Author: Steve Robinson

The Maine supreme court ruled today that there was “no solemn occasion” in the complaint filed against Treasurer Poliquin. “We respectfully decline to answer any of the three questions presented,” continued the opinion of the Supreme Court justices. The ruling came after amicus briefs were offered on both sides of the issue, including a brief against Poliquin by house democrats and a brief filed in favor of Poliquin by the Maine Heritage Policy Center. The Treasurer has been the subject of attacks by democrats in recent weeks, who claim Poliquin was involved in running his businesses while he was treasurer. The…

When the failing Maine Today Media papers announced weeks ago that billionaire left-wing financier Donald Sussman was “loaning” the paper $3 million out of the kindness of his heart, anyone with the slightest inclination toward objective reasoning saw this for what it was – bunk. Sussman, the papers said, was only taking a 5% ownership stake and had no interest in controlling the company. Those of us with a more skeptical view toward the hedge fund baron and his ultra-left-wing congresswoman wife knew this was a classic example of brazen political bamboozling. Now, lo and behold, the truth comes out…

A group of Maine reporters has received financial support from a pro-Obamacare organization to attend health care reporting workshops. The Maine Health Access Foundation, a pro-Obamacare organization that has been active in liberal health care issues since its state-mandated creation in 2000, provided scholarship underwriting for a number of Maine reporters from the Bangor Daily News, Portland Press Herald, Maine Public Broadcasting, the Associated Press, and other Maine news organizations. Notable among the recipients of the scholarship are health care reporters from the state’s largest newspapers. Meg Haskell and Jackie Farwell of the Bangor Daily News have provided the bulk of…

What was supposed to be a 3.3 million dollar “loan” and a 5% share in equity of Maine Today Media has turned into a 75% ownership stake in the Maine paper by Donald Sussman, the husband of congresswoman Chellie Pingree.  Sussman, the billionaire hedge fund manager and prolific democrat funder, has pledge his political affiliations, marriage to Congresswoman Pingree, and support of liberal ballot initiatives won’t have an impact on how the paper reports. “They report the news thoroughly and fairly, and I’m not going to interfere with that in any way,” Sussman said in an article that appeared in his Portland…

While U.S. Senate candidate Angus King was busy discussing the ethical benefits of selling his company, behind the scenes Independence Wind was becoming part of a congressional probe into inappropriate federal loan guarantees.Despite an increasingly tangled timeline, the former governor’s campaign maintains he had no knowledge of the probe. Congressional investigators sent an official letter to King’s wind company, informing them of an expanded investigation into the recipients of a stimulus-funded Department of Energy loan program, from which King’s company received a $102 million loan guarantee. The letter, sent to King business partner Robert Gardiner, was dated March 14, two…

On the second anniversary of the law that gave government control of our nation’s health care system, Grover Norquist, the President of Americans for Tax Reform, takes a look at a few of the tax hikes in the bill. Norquist reminds us what Obama the candidate said in 2008, just months before signing the tax-laden legislation: “I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.” One of…

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is scheduled as a keynote speaker at the Maine Republican Party convention in May, sparking questions of favoritism in a caucus process that has already seen its share of controversy. The virtual photo-finish between Paul and Mitt Romney in the state GOP straw poll means Maine’s delegates, awarded at the convention, are up for grabs, and the potential advantage derived from Paul’s speaking spot has been noted by the Romney campaign. According to sources, Ron Paul will be the featured speaker on Saturday, May 5, at the Augusta Civic Center. The state GOP convention is…

Democrat siblings bookend the transfer of up to $600,000 in public funds  *story updated Tension over a controversial multi-million-dollar carbon-trading effort at MaineHousing boiled over Tuesday at the MSHA Board of Commissioners meeting. Concern over the cost of the project, which Board Chair Peter Anastos has pegged at over $6 million, as well as the viability of a plan that appears predicated on a collapsing carbon market, resulted in a contentious back-and-forth exchange between board members and Director Dale McCormick, shortly before her resignation was publicly revealed. Information obtained by The Maine Wire now shows that the controversy extends into…

Portland Press Herald columnist Bill Nemitz took a break from his Sob Sister column this week to have an utter meltdown on WGAN’s Morning News with Mike Violette this morning. Apparently the failure of his political advocacy is getting to him. During the course of the interview, Nemitz can’t control his anger over the effectiveness of The Maine Wire, and seems to lose all control when he starts personally attacking his interviewer. Nemitz embarrasses himself and his paper in this interview, a definite must-listen. Click here to listen >>

Report Refers to project as part of a pattern of “dysfunction, negligence and mismanagement” (This story was updated at 3:44pm) Just a day after Angus King announced he was divesting his stake in his wind energy company, a Congressional Oversight Committee has called into question the basis for a $102 million loan guarantee granted to King’s Record Hill Wind project. The U.S House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform yesterday released an extensive report on questionable funding for projects authorized through the U.S. Department of Energy. The report, titled “The Department of Energy’s Disastrous Management of Loan Guarantee Programs”,…

At the MaineHousing board meeting this morning, the board began the meeting by going  into an executive session at the start of the meeting and when they came out, they unanimously voted to accept the resignation of Director Dale McCormick. The official announcement wasn’t made until the very end of the board meeting, with the earlier vote confirming a “personnel decision.” The resignation of McCormick comes after months of scrutiny into MaineHousing spending practices and the cost of affordable housing projects. “The board and I have concluded that it is best to reach an agreement on an early end to…

An almost unbelievable chart from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services might shed some light on why they have been experiencing some computer issues. Below is a flow chart from DHHS that *tries* to map out the IT systems at the department. DHHS officials said this chart was created sometime in the past but weren’t sure of an exact date. This is the most recently updated version: Click here for a full size version of the PDF (Be warned, this will make your head hurt) The department has been criticized lately for apparent computer malfunctions that were a result of…

Crash Barry has a piece worth reading on his blog, titled ‘Angus King for Senate? No thanks!’: Just piecing together the easy-to-find numbers, it appears Angus currently has plenty of part-time gigs. His directorship at a troubled Maine bank is a good example. He’s been a member of the board of directors of The Bank of Maine since 2010. Formerly The Savings Bank of Maine, this struggling financial institution has about 80 million in troubled assets and the bank apparently lost a couple million bucks last year alone. (Read more dirty numbers here.) In 2010, after serving on the bank…

Are $5 LIHEAP checks fueling welfare growth? The Low Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the state program run by the Maine State Housing Authority that helps low-income people heat their homes, is also being used as a mechanism to help qualify people for additional welfare benefits. The welfare program tied to LIHEAP, known as the food supplement program—or “food stamps” here in Maine—is a federally funded program that provides money for food for low-income households and individuals. There are different benefit levels, depending on the net income of the recipient. The practice at MaineHousing, according to an email from MaineHousing’s…

Editorial The Legislature’s Insurance and Financial Services Committee on Thursday cast a critical vote to protect the people of Maine from the gathering storm of the federal Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. For weeks, behind the scenes, Republican leadership in Augusta has struggled with the question of the so-called Obamacare “exchanges.” A critical component of the federal takeover of the health insurance industry, the “exchanges” are the deceptively named mechanisms for enforcing the individual mandate provision of Obamacare. Obamacare propagandists harnessed the term “exchange” to conjure up images of a robust marketplace where insurers and insured can find…

By Lucky Cambridge Even before he entered the race, the Fourth Estate and the faithful swooned. As events unfolded he commented on the prospects of running. At first, the most he would say was that he was “leaving the door open.” He also clearly laid out his intention: if he ran, he wasn’t interested in a “second position.” In an instant, support groups led by sycophant leaders established grassroots draft campaigns for the guy who, in their opinion, could save the day. As time moved forward newspapers reported the trials and tribulations of financing a campaign in the face of…

After the surprise news this morning that former governor Baldacci won’t be running for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Senator Snowe, there is word out of Treasurer Bruce Poliquin’s camp this afternoon that they have more than enough signatures and he will be on the ballot for the GOP this June. And Senator Deb Plowman just sent out word that she had made the signature mark as well. Poliquin and Plowman make five GOP candidates to formally qualify for the ballot, with a couple more candidates still collection signatures. Democrats have just one candidate officially on the primary ballot, with…

Governor Paul LePage doesn’t drive – he has a state trooper that provides transportation in a state vehicle. That fact hasn’t deterred the Portland Press Herald and a left-wing superPac from chasing down details of a rumored OUI arrest that never occurred. American Bridge 21st Century, a DC-based liberal superPAC founded by Media Matters president David Brock, has issued a public records request to the Waterville Police Department seeking information about a rumored traffic stop that involved the governor. According to the Waterville Police Department and the Governor’s Office, LePage was not involved in any such stop. Which makes sense,…

by Dean Scontras I find myself struck—though not particularly surprised—by the short reach of the recent “Congressional Insider Trading” bill. Congress, of course, gratuitously patted themselves on the back for their “accomplishment,” and given that the complex world of finance and sophisticated trading often befuddles the average voter, they are likely to get away with their short sightedness. But I, for one, remain skeptical, specifically because of the gaping loopholes that remain in the system, even after the passage of that legislation. What loopholes? To start, left out of the so-called reform bill was any inclusion that would forbid a…

Editorial The idea that a high-level political figure could invest in a newspaper chain and not have an impact on the coverage is laughable, and the attempt of one such political figure to purchase a major newspaper chain has fallen apart. In Philadelphia. We wrote about the parallels between Democrat politico Ed Rendell’s attempt to buy a chain of Philadelphia papers and Democrat politico Donald Sussman’s investment in MaineToday Media in an editorial last week. The big difference between the two situations is the fact that the journalism community in Philadelphia actually resisted the obviously-compromising financial deal, while the editors…

WCSH and Maine Public Broadcasting had these reports on The Maine Heritage Policy Center’s blended learning conference last week:

This is the live stream video of MHPC’s Education Conference about Online Learning. Please be patient with the technology, this a maiden voyage for live video on TheMaineWire.com Free desktop streaming application by Ustream

Today, in South Portland, national education experts and Maine Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen will join The Maine Heritage Policy Center for an all-day conference focusing on technology in education, entitled “Developing Student Success Through Online Learning: Inform, Inspire, and Connect.” The event will focus on how educators can leverage technology to maximize results, how schools convert learning from traditional textbooks to digital devices like iPads and laptops, and how technology can be used to improve individualized learning in Maine. The conference, which runs from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Portland Marriott at Sable Oaks in South Portland, features speakers including…

by Terrilyn Simpson A unanimous pro vote on the MSHA Accountability Bill in legislative committee on Thursday was a strong first step in shifting power at the Maine State Housing Authority, from the executive director to the board of commissioners. The bill, in essence, means that the director would serve at the pleasure of the board of commissioners. LD 1778, An Act Relating to the Governance of the Maine State Housing Authority, received a unanimous Ought to Pass from members of the Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development. Senator Chris Rector (R-Knox County), the Committee Chair, sponsored the…

by Scott Moody Recently, the Sun Journal published an op-ed titled “Repealing Income Taxes Won’t Help State Economies” written by Carl Davis at the leftist Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). He concludes: “The bottom line is this: no-tax states aren’t booming, and lawmakers should not expect their states’ economies to improve if they join the no-tax or low-tax club. In fact, in terms of the economic factors that matter most to families — income levels, and whether or not they can find a job — the states with the highest top income tax rates are, in most cases, doing better…

Chellie Pingree will not be running for the U.S. Senate. There was speculation after Angus King announced he would run that Pingree may not run, and as of noon today – that has been confirmed. Pingree issued this statement: After careful consideration I have decided to run for re-election to the U.S. House this year.  This has been a very difficult decision and I will always be grateful for the tremendous support I’ve received from people all across Maine and around the country.  I have been humbled by the enthusiastic encouragement I’ve gotten—from my neighbors here in Maine to my…

by Terrilyn Simpson The much debated “Takings Bill” will be hammered out in round two of a legislative work session this week, with the Judiciary Committee expected to render a verdict as to how the bill will move ahead for full legislative consideration. LD 1810, An Act to Implement Recommendations of the Committee to Review Issues Dealing with Regulatory Takings — recommends compensation, mediation or variances in cases where privately owned land is devalued more than 50 percent of its total worth as the result of land use regulations. More than a hundred citizens overflowed the hearing room to participate…

The legislative Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development postponed a work session this afternoon regarding LD 1778, the bill that would bring additional accountability to the Maine State Housing Authority, because there were members of the committee absent and the language or wording of the bill was not yet ready for discussion, according the committee chair, Senator Chris Rector. The work session had already been continued from it’s originally scheduled session last Thursday, which was cut short partly because of a snowstorm that shut down the statehouse earlier in the day than normal. Now, the committee is tentatively…

This weekend, The Maine Wire broke a story that Attorney General Bill Schneider had used Senator Olympia Snowe’s campaign email list to announce his exploratory bid for Snowe’s senate seat. The Portland Press Herald is reporting today that Schneider rented the list for “$150 per thousand names for one-time use,” and is offering the same deal to other candidates: Justin Brasell, Snowe’s campaign manager, says Snowe is interested in “helping good candidates get the necessary signatures to get on the ballot.” So far, Snowe has sent one email on behalf of Schneider, and another campaign has requested that she do…

Newsguild.org, the website of the Newspaper Guild/ Communications Workers of America union, is reporting on the backroom dealings between MaineToday Media union heads Tom Bell (reporter) and Greg Kesich (editor) and Chellie Pingree’s billionaire husband Donald Sussman. The article, titled “Guild’s Overture to Investor Saves Maine Newspapers, Union Contract and Members’ Jobs”, details the reaction to Sussman’s cash infusion: Guild leaders called a general meeting for 5 p.m. Many members worried they were about to hear that the company was filing for bankruptcy. Instead, the room erupted in laughter, cheers and hugs as members learned their jobs were safe, their…

By Lucky Cambridge Political Prognosticator Unless you live under a rock, it is old news by now that Senator Olympia Snowe will not seek re-election in the 2012 cycle. Yes, Maine’s senior senator plans to put it out to pasture, thus causing massive fissures in the Pine Tree State’s political landscape. Not since Smith mailed it in against Hathaway have pundits (were there “pundits” then?) pontificated and pols postured with such zeal. Immediately in the wake of Snowe’s Tuesday afternoon announcement, it seemed every insider had the scoop: Raye would run; Abbott would advance; Hobbins would hop in; Pingree would…

Just moments ago Eliot Cutler announced on his Facebook page that he will not run for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Olympia Snowe. Cutler said in his announcement, I have been deeply grateful for the extraordinary outpouring of sentiment in Maine encouraging me to run for the Senate.  I have thought long and hard about it, because I am powerfully committed, as you know, to reforming politics in America, rebuilding the center and restoring opportunity for those of us who live in Maine and for our children. I have decided that the Senate would not be the best place…

By Terrilyn Simpson Review of a bill seeking more accountability from the Maine State Housing Authority halted when legislators faced a proposal that would allow embattled MSHA Director Dale McCormick to complete her term of office. A proposal in LD 1778, “An Act Relating to the Governance of the Maine State Housing Authority,” would delay implementation of the bill’s reforms until February 3, 2014—guaranteeing that the beleaguered housing director could serve out her full term. Members of the Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development reviewed the bill with little debate until they reached the proposal that would allow…

Attorney General William Schneider just sent his campaign exploration announcement for U.S. Senate – to Olympia Snowe’s campaign email list. Below is a screen shot: Snowe sharing her campaign list brings up a few questions- First, if she’s sharing this, it most likely means Schneider’s the pick. This confirms chatter from Washington that Snowe and McKernan have been pushing the Attorney General as their favorite Second, the use of a campaign email list has a monetary value, which means this could be construed as a campaign donation in-kind. We’ll have to see if Schneider reports it. This also shows the…

Now that the field for US Senate is starting to be fleshed out a bit, we’ve updated our poll. Vote now to weigh in! Who should be the Republican nominee for US Senate?Public OpinionPoll Results Who should be the Democrat nominee for US Senate?Public OpinionPoll Results

by Pem Schaeffer Good Government: The impossible dream that never was and never will be? To found principles of government upon too advantageous an estimate of the human character is an error of inexperience, the source of which is so amiable that it is impossible to censure it with severity. John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) Ten years ago, in the midst of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) campaign, a friend said ‘you can govern, or you can spend.’  I thought it a witty insight; in the years since, I’ve come to see it as a pithy expression of our dismal…

The MaineWire has learned that Rick Bennett, former Maine Senate President and Republican National Committeeman has taken papers out and will gather signatures to seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.

Yesterday we blasted the Portland Press Herald for running coverage of Chellie Pingree without coming clean about the paper’s, and the author’s, direct financial ties with her husband. Tom Bell, the newspaper union’s president, was in charge of the union when it sought and received a $4 million loan from Pingree’s husband to keep from making employee concessions to a new owner. Apparently they’re paying attention. The PPH continues to allow the union boss who sought out Pingree’s $4 million loan to cover the congresswoman, but at least they are running a disclaimer now: “Pingree’s husband, S. Donald Sussman, is…

Tom Bell, the head of the Portland Press Herald/ MaineToday Media labor union, is now covering the U.S. Senate race, and submitted this story today: “More candidates jump into Maine’s November election” By Tom Bell [email protected] Tom Bell is the labor union president. The union, presumably under Bell’s leadership, reportedly sought out the financial support of billionaire liberal benefactor Donald Sussman, in order to avoid making concessions to a new owner. Bell was quoted in the MaineToday Media press release about the Sussman purchase: “The Portland Press Herald staff writer and Portland Newspaper Guild President Tom Bell said his union…

According to sources, Peter Cianchette has taken his name out of the running for the U.S. senate race. Cianchette was starting to be the figure the GOP regulars were coalescing around, which means the nomination is now completely up for grabs. The reality-based field of potential candidates looks basically like this right now: Kevin Raye Bruce Poliquin Bill Schneider Charlie Summers Steve Abbott Abbott also appears to be hedging, and sources say his entry is not likely. Word on the street is that Scott D’Amboise is still significantly short of signatures to even get in the race. With the onslaught…

Matt Gagnon at Pine Tree Politics has a great reality check of the pundit class on the Snowe senate seat race: There simply are no favorites in this race. Democrats should stop high-fiving each other and measuring the drapes in Snowe’s office, because their chances at winning this seat look no more promising than anyone else’s. Gagnon is correct that a Democrat pickup here is not a foregone conclusion, especially in light of Cutler and/or King getting in the race. I would go a step further though – I would say that a path to a Democrat win here is…

by Terrilyn Simpson In response to a complaint State Treasurer Bruce Poliquin had failed to report several financial details on a state disclosure form, the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices voted four to one that Poliquin’s 2010 income disclosure had been substantially in compliance but incomplete, and that his amended filing brought him into compliance. State Democratic Party Executive Director Mary Erin Casale filed the complaint on January 18 claiming that Poliquin had failed to comply with statutory reporting requirements. It was Casale’s contention that Poliquin had not fully disclosed personal business dealings and holdings, and associated income,…

In light of yesterday’s announcement that Senator Olympia Snowe will not be seeking reelection, Donald Sussman’s recent purchase of an ownership stake in the MaineToday Media/ Portland Press Herald papers becomes significantly more menacing. His wife, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, will likely seek Snowe’s seat, and this casts an appalling shadow on the newspaper deal. Do you think it’s good for Donald Sussman to control Maine’s newspapers?Public OpinionPoll ResultsThe writers for the Portland Press Herald are represented by the union that sought and secured millions from Sussman as part of the deal. This means the people who will cover this senate…

by Terrilyn Simpson Maine State Housing Authority Director Dale McCormick is predicting a huge payback on the carbon offset project she’s tied to the MSHA low income home weatherization program, having so far invested an estimated $6 million in just the unfinished carbon tracking computer system. But experts and officials scrutinizing the McCormick carbon scheme can’t figure out how she intends to pull it off. Maine Housing, with McCormick in the driver’s seat, seems to have subscribed to a green mindset that “Climate change is not only one of the greatest challenges of our time, it’s also an epic opportunity,”…

Senator Olympia Snowe has just shocked the Maine political world with the announcement that she will no longer seek reelection. More details as the story develops. STATEMENT OF SENATOR OLYMPIA J. SNOWE ON RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN FOR UNITED STATES SENATE WASHINGTON, D.C – Three-term Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) issued the following statement today with regard to her re-election campaign: “After an extraordinary amount of reflection and consideration, I am announcing today that I will not be a candidate for re-election to the United States Senate. “After 33 years in the Congress this was not an easy decision. My husband and…

Editorial The journalism community in Philadelphia is in an uproar right now. Hundreds of past and present editors and reporters from the city’s papers have joined together in solidarity to fight what they perceive to be an untenable situation – the purchase of a newspaper chain by a lifelong political figure – former mayor and DNC chair Ed Rendell. Journalism purists and scholars across the country are expressing concern about the purchase. Brian Goldman from the Daily Pennsylvanian expressed what many others are feeling: “To allow The Inquirer and the Daily News to be gobbled up by the very people…

by Terrilyn Simpson One of the stories Jay Martin tells when he speaks before groups is an account of a Maine environmental remediation consultant who’d been named business person of the year. She employed, said Martin, 15 people — until the state Department of Environmental Protection informed her it would be mandating replacement of a contractual agreement with an accredited chemist, who worked with the remediation business as a consultant, with employment of a fulltime staff chemist. When the business owner decided, says Martin, to take a stand against the directive, on the basis the business couldn’t afford to fund…

by Terrilyn Simpson In a hearing room with every seat filled and no standing room remaining, members of the public jostled for an opportunity to speak before the state Judiciary Committee on LD 1810. The bill, encumbered with a name suggesting a dry and cumbersome debate — An Act to Implement Recommendations of the Committee to Review Issues Dealing with Regulatory Takings — prompted anything but. The proposed legislation recommends compensation, mediation or variances in cases where privately owned land is devalued more than 50 percent of its total worth as the result of land use regulations. A hundred or…

Following is a press release from The Maine Heritage Policy Center: MHPC Praises Legislature for Eliminating Dirigo Tax Increase MHPC Chief Executive Officer Lance Dutson today made the following statement, after the passage of the supplemental DHHS budget compromise that eliminated an originally proposed tax increase: “Legislative leadership, along with the Governor and his staff, should be applauded for working through the difficult process of getting bipartisan support for this budget. Achieving enough consensus for a two-thirds majority is a challenging exercise in the best of circumstances, and especially so during these difficult economic times.” “The original budget proposal from the Appropriations Committee contained…

by Terrilyn Simpson Elm Terrace, the housing project that catapulted the Maine State Housing Authority and Director Dale McCormick into media and governmental scrutiny for the exorbitant projected cost of its construction, continues to harbor strange and costly secrets. And a source close to the project, who has asked to remain anonymous at present, has revealed yet another — the parapet on the roof. The revelation of this strange construction detail calls into question the oft repeated explanation of the MSHA director that rehabbing old and historic buildings is just  routinely a more expensive process. There is apparently little routine about the parapet. Attention was first focused on…

Maine State Housing Director Dale McCormick has entered into a deal with Chevrolet to sell carbon offset credits from the weatherization of Maine homes, but today refused to reveal to the MSHA board of commissioners the pricing details of the agreement. McCormick’s multi-million dollar carbon trading venture is coming under intense scrutiny from the board, as questionable financial decisions from the authority continue to be revealed. McCormick has paid consultants hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop a process to quantify the amount of carbon saved when a home is weatherized. MSHA paid Lee International more than $370,000 over the…

Homelessness is a problem often associated with bigger cities, but frequently overlooked in small, rural states like Maine. But the numbers here are scary. Recent debate over the cost of building affordable housing units and questionable expenditures at the state’s housing authority has brought to light the startling number of Maine people that are without housing. Affordable housing representatives and the press routinely state the number of people who are on waiting lists for housing is around 6,500. That number may actually represent only half the problem. A study done by The Maine Center for Economic Policy in 2008, commissioned…

Editorial After revelations of millions of dollars in travel and ‘training’ expenses that included staff parties, gift cards, and tens of thousands of dollars in catered lunches, public pressure continues to grow for the Maine State Housing Authority to clean up its act. Reeling from months of negative publicity for problems ranging from extravagant spending on massages and employee bonuses to failed oversight of affordable housing conditions, MSHA Director Dale McCormick and her Democrat defenders have locked on to a strategy of running out the clock. With the short session of the Republican-led legislature rolling along, McCormick and company see…

by Terrilyn Simpson One Maine landowner has called LD 1810 “common sense legislation that brings much needed reform to help protect property owners in Maine.” The proposed legislative bill deals with the diminished value of privately owned land as the result of land use regulations and compensation for the devaluation. The bill, An Act to Implement Recommendations of the Committee to Review Issues Dealing with Regulatory Takings, will be debated at public hearing on Tuesday, February 21 before the Judiciary Committee of the Maine Legislature. Also being referred to simply as the Regulatory Takings bill, LD 1810 is the result of…

NOTE: This story has been corrected from the original. Travel spending has risen 37% in last five years, training has risen 187% Data obtained by The Maine Heritage Policy Center as part of a Freedom of Access Act request shows the Maine State Housing Authority spent millions on travel and training expenses over the last 12 years. Since 1998, MSHA spent approximately $1.6 million in business travel. Spending in this category has risen 147% since 1998, and 37% since the current director, Dale McCormick, took over the operation in 2005. MSHA has spent more than $4.5 million in education and…

This article has been updated with new totals in the millions. Click here to read the latest. Documents obtained by The Maine Wire show the Maine State Housing Authority has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars per year on extraneous expenses – including gift cards, catering, travel, education, and consultants. Data show MSHA made several high-dollar expenditures to Hannaford between 2008 and 2010, totaling $59,000. According to a source at Maine Housing, these payments were for gift cards that were handed out to employees, and many of the gift cards remain unaccounted for. While an estimated 6,500 Maine families sit…

by Terrilyn Simpson The two inspectors showed up on a day when she was taking a rare few hours off. They came unexpected and unannounced. Over the next 15 months they would topple her financial security, deplete her self-confidence, destroy her business and put a dozen longtime employees out of work. They were from the government and they were there to help her. To this day she’s not altogether sure why the Maine Department of Environmental Protection targeted her. Connie Bowden Sarnacki grew up in the small, Belfast dry cleaning business owned by her father. Richard Bowden had started working…

by Terrilyn Simpson They’re self taught. They’ve traveled the world solving energy and engineering problems. They learned practical applications of complicated theories during World War II and studied at Harvard and Brown and Princeton. All Maine residents now, they sat down together recently with Governor Paul LePage — at the first meeting of the governor’s energy advisory team. Bureaucratically, it doesn’t even have a formal name but on a practical level, they’re there to give technical advice based from their various fields of expertise. Jim LaBrecque of Bangor met LePage at the studio of WVOM Radio in Bangor when LePage…

The Maine State Housing Authority was scheduled to release expenditure data today to fulfill a Freedom of Access Act request filed by The Maine Heritage Policy Center in March of 2011. However, an email from MSHA attorney John Bobrowiecki a little after 5pm today brought word of another delay. According to Bobrowiecki,the data will now be released on Tuesday instead. Meanwhile, Chris Korzen, the George Soros-funded activist who is serving as Dale McCormick’s personal attack dog, today released a meandering compendium of the FOAA requests filed by MHPC for this data. Korzen’s odd report shows the initial request made last…

Editorial In the fall of 2010, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree was facing political extinction. After raging from the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives about ‘fat cat’ billionaires who flew around on private jets, rumors started swirling that she may, herself, fly around in private jets. Specifically, the $25 million private jet owned by her own fat cat boyfriend, billionaire hedge fund baron Donald Sussman. Pingree’s spokesman Willie Ritch emphatically denied that Pingree took trips on the plane, just days before an enterprising videographer snapped a Zapruder-esque film of the first-term congresswoman exiting the French-made luxury jet, walking down the…

The Portland Press Herald is reporting that Donald Sussman, billionaire husband of Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, has loaned the financially-troubled MaineToday Media between $3 million and $4 million in exchange for a 5% ownership stake and a seat on the board of directors. Click here to read more >> During the interview, Sussman said he has no intent of using his new position to advance his personal views. He said he sees the investment largely as a civic responsibility, not a business venture. “I will have nothing to do with editorial policy and control or anything like that,” he said.

The Maine State Housing accountability bill, after churning its way through sponsorship, co-sponsorship, emergency status acceptance – so that it could dealt with in the current legislative session — and a committee hearing, seems to have slowed to an idle on its way to the work session phase of the legislative process. Asked about a rumor that the work session for the LD 1778 bill he’s sponsoring might be delayed until March, Senator Jon Courtney (R/York) answered that, “That would be an issue for me,” but quickly added he didn’t want to engage in rumor speculation. And Courtney said he hadn’t…

by Scott Moody In December, I released a study that showed raising taxes to cover the budget shortfall at the Department of Health and Human Services would cost private sector jobs–or an estimated 6,463 jobs. Predictably, the liberal “Maine Center for Economic Policy” disputed the obvious crowding-out of the private sector by public sector spending. The study I recently received in my inbox from the National Bureau of Economic Research is likely to leave the MECEP folks extremely disappointed. The study, authored by Valerie Ramey, Professor of Economics at the University of California, San Diego, is titled “Government Spending and Private Activity.”  The following is from the abstract:…

by Jason Savage Budgets are moral documents. By now, if you have followed the debate about Maine’s DHHS budget and welfare spending you have heard this statement from those who oppose reform.  The argument has made its way onto stick signs at various protests designed for media attention. A full exploration of this statement is a fitting place to begin the conversation. The Maine state government budget is the document that affects every Maine resident, business or property owner. Those who make the “budgets are moral documents” argument in favor of the unbridled expansion of the welfare state ignore the impact…

by Terrilyn Simpson A Maine town has taken General Assistance administration into their own hands – and has seen big savings as a result. The town of Windham, Maine in June opted not to renew the contract with a non-profit agency handling the town’s general assistance program. Last year, with the program under the administration of the People’s Regional Opportunity Program (PROP), the town’s general assistance budget was approximately $450,000. As of January 10, 2012 – halfway through the town’s fiscal year — the town, handling its own program, has spent $25,000. There is a cautionary note. While the fiscal…

Following is a press release from The Maine Heritage Policy Center: MHPC to GOP: TAX INCREASE IS UNACCEPTABLE Republicans Proposing a $5 Million Tax Increase to Sustain Out-of-Control Welfare System PORTLAND – Lance Dutson, Chief Executive Officer of The Maine Heritage Policy Center, today issued the following statement on the current supplemental budget debate in Augusta, and the proposal to stop the scheduled drawdown of the Dirigo Assessment: “For decades, the people of Maine watched as the Democrat majority in Augusta used gimmicks and double-talk to heap an unbearable burden on the backs of taxpayers, while extending the hand of…

Sunday’s Portland Press Herald editorial appeared to be a careful consideration of state policy, but a look behind the rhetoric reveals a clumsy rush to shore up a political ally. The editorial, titled ‘Don’t politicize state housing agency’, walks through a calm argument for the autonomy of a state agency that handles billions of public dollars. Autonomy, in this case, can be more accurately described as a deliberate lack of accountability. The Press Herald advocates against the passage of a bill – LD 1778 – that would make the Maine Housing director accountable to a board of directors, as is…

by Scott Moody –  a member of the Maine Consensus Economic Forecasting Commission Recently, the Maine Consensus Economic Forecasting Commission (CEFC) met to update our economic forecast for the state–here is the link to the February CEFC report. Unfortunately, there was no data to suggest that Maine is coming out of the recession. Rather, it appears as if the economy is stuck in neutral. This quote below succinctly states the economic conundrum the CEFC grappled with: There has been little change in the job market since the CEFC met in late October. From the start of the recession through the summer of 2010, Maine lost nearly 30,000…

Editorial by Pem Schaeffer “F-Bomb” here, as in so many other contexts, means nothing more and nothing less than the exercise of arbitrary power by third parties, since everyone has a different definition of what “F-Bomb” means. – Thomas Sowell (paraphrased) The F-Bomb, in case you haven’t realized it, is a favored weapon in the arsenal of modern political warfare.  It’s most often deployed as an IED – an Intentionally Exclusionary Declaration.  It comes in several different versions: F(b), F(n), and F(s).  On occasion, its usefulness is enhanced with an IO package. If your mind is drifting towards the gutter,…

by Terrilyn Simpson It was a gun threat against Maine Governor Paul LePage by an alleged violent offender. And yet, according to Maine Housing information manager Deborah Turcotte, the Maine State Housing Authority never reported the threat to the police. Neither did MSHA contact the governor’s security detail. The threat was from a client with a brain injury who “has been arrested for assault in the past,” and “apparently has a tendency to react violently to people when he’s upset with them in the heat of the moment,” according to documentation. When some version of the threat was finally revealed…

by Terrilyn Simpson Maine State Treasurer Bruce Poliquin has filed a formal response to an ethics charge, filed against him by the Maine Democratic Party, with the Maine Commission on Government Ethics and Election Practices. The complaint, dated January 18, and signed by state Democratic Party Executive Director Mary Erin Casale, begins, “On behalf of the Maine Democratic Party, I am filing a formal complaint against State Treasurer Bruce Poliquin. I respectfully request that the Commission find that the most recent income-disclosure statement filed by Treasurer Poliquin in February 2011 fails to comply with the statutory reporting requirements. After having made such a finding, I respectfully urge the…

by Terrilyn Simpson Supporters of the Maine State Housing accountability bill were obviously chagrined by the breaches in protocol allowed former state legislator and former Maine Housing board chair Carol Kontos as she testified at Tuesday’s legislative committee hearing. Kontos, who touted a longtime association with the Maine State Housing Authority,  was among only several LD 1778 opponents, which also included a current MSHA staff member. The roster of those supporting MSHA reform included an impressive list of building and housing industry notables, from the real estate industry to affordable housing to a statewide general contractors association. Testimony in favor…

by Sam Adolphsen It was supposed to “get big money out of Maine politics.” Now, twelve years after it began, the Maine clean elections system has cost Maine taxpayers a total of $23 million public dollars. Many legislators run their campaigns with public funds, and then once elected, build a war chest of money with donations to the Political Action Committees (PACs) they control. There are 34 current legislators who ran their campaigns with public money doled out by the clean elections system who now control PACs. Those legislators spent a combined total of $461,501 public dollars to run political campaigns in 2010 and 2011,…

by Terrilyn Simpson OPEGA has initiated a rapid response review of Maine State Housing Authority vendor expenditures following the release of a list of questionable expenses revealed in a Maine Wire story. The vendor list was obtained through a Freedom of Access request submitted to MaineHousing by the Maine Heritage Policy Center. OPEGA — the Office of Program Evaluation & Government Accountability — was slated to review Maine State Housing in the spring. But an increasing number of questions about how MSHA funds are being spent and controversy over a lack of accountability by the MSHA director have propelled legislators…

by Terrilyn Simpson The director of the Maine State Housing Authority has no accountability to the governor, the legislature or the MaineHousing board of commissioners. Maine State Housing is the only quasi-governmental agency in the state in which the director has no accountability to its board. Maine citizens will have an opportunity to voice opinions and offer arguments regarding MSHA director accountability on Tuesday afternoon at a legislative hearing at the state capitol. It will be the first public round in the debate over the MSHA director accountability bill sponsored by Senator Jon Courtney (R-York County). The public hearing on…

A study released this week by the Goldwater Institute details the crippling financial impact of public-sector unionization, and shows that a 50% reduction in Maine’s public-sector union membership would save taxpayers $263 million a year. This savings would more than double the amount needed to fill the current shortfall in the Health and Human Services budget. The Goldwater study cites information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that shows state employee wages are 44% higher than private sector wages. Further study shows that unionized state employees nationwide earn 42% more than state employees that don’t belong to a union.…

by Terrilyn Simpson Maine Senator Debra Plowman walked into the lobby of the Maine State Housing Authority in Augusta recently to view the barrier recently installed across the entry area in response to members of the public and uninvited members of the press showing up at MSHA board meetings. But sometime following the board meeting, the barricade had disappeared — leaving the area once again unobstructed. Two business days previous, the day of the commissioners meeting, webbed strapping had stretched from the wall to a single file entry point directly in front of the glassed in security area. The room-block was…

by Pem Schaeffer Mitt Romney has been taking a furious wire brushing for his years of leadership at venture firm Bain Capital, not only from the usual suspects on the Democrat left, but also from churlish challengers in the Republican primary competition.  As some have observed, the latter have sounded more like occupier movement class warriors than free market capitalists, if not egoists beyond even political norms. The critical reality is that venture statism is a far bigger threat to America’s future than venture capitalism could ever be. Venture statism, the specialty of Obama Capitol, is the surest threat this…

by Terrilyn Simpson It was hijinks and raucous theater — from the feigned insecurity of the security detail to Dale’s Great Wall of Boxes. The orchestration unfolded before the press — with McCormick in the lead role, as star, director and producer. It was the January board of commissioners meeting at the Maine State Housing Authority — and MSHA Director Dale McCormick had set the stage. To start with, she’d addressed the eighth item on the agenda to intimidate and control just as visitors got feet through the door. There had been complaints previously that visitors were not being allowed…

by David Crocker Where would we be without the mainstream media? You know, the folks who claim “multiple layers of checks and balances” and the right to determine what is or is not a “news organization”. One would expect that when the editors of a major newspaper opine, they do so based on fact because an editorial is, after all, the august pronouncement of the newspaper itself, bearing the imprimatur of authority. But if you assume that, you would be mistaken. Take the editors of the Lewiston Sun-Journal, for instance. In their editorial from last Sunday, “Founders Began the First…

Maine Housing Director Dale McCormick spent $15,000 in public funds on a theater group for prison inmates.

This week, Maine State Housing Authority Director Dale McCormick confirmed what many had suspected– that she was using her position as a government official to funnel money to preferred political organizations, that she spent public funds in an irresponsible way, and that she was willing to bend the truth to cover her actions. All of this was made clear in her shameful performance at the Housing Authority board meeting on Friday. McCormick attempted to brush aside in a number of different ways revelations about her agency’s spending. She labeled donations to political groups ‘outreach’. She called hundreds of trips to…

Maine Housing Director Dale McCormick gave donations to a progressive political group called Maine Initiatives, run by a cadre of Democrat operatives including Chellie and Hannah Pingree, along with Democrat State Senator Justin Alfond.

by Terrilyn Simpson Legislative protocol went out the window on one front in Augusta on Thursday but managed to firmly step back in through a side door as the debate over Maine State Housing Authority accountability rumbles on. First, the spirit of bi-partisanship surrounding the bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Jon Courtney intended to make the MSHA director accountable to the MSHA board of commissioners, dissipated when the two Democratic co-sponsors quit, without explanation and without the personal notification that customarily typifies legislative etiquette. On the formal list of co-sponsor signatures, handwritten scrawls simply appeared beside the names of…

*Update* According to Paul Violette’s attorney, the former MTA Director has pleaded guilty to a felony theft charge under a plea agreement with the AG’s office. _________________ Former Maine Turnpike Authority Director Paul Violette has been charged with felony theft according to the Attorney General’s office. The felony charge stems from Violette’s illegal use of Turnpike funds for travel, meals and other expenses. Violette was the long-time head of the MTA, having controlled the quasi-governmental agency for 23 years before his resignation last year. The Turnpike and it’s leader came under fire after an Office of Program and Fiscal Accountability…

by Terrilyn Simpson George and Ric were on the air. And so was the husband of someone who worked for the Section 8 housing division of a Maine community action program — known as a CAP Agency. It was Monday morning at the George Hale/Ric Tyler talk show on WVOM Radio in Bangor. And a man called in, in response to a discussion about the proposed legislative bill mandating accountability for the director of the Maine State Housing Authority. The caller said his wife, who works for a CAP agency, had received a telephone call the previous Friday night, after…

A story in today’s Portland Press Herald by Susan Cover quotes Maine Housing spokesperson Deborah Turcotte responding to yesterday’s story in The Maine Wire about troubling expenditures by the quasi-state agency. Housing authority spokeswoman Deborah Turcotte said the agency’s officials go to many conferences every year, often getting discounted or corporate rates at hotels. Some of the other items, such as massage services and the rental of a dance club in Augusta, are related to staff training and wellness days. The authority also hired a disc jockey for a Christmas party, paid partly with housing authority funds and partly by…

by Pem Schaeffer “Thou shalt not steal” is the eighth of the ten commandments God handed down to Moses. This would lead you to think the last place you’d discover stealing is among Church officials. Well, think again. Do you attend a Swedenborgian Church, an Episcopal Church, a United Church of Christ, or a United Methodist Church? How about an ELCA Lutheran Church, or a Quaker Church, or a Unitarian Universalist Church? Or you might attend a Presbyterian or Roman Catholic Church. If you do, then I have news for you. Your identity, in the political sense at least, has…

by Sam Adolphsen What do social justice groups, professional DJs, massage therapists and luxury hotels have to do with affordable housing? That question is one of many which remain unanswered as the Maine State Housing Authority continues to delay the release of key expenditure details more than six months after a Freedom of Access Act request — for vendor records — was filed by the Maine Heritage Policy Center. Even minus the details, the skeletal vendor list obtained by MHPC reveals a pattern of questionable expenditures that will likely increase pressure on the quasi-state agency to open its books to…

Chellie Pingree was Maine Senate Majority Leader when the Maine Clean Elections Act (MCEA) became law. Pingree has made a career out of this law – parlaying her role in its inception into a position as head of the advocacy group Common Cause, and ultimately using it as rhetorical cover for her own significant campaign finance abuses. Besides offering the Congresswoman an opportunity to engage in hypocrisy of the highest magnitude, Maine’s Clean Election Act has failed to offer the slightest positive impact. The original intent of the law was fairly simple – to reduce the impact of money on…

Maine’s had its fill of the clueless detachment and hypocrisy of newspaper editorial pages. That may be why this piece from The Daily Show seems like such a work of art. The Daily ShowGet More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

by Terrilyn Simpson The legislative bill aimed at holding the director of the Maine State Housing Authority accountable to the MSHA board, in keeping with other quasi-governmental agencies in the state, has been propelled into the bipartisan political arena with co-sponsorship support from two well respected Democratic legislators. Democrat support of the accountability bill comes on the heels of news of the imminent resignation of long-time McCormick deputy Adam Krea. Krea is currently Deputy Director at MaineHousing, and previously served under McCormick as senior staff accountant at the Maine Office of the Treasurer. The author of the Director Accountability bill…

DEVELOPING: According to minutes from the Maine State Housing Authority’s board of commissioners meetings,the agency gave $1,000 non-performance-based bonuses to all employees between August and September 2010. UPDATE: MSHA Director Dale McCormick on WVOM radio this morning confirms and discusses the raises. [audio:https://www.themainewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/dale3.mp3|titles=Dale McCormick on WVOM] At the suggestion of MSHA board member Donald Gean, bonuses were apparently given to all Maine Housing workers employed on December 31, 2009. Data from MaineOpenGov.org show 144 employees on staff in 2009, and 147 in 2010. This puts the approximate total of arbitrary bonuses paid by MaineHousing at between $144,000 and $147,000. From…

by Terrilyn Simpson The Maine State Housing Authority issued a report late Friday afternoon purported to be a straightforward, independent investigation of the low-income housing inspection problems attached to MSHA — authored by a MSHA auditor. The Norway Section 8 apartment debacle was acknowledged by MSHA and Avesta Housing, charged with inspecting the units, only after a series of investigative articles in the Norway, Maine based newspaper, the Advertiser Democrat. Pressure on MSHA and Avesta was further exacerbated when town officials — including the local fire chief — complained to the office of US Senator Susan Collins, about the deplorable…

by Pem Schaeffer If you find the title perplexing, be patient; I will explain. It’s often said that ‘luck is what happens when opportunity meets preparation.’ Likewise, one could say that reform in governance is what happens when fiscal calamity meets determined leadership. Globally and nationally, government fiscal crisis is endemic. In many, if not most cases, leadership is lacking, and conditions are approaching meltdown. Greece, Spain, Portugal, Illinois, Michigan, and California come immediately to mind. Cities and counties across the land face the same disasters. But there is cause for optimism. Here in Maine, the new administration and legislative…

Governor LePage’s proposed MaineCare cuts have the social services community in an uproar. And this makes sense – no one wants the least fortunate among us to be left out in the cold. As legislators dig in to find a solution to the DHHS budget shortfall, everyone is focused on how to solve the problem without eliminating critical services. Unfortunately, over-the-top rhetoric and unsubstantiated claims are blocking the road to real solutions. One of the most deceptive of these claims is that, if 60,000 Mainers are cut from MaineCare, they will drive costs up for everyone by over-utilizing emergency rooms.…

by Lance Dutson The hallmark of Portland Press Herald columnist Bill Nemitz, for years, has been what used to be referred to as ‘sob sister’ journalism. Primarily practiced by female writers in the early 20th century, ‘sob sisters’ were writers who tugged on the heartstrings of readers with over-the-top emotional appeals, often pertaining to illness or affliction, in order to make a point to further an advocacy angle. Nemitz found a cozy home at the PPH with this kind of writing. His pieces traditionally sought to shine light on the underprivileged, with a strong undercurrent of liberal politics running through…

Maine State Representative Ryan Harmon (R- Palermo) joins host MD Harmon to discuss the legislature.