If I told you an interest group sent a legislator a draft bill and told them to submit it as-is, no questions asked, most would call foul and cry “corruption!” And if that same interest group filled the State House with paid advocates demanding legislators only consider a yes-or-no vote, people would suspect something afoot. And they would probably be right. When we elect lawmakers, we expect them to weigh various proposals. Recognizing that a first draft isn’t always the best, we empower the Legislature to amend bills, sanding off rough edges and trying to fashion the best solution to…
Author: Michael Cianchette
Michael Cianchette
Michael Cianchette was the chief counsel to Gov. Paul LePage from 2012-2013 and deputy counsel from 2011-2012. A Navy reservist, he was deployed to Afghanistan from 2013-2014 as a trainer and adviser to the Afghan National Police. He is an alumnus of the Leadership Maine program and holds a BA in economics and political science from Boston College along with a JD and an MBA from Suffolk University. He works as in-house counsel and financial manager for a number of affiliated companies in southern Maine.
Do Americans speak the same language anymore? Within hours of the Orlando shooting, the predictable camps emerged. Many on the right pointed out Omar Mateen was a terrorist, like the San Bernardino assailants, the Tsarnaev Marathon bombers, and the cells that attacked Paris and Brussels. Some used firearms, others used bombs, but they all shared an ideology of hate and violence. It has been called “radical Islam,” shorthand for the beliefs put forward by groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS. The use of that label — or lack thereof — has led to very public fights between Barack Obama and…