Sen. Ann Haskell (D-Portland), assistant majority leader in the state senate, went on the George Hale and Ric Tyler radio program Tuesday morning to talk about a press conference Democratic lawmakers held about their plans for the next legislative session.
After trotting out Democratic talking points about Maine’s job creation over the past three and half years, and getting rebuked by Tyler, Haskell defends Democratic plans with a Nancy Pelosi-style you’ve-got-to-pass-it-to-see-what’s-in-it:
Tyler: “What promises do you have — what promises do the Democrats have for the state of Maine — that if given the majority in the senate and the house and perhaps the Blaine House, Senator Haskell, that you will introduce, what legislation are you ready to introduce to get us right back up to where we should be?
Haskell: “How about having a plan that we can actually all stick to instead of this whimsical, oh I’m not going to put the bonds out or, Statoil why don’t you just leave the state. How about having a plan where we’re all going to stick together?”
Tyler: “Well, I guess that’s what I’m asking. I’m not asking what LePage did. I’m asking, what is your plan?”
Haskell: “Uh, my personal plan or… the, the… I think that we need to, uh, see what happens on November 4th and then, uh, there, there is a plan. There’s a plan around clean energy. There’s a plan around agriculture. There’s a plan around looking at the businesses that are doing well in the state of Maine and being able to support them and help them add employees and not trying to, um, um, not trying to lure, um, you know, General Motors to come here and build cars. We need to look at what’s working here in the state and make sure that we’re investing in those right things.”
Haskell never got into the specifics of Democratic lawmakers’ plans for the coming legislative session. She also never suggested how those plans would be financed. At the State House press conference where those plans were unveiled, Democrats were similarly recalcitrant to speak of tax increases.
But the good news is, Haskell got her moose!
Listen the the podcast here. The back-and-forth over Democrats’ plans for the next legislative session begins at the 8:18 minute mark.
