| Every two years liberals in Maine unveil an economic plan with a new catchy name. They plan a ‘listening tour’ and pitch vague promises on taxes, insurance and fighting for “the rights of working people.”
In 2011 the economic plan ‘Get Real Maine’ was released on July 14th. Perpetually campaigning, Emily Cain explained ‘Get Real’ in the Press Release, “In November, Maine people sent us to Augusta with a mandate – a mandate to create jobs and to improve our economy, for the first time in decades Republicans were in charge… Bill after bill we saw solutions in search of problems — from efforts to undermine the rights of working people to allowing toxic chemicals in sippy cups.”
However, the plan’s actual importance seems to have fallen by the wayside, as important as it was, the URL www.mainedems.org/real is now just a broken link. Furthermore, the last time it was updated before becoming defunct was July 20, 2011, just 6 days after its creation.
In 2014, the economic plan was titled ‘Maine Made’ and it was a platform for Gubernatorial candidate, Mike Michaud. On an old blog post from a now defunct blog on the Maine Democrats website, they cite Mr. Michaud’s plan as a crucial proposal because it offered, “(1) a domestic trade center to promote Maine products, (2) 10-year infrastructure commitment, (3) build a Maine Ocean Energy Center, (4) build a network of food hubs to help connect farmers to customers, and (5) sophomore year free at Maine’s universities.” The blog also links to Mr. Michaud’s website https://www.michaud2014.com/, however the economic proposal is no longer there as the URL is now a web page devoted to weight loss.
This brings us to 2016 and this year’s proposed ‘Better Maine’, another listening tour which just kicked off in Topsham. Representative Mark Eves described the tour as having the following purpose: “To right the ship, we must embrace an active, nimble and engaged vision for economic growth that will help the next generation build their future right here in Maine.”
Maine Republican Party Executive Director Jason Savage offered his thoughts, “For a Party who so often decries ‘election year politics’ it would seem that Maine’s economic health only matters in the few months leading up to Election Day.
It is safe to assume based on the past two economic plans, ‘Better Maine’ will become yet another catchy slogan of the past come November, and sadly a defunct plan for the people of Maine who will be once again abandoned by liberal politicians.” |
