The Maine Wire
  • News
  • Commentary
  • Maine Wire TV
  • About
  • Contact
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending News
  • Maine Wire TV: Gary Drinkwater and Heidi Sampson on School Vaccine Mandates and Education Reform
  • Question A Helps Fix the Mess Socialists Made in Portland
  • Pro-Life Group Thinks Mills’ Late-Term Abortion Bill Lacks Votes to Pass
  • House Dems Vote Against Letting Healthcare Workers Who Refused COVID-19 Jabs Return to Jobs
  • Portland Police Seize 67 Grams of Fentanyl in Arrest
  • NYC Mayor Says City Considering Housing Asylum Seekers in ‘Private Residences’
  • Notorious Cold War Spy Dies In Prison
  • Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows Claims Credible Threat Made Against Her Life on Social Media
Facebook Twitter Instagram
The Maine Wire
Login
Wednesday, June 7
  • News
  • Commentary
  • Maine Wire TV
  • About
  • Contact
The Maine Wire
Home » News » Press Herald editorial board opposes local initiatives advanced by Democratic Socialists
News

Press Herald editorial board opposes local initiatives advanced by Democratic Socialists

Jacob PosikBy Jacob PosikOctober 14, 2020Updated:October 15, 2020No Comments4 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Reddit
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email

The Portland Press Herald’s editorial board isn’t buying what the Southern Maine Democratic Socialists of America are selling, and it’s a beautiful thing to see.

In a rare rebuke of far-left, hyperpartisan political pipe dreams, the Portland Press Herald editorial board issued an editorial Wednesday in opposition to a number of local initiatives that will appear on the ballot in Portland this November.  

Questions A, B, C, D and E on the Portland ballot are being advanced by People First Portland, a campaign of the Southern Maine Democratic Socialists of America and their allies.

Question A would increase Portland’s minimum wage to $15 an hour and require an elevated wage of $22.50 during times of state or local emergency. Question B would ban the use of facial recognition technology by local law enforcement. Question C is a localized “Green New Deal” proposal as irrelevant and ineffective as the one advanced in the 129th Legislature by Rep. Chloe Maxmin. Question D is about rent control, a policy rejected by the voters in Maine’s most liberal city as recently as 2017. Question E would enact new restrictions on short-term rentals and dramatically increase the fees required to register these units.

In a nutshell, the Press Herald’s editorial board opposes these initiatives because they’re too complicated to be decided by a simple up or down vote, though the rationale they use to convey their opposition to some of these questions is interesting.

Question A, for example, would be incredibly costly for those doing business in the city. A $15 minimum wage is a “reasonable idea” the editorial board writes, but a $22.50 wage during emergencies (or $33.75 for overtime) goes too far.

“Some employers may have the cash on hand to pay that much, but many others will not and be forced to shut their doors or cut hours. This could end up hurting the people it intends to help.”

This same rationale could be applied to any increase of the minimum wage, though it appears the editorial board has decided all employers in Portland can afford a $15 minimum wage. Could increasing the city’s minimum wage to $15 also result in businesses shutting their doors and cutting hours, or would this only occur when the wage is raised to $22.50?

To be clear, when wages rise artificially due to minimum wage increases, payroll costs on businesses increase without compensating growth in productivity or sales. For businesses operating on small profit margins, a minimum wage increase gives them no choice but to reduce their operations, lay off workers, cut back hours, transition to automation or relocate to another state. When the minimum wage drives businesses to reduce costs, the first victims are low-wage, low-skill workers – the same people minimum wage laws are supposed to help, as the PPH editorial board correctly noted.

In other words, this reality is no less real if the minimum wage is artificially raised to $15 rather than $22.50 – the economic underpinnings remain the same.  

While the use of facial recognition software by local law enforcement should raise privacy concerns among the public, the Portland City Council already took action on this issue back in August, making Question B obsolete. The same can be said for Question E due to the council’s recent actions to regulate short-term rentals. This initiative would undo the council’s work and unnecessarily raise short-term rental registration fees from $100 to $1,000.

And much like the Green New Deal bill recently passed in the Maine Legislature, Question C would have no discernible impact on climate change whatsoever, and likely make it more expensive to build in Portland.

Finally, Question D is another attempt at enacting rent control, one of the most destructive economic policies a jurisdiction can enact. As I wrote in the Press Herald during the last rent control battle in Portland:

“Economists have long agreed that rent control does more harm than good when it comes to affordable housing. According to a 1992 survey by the American Economic Association, 93 percent of economists agreed that ‘a ceiling on rents reduces the quality and quantity of housing available.’ In another context, this is what progressives call ‘settled science.’ Like most clique progressive initiatives, with rent control, the outcome sought will never be achieved. Government cannot command the free market, and when it tries, it often fails.”

This time around is no different. Socialist attempts to regulate rent are futile and will result in the city becoming even more unaffordable for low-wage earners.

In closing, the paper’s editorial team writes that these issues are too complicated to be decided at the ballot box and should instead be subject to “a deliberative public process that involved the whole city and not just one group of people.”

I couldn’t agree more.

ballot initiative Commentary democratic socialists of america editorial editorial board facial recognition Featured Green New Deal local initiative Minimum wage people first portland Portland Press Herald press herald rent control short-term rental
Previous ArticleMaine artists continue to struggle under Gov. Mills’ economic restrictions
Next Article Maine finally sends support to small businesses months after their forced closure
Jacob Posik

Jacob Posik, of Turner, is the director of communications at Maine Policy Institute. He formerly served as a policy analyst at Maine Policy and editor of The Maine Wire. Posik can be reached at jposik@mainepolicy.org.

Related Posts

Pro-Life Group Thinks Mills’ Late-Term Abortion Bill Lacks Votes to Pass

June 6, 2023

House Dems Vote Against Letting Healthcare Workers Who Refused COVID-19 Jabs Return to Jobs

June 6, 2023

Portland Police Seize 67 Grams of Fentanyl in Arrest

June 6, 2023

Leave A Reply

Recent News

Maine Wire TV: Gary Drinkwater and Heidi Sampson on School Vaccine Mandates and Education Reform

June 6, 2023

Question A Helps Fix the Mess Socialists Made in Portland

June 6, 2023

Pro-Life Group Thinks Mills’ Late-Term Abortion Bill Lacks Votes to Pass

June 6, 2023

House Dems Vote Against Letting Healthcare Workers Who Refused COVID-19 Jabs Return to Jobs

June 6, 2023

Portland Police Seize 67 Grams of Fentanyl in Arrest

June 6, 2023
Newsletter

News

  • News
  • Campaigns & Elections
  • Opinion & Commentary
  • Media Watch
  • Education
  • Media

Maine Wire

  • About the Maine Wire
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Submit Commentary
  • Complaints
  • Maine Policy Institute

Resources

  • Maine Legislature
  • Legislation Finder
  • Get the Newsletter
  • Maine Wire TV

Facebook Twitter Instagram Steam RSS
  • Post Office Box 7829, Portland, Maine 04112

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

Sign In or Register

Welcome Back!

Login below or Register Now.

Lost password?

Register Now!

Already registered? Login.

A password will be e-mailed to you.