Author: Steve Robinson

Mainers are familiar with S. Donald Sussman — the billionaire hedge fund manager whose largesse has propped up the liberal-leaning Portland Press Herald, the Maine Democratic Party and a consortium of Democratic non-profit groups and political action committees. But there is another liberal billionaire from away who has set his sights on Maine: Thomas Steyer. Few knew of Steyer until he announced grand ambitions to spend $50 million of his own money and raise another $50 million from like-minded donors to influence elections across the country. The news was welcomed by liberal Democrats, who would be the primary beneficiaries of Steyer’s…

ORONO – First Lady Michelle Obama touted the health of the U.S. economy as she visited Maine on Friday to campaign on behalf of Democratic candidates at the University of Maine in Orono. “I remember some of you were with us back when we were out in Iowa and New Hampshire talking about hope and change and getting all fired up and ready to go,” Obama told a packed crowd of students and Democratic supporters. “Let’s go back for a moment, because I want you to remember how bad things were back then,” said Obama. “When Barack first stepped into office this…

The national unemployment rate fell to 5.9 percent in September as the percentage of Americans not in the workforce reached a 36-year high, according to a Friday report from the U.S. Labor Department. “Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 248,000 in September, and the unemployment rate declined to 5.9 percent,” the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Employment increased in professional and business services, retail trade, government employment and health care, according to the labor report. That’s the lowest national unemployment rate since July of 2008, but the report is not all good news. The national workforce participation rate — a measure…

Portland Press Herald columnist Alan Caron says Republican Gov. Paul LePage isn’t the worst governor in Maine’s history, but he’s a close comparison to Gov. Ralph O. Brewster — a man notorious for his ties to the Ku Klux Klan. “Ralph Owen Brewster is a closer comparison to LePage,” Caron wrote in a column published Thursday. “Elected in 1924, Brewster was strongly supported by the Ku Klux Klan, which then occupied the anti-immigrant, anti-poor far right of the political spectrum in the same way that the tea party does today.” According to his LinkedIn profile, Caron is the president of Envision…

The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C., released its 2014 Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors. Maine Gov. Paul LePage received top marks from Cato with a score of “A”. Only three other governors — Gov. Sam Brownback of Kansas, Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina, and Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana — received the same top score. “The recession of 2007–2009 knocked the wind out of state government budgets, but revenues and spending have grown steadily in recent years,” wrote Cato’s Nicole Kaeding and Chris Edwards. “As revenues have risen, some governors have pursued…

PORTLAND – Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Shenna Bellows sought to tie incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins to Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell at a press conference on Wednesday. The event, which took place at Rising Tide Brewery in Portland, coincided with the one-year anniversary of the 2013 partial government shutdown and followed efforts by Bellows’ campaign to blame Collins for causing the sixteen-day partial closure of some federal agencies. “You cannot rewrite history,” Bellows said. “Mainers know that the Republicans, lockstep, Susan Collins joining Mitch McConnell and Ted Cruz, are responsible for last year’s government…

A top union boss spoke out in favor of Democratic U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud’s gubernatorial campaign on Wednesday as media reports indicated the United Steelworkers will dump another $230,000 into the congressman’s gubernatorial campaign. USW Works, the United Steelworkers Union’s super political action committee (super PAC), has reportedly purchased $230,000 in television advertisements. Details of the ad buy have not yet been reported to the Federal Communications Commission Website as required under law, but the dollar amount of the purchase was reported on Wednesday afternoon by the liberal-leaning Portland Press Herald. On the same day, AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka made a scheduled campaign…

Nate Silver, polling aficionado for ESPN’s FiveThirtyEight.com, published a comprehensive ranking of American polling houses last week. According to Silver’s analysis, Maine People’s Resource Center, the polling organ of the liberal Maine People’s Alliance, scored in the bottom fifth of all polling houses with a “C-“. According to FiveThirtyEight.com, “pollster ratings are calculated by analyzing the historical accuracy of each firms’s polls along with its methodology. Accuracy scores are adjusted for the type of election polled, a firm’s sample size, the performance of other polls surveying the same race, and other factors.” Another Maine-based polling house, Pan Atlantic SMS Group,…

The Foundation for Government Accountability, a Naples, Florida-based think tank focused on developing state and national health care policy, on Tuesday released a powerful — and hilarious — video highlighting the priorities of the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion provisions. Maine is one of a handful of states that have not expanded Medicaid pursuant to the ACA, also known as Obamacare, but the issue will almost certainly return in the 127th Legislature next year. Republican Gov. Paul LePage vetoed Medicaid expansion bills five times, but both of his opponents — Democratic U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud and independent Eliot Cutler –…

Senate President Justin Alfond (D-Portland) has taken more than $23,000 from taxpayers under Maine’s Clean Election Act — despite being personally wealthy as the result of an inheritance stemming from his grandfather Harold Alfond’s sale of Dexter Shoe Co. According to Alfond’s campaign finance report filed last week, the Democratic leader has raised $500 in seed money contributions — a requirement under the law — and has received a total of $23,580. Alfond’s not the only upper-class candidate looking to taxpayers to foot the bill for his campaign. Assistant Senate Minority Leader Roger Katz (R-Kennebec), an Augusta-based attorney, is also…

AUGUSTA – Gov. Paul R. LePage on Monday called upon the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to intervene in New England to address rising energy prices before a winter gets underway — a step he said is necessary because of recent actions taken by Massachusetts. “New England households and our businesses are about to experience a catastrophic increase in electric bills,” LePage said in a press release. “We need action now. It’s well past the time that New England should have added natural gas pipeline capacity,” he said. “FERC must step up and address the unprecedented situation that liberals in Massachusetts…

Contradiction:  In a CBS “60 Minutes” interview, President Barack Obama admitted that his foreign policy plans in Syria were based on a contradiction. The president’s efforts to “degrade” Islamic State forces may have the undesired effect of helping the brutal Syrian dictator, Bashar Assad, regain control of the country.  “I recognize the contradiction in a contradictory land and a contradictory circumstance,” said Obama.  “We are not going to stabilize Syria under the rule of Assad.”  Congress has no plans to debate or approve of the president’s authorization of military force in Syria, and the president has stated that such approval is…

A new public opinion poll shows Republican Bruce Polquin leading Democrat state Sen. Emily Cain (D-Orono) by 10 points in Maine’s Second District congressional race. The poll was paid for by the liberal-leaning Portland Press Herald, whose majority owner, S. Donald Sussman, has donated to Cain. It was conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. The margin of error on the poll, which surveyed 220 likely voters on landlines and cellphones, was 6.2 percent. The big margin of error may be attributed to the small sample size. Just 3 percent of respondents said they would vote for independent candidate…

BANGOR – Maine Democrats on Friday drew attention to Republican state Senate candidate Cary Weston’s lawful campaign finance activities. The attack mailer, which landed in Penobscot County mailboxes this week,  criticizes Weston for paying his print company, Sutherland Weston, to produce mailers for his campaign against incumbent Sen. Geoff Gratwick (D-Penobscot). Weston’s business partner, Elizabeth Sutherland, responded to the strange attack on Friday in a press release. “Our company and our employees are supportive of Cary’s run for office. We wish him the best of luck. And many of us have offered to volunteer to help get him elected,” said…

AUGUSTA – Maine Republicans expressed outrage Friday over campaign literature sponsored by the Maine Democratic Party that attacks Sen. Brian Langley (R-Ellsworth) and Republican candidate Eric Brakey. The Democratic mailers accused Langley of failing to protect children from toxic chemicals and Brakey of opposing women’s access to breast-cancer screenings. “Maine Democrats have been lying their way into office for decades,” said David Sorensen, communications director for the Maine Republican Party. “But now, with [Gov.] Paul LePage in the Blaine House, they see the dysfunctional state government they created being reformed and they don’t like it.” “Democrats have pulled out all the…

AUGUSTA – The Democratic candidate running against Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins told reporters at a Thursday press conference she will bring libertarians on board with President Obama’s plans to hike the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. “On the minimum wage issue [Shenna] Bellows said, if elected, she would work with members of the libertarian wing of the Republican Party to move a federal wage hike forward,” according to a report in the Lewiston Sun Journal. “Bellows said President Barack Obama’s proposal to move the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour had popular support and would widely…

AUGUSTA – On the same day opponents of Republican Gov. Paul R. LePage gathered at the State House to attack him for problems at Riverview Psychiatric Center, the 92-bed state-run forensic psychiatric hospital received full accreditation from the Joint Commission. “As a result of the accreditation activity conducted, there were no requirements for improvement identified,’’ the Joint Commission’s Chief Operating Officer Mark G. Pelletier wrote, according to a Department of Health and Human Services press release distributed Thursday. The Joint Commission, a non-profit organization responsible for accrediting more than 20,000 health care facilities in the United States, announced Riverview’s full accreditation following…

In a surprising move, Eric Holder Jr. will step down as Attorney General, the White House announced Thursday. From NPR: Two sources familiar with the decision tell NPR that Holder, 63, intends to leave the Justice Department as soon as his successor is confirmed, a process that could run through 2014 and even into next year. A former U.S. government official says Holder has been increasingly “adamant” about his desire to leave soon for fear he otherwise could be locked in to stay for much of the rest of President Obama’s second term. Holder’s tenure as America’s top law enforcement has…

For a few years now, I’ve been closely following and commenting on state and local level circumstances relating to the Amtrak Downeaster, and in particular, its extension to Brunswick. Not to mention the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA) that operates it, and their closely affiliated lobbying organization, TrainRiders/Northeast. For those who aren’t aware, in spite of its name, NNEPRA is a creature of Maine State Government, defined statutorily in 1995 during the Angus King administration. The law mandates that NNEPRA create passenger train service in Maine, bypassing any thought of analyzing public transit needs, and then synthesizing and…

AUGUSTA – The administration of Gov. Paul LePage on Wednesday released information regarding new welfare reforms and enforcement procedures. “In the last year, we have added more accountability to the system in a number of ways,” LePage said in his weekly address. “We put photos on EBT cards; we eliminated the unauthorized out-of-state use of [Electronic Benefit Transfer] cards; and we put more resources in our welfare to work programs.” According to the administration, 14,000 Mainers have voluntarily signed up to have photo identification placed on their EBT cards under an initiative that began in April. [LISTEN: Robinson talks welfare…

With all the talk of debates this year, we thought readers might be interested in watching a collection of previous debates in Maine politics. Check out the “greatest hits” of Maine’s gubernatorial and congressional debates. Michael Michaud vs. John Frary No collection of Maine debate clips would be complete without clips from Michaud’s 2008 congressional debate against professor and internationally renowned orator John Frary. The clip was produced by a labor union hack, so it doesn’t show much of Michaud talking. But credit goes to the Michaud for maintaining his composure during this bewildering spectacle of political discourse. Michael Michaud vs.…

The National Rifle Association has endorsed Republican Gov. Paul LePage in his reelection bid, the group announced on Tuesday. “Based on his leadership on Second Amendment issues, LePage has earned an “A+” rating from the NRA-PVF in the 2014 general election,” the NRA wrote in a press release. “An “A+” is the highest possible rating and is reserved for elected officials with an excellent public record on critical NRA issues who have also made a vigorous effort to promote and defend the Second Amendment.” [RELATED: LePage, Poliquin post top grades from Maine sportsmen group…] “As Governor, Paul LePage has been…

Sen. Ann Haskell (D-Portland), assistant majority leader in the state senate, went on the George Hale and Ric Tyler radio program Tuesday morning to talk about a press conference Democratic lawmakers held about their plans for the next legislative session. After trotting out Democratic talking points about Maine’s job creation over the past three and half years, and getting rebuked by Tyler, Haskell defends Democratic plans with a Nancy Pelosi-style you’ve-got-to-pass-it-to-see-what’s-in-it: Tyler: “What promises do you have — what promises do the Democrats have for the state of Maine — that if given the majority in the senate and the…

When the Bangor Daily News published a story about Gov. Paul LePage’s vacation policy for political appointees, Democratic operatives thought they had found campaign gold. From the BDN: “A new policy instituted by Gov. Paul LePage in February substantially increased paid vacation time for 54 political appointees and governor’s office staff, by crediting prior, relevant work experience into how their time is accrued.” Operatives from the Maine Democratic Party and U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud’s gubernatorial campaign seized on the story to accuse LePage of favoritism, corruption, and all manner of malfeasance. Let them eat cake! @Governor_LePage plays favorites, gets caught…

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following new developments in the Veterans Affairs health care corruption scandal, U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud, the ranking Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee, is struggling to answer questions about how the committee is only now addressing problems in the system that have been brewing for nearly a decade. In May, a preliminary report from the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs shocked the country by pointing up systemic delays in care for U.S. military veterans, delays that some say contributed to the deaths of former servicemen and servicewomen. But last Wednesday, the VA Committee…

In case you missed it, thousands of climate change activists gathered in New York City over the weekend to protest global warming, corporations, capitalism, and, well, just about everything. Reason Magazine’s Kmele Foster took a camera to the march to interview participants about their views on climate change and potential solutions. The folks Foster interviews seem full of outrage and indignation, but they don’t seem to have much to offer by way of solutions. Check out his video here: Other skeptics who observed the march wondered why activists that are ostensibly committed to saving the environment left behind so much…

In a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Republican Gov. Paul R. LePage called on the embattled head of America’s most loved sports league to join him and other governors in forming a coalition to oppose domestic violence. The NFL “has an opportunity to take a high-profile stand against domestic violence by making it a national priority,” LePage wrote in the Sept. 19 letter to Goodell. This is the second letter LePage has written to Goodell regarding domestic violence.  Goodell has recently been at the forefront of a seemingly unending controversy involving NFL athletes and domestic violence. “If you are willing…

The Maine Democratic Party is issuing mailers on behalf of a Democratic state senator from Androscoggin County. The mailers tout a record on welfare reform that doesn’t exist and attack the Republican candidate using sources that also do not exist. According to Maine campaign finance records, the Maine Democratic Party has spent more than $10,000 dollars on the Senate District 20 race, where Incumbent Sen. John Cleveland (D-Androscoggin) is facing a challenge from up-and-comer Eric Brakey, a former chairman of the libertarian Defense of Liberty PAC. Cleveland is running as a taxpayer-funded candidate and has received more than $23,000 from…

The Washington Free Beacon has unearthed never-before-seen correspondence between the late left-wing radical Saul Alinsky and former First Lady Hillary Clinton, a front-runner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. “Previously unpublished correspondence between Hillary Clinton and the late left-wing organizer Saul Alinsky reveal new details about her relationship with the controversial Chicago activist and shed light on her early ideological development,” WFB’s Alana Goodman wrote in an article published Sunday.  The letters show the strength of Clinton’s relationship with Alinsky, author of the infamous Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals, a relationship she has sought to downplay in her own writings. The Clinton-Alinsky letters…

The campaign for U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud,a Democrat, is in hot water after a supporter published a video that includes a lewd sex joke about Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins. “I’m the King of Maine, I’m the King of Maine, I’ve got Susan Collins giving everyone brain,” the soundtrack on the video says as Michaud is depicted climbing out of a black GMC Suburban.  According to the Maine Republican Party, which first found the vulgar lyrics, “brain” is a pop culture reference to oral sex. “The song is called “King of Maine” and the artist, Spose, is known for his obscene lyrics,” the Maine…

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s former chief of staff, has abandoned plans to name a new high school after his old boss. The short-lived Barack Obama College Preparatory High School, which is slated to open in the fall of 2017, will now go by a different name, according to the Chicago Tribune. “Over the last few months, my team has listened to questions and concerns from the community, ranging from location of the building to the naming of the school,” Emanuel said in a statement, according to DailyCaller.com. “We take that community input seriously, which is why — as…

The Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group Judicial Watch has uncovered documents showing that senior officials with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) were seriously concerned with the security of HealthCare.gov, the Affordable Care Act’s online portal, in the weeks prior to its disastrous launch. The documents were obtained, according to Judicial Watch, pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed on March 18, 2014, after HHS failed to respond to a December 20, 2013 information request. From Judicial Watch: Judicial Watch today released 94 pages of documents obtained from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) revealing…

As we mark the 50th anniversary of Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty, the U.S. Census Bureau is set to release information showing that America’s most costly war — $22 trillion has been spent on the anti-poverty effort — has been a abject failure. “Since its beginning, U.S. taxpayers have spent $22 trillion on Johnson’s War on Poverty (in constant 2012 dollars). Adjusting for inflation, that’s three times more than was spent on all military wars since the American Revolution,” says Robert Rector, a Heritage Foundation senior research fellow, in a Daily Signal article Tuesday. This welfare spending has come through…

The Maine GOP has released video of Sen. Eloise Vitelli (D-Bath) saying she supports providing tax-payer funded welfare benefits to illegal immigrants. Vitelli was elected in an August 2013 special election over Republican Paula Benoit. Her remarks on welfare policy came during a recent town hall event. An unidentified citizen asks a question about whether Vitelli agrees that the state should be funding welfare payments to “illegals.” The question is awkwardly phrased, and Vitelli attempts to rephrase it, but it’s pretty clear she knows what her constituent is asking. After clarifying the question, Vitelli answers, “Yes.” Check out the video…

Advertisements from the Republican Governors Association are significantly affecting the race for Maine governor, causing a panic on the left and setting off a desperate attempt to contain the damage to Democrat U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud. According to The Maine Wire’s recording of the conference call, liberal activists believe Mainers with strong Democratic voting records are having second thoughts about Michaud because of ads highlighting his position on welfare for undocumented immigrants. The conference call, held Thursday, included nearly a dozen representatives of liberal non-profits and was organized by Maine Equal Justice Partners, a 501(c)3 non-profit that has been a relentless critic of the LePage…

In a secret recording released by the Maine GOP Tuesday morning, a Democratic state senator questions Democratic governor candidate Michael Michaud’s intelligence and tells a constituent he prefers independent Eliot Cutler. “So, Michaud is… much Michaud is.. umm he’s not the… he’s good, he’s good, he’s strong; high average, but he’s not a brain guy,” said Sen. Geoff Gratwick (D-Penobscot), in the one-minute edited recording. “Appears I would have probably if it were Michaud and Cutler, I probably would have probably voted for Cutler, because I think he’s probably more measured and brighter,” Gratwick said.

An ad released by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins on Saturday criticized Democratic Senate candidate Shenna Bellows for “flip-flopping” on a proposed constitutional amendment to reverse the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United. The ad centers on a video clip from November 2013, showing Bellows responding to an audience member questioning her support for a constitutional amendment overruling Citizens United — a Supreme Court ruling that critics say opened the flood gates for the entry of money into politics. “I’ll be honest, as someone who has spent much of my career defending the constitution, constitutional amendments give me some concern, and…

The biggest question this year on the national political landscape is whether Republicans can capture the U.S. Senate and further check President Barack Obama. Nate Silver, polling guru (or wunderkid, or wonk, or whatever we’re calling him these days), released the results of the latest FiveThirtyEight election model on Wednesday, and his prediction gives Republicans the edge. “Republicans are favored to take the Senate, at least in our view; the FiveThirtyEight forecast model gives them a 64 percent chance of doing so,” Silver wrote. The model is based on an analysis of 869 polls conducted on Senate races to date. …

Ray Richardson, conservative radio show host for the LOB statewide Lobster Radio Network, has published this week a new book, “Rebuilding Maine’s Future,” about Republican Gov. Paul LePage. The book is a quick read written from the perspective of a LePage ally with the goal of showcasing the outspoken governor’s record of reform. “Although Maine has historically avoided so much of the nasty political rhetoric that is rampant in more populous areas, I have personally witnessed an obsession by Governor Paul LePage’s opponents that is designed not only to defeat his ideas but to destroy him personally,” writes Richardson. “They…

Michael McKee reported in a Bloomberg TV segment that Maine internet speeds are drastically slower than in other parts of the country. McKee said that internet speeds in Maine are measured at approximately 9 megabytes per second (Mb/s), as opposed to in New York where internet speed is around 150 Mb/s. The problem, according to McKee, is that Maine’s population is too sparse for internet providers to make a profit in providing access to higher speeds.  The panelists in the Bloomberg segment agreed that the speeds are comparable to developing countries. “The problem of course for Maine is that it…

An “overwhelming” majority of Americans believe the U.S. is on the wrong track, according to a poll from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. “Though the American public is as divided as it has been all year, as we head into the 2014 general elections the advantage among likely voters is flowing toward Republicans,” said Christopher Arterton, poll director and GW professor of political management, in a press release. “Despite the public’s antipathy toward Congress, particularly toward the Republican leadership in the House, President Obama has become a lightening rod for discontent on a number of fronts,” he said. “Strong…

The Daily Caller News Foundation obtained a 2007 email revealing that Lois Lerner, a former IRS official at the heart of the tea party audit scandal, ignored a failure by unions to report their political expenditures. At the time, major unions were reporting significant political contributions to the Department of Labor while neglecting to report the same contributions to the IRS.  Lerner acknowledged in the 2007 email that expenditures reported in a Form LM2 to the Department of Labor should also be reported to the IRS.  “The definition of political campaign activity required to be reported on Form LM2 coincides…

The Republican Governors Association has released a new ad criticizing Democratic candidate for governor U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud for his position on allowing illegal immigrants to collect welfare benefits. “Michaud would put Maine taxpayers on the hook for over $1 million in payments to illegal immigrants, and make Maine more attractive to illegal immigrants who can’t get benefits in other states,” the narrator says. The ad attacks Michaud for statements he has made to Maine media about providing welfare benefits to illegal immigrants, a practice that Gov. Paul R. LePage has stopped in order to comply with federal law. “Don’t be fooled when liberal…

In his weekly address, Governor Paul R. LePage criticized Governor Deval Patrick on Thursday for backing out of a plan to alleviate high energy costs in New England by developing infrastructure that would increase the supply of natural gas. “This is not rocket science, folks,” said LePage.  “Bad public policy and politics are blocking progress.” New England energy costs are almost fifty percent higher than the national average, he said — hitting consumers hard during the winter months and substantially raising production costs for businesses.  Earlier this month, the Old Town Fuel and Fiber mill shut down, citing high energy costs as…

Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins blasted President Barack Obama’s administration on Wednesday for stymieing public watchdogs throughout the federal government. “It is unacceptable that the Obama administration is hindering the efforts of inspectors general,” Collins said. “These independent watchdogs are indispensable in preventing waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars, and they are an invaluable resource for conducting congressional oversight.” Collins’ statement follows a highly unusual Aug. 5 joint letter to some members of Congress — signed by 47 out of 78 federal inspectors generals — condemning the Obama administration for obstructing investigations. According to a report in the Washington Post, the IGs accuse at…

Emails from the federal bureaucrat at the heart of the IRS corruption scandal do exist, according to government lawyers and the watchdog group Judicial Watch. The revelation, which runs directly contrary to almost a year of testimony from Obama administration officials and other IRS officials, emerged Monday as a result of Judicial Watch’s work to uncover evidence related to the tax agency’s discrimination against President Obama’s political opponents. “Department of Justice attorneys for the Internal Revenue Service told Judicial Watch on Friday that Lois Lerner’s emails, indeed all government computer records, are backed up by the federal government in case of…

The Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine (SAM) announced Thursday its unanimous decision not to endorse any candidates for Maine governor, U.S. House and Senate. SAM is one of Maine’s largest special interest groups and represents sportsmen, firearm owners, and conservationists across the state.  The non-profit is dedicated to defending gun rights and the interests of hunters and outdoorsmen. The organization’s largest project this year is to defeat Question 1 on the November ballot, which is a referendum to outlaw Maine’s traditional methods for managing the bear population. Although SAM chose not to endorse any candidates, the group did release a scorecard…

Advocates for a big increase in the minimum wage say Maine’s poor will benefit, but some Maine small business owners believe the policy will harm the very people it’s supposed to help. Steve DiMillo is the manager of DiMillo’s Floating Restaurant and Marina in Portland. And he’s concerned about Portland Mayor Michael Brennan’s push to establish a local minimum wage that would exceed President Obama’s proposed goal of $10.10 per hour. “A minimum wage hike to $9.50 per hour in 2015 and possibly even to $10.75 by 2017 would create economic hardship on locally owned businesses that will hurt job…

A new advertisement from the Republican Governors Association (RGA) contrasts Gov. Paul LePage with “blow-dried” politicians. “Some people like their politicians blow dried. Others prefer the cookie cutter model. Or those who always have the perfect sound bite. And then there’s Paul LePage,” a female narrator says as images of LePage and Maine workers flash on screen. According to a source with detailed knowledge of RGA’s communications strategy who asked not to be identified, the group has already purchased as much as $3 million in television time for ads supporting LePage. “Governor LePage is no run-of-the-mill politician, and he has shown…

Following the controversial policing tactics employed in Ferguson, Mo., and heightened concern over the militarization of American police departments, the Department of Defense has released data detailing equipment it gives police departments throughout the United States. Police departments across the State of Maine have taken advantage of this program, receiving approximately $12 million in military equipment, according to The New York Times, which placed the DoD data in an interactive database. Maine police departments have obtained 463 assault rifles, 37 pistols, 32 shotguns, 8 armored vehicles, and 2 planes. In addition, police departments have received items such as first aid…

Gov. Paul LePage joins Maine Wire Editor Steve Robinson for the latest episode of The Robinson Report, a joint venture with As Maine Goes. In a rare interview, LePage talks about the current governor’s race, his hopes for his political future, and what he’s learned about himself — and his state — over the past three and half years. Check out the interview now on As Maine Goes! LePage talks about his plans to further reform Maine’s welfare system and how he would eliminate Maine’s income tax if elected to a second term. The governor also speaks candidly about his penchant…

AUGUSTA – Maine’s unemployment rate remained at 5.5 percent for the month of July – the lowest since August of 2008, according to the Maine Department of Labor. “Since we took office, almost 22,000 private-sector jobs have been created in Maine,” Gov. Paul R. LePage said in a statement. Maine’s unemployment rate was well below the U.S. average of 6.2 percent and below the New England average of 5.8 percent. Rates for other New England states were 4.4 percent in New Hampshire, 3.7 percent in Vermont, 5.6 percent in Massachusetts, 7.7 percent in Rhode Island, and 6.6 percent in Connecticut.…

In the Midwestern United States, one charter school’s approach to blended learning was ambitious right from the start. The first five Nexus Academy schools – three in Ohio (Cleveland, Columbus, and Toledo) and two in Michigan (Lansing and Grand Rapids) all launched on the same day: September 4, 2012. All were conceptualized, designed and launched as fully blended schools from the beginning, with the goal of creating an altogether different kind of high school. Nexus Academy schools are public and free to all students. According to the founders of Nexus, the goals were to preserve the personalization of virtual schooling…

By No Common Core Maine — The chair of Maine’s State Board of Education, Peter Geiger, wrote recently (see here) that Common Core won’t change Maine’s tradition of local control in education. Pointing to his two decades of having “had an unusually close look at public education,” Mr. Geiger felt he had to respond to the “great deal of criticism in almost every aspect of what we do in our schools.” He then addressed five aspects, which he labeled, “Rigor”, “Secrecy”, “State vs. Local”, “Common Core”, and “Testing”. Mr. Geiger reassured us that while “education has always been a complicated…

In an Arizona desert town near the Mexico and California borders, an innovative charter school is changing the way American students learn, one child at a time. They’re doing it with a blended learning model that leverages technology – combined with hands-on teacher interaction – to deliver customized learning experiences to every student. That school is Carpe Diem Collegiate High School and Middle School in Yuma, Arizona – a publicly funded but privately operated charter school – and their unconventional approach to learning is quickly catching on. Carpe Diem started in 2000 as a traditional public charter school serving nearly…

Greetings from Amherst to all readers of the Maine Wire: With fewer than 90 days to Election Day, it’s time to take off the gloves. Here’s the deal. Democrats lie about Republicans every day, and the lies are echoed and amplified by the liberal media. Our task is to simply tell the truth about the Democrats, and keep repeating and sharing the truth every day between now and Nov. 4th and beyond. Please share this op-ed with all your social media contacts. SURVEY SAYS: MORE JOBS, LESS WELFARE Voters in rural eastern Maine are fed up with the status quo, fed up…

In southeast Denver, Colorado, one young public charter school is using blended learning to serve at-risk elementary school children – and it is generating some impressive results. Rocky Mountain Prep (RMP) is spearheaded by founder and CEO James Cryan, a 2007 graduate of Colby College in Waterville, Maine. After teaching for two years in a traditional public school through Teach for America (TFA), a program that places recent college graduates in challenging classrooms with at-risk students, Cryan got his MBA from Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. In July of 2010, he decided to take the TFA…

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’s reelection is nearly as certain as death and taxes, according to the Washington Post’s Election Lab predictions released on Thursday. According to WaPo, Collins has a greater than 99 percent chance of defeating her challenger, Democrat Shenna Bellows. Here’s what WaPo says about their Election Lab: “Like most forecasting models, Election Lab uses the past to predict the future. To predict House and Senate elections in 2014, we draw on the elections from 1980-2012. We first look at how well key factors were related to outcomes in those past elections. Then, we gather information…

POLAND – Two Democratic lawmakers are wrapped in a scandal surrounding the town of Poland’s Tax Increment Finance (TIF) districts, some incomplete accounting work, and a bill some believe is too high. The over-billing conflict became public knowledge following a July 15 Sun Journal story that quoted several Poland officials who were angry with Community Dynamic Corp.’s decision to bill the town $12,725 for services originally estimated to cost $6,900. “I can understand 10 or maybe 20 percent over, but not this,” Selectman Walter Gallagher said of the bill, which was about 80 percent over estimate. “I’m furious. Taxpayers out there are going to be…

The Washington Post’s Election Lab is predicting that Republicans will grow their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives by four seats, including Maine’s 2nd Congressional District. According to WaPo’s analysis, former State Treasurer Bruce Poliquin has a 64 percent chance of defeating Democratic state Sen. Emily Cain in the race to see who will replace Rep. Michael Michaud, who vacated the seat after 12 years to run for governor. On the Senate side, WaPo is predicting Republicans will win seven seats and assume the majority. Here’s what WaPo says about their Election Lab: “Like most forecasting models, Election Lab…

Jay Nordlinger, well-known columnist for National Review, has written a series about the Pine Tree State, “The State of Maine: Not all lobster bibs and brisk swims.” Nordlinger endeavors to show both the picturesque Maine featured in tourism brochures and also the “other Maine” — the Maine stricken with poverty, drug abuse, and a struggling illiberal economy. Visit NRO to read his pieces here, here, and here.

AUGUSTA – The Department of Health and Human Services will begin drug testing convicted felons who receive cash welfare benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, Gov. Paul LePage said Tuesday. “We must ensure that our tax dollars do not enable the continuation of a drug addiction,” LePage said in a press release. “If someone tests positive for drugs, they are clearly putting their addiction ahead of their family’s needs,” he said. If a person tests positive, the individual will have the option to be tested a second time, according to DHHS. Individuals may avoid termination of benefits…

The Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine (SAM) on Tuesday called on its former director  to stop interfering with its business and to disclose his political work on behalf of candidates for elected office. George Smith, who ran SAM for 18 years before becoming a columnist and consultant, claimed he is advising both of Gov. Paul LePage’s opponents in the current gubernatorial race, according to emails obtained by The Maine Wire. The emails in which Smith said he is advising both Democratic Rep. Michael Michaud and independent Eliot Cutler were forwarded to The Maine Wire by SAM following Smith’s scathing Bangor Daily News column published…

Maine’s liberals are at it again, cherry picking data in an attempt to portray Gov. Paul LePage’s economic policies as unsuccessful. On social media and via Democratic Websites, liberal activists are touting a click-bait blog post from Business Insider that allegedly shows Maine’s economy is under performing. But on Tuesday David Sorensen, communications director for the Maine Republican Party, blasted liberals’ arguments to smithereens simply by pointing up comments made by local Maine economists. “[T]he Dems like to compare the raw number of jobs or GDP growth in Maine to other states’ since the recession.  Here’s what nonpartisan Maine Department of…

Debt held by the American government has surged under President Barack Obama. CNSNews.com reports: “The total federal debt of the U.S. government has now increased more than $7 trillion during the slightly more than five and a half years Barack Obama has been president.” According to CNSNews.com, that debt increase amounts to more than the combined debt accrued under all U.S. presidents from George Washington through Bill Clinton, “and it is more debt than was accumulated in the first 227 years of this nation’s existence–from 1776 through 2003.” Read the full analysis here.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, fresh off a trip to Texas she organized to expect the U.S.-Mexico border, said on Saturday that the majority of immigrants entering the country illegally are teenage boys. “Prior to my visit there yesterday I was under the impression that most of these children were very young. In fact, most of them are teenage boys between the ages of 14 and 17,” Collins told me on WGAN’s Inside Maine this weekend. “That doesn’t mean that it isn’t still a huge problem — it is. But it changes the complexion of the problem and what our approach needs…

A leaked intelligence analysis from the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) — obtained by Breitbart News —  shows that individuals attempting to enter the United States illegally are not just from Mexico or Central American nations. According to the unclassified analysis, illegal immigrants have come from more than 75 countries including India, China and Pakistan. 235768688-Darby-CBP-Leak-Numbers-Globe

AUGUSTA – The Maine Republican Party has issued the first edition of what it says will be a series of memos about GOP candidates and their opponents. The subject of the first memo, published Wednesday morning, is Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s successful push to payoff more than $500 million in medical welfare debts owed to Maine’s hospitals. The memo begins in 1980 when, according to the GOP, Maine first began the payment system that ultimately enabled the massive debt to accumulate. “In 1980, Maine began a system of paying hospitals a set amount monthly for Medicaid services rendered, settling up at…

Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Shenna Bellows has been caught misrepresenting her support from AFL-CIO labor unions. “I received the unanimous endorsement of the AFL/CIO,” Bellows told a crowd at the left-wing Net Roots conference in Detroit. Contrary to Bellows’ claim, she does not have unanimous support from AFL-CIO unions. In fact, Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who leads Bellows by more than 55 to 36 points, according to publicly available polling data, received the endorsements of four AFL-CIO unions. The unions backing Collins include: the Maine Professional Fire Fights, United Auto Workers Local 3999, Local S6 Industrial Union of Marine &…

To most Americans, the words “Export-Import Bank” don’t mean very much. The DC insiders, cozy with international corporate interests putting taxpayers on the hook for hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies, want to keep it that way, too. The Export-Import Bank is big businesses’ big-government bank backed by U.S. taxpayers. It sends huge amounts of assistance to foreign corporations, buyers, and companies that are hostile to our economic and security interests, but can afford armies of lobbyists to access easy financing backed by American taxpayers. Contrary to the values that keep America strong, safe and free, the Export-Import Bank…

“A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation.” — Ronald Reagan America faces two serious problems on our southwestern border. One is the overall immigration issue we’ve been debating for years. The other is the growing humanitarian crisis from thousands of unaccompanied Central American minors crossing the Texas border. As a parent, I can’t imagine sending a child or young adult on a dangerous 1,400-mile journey from Central America through Mexico to the U.S. border. However, desperate parents have entrusted ruthless human traffickers to deliver nearly 60,000 of their children to our national doorstep since last fall.…

It has become cliché to note that the Portland Press Herald newspaper is owned by a very wealthy Democratic donor. In light of recent events, however, a refresher seems appropriate. S. Donald Sussman, majority owner of MaineToday Media, is a billionaire hedge fund manager who happens to be married to U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat. Mr. Sussman is also a member of the secretive Democracy Alliance, an elite club of millionaires and billionaires who spend mindboggling sums influencing elections and culture. He has contributed a small fortune to liberal Democrat candidates, liberal super PACs and liberal activists. He also happens…

According to a report at SeacoastOnline.com, U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud was not the Maine Democratic Party’s first choice for the governor’s race — independent candidate Eliot Cutler was. The report, which covers a Cutler campaign event in Kennebunkport, includes the following indirect quote from the candidate: Cutler went on to say that after the 2010 election, the democratic party had contacted him to ask him to run as a democrat, assuring him they’d “clear the field” for him, but Cutler turned them down because, “that’s a party being run by organized labor.” As David Sorensen, communications director for the Maine…

As problems with President Barack Obama’s health care law continue to unfold across the country, a new sting operation launched by the Government Accountability Office has discovered a troubling trend: Obamacare’s enrollment system is unable to discern fake applications for federal health care subsidies. The GAO’s sting operation submitted 18 fake applications to healthcare.gov seeking subsidies for health insurance, according to a report from National Journal. A majority — 11 of 18 — of the fake applications were accepted, raising questions about how many other improper or fraudulent applications have gone unnoticed. From National Journal: The accuracy of the health…

AUGUSTA – The Maine Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday it will require nearly 12,000 able-bodied Food Stamp recipients to work, provide volunteer services, or participate in job training as a condition of receiving the federal welfare benefit. “People who are in need deserve a hand up, but we should not be giving able-bodied individuals a handout,’’ said Gov. Paul R. LePage in a statement. “We must continue to do all that we can to eliminate generational poverty and get people back to work,” he said. “We must protect our limited resources for those who are truly in need…

At a campaign event in Saco on Monday, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Michael Michaud joined York County Democrats in giving a standing ovation to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick for his controversial decision to welcome undocumented immigrant children into Massachusetts’ schools and communities. Patrick, a Democrat, announced last week that his administration will find ways for the Bay State to host immigrant children who recently crossed the US southwest border illegally. Although the federal government has said it will foot the bill for housing, clothing and feeding the untold number of young Central American immigrants, some Massachusetts cities and towns have objected to…

As the 2014 gubernatorial campaign heats up, political parties, politicians, political action committees and even anonymous Twitter accounts are making all manner of claims about their favorite — and no so favorite — candidates. But one claim deserves some further scrutiny. The Maine Republican Party is claiming that U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud, the Democratic candidate for governor, has never managed to get a bill passed throughout his 12 years in Congress. Put differently, they claim Michaud has never introduced a bill which subsequently became law. Here’s an example of that talking point in action from former Republican state senator Debra…

By Debra Plowman — Mainers expect bold leadership from their representatives in Washington, D.C. Whether Democratic or Republican, the people we have sent from our small state to our nation’s capital have stood out and have gotten things done in that crowded town. Ed Muskie wrote the Clean Air and Water Acts. Bill Cohen became a respected secretary of defense — a Republican working with a Democratic president at a critical juncture in our history. George Mitchell rose to the top of the Senate as majority leader, accomplishing much for Mainers and all Americans. Susan Collins recently was named one of the…

Did you miss Maine Wire Editor Steve Robinson when he filled in for John McDonald on Saturday? Be sure to catch the podcasts of from his first solo radio show! Robinson talks about Eric Holder’s Justice Department with John Fund, senior national affairs correspondent for National Review Online: Listen! David Trahan, executive director of the Sportman’s Alliance of Maine, joins Robinson to talk about the effort by out-of-state activists to outlaw Maine’s bear hunting tradition: Listen! Robinson talks with a Maine mom who has experienced a nightmare in dealing with President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Erica Fallon’s story puts a…

Shenna Bellows, Democratic candidate for Senate, is taking flak for her campaigns use of an out-of-state actor in a commercial. Although the ad talks about supporting Maine workers, Phil Harriman, columnist for the Portland Press Herald, points out that the hardhat-wearing actor in the commercial actually comes from stock footage. The Maine Republican Party is asking, why Bellows didn’t choose actual Maine workers? From Harriman’s Agree to Disagree column: Shenna Bellows released a new television ad on Friday. In it she discusses the need for raising the minimum wage and increasing social security. Throughout the ad she has images of adults and…

A Maine family is enduring a nightmare as the result of systemic data problems with the government-run health insurance exchanges created under President Obama’s health care reform law. Sean and Erica Fallon live in Gardiner, Maine. Like most Americans, they were aware of the drastic changes the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, brought this year to the health insurance market. But they never imagined the government-run exchanges would come to stand between them and health coverage for their newborn daughter. Sean is an Army Reserve veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom who served with the 619th Transportation unit out…

Maine Wire Editor Steve Robinson filled in for WGAN Morning News host Mike Violette this week. In case you missed it, you can listen to Robinson talk about the IRS corruption scandal with co-host Ken Altshuler.

Candidates for Maine’s Second Congressional District reported fund raising totals this week. Republican Bruce Poliquin has an edge over Democrat Emily Cain, while independent candidate Blaine Richardson raised just $275. Cain, a Democratic state  senator from Orono, raised nearly $380,000 in the last three months. She has raised a total of $870,000 for her campaign. Poliquin, a former State Treasurer, reported raising $296,000 for the second quarter of 2014, bringing his campaign total to roughly $820,000. Both campaigns touted their strong fundraising numbers to emails to supporters and press, though Poliquin does have nearly $50,000 more cash-on-hand than Cain. The…

POLAND – State Sen. John Cleveland (D-Androscoggin) is taking fire from Poland’s board of selectman after he billed the town $12,725 for services estimated to cost about $6,900, according to a report in the Lewiston Sun Journal. Remarkably, the Sun Journal’s story does not mention that Cleveland is a Democratic elected official.  From the Sun Journal: Last December, the town’s economic development consultant, John Cleveland of Community Dynamics Corp. of Auburn, estimated it would cost about $6,900 for his firm to separate the financial accounts of the two Poland Spring Bottling Co. Tax Increment Financing districts. Selectmen told Cleveland to…

The LePage administration’s decision to crackdown on municipalities that give General Assistance (GA) to undocumented immigrants has created a firestorm driven by Democrat Attorney General Janet Mills and new lawsuit from the Maine Municipal Association. New documents obtained by The Maine Wire shed light on the year-long collaborative process between Mills’ office and the LePage administration that resulted in the decision to enforce a 1996 federal law, which prohibits the state from providing GA to undocumented immigrants unless the state has passed a law explicitly authorizing it to do so. According to the documents, the LePage administration’s decision to stop reimbursing…

Despite a “corrosive culture” and “chronic systemic failures,” the U.S. Veterans Affairs health care system provides excellent health care — if you can get an appointment. That’s the chief take away from a June 27 White House report on the corruption scandal plaguing the government agency responsible for delivering health care to veterans of the U.S. military. “There is a strong sentiment among many Veterans and stakeholders that in general VA provides high quality health care “once you get in the door” and that the current system needs to be fixed, not abandoned or weakened,” said White House Deputy Chief…

Inconsistencies in application data submitted to online health care insurance exchanges may jeopardize coverage for millions of Americans and cause massive headaches come next tax season. According to a new report from the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, the federal government was unable to resolve 89 percent of the “inconsistencies” in data from applications submitted at Healthcare.gov. “During the period of our review, marketplaces were unable to resolve most inconsistencies, which they reported most commonly as citizenship and income,” the report said. “Specifically, the Federal marketplace was unable to resolve 2.6 million of 2.9 million…

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Supreme Court delivered two major decisions on Monday that proponents of the Affordable Care Act and government union bosses will not be happy about. The first case pit women’s rights groups against Hobby Lobby and other advocates for religious liberty. Hobby Lobby argued that it should not have to comply with a provision of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which mandated that employers provide health care coverage for contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs. In a 5-4 opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito, the court held that the contraception mandate included in the ACA was a…

Gov. Paul LePage’s re-election campaign unveiled key staff members on Tuesday, including some well-known figures from Maine political circles. Scot Van Orman will serve as campaign manager, Rep. Alex Willette (R-Mapleton) will serve as communications and coalitions director, and David Madore will serve as deputy director of finance. Van Orman, who served on the governor’s 2010 campaign, has spent the last few years working in the LePage administration, most recently as deputy director of Boards and Commissions. Willette, who recently decided not to seek re-election to the state legislature, worked with the LePage administration in the most recent legislative session…

Republican Paula Sutton is a candidate for Maine State Senate District 12. She recently sat down with The Maine Wire and As Maine Goes for an interview about Maine politics and her first campaign for state office.

Black bears are becoming a national menace as well as a serious threat to public safety and private property, and exacerbating this problem is the Humane Society of the United States and its radical, Pollyanna belief that bears can be managed without the use of hunters. The D.C.-based Humane Society roams our country using its vast millions looking for opportunities to promote its anti-hunting agenda. Now the group has landed in Maine with the November bear referendum; as a result, Maine could join the growing list of states struggling to prevent bear-human encounters. According to a recent report in the Wall…

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) ripped into IRS Commissioner John Koskinen Monday evening over the tax agency’s claim to have lost two year’s worth of emails that include evidence surrounding the targeting of conservative groups.

Just 5 percent of Americans are newly insured under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, according to a new Gallup poll published Monday. “Five percent of Americans report being newly insured in 2014. More than half of that group, or 2.8% of the total U.S. population, say they got their new insurance through the health exchanges that were open through mid-April,” the Princeton, N.J.-based firm reported.  This data is based on interviews with more than 31,000 adults conducted between April 15 and June 17. The poll did not ask with newly insured individuals were paying for coverage, receiving…

Our businesses are the life blood of the Maine economy. They create stable jobs, invest in local communities, and create and sell products and services we need. Our unfair and out of control tax system with never ending requirements and tax rates that seem to go up every year makes it difficult for companies to navigate and grow. Many businesses are able to expand and take on large projects through financial investments from partnerships, such as private equity or venture capital firms. These investments are fortified through carried interest, essentially a financial reward for investment partners on long-term, high risk…

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will headline Democratic Rep. Michael Michaud’s 12th — and final — lobster bake fundraiser on Tuesday. The lobster bake will take place at Credit Union House on C Street, in North East Washington, D.C. “House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi will be joining us as the Special Guest,” wrote Lindsay Angerholzer of Angerholzer Broz Consulting (ABC), in an email obtained by The Maine Wire. “As always, we will be driving the lobsters down from Maine on the day of the event, and we will have plenty of Maine microbrews on hand for you…

Media Flips on Michaud: The mainstream press is starting to turn on U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud, Democratic candidate for governor. On Friday, the liberal Portland Press Herald published an editorial headlined, “Our View: Blaine House rivals overplay Michaud’s part in VA crisis”. But don’t let that title fool you — this editorial is devastating news for Michaud. Here are some pull quotes: “He’s one of a number of people who should have noticed the system’s issues and pushed for reform sooner… [T]he Maine congressman was one of many who didn’t adequately prepare for the coming storm… Someone should have noticed and pushed…

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen came before a Congressional oversight committee on Friday to explain how tens of thousands of emails from IRS officials tied to the political targeting of conservative groups wound up lost or destroyed. More than one year ago, Lois Lerner, the highest ranking IRS official implicated in the scheme to date, staged a press conference in order to admit that the tax agency improperly targeted conservative non-profit groups for unusual scrutiny and harassment. The admission spawned a full-scale congressional investigation into the abuse of power at the IRS. On Monday and Tuesday,…

AUGUSTA – Maine’s unemployment rate remained at 5.7 percent for the month of May, according to government figures released Friday, but opponents of Republican Gov. Paul LePage remain skeptical. The preliminary seasonally adjusted unemployment rate estimate was 5.7 percent, down from 6.7 percent one year ago, for a total decline in unemployed persons of 7,000 since this time last year. “The share of the population that is employed was estimated at 61.6 percent, well above the U.S. average of 58.9 percent,” the Maine Department of Labor added in its press release. “May was the 80th consecutive month the employment to population…

Maine GOP Communications Director David Sorensen clashed with former Democratic Gov. John Baldacci over welfare reform Wednesday morning. A clearly agitated Baldacci called into WGAN Morning News twice to defend himself against the criticism that welfare reform never happened on his watch. Baldacci pointed out that, when he was a Congressman, he voted for the Gingrich-Clinton welfare reforms of 1996 that created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash welfare program. But Sorensen pointed out that Baldacci never moved to implement the five-year lifetime limit on the benefit during his 8 years in the Blaine House. Only when Republican Gov.…

Not Ready: Potential Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s book, Hard Choices, appears to be a bomb. Although the former First Lady and U.S. Senator was paid $14 million by mega-publisher Simon & Schuster, sources tell the Weekly Standard that the book “will be lucky to sell 150,000 total lifetime.” In related news, young liberals waiting in line to buy a copy of Clinton’s book struggled mightily to identify her major accomplishments. Also this week: the Washington Free Beacon uncovered audio recordings of Clinton from the early 1980s in which the former prosecutor speaks glibly about how she used a legal technicality to…