Articles by Matthew Gagnon
The MaineCare black hole
Here is a fact that is simply inarguable: Maine hospitals are owed $450 million. Here is another fact that is inarguable: That debt was caused by an expansion of MaineCare, which is Maine’s version of Medicaid, without accompanying state resources devoted to paying for the additional coverage. Even the most ...
PINE TREE POLITICS (blog)
The MaineCare black hole
on May 16, 2013, at 5:01 p.m.
Here is a fact that is simply inarguable: Maine hospitals are owed $450 million. Here is another fact that is inarguable: That debt was caused by an expansion of MaineCare, which is Maine’s version of Medicaid, without accompanying state resources devoted to paying for the additional coverage. Even the most ...
PINE TREE POLITICS (blog)
Unleash educational experimentation
on May 09, 2013, at 4:34 p.m.
Over the past decade, there has been an interesting convergence between left and right on one issue: education. That is not to say that Republicans and Democrats do not still hold divergent views on how to fix America’s broken education system. They certainly do. Democrats continue to stress nationalized, standardized, ...
PINE TREE POLITICS (blog)
Grading the grades
on May 02, 2013, at 4:32 p.m.
Liberal antagonists to Gov. Paul LePage and his policies have been having a field day attacking the recently announced letter grading system for Maine schools. A recent Bangor Daily News editorial labeled the system “uncompassionate” as well as “unreliable.” This was a rather fascinating claim to make, given that the ...
PINE TREE POLITICS (blog)
Guard the rights of your enemies, even Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
on April 25, 2013, at 3:53 p.m.
Three weeks ago, I wrote a column on these pages calling on conservatives to do more than simply talk about how much they revere the Constitution, but to justify and reinforce that reverence with serious, intellectual, logical arguments. “What conservatives really need to do is more than just be right ...
PINE TREE POLITICS (blog)
It wasn’t the NRA that killed the background check bill
on April 18, 2013, at 4:34 p.m.
In the wake of the failure of the self-styled “bipartisan” gun control legislation in the U.S. Senate, many supporters of the bill sponsored by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Penn., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., are coming unhinged. President Barack Obama accused the National Rifle Association (full disclosure: I am an NRA ...
PINE TREE POLITICS (blog)
The 2014 gubernatorial race has begun
on April 11, 2013, at 1:33 p.m.
One of the most common complaints about U.S. presidential elections is that with every cycle the madness begins earlier. Each time, candidates announce sooner, run never-ending, perpetual campaigns, and the American people don’t get much of a break. In Maine, this trend appears to be happening for our gubernatorial elections ...
PINE TREE POLITICS (blog)
Advice from a fellow conservative: How to really defend the Constitution
on April 04, 2013, at 3:42 p.m.
Stop by any gathering of more than two or three Republicans, and you’ll hear something repeated ad nauseum: “The only way we are ever going to get this country back on track is if we follow the Constitution.” Such a belief is so fundamental to a conservative that it is ...
PINE TREE POLITICS (blog)
No excuses for the GOP
on March 21, 2013, at 4:56 p.m.
To quote Julius Caesar: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.” The Republican Party currently finds itself underlings. It is in a very difficult place. It faces some monumental challenges, and most of these problems are our own doing. The chief ...
PINE TREE POLITICS (blog)
The Mike Michaud calculus
on March 14, 2013, at 5:14 p.m.
Just how serious is U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, D-2nd District, about running for governor? It’s an open question that only he really knows the answer to. A number of times in the past, he has openly (but always gently) flirted with the idea of running for higher office, and each ...
PINE TREE POLITICS (blog)
We should all stand with Rand
on March 07, 2013, at 3 p.m.
Something very strange happened Wednesday night on the floor of the U.S. Senate. We saw the very best of what Washington can be. On display was an old-fashioned idea that has grown out of favor: that one man, standing alone on principle can draw attention to an issue that is ...
PINE TREE POLITICS (blog)
What do Democrats have against hospitals?
on Feb. 28, 2013, at 3:45 p.m.
As Washington grapples with the impending doom of sequestration, a farcical crisis so absurd that I can’t even bring myself to write about it, the state of Maine is facing its own fiscal problems. In Washington, the budget is a disaster because Washington believes that reductions in the growth of ...
PINE TREE POLITICS (blog)
Our freedom of information
on Feb. 21, 2013, at 5:41 p.m.
By now virtually everyone has not only heard about the Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) request made by The Bangor Daily News seeking to obtain information about holders of concealed weapons permits but has formed an opinion about it. I have plenty to say about the foolishness of a news ...
PINE TREE POLITICS (blog)
The state of our union
on Feb. 14, 2013, at 4:07 p.m.
There was a time when I treated a State of the Union address like a national holiday. I used to gather my friends together, host a watch party, get some pizza and excitedly hang on every word uttered by the president. Slowly, though, the shine wore off, and the event ...
PINE TREE POLITICS (blog)
Baldacci redux
on Feb. 07, 2013, at 3:36 p.m.
Remember John Baldacci? I certainly do. This was a unique Maine politician who managed to somehow turn from one of the most popular political figures in the state when he was in the amoral swamp of Washington, D.C., into the most unpopular governor in recent Maine history. When he entered ...
PINE TREE POLITICS (blog)
Give me your tired, your poor … and everyone else
on Jan. 31, 2013, at 4:50 p.m.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is stepping out on a very flimsy metaphorical branch, which threatens to snap under his weight. That limb is immigration reform. But I am glad he is stepping on it, and I hope the limb doesn’t break. I will admit from the outset that I have had, ...
PINE TREE POLITICS (blog)
Cutler is no spoiler in governor’s race, votes don’t ‘belong’ to anyone
on Jan. 24, 2013, at 3:41 p.m.
Democratic firm Public Policy Polling came out with a survey this week that showed Gov. Paul LePage winning a three-way match-up against independent Eliot Cutler and every Democrat tested. The same survey showed that when running alone against just a Democrat, LePage was running behind and would face a steep path to ...
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Tackling gun laws? Amend Constitution or obey it
I suppose we are finally having that long-overdue “conversation” about guns, aren’t we? Sadly it isn’t a particularly productive one. Neither left nor right is talking any real sense here. Banning assault weapons is little more than a marketing ploy, as the definition of what an assault weapon is and ...
PINE TREE POLITICS (blog)
Tackling gun laws? Amend Constitution or obey it
on Jan. 17, 2013, at 5:50 p.m.
I suppose we are finally having that long-overdue “conversation” about guns, aren’t we? Sadly it isn’t a particularly productive one. Neither left nor right is talking any real sense here. Banning assault weapons is little more than a marketing ploy, as the definition of what an assault weapon is and ...
PINE TREE POLITICS (blog)
Maine’s taxing tax problem
on Jan. 10, 2013, at 3:24 p.m.
I received my first paycheck of the new year this week. Did you? Notice anything? My wife certainly did. Roughly $100 that had previously been in my paycheck was now missing. That money was probably going to buy groceries but had mysteriously vanished. I say mysteriously because we were told ...
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Custom guitar played by two members of the Beatles sells for $408,000 at auction