Author: Jason Savage

Medicaid: Is it welfare or insurance? Those who have actually read the legal definition of insurance are baffled at how Secretary of State Matt Dunlap thinks that Medicaid should be called “insurance” in the ballot question (Question 2)  appearing before Maine voters on November 7. As Secretary of State, Dunlap assembles the original language of each ballot initiative and allows public comment for a short period of time. As it stands today, the ballot language for Question 2 reads: “Do you want Maine to provide health insurance through Medicaid for qualified adults under age 65 with incomes at or below…

Yes, I know, I know. This past November, voters narrowly passed a referendum presented by liberal special interest groups that demanded a massive tax increase on “wealthy” Mainers to chase the long elusive goal of funding Maine’s public schools at 55 percent. Besides the purported revenue windfall from this surtax not materializing, it is important to consider what public support of a 55 percent funding threshold actually means, and what it doesn’t. Historically, state funding of local education looks like a public policy version of Charlie Brown trying to kick the football Lucy is always waiting to yank away at…

In the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s presidency, the American political left has disconnected itself from hard-working American voters in a frenzied state of self-destructive psychosis, raging against everything large swaths of Americans believe in. While black-masked thugs vandalize government institutions and demand government officials deny the free speech rights of Americans they disagree with, others among the same groups carry signs claiming to oppose fascism. Since when is sucker-punching someone a peaceful expression of your beliefs, and not the definition of fascism? In Washington, the more “professional” left rages against attempts to save the American healthcare system from collapse.…

Let’s set the record straight on a lot of the propaganda you are going to see from Democrats on the new attempt to repeal and replace ObamaCare. First of all, the key parts of ObamaCare that conservatives have opposed across the board, such as the individual mandate, the destructive taxes and the use of the IRS to punish and penalize people for not buying insurance, are repealed. The employer mandate will also be repealed for months beginning after December 31, 2015 under this plan. No more punishing businesses for growing to larger than 50 employees. These businesses can breathe easy.…

Those who read the first half of my take on the aftermath of Question 2 know that Maine will need to find a new way to make up for the revenues lost as a result of high-income earners fleeing our state for better tax climates. The out-migration of high-income households is going to happen. As I said in part one, if I can find three people who tell me they’re leaving without even looking, I am sure there are going to be dozens, if not hundreds, pushed out of Maine by this referendum. I don’t want to throw any of…

The debate around the destructive 3 percent surtax on Maine’s individual income has turned largely toward one key issue: How many high-income residents will leave Maine to avoid being punished by this sudden 42 percent increase in their individual income tax rate? Based on a report from Maine Biz magazine, it’s easy to see that if we don’t make a change, we will lose some high-income earners. I’ve already spoken to three people myself who are making plans to leave – and they are taking their income, tax revenue, and charitable donations with them. Now, groups like the Maine Center…

Note: The following Op-Ed was submitted to the Portland Press Herald Editorial Page Editor for consideration and ignored. 75,000 Mainers are dead today. That’s what the Portland Press Herald would have you believe. That is, if Congress had not passed an overwhelmingly partisan, unworkable, complex, unaffordable, debt-inducing piece of Legislation – 75,000 Maine people would be dead – you could be one of them. They are walking zombies. Dead people all around us. The PPH editorial writer stated: “Congress is preparing to start voting this week to repeal the ACA with nothing in place to help”… “75,000 Mainers –…

It was a surreal time in Washington D.C.. My wife and I spent three days in the city. We attended the welcome concert, the Inauguration of President Trump, and much more. After standing on the platform of the Lincoln Memorial singing God Bless The USA with Lee Greenwood, President-elect Trump and tens of thousands of patriotic Americans, I thought I had found my all-time highlight of the event. I was wrong. You see, amid the many women and men we met and spoke to, from the pink-knit cap adorned protesters to the rain poncho covered attendees of the Inauguration, I…

What happened on election day?  The short story is, the people struck back. A couple hours before polls closed I could feel something happening. I’d only felt it once before in my time in politics. It was the intensity and determination of voters to kick down the door of the establishment elite and turn the government over to a bona-fide change agent. I first felt this same energy in the 2010 election of Paul LePage. Mainers are a good, honest, hardworking people. Most of Maine’s Second Congressional District is comprised of communities where people still come together to do benefit…

Who is the judge of whether another human being is redeemable or not? You may have seen Hillary Clinton’s ‘basket of deplorables’ comments on the news or your social media feeds in recent days. The full quote goes, “You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic — you name it.” After Hillary Clinton made her “basket of deplorables” comment, she went on to describe this same group of people as “irredeemable.” Her exact quote went, “Now, some of those folks –…

My brother died from an overdose a year ago today. I got the call in the early hours of the morning. The days that followed were a foggy mix of grief and anger. He was two years younger than me. I spent a good part of our childhood looking out for him, no matter what kind of mess he got himself into. I look back on my relationship with him often, wondering what I could have done differently. Sadly, my solutions would be too late. I’ve remained silent for a year about this in my public communications. Only a few…

Sigmund Freud called the act of human beings ascribing their unconscious qualities to others as a means of self-defense, psychological projection or projection bias. Is there a more apt diagnosis for how Maine’s liberal political class functions than Freud’s description? For instance, we have Emily Cain, running for Congress on the platform that Bruce Poliquin is a Wall Street funded, special interest supported partisan player – this after she was revealed to have been at a fundraiser with dark money special interest groups run by an executive of Soros Fund Management, a Wall Street financial firm. Cain’s proclamation that she…

No matter your political ideology, you likely believe that a human being’s life is their own, and does not belong to anyone else. But somehow in America right now, a debate about the value of life is causing us to descend into a bizarre and brutal tribalism. It’s time for it to stop. By turning the loss of a life into a statistic for the purpose of debating the value of groups of lives, we are missing the point that really matters. Each person lost was an individual who was loved by someone. A few made bad decisions, but most…

I read a lot of arguments in editorial pages and news commentary that our nation’s Founding Fathers did not intend the Second Amendment to allow citizens to own semi-automatic firearms or even modern-era firearms. The argument goes that, since the Second Amendment was written at a time when muskets were the most common weapons available, the Second Amendment was intended to ensure any citizen could own a musket. I’ll refrain from reminding everyone that iPhones, websites or even high speed printing presses would not be covered under the First Amendment if that logic held true – I have another point to make. On Wednesday, people…

I’m writing this week with a heavy heart. The mass shooting by a terrorist at a night club in Orlando has once again brought shock, horror and despair to our nation. While I feel compelled to write about this horrific violence this week, I am not going to cling to typical talking points. First, as an avid gun owner, shooter and Christian who is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, I understand the concerns many of you have about guns. To anyone who has not grown up, been exposed to, or trained with firearms, I can understand how intimidating even being in the…

How many times have you seen liberal Maine candidates for office, or political leaders, decry the influence of ‘out-of-state money’ in Maine’s political world? For more than a decade, liberals across Maine have maintained a steady drumbeat on that issue. “Wealthy out-of-state interests are trying to buy Maine’s elections.” “Republican <insert name here> is doing the bidding of their wealthy out-of-state donors.” “We need to increase taxpayer funding of elections to fight the influence of out-of-state money in Maine politics.” Yet, the entire time they were launching these attacks and using said attacks to their advantage, these same candidates and…

This week let’s do a little thought experiment on the differences in how liberals and conservatives in Maine are treated by the majority of Maine’s news outlets. If a conservative member of State Legislative Leadership posted the private medical information of an elderly woman on his Facebook page, what do you think would happen in regard to local and state news coverage? I think we would see several days of news coverage, including interviews with the victim, privacy professionals, law enforcement and more, all denouncing this person’s actions What if a conservative activist who ran a major conservative organization and…

I often tell people I know that I feel bad for Democrat voters this Presidential election cycle; they have to choose between a socialist and a security risk for President. Bernie Sanders, the self-described socialist Senator from Vermont, has been giving Hillary Clinton, who stored classified information on an unsecure closet server when she was Secretary of State, an unexpectedly strong challenge for the nomination. Here in Maine a large group of state lawmakers, who clearly preferred socialist policies over national security risks, endorsed Bernie Sanders for President. Rep. Jeff McCabe, the Maine House Majority Leader, was one of the…

With all the news coverage of Governor LePage’s adoption of a Jack Russell Terrier mix from a local Humane Society last week, I realized that one perspective missing from all the stories was that of the pup that has become an instant sensation. With that realization, I set out to land an exclusive interview with Veto, Governor LePage’s new companion. ME: So Veto, tell me a little bit about yourself. VETO: Well, I’ve bounced around a lot in my life, until last week when the Big Guy came into the shelter. As soon as I saw him, I knew I…

Yesterday, Rep. Mark Eves’ lawsuit against Governor Paul LePage was dismissed by a federal judge. Looking at the Judge’s decision, it is clear Mr. Eves’ case against the Governor was as weak as Eves’ assertion that he was qualified to lead Maine’s most prominent charter school. Last year, Mr. Eves was announced as the new director of The Good Will-Hinckley School. Many supporters of charter schools, including Governor LePage, immediately voiced concerns as it is a well-known fact that Mr. Eves has been an arch-enemy of charter schools during his time in the Maine Legislature.  ​Mr. Eves had done the bidding of the unions who, without…

If Emily Cain were a conservative, her trip to Hollywood to visit a secretive group of dark-money interests would have made headlines across the state. A politician who rails against “Wall Street” and “millionaires and billionaires” influencing the political process, but then hunkers down at a secret conclave to collect donations from Wall Street Executives and millionaires and billionaires, should not get a free pass. But Emily Cain has. The Maine press, to my knowledge, has not pressed her on this issue at all. This is a terrible disservice to Maine people. It is straight out of the Hillary Clinton…