess until May 15. That’s when lawmakers need to come back to settle a second supplemental budget addressing an estimated $85 million shortfall in the Department of Health and Human Services.
To reconvene earlier than that date, the Legislature must either be called back by the governor for an “extraordinary occasion” or with the consent of a majority of the members of each political party after being polled.
Democrats were all but united.
Republicans? Not so much.
Even before the House and Senate voted last week, LePage said he would not sign the budget. He also said in a radio interview on Monday that if the Legislature overrides his line-item vetoes, he would veto the entire budget. Unlike line-item vetoes, which need only a simple majority to override, a traditional veto needs a two-thirds majority.
During the same interview, LePage also threatened to keep the Legislature in session until he gets a balanced budget “without gimmicks.”
The budget that passed last Friday is a balanced budget — as is required by the state Constitution — and passed 105-30 in the House and 35-0 in the Senate.
Saturday’s action by LePage was a clear line in the sand.
“I am looking at a way to sustain our welfare programs,” he said. “This budget keeps Maine on the same path it’s been on for 40 years and I will not be held hostage and forced to sign a budget that is irresponsible.”
LePage has pushed for structural changes to a number of assistance and entitlement programs since he has taken office. In some cases, he has been successful. In others, lawmakers have determined that his cuts are too extreme.
University of Maine political scientist Mark Brewer said he believes LePage truly believes that the state’s welfare system is broken and that the level of benefits being provided saps an individual’s will to succeed.
He also said LePage could be expending significant political capital by using his line-item veto power. By issuing the line-item vetoes, the governor essentially is telling 140 lawmakers that they are wrong and he’s right, according to Brewer.
In his veto letter, LePage even called out lawmakers by saying, “We need a profile in courage in Augusta. It’s why we all took that solemn oath and that is why I ask each and every one of you for your support on these vetoes.”
Some, even those in his own party, may not like his choice of words, although clearly not enough to rush to overturn the vetoes.
“Right now, he’s not building a lot of good will among Republicans in the Legislature, who frankly have given him a lot of what he asked for,” Brewer said. “The one thing I wonder whether the governor understands is: In government, there is no CEO. These are equal branches.”
Although it wasn’t what LePage wanted, lawmakers did make minor reductions in the budget to general assistance by reducing the reimbursement rate to service center municipalities from 90 percent to 85 percent and by capping housing assistance at nine months, with some exceptions.
The budget also creates a task force of Department of Health and Human Services members and stakeholders that will come up with ways to make the program more cost-effective in the years ahead.
Weston said Bangor officials were looking forward to studying general assistance into the summer and fall months.
He also noted that the rise in general assistance payouts by municipalities has coincided with a significant backlog of Social Security disability applications. That process can take anywhere from six to 18 months and, while they’re waiting, many low-income Mainers have nowhere else to turn but general assistance.
Ultimately the supplemental budget passed by the Legislature funds a $4 million general assistance shortfall for the 2012 fiscal year and funds all but $1.7 million of an estimated $8 million shortfall in 2013.
House members and senators now have to come back and face the issue.
“If I were a Republican, I’d be livid because instead of being out there on the campaign trail talking about accomplishments, you have to deal with this,” Brewer said. “I think LePage comes out looking good because he has a talking point no matter what happens. But, for the Republican party as a whole, it’s lose-lose.”
Follow BDN writer Eric Russell on Twitter at @BDNPolitics.
Lepage just let the genie out of the bottle. Republicans will rue the day this guy stepped into office.
This was a sure way to get the dem’s back into power, first in the legislature and then into the Blaine House. How many years were they in a complete minority? Well get use to it again.
Any bipartisan law passed in the legislature, its now fair game for a line item veto thanks to Lepage.
and thanks to Kevin Raye and Robert Nutting who have decided it’s more important to enable LePage’s antisocial behavior than to do the job they we elected them to do.
It was not there decision it was 2/3rds of the majority party that decided not to reconvene, the people that were elected by the people of Maine by a majority and not 38% made this decision and you should respect there convictions and not label people with terms that are not true because they disagree with you.
Good, the whole ship of fools is sinking.
“Remember the Maine.”
Maine has been on the bottom since it became a state. Past leadership kept us there.
And the last thing we need is Lepage’s race to the bottom
and I’m sure Nutting and Raye did their best to persuade their colleagues to come back..not.
And how exactly would you know what those two did or said yesterday after the veto?
If it walks like a lepage, acts like a lepage, smells like…well, you get the point, don’t you?
Hmm, Nutting, Raye and Lepage. Aren’t those the same three starring in the revised Three Stooges flick?
Did you read the article? They’ll be back in session in a mere month!
How can you take their word that they even polled their members?
There was no public vote. It was one of those secret straw polls like Charlie Webster does.
Raye and Nutting CLAIM 2/3 of Republicans did not want to reconvene.
Well, here’s a news flash for those fools. They are president of the Senate and House not of just the Republicans in those bodies!
If all Democrats and 1/3 of Repubclans wanted to reconvene that is a majority of the legilslative body.
“If all Democrats and 1/3 of Repubclans wanted to reconvene that is a majority of the legilslative body.”
That’s not the way it works:
“To reconvene earlier than that date, the Legislature must either be called back by the governor for an “extraordinary occasion” or with the consent of a majority of the members of each political party after being polled.
Too bad we have to have parties. Maybe my grandson will see a government that works for the people of the state, but I’m betting it will be worse.
LePage is an ALEC/Heritage Foundation/Grover Norquist toadie and a walking embarassment to the state, and your party will be pounded to smithereens come November. The Maine GOP with its goofball governor and goofball legislative leaders and ultra goofball party chairman are TOAST at the voting booth this fall.
I think you left out the Koch Brothers in your list…
Nutting should be in jail!
I couldn’t have dreamt that these GOP/Tea Party folks could be this dumb. It’s no wonder they’re usually the minority party. Seems now they’re RUSHING to return to their customary position in the backseat of government for another 40 years. Yippee!
Yep, they’ve just sealed their own fate and hung themselves. Remember November.
Okay so let’s say the GOP/Tea Party does come back in May and decide then along with the Democrats to override LePage’s vetoes. What will that say about them? That they didn’t want to exert their constitutional responsibilities in a way that would embarrass Mr. LePage. Probably because he’s done SO much to make them all look so electable to the voters. Ha!
Much the same as the Captain of the crashed Costa Concordia we have our own demented Captain LePage sailing a ship of GOP/Tea Party fools wayyyyy too close to the rocky Maine shoreline. The smart ones (The one-third who wanted to come back) are too cowardly to jump ship and the other two thirds are too partisan/stupid to make out the rocks from the white tipped waves. They’ll all go down together next November. Those who are only on a “Sailing Vacation” will deserve their fate. I’ll feel a bit sorry for the cowards. Sadly for the GOP/Tea Party and us all LePage will of course be the first one in the first lifeboat to hit the water. Now there’s a coward!
Look, it costs a great deal of money to bring the Legislature pack into session (John Martin in particular enjoys the travel stipend, housing stipend, and per diem for such events) AND they’ll be back May 15th.
Don’t forget support staff and a great many State workers as well. It’s no Small Deal.
Do you honestly think the State of Maine will crash in another month?
Sure they could have come back and looked competent, decisive, and compassionate but hey if they want to look cowardly, dumb or lazy for another month that’s okay by me.
No, I think the State will even survive two more years of LePage. See how optimistic I can be! I do however believe that all of the CHAOS cause by Mr. LePage’s lame brained rationales for his vetoes will come back to bite him and what used to be his party (GOP/Tea Party…what party will have him now? The “Lepagite” Party?) on the his/their backsides for many-many years to come. Way to go Paulie! We’re all pullin for ya. That is to say we’re pulling hard on that rope you’ve put around the necks of the GOP/Teas and yourself. Don’t worry it won’t hurt for long. November is coming right along. After that you can wander anywhere you like in the woods of Maine or trailer parks of Florida.
With LePew behind the wheel, the answer is a resounding, “Yes, it will crash.” His supporters both in and out of the legislature might want to fasten their seatbelts.
It should be fairly obvious how dumb they are. Just listen to their rhetoric for a few minutes.
lepage should be in jail
So should Raye.
Yes, the Republicans have shown that they are both cowardly and lazy by not reconvening.
Remember in November.
Not too big a deal if the Dems start running things again like they did the last 40 years. Eventually you are going to run out of other people’s money to spend because us worker bees will just go work elsewhere. Nothing left here then but the leaches and who will pay for them?
Please do go elsewhere, you “worker bees.” All you have done is create hate and discontent. We got along fine before the Tea Party and we’ll get along just fine afterwards.
Why is it “thanks to Lepage”? Isn’t it thanks to voters that voted to give this power to the governor in 1995?
Gov. LePage is great at getting things accomplished. A great leader that doesn’t come along very often
He thinks he’s dictator and the Repubs are bowing down to him! This is rediculous. they voted to pass it and now they won’t put their money where their mouth is
Oh no they will, when their local taxes skyrocket from the added burden put on them by the Gov’s latest move. LaPage forgets what its like to be poor, I thought LaPage was for the people, I thought he grew up in poverty and was out to help the small town people of Maine, no thats not true he’s out to get the small towns but doubling their local taxes and cutting taxes for the people with higher incomes.
I can hear them now: “He betrayed us!” Why is it so hard for them to see what we’ve been trying to tell them all along? Guess they let their sponge brains soak up all the lies they hear…but their pocketbooks won’t lie. Remember November.
Yeah, like the “great leaders” in MS, which has high uninsured rates and lots of poverty.
I’d be embarrassed to make those statements. They’re reflections of someone who’s easily “bamboozled.”
Ha! Ha! Ha! Spineless fools. Playing right into the Democrat’s hands. The level of the November voter bloodbath against the GOP/Tea Party just went up three notches/TUBS FULL. Tick-Tick-Tick each tick of the clock brings us closer to the “Cleansing”.
I think there will be a bloodbath in November. Did you see the latest Gallup tracking poll?
Presidential Election
Romney
48%
+1
Obama
43%
-2
5-day rolling average
Wow! You folks will do just about anything to change the subject in any way to deflect from Paul Richard LePage! I’ll bite on this one though. Rich Robot Romney has been running for President…well FOREVER really but just recently against a complete pack of losers who gave him a real run for his/well ALEC’s money. Mr. Obama on the other hand is just getting warmed up for campaign mode. Perhaps it would be wise not to count too heavily on your cherry picked poll before it hatches?
Warmed Up LOL. Nobama is a useless dolt who has done nothing positive for this country. The guy has increased spending big time, has caused our credit ratings to drop, bailed out everyone looking for a handout. Like Romney said yesterday its time for him to start packing his bags because Working Americans have had enough. He can go back to being the Commnunity Welfare Organizer.
Nasty people who caused the 1929 Republican depression said much the same thing about the last Democratic President that dug us out of that mess. History however reflects very positively upon FDR. One of our best! I stongly suspect history will be just as kind to Mr. Obama. Nasty people come and go, but history remains the same.
“but history remains the same”. Agreed, however it’s people who try to rewrite history by putting their own spin on the historical facts that makes you want to read multiple sources when trying to understand, for example, the 1929 depression’s causes and effects.
The U.S. had essentially no welfare programs until FDR instituted them via the creation of so many three-letter government agencies that noone in government could name them all. Most businessmen passionately disliked FDR, with an intensity only equalled by your expressed dislike of Governor LePage.
On the plus side, when noone in Congress knew what to do to repair the nation’s economy, FDR, with arguable success, instituted a ‘spend your way out of depression’ plan that created a significant national debt for the first time in the nation’s history.
I think there was a World War thrown in there for good measure, with many millions paid to American War Machine to defeat the Axis Powers.
You and others continue to mouth graxcde school name calling toward the President (and others) but I supposed we’d get flagged if we’d do the same to you.
Really I have seen Liberals including you attack our governor and say nasty things about him what is the difference. At least he is doing his job that we voted him in to do. Unlike our useless President who has done absolutely nothing but destroy our country, appease voting blocks, impose a socialist health care system that noone wants. He has attacked people who doesn’t agree with him giving that pathetic sickening grin of his every time you don’t agree with him. He has put our country down a slippery path to total European Socialism. With European Prices on most goods like food, gasoline, clothing. He is only popular with Liberals and even then his approval ratings with them is starting to drop. It’s time to kick his butt back to Chicago and back to his old job of Community Welfare Organizer and a Bum who lives off Working Taxpayers as he was doing before he ran for office.
Thanks for the FAKE-News/Rush Limpmind delusional talking points. And if Paul LePage was given a water enima, he could then be hidden in a matchbox.
Wow! Now that was a truly heroic contribution to today’s discussions…!
Could you stop making pipe bombs in your basement, and send me your Communist manifesto. I have to see if you are making this up or reading from something insane.
What on earth does Romney know about what working Americans think?
About the same as Obama does!
He liked firing them by the tens of thousands.
He asked me. I said I wanted to give the profits of freedom to the rich and kick the middle class working man down the road.
Obama has more brains in one pinky than that JOKE of a FOOL you people had in office before him, and Obama will beat your goofball buddy Mittens RoMONEY like a steel drum. RoMONEY couldn’t run for re-election in Massachusetts because his poll numbers were in the 30’s and he’d have been beaten out of sight. Mittens has reinvented himself so many times it is a wonder he hasn’t turned into a chameleon. He is a fake empty suit phony, and he will LOSE. So keep dreaming. The GOP TeaRadicals will be pounded out of sight in November. Also, it was your FAILED party and Bush who EXPLODED THE DEFICIT with their job killing unpaid tax giveaways to the rich, unpaid Medicare D bill, and unpaid wars with endless upaid no-bid corporate contracts. The GOP destroys the economy at every turn and their policies are very, very bad for taxpayers and for business. When Obama inherited the Bush-GOP Great Recession, stimulus spending was necessary to stop their Great Recession from becoming a Great Depression, and it WORKED. We have now had 25 straight months of private sector job growth and both manufacturing and construction are rebounding, along with housing. The stock market is restored. And we would be much further if the GOP job killers wouldn’t block other job creating measures. But they love to kill jobs. The GOP lives to kill jobs. They want to kill jobs and thwart the economy because they think it will help them politically. The GOP should rename itself the JOB KILLER PARTY because that is what they spend night and day doing. And as to deficits, Obama has passed two trillion dollars in reductions over ten years. So you should get some accurate information next time.
It would appear you’ve never actually created a job, nor was personally responsible for the financial well-being of others who worked for you.
It’s a great obligation and one you might just find more difficult if you’d actually give it a go.
How do we know NOBAMA’s intellect? Everything he’s ever done, except vote PRESENT in the State Senate, is now SEALED from prying eyes.
I DON’T KNOW WHAT WE’RE YELLING ABOUT!
I guess it depends on what poll you look at.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/us/general_election_romney_vs_obama-1171.html
RCP Average3/30 – 4/16–47.144.1Obama +3.0
Rasmussen Tracking4/14 – 4/161500 LV4546Romney +1
Gallup Tracking4/12 – 4/162265 RV4348Romney +5
CNN/Opinion Research4/13 – 4/15910 RV5243Obama +9
Reuters/Ipsos4/12 – 4/15891 RV4743Obama +4
Pew Research4/4 – 4/152373 RV4945Obama +4
FOX News4/9 – 4/11910 RV4446Romney +2
ABC News/Wash Post4/5 – 4/8RV5144Obama +7
IBD/CSM/TIPP3/30 – 4/5816 RV4638Obama +8
Polls are for the media so they can spin BS to the gullible consumers of it. You’re right thought about the bloodbath in Nov. the delusional right is wrong in so many ways one might feel sorry for them if they were less extreme. Romney represents all that is wrong with this country and is the poster child for corporate crony capitalism, a bloodbath it will be along with the heads that will roll with mouths stuffed full of cake.
You gotta stop watching FOX, the fictional news station. Those figures are not correct polls show President Obama way ahead of Romney in the run for President. You would have to be off your rocker to think that Romney will ever beat President Obama in the run for President.
you might want to rethink which networks you call “fictional” , track record of late destroys your narrative.
“News” Stations in general are a joke. There is no news anymore, it’s all glorified opinion and propaganda.
Not sure what you’re looking at, and Gallup has become corporate crud. Most polls have Obama soundly beating RoMONEY. Obama is leading him firmly in all the swing states. There may be a bloodbath in November, but it will be GOP blood, especially here in Maine as we pound the TeaRadical Maine GOP into oblivion.
CNN, Rasmussen and Reuters all have Obama up by 9%, 4% and 1%.
Gallup always errors in favor of Republicans, it has McCAin and Obama close up until the election
Funny. The last poll I saw (day before yesterday) had Obama leading by 9 points over the king of flip flops.
They’re not even pretending to give a damn anymore…a ship of fools !
Give a damn about what? The taxpayer?
Remember the Maine.
I am very PLEASED that LePage had the backbone to do what is RIGHT for the State of ME. It’s about time we had a Governor who wants to move Maine out of the gutter. Go LePage!
His backbone is in hock to ALEC, etc.
And yours to George Soros and Moveon…
Hilarious- the George Soros canard. A lone billionaire who throws down a few million for liberal causes versus dozens of hard right billionaires who have pledged hundreds of millions to get Romney elected so they can get their taxes slashed and returned to the Gilded Age of the late 19th century.
Really? He’s been the power behind the Ds’ throne for years. Too bad they don’t have any organizations or, perhaps, Ted Turner, Bill Gates, and most of Hollywood. (sigh)
ALEC and the Koch Brothers? You give them AND LePage a lot of creative credit.
Surely you mean a backbone w/a yellow strip down the middle. Maine has always been a good state and not in the gutter, which is the exact direction Lepage is aiming for.
Were you actually living in Maine for the past eight years of Baldi’s incompetence?
He actually had the hubris to make Maine the ONLY Sanctuary State (San Francisco is a Sanctuary City) in the entire nation!
Yeah, under his failed leadership, the sign over I-95 might as well have read, “Maine, open for welfare cheats and drug dealers”.
The rednecks already beat them there.
Thank LePage Raye and Nutting for the property tax increases coming our way.
Sorry – the property tax increase is up to you – at the local level. Do you want to keep funding this incredible local GA? Up to you.
so instead of the big buck lawyers & docs paying their fair share its the avg joe with mortgage. great work regressives
You got it. This is what LePew calls putting people before politics. Pulled a good one over on his tea party supporters, didn’t he? In a word, “betrayer.”
I can’t argue with you about “big bucks lawyers”, but I sure appreciated the doctor’s training when he sucked my cancer out last December.
Do you really want someone on Bath Salts cutting you open? I doubt it.
If you don’t like ’em… don’t go see one!
Actually, as Cary Weston keeps pointing out, spending on GA is NOT a local decision. It is a mandate. The city CANNOT simply change the rules or eliminate the program it is a mandated program. If the state wants to stop helping to pay for it, they should stop requiring it.
Cities and towns must have a program.
They determine their own eligibility requirements and levels of support.
3. Standards of eligibility. Municipalities may establish
standards of eligibility, in addition to need, as provided in this chapter. Each
ordinance shall establish standards which shall:
A. Govern the
determination of eligibility of persons applying for relief and the amount of
assistance to be provided to eligible persons; [1983, c. 577, §1
(NEW).]
B. Provide that
all individuals wishing to make application for relief shall have the
opportunity to do so; and [1983,
c. 577, §1
(NEW).]
C. Provide that
relief shall be furnished or denied to all eligible applicants within 24 hours
of the date of submission of an application. [1983, c. 577, §1
(NEW).]
[ 1983, c. 577, §1 (NEW) .]
Providing GA to all who qualify is a state mandate.
Many cities and towns have charters which make changing the local
ordinances a time consuming process that will take many months because
of public notification requirements and right to appeal, or request a
revote etc.
LePage, Raye and Nutting have pushed local governments into a corner
where they have NO legal choice but to raise property taxes.
Or stop wasting so much of our money. You keep leaving out that portion.
I assure you that if the council of Bangor ever grows a pair and decides to cut somewhere it will get done very quickly. As it is they use State and Federal funding to increase the size and scope of their operations as if that money is free money and doesn’t come out of our pockets too.
Exactly what should they cut (to the tune of $1 million) then? What services would YOU like to go without?
Um, Fire Dept…until HE needs it.
Rescue Squad…until HE needs it.
Road maintenance…until HE needs it.
Well, you get the message. All about HIM. As his betrayer hero, Lepage, likes to say, “The rest of you can kiss my butt.”
Never will happen with Longo or any Baldacci on the Council…
Time consuming? Are you insinuating that we are speaking about years? And are you asserting that cities and towns have no mechanism for modifying ordinances on an emergency basis?
Even putting those questions aside, do you think this process would take longer than the process that is necessary to change mill levy and collect the new higher taxes?
It is a fact that cities and towns have more control over their GA spending than some here in this forum want to accept or understand.
Additionally, cities with “great” GA benefits now, like Portland, may have to rein in their largess to prevent becoming an even stronger magnet drawing people from towns that are not as generous.
The real issue is that too many of our large cities have already become magnets due to their willingness to spend the tax money collected from other people around the state. That has to end. If you live in Milo, you ought to be responsible for the needs of Milo’s citizens and you are in a much better position to determine what those needs might be and how to meet them than a bunch of bureaucrats in Augusta.
The following is an excerpt from the Bangor, Maine Report of Municipal Services 1945. Note how it stresses encouraging citizens to become self-sufficient and not rely on public charity as a way of life.
My, how times have changed:
“Allied with the problem of administering the health of the community is that of the administering of the welfare problem. Although the actual amount of relief given by the local Welfare Department was comparatively small during the year 1945, it had, nevertheless, a busy year. The work of this department cannot be measured alone by the amount of money which it requires for operation. It is concerned fully as much with the task of aiding people to develop their own resources, enabling them wherever possible to resume or to achieve the status of self-maintaining members of the community as it is with providing them with the articles of food, clothing and shelter which they may need to relieve their condition of suffering.…
Time must be spent in interviews and in subsequent outside investigation before any attempt can be made to evolve a treatment which would build the morale and desire to manage without help from the more fortunate members of a community who pay the cost of public support.”
Many towns have processes that allow a minority of citizens to appeal, gather signatures for revotes and take the change to court for a very long time. I have seen cases take over 2 years to resolve even though a majority of town councilors and citizens wanted the change.
You fail to note that the process by which Municipalities may determine eligibility is highly structured and is determined by legislation and/or the Constitution. The result is that most anyone who request it will receive it if they know how to work the system,no matter where they are from.
Both of these issues need major reworking, not just band aids . This “Budget” was nothing more than a Band Aid.
Structure, yes.
Details and dollar amounts, no. That is a function of the governments of the cities and towns.
The cities and towns very often have little choice in eligibility determinations unless they ant to run afoul of State rules.
Then you are right. The state should stop requiring it.
There is a state law REQUIRING towns and cities to provide general assistance to anyone who qualifies and no bill has even been proposed to change that law.
LePage, Raye and Nutting have unilaterally decided we must pay higher property taxes with their unfunded mandate!
No they have decided that if you and the others in your town wish to throw out free money at your expense than you may do so and you may pay for it. There is no reason why someone in Dixmont’s tax money should got to GA for people in Bangor.
I dunno, State law is a pretty good reason.
State law expresses some minimum levels of support. Cities and towns have quite a bit of flexibility on eligibility requirements and how much is paid.
Voters need to educate themselves on this issue.
Has any town ever been sued for failing to comply with GA?
I was with Bangor’s previous Welfare Director when we actually met folks with one-way tickets from Boston, getting off the Gray Hound bus downtown, and asking where the Welfare Office was located.
Why don’t you ask Shawn Yardley just how often that still happend today?
State Law mandates a minimum requirement for GA that all towns have to meet.
A town can go over the minimum, at their own expense, or they can stay at the State mandated level to get reimbursement from the State.
How is it a property tax increase if you vote to increase it at the town meeting that is a tax increase that would be your choice. Though responsible folks would likely vote no to increasing General Assistance and vote no to huge budget increases. We need to stop the growth of spending at all levels of government and the growth of these Welfare programs that do absolutely nothing. It’s not economically good for our state and the growth in these programs you can’t sustain it at the levels they are at. We have seen year after year the budget issues we have from the excessive spending and DHHS/Welfare Spending.
If the state stops funding education, what do you think will happen to local property taxes? The towns are required to pay for public education and there is a limit to the ways you can cut spending. Therefore, you will need to raise taxes in order to meet obligations. It is a similar situation with GA because the state mandates what must be done. If the state eliminated the mandate it would be a choice.
State law stops at mandating that municipalities must have a GA budget. State statutes don’t dictate the size of that budget or how it must be specifically spent.
Many cities and towns have charters which make changing the local
ordinances a time consuming process that will take many months because
of public notification requirements and right to appeal, or request a
revote etc.
LePage, Raye and Nutting have pushed local governments into a corner
where they have NO legal choice but to raise property taxes.
Maybe those towns should get started don’t you think?
Maybe they should start having a conversation with their citizens about raising the mill levy, then. That will take as much if not more time than changing a local ordinance.
Yeah – like I said, LePage, Raye and Nutting are pushing an unfunded mandate that will raise property taxes (that’s exactly what raising the mil levy does).
… and if they neither one they are in violation of state law and it could cost even more.
All because LePage, Raye and Nutting forced them into that impossible situation
State Law mandates a minimum requirement for GA that all towns have to meet.
A town can go over the minimum, at their own expense, or they can stay at the State mandated level to get reimbursement from the State.
Providing GA to all who qualify is a state mandate.
Many cities and towns have charters which make changing the local ordinances a time consuming process that will take many months because of public notification requirements and right to appeal, or request a revote etc.
LePage, Raye and Nutting have pushed local governments into a corner where they have NO legal choice but to raise property taxes.
Good, let’s start stopping the growth of spending by seriously curtailing the military industrial complex, ending being the policeman of the world with way too many overseas bases, and ending crazy tax subsidies for oil corporations and many others that are already making record profits. Or would those measures be too much for your corporate masters to deal with? Oh, gee, poor babies. They might not be able to buy a tenth vacation home next year. Boo hoo. Please, try finding some information that extends beyond that insane pack of lies on FakeNews.
Actually your hyperbole doesn’t cut it as many of us want that spending cut too. Of course the unemployment rate will go way up when Bath Iron Works stops making military hard ware, not to mention all of the other military contracts that will be cut but I don’t imagine a 15% unemployment rate is too much to ask do you?
I’m sure Obama can overcome that this election since he doesn’t seem to be responsible for any of the other issues with our economy.
If your local government wants to keep handing money out to transient people stepping off a bus from other states where they have worn out their welcome, then you have nobody to blame but them…
typical words from another republican,i have never understood how any working man would vote republican they only represent the rich surely not us the working class.Do you know the differance at least the democrat will share a small piece of the pie not keep it all for himself “WAKE UP”
The theater isn’t the only place to see “The Three Stooges”!
Bangor, Portland, et. al. pay 10% of GA. What incentive do they have to crack down on the deadbeats and scammers when only a dime of every dollar is their money and we pick up the rest? Put the hurt on them and I’ll guarantee they will find a way to save some money, leave it at 90 and nothing will change.
Welfare! The economic engine of Maine.
In Portland, it is just about the only economy.
The people there are very quick to say that Portland is the premier economic engine of the state. The truth is that they are not and they actually consume about 40% of all state funds for both welfare and education.
It’s perfectly balanced. The welfare recipients roll in and the educated young people roll out.
Once again the Republican members of the Maine Legislature have stood with Paul Richard LePage and have collectively given the middle finger to Maine Citizens. It is as if they are actually trying to make sure that the Democrats take over both houses of the Maine Legislature in November. A vote in November for Kevin Raye or any republican will be the same as casting a vote for Paul Richard LePage and the special interest he represents.
Guess what; we voted in Gov. LePage, and don’t say he only had a small percentage of the vote, because Balhachee had less.
Guess what I actually voted for LePage. Guess what else come next January it will be easier to find snowballs lining the walls of hell then it will be to find a republican in Augusta.
Be very careful Gay Marriage II is on the ballot. A divisive issue that will bring us all back not only to vote it down again but vote to clean out the rest of the Libs.
Dream on.
They haven’t lived in that place called “reality” for some time now, Gopher. Let them stay there a little longer and enjoy their dream.
Right, I’m sure you are right.
We will see in November when not only we go 2-0 on Gay Marriage. While also sending folks like Emily Cain, Peggy Rotundo, Cynthia Dill back home where they belong and force them to get real jobs like the rest of us.
I really don’t think the overwhelmingly Democratic district ts which elected those Reps will vote in Republicans. Thinking otherwise is an indication of delusional thinking.
Tyke, they’re no longer drinking the tea. They’re rolling and smoking it now.
So what can you tell us about the districts these reps are from?
Well, this is a free country so those who want to be completely delusional have a right to be that way. But the Maine GOP is going to get pounded in a big way, and it will be MANY of them who will be sent packing. So enjoy fantasyland while you can.
Now THAT’s funny. What are you smoking, anyhow?
And that, by reason of intelligence, makes him wrong.
Sure! All the Homophobes will crawl out of their closets to vote that one down! That’s all part of the “less government’ plan.
Those old homophobes actually think they’re pulling one over on us, but here’s the truth that most intelligent people know: basic Biology 101 includes the fact that we are all born with a degree of latent homosexuality. The ‘phobes have a higher-than-average degree of it and that scares the bejeesus out of them, so they turn that fear into hatred of gay people. And nobody will ever know the difference. Sorry, but you don’t fool us, ‘phobes.
Marriage equality will most likely pass and the neanderthal right wing irrational fear mongers will be licking their wounds in a big way. And the Maine GOP is going to be pounded to smithereens at the voting booth.
Why are you so fascinated with what gay people do in their bedrooms? Closet gay youirself perhaps?
Why is it so hard for you to live and let live?
Closet, kitchen, bedroom…anywhere is fine w/him as long as he doesn’t get caught indulging in the very thing he purports to hate. These anti-gay people are such hypocrites. And they think the rest of us don’t have their number? Ha!
DK is obsessed with many things. It must make for one tired cat. An old aunt of mine used to say ignore it it will go away, but this cat won’t. He will go on and on, railing about all the ‘welfare bums’ that flock to this state every hour of every day.
Maine pays such great benefits that they come here by the droves! Suppose he ever researched just how little Maine’s benefits are compared to other New England states?
Incredible, isn’t it, how easily they swallow the lies they’ve been fed? The extent of their research is to use their sponge brains to sop up whatever Bubba tells them.
Now that I have read what some believe, it is mind boggling! LePage read a Forbes article and interpreted it to suit his own warped way of thinking and many have fallen for the spiel. He twisted it and now here we are..
You said it, we didn’t. I assume thorugh the kid stuff name calling that you’re referring to our previous gorvernor.
Guess what, it’s LePage we’re talking about here. (No one except you is talking about Baldacci but if you really want to keep bringing up this irrelevant comparison, you should really do a little research first — and then you will see that this is an apples and oranges comparison. In the Baldacci election the Democratic vote was split among several Democratic-leaning candidates. In the LePage election, the Republican vote wasn’t really split at all, was it? So take your 38% and celebrate it while you can. Republicans have thoroughly squandered their chance to have much say in Maine politics for the next 10 years at least.)
Uh, LePage didn’t run against Baldacci…
If I had voted for the selfish, incompetent Lepage, do you think I’d admit it?
You vote for him, he promises to put people before “paulitics,” then he does a complete about-face.
Where I come from, that’s called a “betrayal.”
“Paul Richard LePage and the special interest he represents”. For a moment, let’s pretend that I’m ignorant. Can you state exactly what special interests you’re speaking of? Please, spare me by not mentioning Koch, ALEC because many don’t consider those words representative of any particular special interest any more than the word ACORN.
You have to wonder what Republicans are thinking. They pass bills with enough votes to override a veto, then they change their minds after the veto. Their heart just doesn’t seem to be in standing by their votes. Bizarre…
Ryan they are afraid of LePage. Apparently more afraid of him then they are of voters.
Sneaky game players. They’ll attempt to rest on their previous vote, not their chickening out.
Since it was line item, many republicans agree with what’s left of this budget. Some held their nose on a couple issue for the sake of compromise. For some people this budget with the line item vetoes is better than original and Appropriations still will have work to do. Whatever you think of Lepage, there are alot of Mainers tired of a welfare system that attracts people to the state. We want people coming to Maine looking to be productive citizens not just looking for a bigger and better hand out. It’s great to be compassionate, but we can’t let our generousity be taken advantage of. The system has to be fixed.
The Senate passed the budget unanimously. Now all of a sudden, Senate Repubicans don’t support what they passed. Let’s be honest here: If you’re a legislator and you don’t like a particular item in a bill, you work to change it before the vote. Failing that, if the issue is really important to you when the final vote comes up, you don’t vote for the bill.
It’s unbelievable that so many lawmakers aren’t willing to stand up to LePage. It reminds me of how loudmouths and people with big heads continue to get their way, even when most people would tell you in private they would rather get rid of the loudmouth/big head. Rarely does acquiescing to such people turn out well, because it just gives loudmouths/big heads more and more latitude to go to the extreme.
It only takes a simple majority to override a line item veto.
1/3 of Republicans plus all Democrats = a majority.
Raye and Nutting ae supposed to be leaders of the entire Senate and House and have just refused to do their jobs.
Lord forbid we should compromise. Wouldn’t that be too civil?
And they will find, in November, that the voter has no heart for them.
It looks like LePage will have the elderly thrown out of nursing homes onto the street, after all.
And this while cutting taxes that could have been used to help them?
If there is a God, which I don’t think most Americans believe anymore, we are going down.
Any Republican that wants to get re-elected will stay home, and let the veto stand. If Republicans want to act like Democrats, we will get real ones next time.
Republicans are done in Maine, November will be a rude awakening for Lepage.
“However, as the [fiscal year] 2013 supplemental budget will be considered in May, the Legislature will have an opportunity at that point to weigh the issues addressed by the Governor’s line-item veto. In light of that, convening the Legislature this week would be an unnecessary exercise and expense.”
Worth repeating.
It is indeed worth repeating.
Unsurprisingly, all the shrieking here is coming from the crowd for whom wasting money unnecessarily is standard operating procedure.
In his veto letter, LiarPage even called out lawmakers by saying, “We need a profile in courage in Augusta.” There is that line again “profile in courage”, we sure could have used someone of your courage Pauly, in Viet Nam, you do remember Viet Nam don’t you? That is the war you fled to Canada from so you could start a new family. A family that you conveniently discarded once the war was over and it was safe to come back to Maine. I have hoped a journalist would go to Canada and get the story of your OTHER family so we could find out YOUR character Mr LiarPage.
Thank you!
Thank You !
May 15 is not that far down the road. The Legislature has been working very hard and I think they need a break. Time to step away, take a woosh moment, and put all of this skullduggery into perspective. While it is interesting that the republicans started to rebuff LePage and some of his more draconian moves toward the end of the session, it is not surprising that they weren’t willing to come back for two line items. They are republicans after all. They are all fully aware that LePage has manipulated them into a lose-lose position. The last thing they want to do is add “cavers” to their M.O. The majority of them must be frantically trying to figure out how to get out from under his thumb without ruining the party completely. Personally I am thrilled to see them in that position. They have earned it in spades.
Jennifer, I hope they do something on Education because the current Socialist One Size Fits All System that Democrats have supported hasn’t worked and its been broken for 30 years. Their consolidation law they proposed has not worked either. We are 27th and dropping , with more than 70% of Maine’s schools failing in some form or another. Dems can’t spin that either. I hope they eliminate Welfare to everyone who is able to work , noone who is able to work should be on it in the first place. They should be working like all of us who go to work every day. I have no sympathy for anyone who refuses to work they should be put on a bus like LePage has said and be force out of here. Maine should be a Pro-Business, Pro-Opportunity, Pro-Freedom, Low Taxed State with Welfare only for the Elderly and Truly Disabled. You want Welfare go South or head North to Canada.
Maine can’t be a pro-business, pro-opportunity, pro-freedom, low taxed state with welfare only for the elderly and truly disabled. No state can be all these things at the same time because they are contradictory. A pro-business state is anti-opportunity and anti-freedom because the businesses the state currently has don’t want new businesses competing for resources like workers. Low taxes means no infrastructure, poor education, poor health care which translates to anti-business because and you only have to look at Maine to see that business growth occurs within 10 miles of route 95, 295, and 395 – the turnpike, our only infrastructure. California passed its vision of a low taxed state referendum and fell from first to worst in education within two years. Colorado passed TABOR and replaced California at the bottom.
Maine needs to be a state which invests in education, transportation, high-speed internet, bridges, roads, and people to do that it has to be a moderately taxed state and business must work with the state to meet state goals. Welfare is for the truly disabled and has been for 15+ years. The only exception is the corporate welfare that another story identifies as costing the state more than the entire state budget – $6.6 billion every two years. Get your heads focused around the real problem – corporate welfare for the undeserving.
Looks to me that no one other than the Republican politicians have the nonads to tell the welfare people to stop expecting the state to support them. There are many on the system that could work but they don’t as they know they will be taken care of.
These spineless republicans have let the Tea Baggers take over their party. I had begun to believe that they were as fed up with this jackass’s antics as I am, but it seems they are just sheep being led by a loud-mouthed bully. Shearing day is coming up in November. They are playing Russian roulette with a gun that has no empty chambers. Such cowardice and stupidity should not be serving in the legislature.
Their cowardice and stupidity is great! They’ll be rewarded for it accordingly, in November.
Why does that “Ding dong, the wicked witch is dead” song keep playing in my head?
Neither Democrats nor Republicans in the Legislative branch at the State or national level are prone to overturn a veto of the chief executive of their party. For example, during Baldacci’s tenure as Governor the Democrats voted at least twice, I believe, in favor of a Passamaquoddy Tribe casino, but sustained Baldacci’s vetoes.
However, the Maine Legislature’s Republicans’ refusal to outright overturn these vetoes, as well as the bill to give added protection to homeowners in foreclosure proceedings (including as one option that a representative of the financial institution simply swear under oath that it did have legal ownership of the property) – all measures having had huge bipartisan votes for passage in the Legislature (the budget 105-30 in the House and 35-0 in the Senate and the foreclosure bill 90-54 in the House and 32-2 in the Senate) – is blind partisanship in the extreme.
The Maine GOP Legislator’s have consistently followed their marching orders from ALEC, the Maine Heritage Policy Center, and the pseudo governor, all the while claiming they are acting in the best interests of the middle class (among them my family and me), the needy and vulnerable (including some relatives, friends, and neighbors), communities that are struggling financially, etc. Hogwash! The excrement all flows downhill and we are at the bottom. They are charlatans and snake-oil salesmen.
And now, when the Legislative Republicans actually made bipartisan decisions that they apparently believed are in the best interests of the people, as opposed to purely dogmatic legislation that has been their hallmark, they cowardly repudiate their previous votes. LePage was accurate about one thing when he said, “We need a profile in courage in Augusta.” The GOP Maine Legislators are spineless ideologues.
If the Republican Legislators reverse themselves again in May, don’t be fooled into believing they will have had a change of heart. They will be running scared to hold on to their seats in the next election, trying to wring even more concessions from the Democrats for political advantage, or both.
I voted for two of these Republican Legislators (Senate and House) and supported another. It was a colossal mistake that I will not make again. Voters often have short memories. I will remember in November.
“wanttruthnospin” That’s a funny handle. Does not jive with your posts,but still funny.
Your anemic one-liners are a poor substitute for substance. What you would label as opinion is easily extrapolated from the facts. Of course, you would never want facts to
interfere with your single-minded beliefs.
If you would like to take issue with my reference to the influence of ALEC and the Maine Heritage Policy Center on LePage and GOP Legislators, then you are either intentionally denying the relationship or know so little of the vast majority of the GOP policies and legislation that have been proposed or implemented. Whether because of prevarication or ignorance, your credibility becomes absolute zero. Or is it my characterization of them
being “charlatans and snake-oil salesmen”? Given the comparison of their words vs. their deeds, that is apropos. But I will allow that to be an opinion that we don’t share.
Since we’re on the topic of reality and evidence, you may recall our last discourse in which you defended LePage and DHHS Commissioner Mary (Missy) Mayhew regarding the current problems in DHHS and the lengthy time lag that existed between her stated knowledge that the DHHS budget figures were off and she and LePage notifying the Legislative Appropriations Committee. I cited Mayhew’s own stated timeframe that she knew of a budget discrepancy sometime in January (at which time the Appropriations Committee was meeting) and the March 6 date when she and LePage actually informed the Committee. That is 5 weeks minimum to 8-9 weeks maximum. And your response was…some fanciful fairy tale that totally and intentionally evaded the issue.
Quoting former President Ronald Reagan’s line made famous in several debates, “There you go again.” No legitimate assertion – zero credibility.
Seeing that you have become somewhat of a stalker of my posts, you should have noticed that, when it is pertinent, I have acknowledged the Democrats’ imperfections (including in the post that you termed “funny”, when they backtracked twice on their votes for a Passamaquoddy casino by sustaining Baldacci’s vetoes) and I have identified past and present Republicans whose values I admire.
Contrast that with you and with your dogmatic counterparts who are so single-minded that they are always right and anyone who is different is always wrong.
Which takes me to another point; on several occasions, including directly to you, I have made it abundantly clear that neither Republicans nor conservatives per se, are the problem – but extremists are. In this State and across the U.S. the Republican Party has been pushed far to the right.
Here is a Merriam-Webster definition of an ideologue: “an often blindly partisan advocate or adherent of a particular ideology.” Ideologues are zealots; zealots are extremists; and history, if you know anything at all about it, is full of wrongs perpetrated by the intolerance of extremists against those who differ. They wrap themselves in the mantle of virtues such as freedom, religion, patriotism, and justice with the result being that people ultimately lose a lot more than they gain.
Paul LePage and his most ardent supporters are ideologues. Ideologues of any stripe are an imminent threat to be countered. At this juncture the reactionary right that has co-opted the GOP and duped many well-meaning citizens is the clear and present danger. “There is none so blind as they that won’t see.” (Jonathan Swift)
My views are much more complex than right/left, conservative/liberal, or
Democrat/Republican. Unfortunately, I doubt that you get it. It’s too simple for you to label people.
good they finally stood up aginst him they should do it more often
LePage outfoxed them.He got part of his way, which he knew he would because the r’s felt the need to placate him.Although I don’t like the man or his politics, I admire this move.He knew that they don’t have the guts to reconvene for just two items.Just another reason to make sure that the r’s aren’t in the majority after Nov.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, by looking at the picture it’s quite obvious ,that the Gonernot seemingly shows he is in need of a full mental evaluation. In a way he looks like a potential danger to society.
The picture also shows that he’s in need of a full set of dentures. Either that or he met a well-earned fist.
Maybe now the cuts will start at the lower level of government and people will start fending for them selves
Your property taxes will increase.
If Nutting was hoping to avoid any type of controversy in his running to replace Oly, well, he just screwed the pooch. By caving in to LePage’s political theater and grandstanding, Raye has all but declared that he is married to the extreme right-wing of the Maine GOP and is more concerned with supporting those who he’s ‘on the hook’ to rather than the voter’s. Extending that arguement, it can now be more than clearly stated that the Maine GOP has decided that it’s more important to fight for their political image as opposed to fighting for the political realities that everyone in Maine has to. If this is true then Paulie and the radical right-winger’s have exactly what they wanted. A State that’s governed not by the democratic process but thru the use and application of political bullying and grandstanding that’s got a historically proven record of leading to an inevitable ‘buttwhooping’ when the next elections are held. If there was ever a way to more clearly show the responsible voter’s, of both Party’s, what the upcoming legislative session is going to turn into I’d be hard pressed to do so more graphically. And when, and I think we can all agree to this, the next opportunity for a needed State Constitutional Amendment to be added is made available, courtesy of Paulie & Company, the provision for a Re-Call Amendment to be added is all but a foregone conclusion. Raye and Nutting have now, courtesy of incredibly shortsighted thinking, all but made the need for that Amendment crystal clear. If there was ever a time for the State GOP Chairman (Hey, Charlie. you out there ?) to have a little ‘quality woodshed time’ with the GOP Caucus Leadership, this might be a good time to do it.
And Nutting won’t get out of this unscathed either. Given that Raye’s position was largely driven by both ‘sitting on the fence’ and Radical right-winger Republican’s, Nutting had every opportuity to pull Raye off this ‘grandstanding Band Wagon’ and back down to earth and keep the Maine GOP’s feet on smart, politically safe ground. Instead he let the radical right-winger’s push Raye off the fence into the ‘See, mine’s bigger than your’s’ position he’s now in and is now married to whatever happens, good or bad, from now until November. I just hope that some checked to see just how deep the political water is in the Maine ‘swimming hole’. Jumping into a dry hole, or worse, one that’s full of snapping turtle’s, is not the smartest move.
This is just an example of the need for a different majority in the legislature.
To Nutting & Raye…WE WILL REMEMBER in NOVEMBER….Shirking their duty on the GOV. veto’s.
Barring a turn-around in sentiment, the lege is about to kick the can along to the towns, where, they assert, citizens can decide for themselves whether to fund or not to fund – as if it were that simple.
In some town meeting somewhere, after long and heated debate some enlightened soul will come up with a revolutionary solution – a town farm! Located on an obscure side road this little haven for the indigent will feature a ramshackle farmhouse or perhaps some FEMA surplus trailers and outbuildings where poor folks can live healthful bliss tending the garden, picking over the local transfer station’s bounty and the like – just like the good old days. For the places where having town farms would make no sense, a city-run workhouse somewhere down by the tracks or river might suffice. There always jobs people in their right minds would never want, thus a chance to re-capture an old time Dickensian wonderworld. Then and only then will we have the poor and their numerous offspring right where we want them – out of sight and mind. In the name of Koch, amen.
Oh, those were the days. In my little town it was called the poor farm. I don’t really remember it. By the time I came along, it was overgrown with alders. No buildings existed. They had probably been torn down and burned. You could make out where the cart path had been to get from the road to the farm. “…Gee, our old LaSalle ran great. Those were the days.” Why did the image of Archie and Edith Bunker just suddenly come to mind?
>>>>
Bunch of gutless wonders. It will be a pleasure to send them packing come November.
Thank you for saving us the money. Why don’t you just adjourn and let Sire LePage run things until November. I’ll bet we’ll save some big short-term bucks then.
The Republican’s are afraid of Lepage and his gang of thugs.
They should be afraid of the voters but they count on their well financed propagation machine to hide their corrupt and anti-Maine agenda.
>>>>
VERY WELL DONE – now THAT people is leadership, making the tough decisions others are afraid, literally afraid to make. People, we cannot buy everything for everybody just because it feels good.
And when it’s a decision you don’t like, you say they’re shoving it down your throat, right?
In the long run this may be the best way out of this mess Mr LePage has created — but only time will tell.
Had the legislature reconvened to vote on these line item vetoes and they passed Mr LePage in his grand wisdom probablly would have vetoed the entire supplemental budget causing further damage and prolonging the time the legislature was in session at greater expense to us the taxpayers. As it stands what remains of the supplemental budget although not balanced can become law and beyond further touch by Mr LePage.
The May 15th date to reconvene is not that far away and this time would have easily been used up haggling over these line item vetoes and a full veto of the supplemental budget. Now the legislature has the opportunity to take these line item vetoed items on May 15th as a seperate issue to put before Mr LePage and force his hand one on one.
The only concern here is if the legislature has the fortitude to address these issues. To make sure they do their job we the citizens need to apply our will upon them so that they represent us as they have been elected to do. If we the citizens fall asleep at the wheel here we will reap what we sow. I urge everyone to contact your legislators and let them know how you feel on this issue.
It is time for We the Citizens to take our State back — it belongs to us — not the tea party — not the republican or democrat party — it is ours.
LePage did not create this mess.
Sort of reminds me of the time the Maine Dems adjourned the legislature early and then reconvened a fake “emergency session” at a cost of millions to the taxpayers, all so that they could pass a simple majority budget without Republican support.
Only the move by the Dems cost Maine taxpayers many millions and this will save Maine taxpayers millions.
Apparently the usual liberal mind-set is that if the gov’t is not spending money then nothing is getting done for the “people”…..in the midst of all the ranting and ravings from both sides of the aisle, it is refreshing to see some accountability going on and also something happening that is causing budget reviews and spending being scrutinized rather than just blanket passing of budgets and requests…..
Liberalism leads to Socialism. These comments all speak to what is down the road for us. It is time for you folks to wake up and take a hard look around. You think LePage is bad for Maine? Let’s see how it turns out. Unless you are on the dole, I can’t see anything that would be problematic. Continue on this slippery slide and re elect the Muslim, unamerican , Socialist, and you will all be speaking a different language. Made in America will be nothing but a memory and life as we know it WILL change dramatically!
Call me whatever names you want. If you take off your rose colored glasses and look around, and have a listen and maybe educate yourselves, we can fend off this attack on our people by the government.
History continues to repeat itself. When will you realize that?
Awright Paul LePage! Keep up the good work! Business as usual in Augusta is now a dinosaur.
Way to go LePage and Republicans who want our vote better support him right down to the wire. We put you into office and if you want to stay there you had better be acting like Republicans not Democrats with an “R” in front of your name on the ballot.
As for Bangor,
“Weston said that if the governor’s veto is sustained, the city would lose more than $1 million in general assistance reimbursement, or about $1 on the city’s tax rate if an equivalent amount of spending is not reduced.”
Maybe you should try reducing spending?
The Republican/Tea Party is a complete failure to do their job, they voted to fund the two vetoed items, and now they won’t come back and override the dictators vetos.
Is anyone actually surprised the Republicans are refusing to go back. They do not care about anyone but their own selves and the corporations they represent! Not the average working Joe. You think it is bad now, it is going to get a whole lot worse as they stay. Get you stock piles of goods, ammo, and get ready to fight to protect what you have left. We are headed for another bloody revolution.
I am appalled by the lack of “courage” of these republicans to stand behind their vote. They have shown NONE while letting their party get hijacked by the right-wing extremists. We do need “Profiles in Courage” in Augusta. (I find it interesting that this fascist Tea Party hack would use a democrat’s book title to try to rally support for his extremist agenda.) They have sealed their fate and will become former legislators come November. The LePage boat is sinking and it’s going to take even the sensible republicans down with it.
It is a show of support for the guvnah’s positions. Nothing more, nothing less. Move on boys and girls…
wrong spot
I sense a resistance to chage here.
>>>>
I don’t mind some of the things Mr. LePage does, I think he has some good ideas but at the same time, I can see him taking his childhood problems out on a lot of working Maine people who hold a position in one of the professions that gave him trouble as a young boy.
Some of our larger Cities have contract out their G A services, at an outrageous fee I might add, and the dollars spent have gone through the roof. Sounds like welfare for welfare brokers. I wonder the political ideology of the folks running the businesses that are doing this work,any guesses?
Eric Russell-you can write an article bending it to the BDN’s left leaning ways. Much like asking someone if they still beat their wife.
Just another daily attack on our Governor.
Very excellent move. The liberals as mad that the Governor is playing by rules they set forth. The only thing better than beating your rivals is beating them at their own game. Nice one.
He vetoed something the Republicans passed. His rivals are his party?
Cowards. Stand up to the bully.
well i guess i will try again this makes three attemps at makeing a comment about that fool lepage. he was a coward during the nam running to canada ,from what i see he should have stayed there. he must have grown a pair to be able to hurt poor people, the truth is most cowards talk trash . he’s just another republican not wanting to pay his fair share.
Hail to our KING Lapage. ( That’s what he thinks he is.) The surfs Raye and Nutting will probably be voted out real quick.
The voters will remember Raye’s and Nutting’s choice to side with the Great Divider come November !
I live in Freeport, and I think this is great. Why should my taxes go to pay for the dregs of society in your town? We don’t have any general assistance here, because we actually have jobs, unlike most of you hicks. My local taxes go down, yours go up – HA HA.
On second thought, since I live in Florida 181 days per year, I don’t pay any Maine income tax anyway, so I don’t really care. Or Car Registration, or Excise Tax on my car. This is a great line item veto in any case. Paul LePage is tremendous. Thanks for the subsidies – Maine really is the way life should be – If you can afford a second home in Florida!!!! Don’t worry though – I’m listed as a “Job Creator” with my income. I hire a boy from Durham to Mow my lawn once every two weeks – the great part is he’ll do it for $5/hr and I pay him cash money – cripes he may even have a future in that line of work. I’m hearing that some Mexican families are moving into Lisbon, so I can probably get one of them to do it for $3/Hr. Capitalism is a wonderful thing – competition, competition, competition!!!!!