Money Has Too Much Influence
Except when it doesn’t. The final finance reports of the 2014 gubernatorial race show that the victor, Governor Paul LePage, actually spent less money on his campaign than his two opponents. However, don’t expect this little fact to stop the ceaseless cries to take money out of politics. This does not take into account outside spending on the campaign, so it doesn’t include all the spending by Maine’s top political donors.
Is Maine Full of Scrooges?
The Chronicle of Philanthropy has ranked Maine 49th, just above dead last, for charitable giving. Theories for the low ranking range from Maine’s lack of religiosity to the methods used to calculate charitableness. Or maybe we’re just really stingy.
Another Democrat Leader Resigns
Yesterday, Mary Erin Casale, the Maine Democratic Party’s executive director, announced that she is resigning from her current position. This follows the resignation of party chairman Ben Grant. While changing leadership may be good idea for Maine Democrats, they’ll have to do more than that to regain lost ground.
Sony Caves to Threats
Following threats of violence over viewings of The Interview, which was highly critical of North Korea and depicted graphic violence against Kim Jong-un , Sony has recalled the film. Several major movie theater chains had announced that they would not be showing the film, prompting the recall. Worse still, theaters that planned to replace the recalled movie with Team America: World Police, another film poking fun at North Korea, have been ordered not to show the movie by Paramount. Luckily for those who need their fix of anti-North Korean comedy, Team America is now on Netflix.
What does this mean? “This does not take into account outside spending on the campaign, so it doesn’t include all the spending by Maine’s top political donors.” ? Wouldn’t that make the headline false?