This morning I wanted to talk about something we can all relate to – the cost of heating our homes and businesses.

The high cost of energy in our state is an issue that every Maine family and small businesses struggles with every day. It is a key area where Maine must do better in order to strengthen our economy, rebuild our middle class, and improve our business climate.

For over a decade in Maine, we have had a bipartisan energy policy, which encourages energy efficiency and promotes alternative energy. Because of those policies, we’ve seen a decline in dependency on fossil fuels.

On average, Efficiency programs have saved nearly $3 for each $1 spent.

Homeowners have saved 30-40 percent or more in annual energy bills from efficiency programs.
Plus, Maine’s investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy has created more than 12,000 jobs in the state.

Maine’s efficiency programs are even helping our outdoor sports and tourism industry. Sugarloaf Mountain Ski Resort is using a grant through Efficiency Maine to lower it’s electricity consumption.
We must continue to work to together help lower energy costs, create jobs, and put more money in the pockets of middle class Maine families and small businesses.

We must also continue to work to lower our electric costs. But we won’t do it unless we follow a strategic plan that keeps Maine on the right path. We must continue to diversify our energy portfolio, while maximizing efficiency efforts in the short term.

We need to explore natural gas as a transition fuel to help wean us off our dependence on home heating oil.

Maine’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, which encourages the purchase of alternative energy power, is helping to successfully diversify our energy resources.

It has given Maine a significant hedge against high fossil fuel costs. It has also made our electricity generation cleaner and more renewable – which is both good for our economy and the environment now and in the future.

We’ve seen our investment in this strategy already helping Maine people and businesses. The RPS helped the Verso Bucksport Paper Mill upgrade to a biomass boiler, making the mill’s future and its employees much more secure.

Maine’s business community has benefited from the RPS program with more than 300 businesses having worked to construct, support, and maintain the state’s existing renewable energy assets. Reed & Reed even started a new division of their construction business specializing in erecting wind-farm turbines.

Governor LePage has a plan that will undo energy efficiency, undercut our efforts to reduce our dependency on oil, and stifle job creation. He wants to send Maine taxpayer dollars to support Canadian Hydro power with no guarantee that we will get the best deal. This would do nothing to lower Maine energy prices but would certainly benefit Hydro Quebec.

It’s the wrong solution for Maine. We should be looking to help Maine companies and Maine people. We should be building off the reasonable bipartisan approach that has helped Maine people and so many of our businesses.

Thank you for listening; I’m Rep. Mark Dion from Portland.

Hello. This is Governor Paul LePage.

With the holidays upon us, it is a time to celebrate with family, be with friends, and help our neighbors. But even with the excitement of the holidays, there is a dark reality this time of year, and it relates to the rise in domestic violence crimes in Maine.

Recently, the murder of Kasandra Perkins has grabbed national headlines and yet again draws attention to domestic violence.

Kasandra’s boyfriend, Kansas City Chief football player, Jovan Belcher who was also a University of Maine graduate shot Kasandra nine times before killing himself.

Three days before Thanksgiving, in Alton, another domestic violence tragedy occurred. Thirty-nine year old Danielle Reed was killed in an apparent murder suicide which involved her estranged husband and his friend.

These deaths are a brutal reminder of the devastating effects of domestic violence.

These three deaths in Alton bring the number of homicides in Maine this year to 19, with nine of those deemed domestic violence-related deaths.

I cannot stress enough that these are not just numbers; these are our family, friends, and members of our communities.

Each year between 50 and 60 percent of homicides in Maine are domestic violence related. This is not a trend we want to see continue.

In 2011, Maine law enforcement received more than five-thousand calls related to domestic violence assaults. These crimes are on the rise in Maine and it is troubling.

As a society, we can stand up and say this is unacceptable.

Domestic violence awareness is crucial to eliminating the problem. We need a coordinated, community response to put an end to domestic violence now and for the next generation. Everyone has to step up. Personally, I would like to see men step up to the plate on this pivotal issue and they have.

We have many groups started by men including University of Maine Male Athletes Against Domestic Violence, Boys to Men, and Guys and Pies are just a few that are proactive with young men and raising awareness about domestic violence and abuse.

But we all know that it will take more than men to eliminate this heinous crime. It will take families and communities coming together to say enough is enough.

I encourage you to talk with your family members about domestic violence. It’s likely that you or someone you know has been affected by this abuse. As a survivor, I know how difficult it is to speak up, especially when you’ve experience the abuse yourself. This is a sobering subject, but we must all stand up and speak up together – we must do it in their memory and to help those who are affected by abuse right now.

Finally, I would like to leave you with information that has saved lives. The most dangerous time for a victim is when they try to end an abusive relationship. The Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence is committed to ensuring safety for victims.

If you are in or you know of someone in a harmful or potentially harmful situation, please, pick up the phone and call. The Coalition has resources to help.

The Statewide Domestic Violence Helpline is 1-866-83-4HELP. That’s 1-866-834-4357.

My thoughts and prayers are with the families who have lost a loved one to domestic violence.

Thank you for listening. Be safe and enjoy your weekend.

Hello. This is Governor, Paul LePage.

Several weeks ago, I used my radio address to talk about the compassion of Maine people and their great generosity.

The heart of Maine beats especially strong this time of year, as many drop a dollar in a red Salvation Army kettles or a holiday ham at a local food pantry. Others –including those who have little profit to part with– donate slightly worn coats or give of their time to serve meals at a shelter or shovel snow for a senior.

But perhaps our country’s most humbling show of heart at the holidays starts right here in Maine.

For the past 20 years, a caravan of volunteers makes its way from Washington County to Washington D.C. to lay thousands of wreaths on the graves of America’s heroes at Arlington National Cemetery. They are led by Morrill and Karen Worcester who own Worcester Wreath in Harrington.

It has become an annual pilgrimage for dozens of Maine people, Gold Star families, the Patriot Guard Riders and the Maine State Police. In each state along the way, stops are made for wreath-laying ceremonies at memorials, visits at veteran’s homes and education programs at schools.

Aboard one of the eight tractor trailers heading south today is a woman who has become a leading voice in raising awareness and appreciation of our military and veterans. She’s known by me and those on the road as Ann (Annabanana). And she’s your First Lady.

Ann, I am so proud that you’ve pledged to continue participating each year that I am Governor. Those of you who make this journey show our nation what it means to be from Maine. And I look forward to joining you at Arlington National Cemetery next week for the wreath laying’s.

Thank you, Paul.

Last year’s Wreaths Across America was a trip of a lifetime.

I was touched by the schoolchildren who stood in the driving cold rain to greet us with cheers of U-S-A, U-S-A. The handshakes that turned to hugs from veterans. And I will never forget Candy, a Gold Star mother, who was also on the trip to Arlington. After our wreath ceremony in the chapel at WestPoint, a small group of us accompanied her to a row of graves. There she pointed to one of the gravestones and introduced us to her son Thomas. We held hands and said a prayer and then I asked her how she’d made the difficult decision to leave her son at West Point, when she lived in Texas.

“Ann, it was very easy,” she told me. “He’s with all his buddies, and he died doing what he loved to do.”

Our veterans, military members and their families are what make me most proud to be an American. This Maine-led commemorative convoy, now known as the world’s largest veteran’s parade, makes me proud to call the state home.

This year alone, Paul, myself, our two children and more than 15,000 other volunteers will lay more than 100-thousand wreaths at Arlington. And across this great country, more headstones and the heroes they honor will be remembered this holiday season with wreaths placed through this program.

The message of our mission is a meaningful one. REMEMBER the fallen. HONOR those that serve and their families and TEACH our children the value of freedom.

As we celebrate the holiday, please remember the true spirit of the season, which shines in Wreaths Across America and those it pays tribute to. It is not just giving a gift, but giving of ourselves.

Happy holidays from our family to yours. And God bless our troops, God bless the great State of Maine, and God bless the United States of America.

Thank you.

I think Ronald Reagan said it best.

The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’

Just like every other new scheme concocted by the feds, it’s only after states accept the proverbial carrot, they discover too late they opened their gates to a Trojan horse. The federal government’s authority is limited so in order to entice other government entities to participate, they’ll offer an incentive. If a state, local government or public school accepts the pot of money, and in this case agrees to build a state insurance exchange, they become financially responsible to pay for it once the carrot’s gone or if costs exceed annual federal funding.

In March of 2010, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said: “But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of controversy.”

The “fog” has not cleared and we still do not know all of “what’s in it” or what it will realistically cost states and taxpayers because the rules are still being written. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ insistence that Governors sign on by November 16th follows in the footsteps of former Speaker Pelosi’s illogical reasoning; they need to commit to building state exchanges before knowing the details and what it will cost.

In effect, it’s as foolhardy and irresponsible as signing a blank check.

In July, Texas Governor Perry was right on the money when he wrote in his USA Today Op-Ed:

“As a general rule, the more a salesman offers you to sign a long-term contract, the closer you should scrutinize the deal. That’s the situation we’re facing in Texas, as the Obama Administration extends a handful of cash with one hand while keeping a sledgehammer behind its back.”

Employers and Wisconsinites from all walks of life, were on pins and needles waiting to see what Governor Scott Walker would decide. The people’s voices were heard by a bold leader who refused to cave in to pressure from self-serving insurance industry lobbyists urging him to agree to a state exchange. Friday’s much anticipated announcement from Walker of his rejection to facilitate a state-based health insurance exchange was met with an audible sigh of relief from Wisconsin businesses, and citizens, alike.

Walker joined ranks with other Republican governors in telling Washington to take their so-called Affordable Care Act and shove it.

The exact number of Governors standing shoulder-to-shoulder is unclear at this time, but as reported by Associated Press, Alabama’s Governor Robert Bently said he expects at least half the states to make the same decision. As of this writing, the following Republican governors have refused to participate in building exchanges: Bobby Jindal (LA), Sam Brownback (KS), Rick Scott (FL), Rick Perry (TX), Robert Bentley (AL), Dave Heineman (NE), Nikki Haley (SC), Nathan Deal (GA), Robert McDonnell (VA), Sean Parnell (AK), John Kasich (OH), Paul LePage (ME) and Scott Walker (WI). By a successful ballot initiative, Missouri voters forbade their Democrat governor from creating a state exchange without their Republican-held legislature’s approval.

To save face, the “deadline” has been rolled back into December. Governors’ letters to Secretary Sebelius point out there is no such thing as a state exchange because no matter which “choice” they make, Washington has unquestionable control and decision-making power, while states and taxpayers will ultimately bear the financial burden, which they find unacceptable.

By forcing the feds to shoulder the responsibility and costs associated with setting up exchanges, it exposes a flaw that 2,700+ pages of bureaucratic babble crammed into the bill didn’t consider: they don’t have the money to do it. This puts the ball in the court of the Republican-controlled House because as long as they don’t approve funding, there will be no Obamacare exchanges in these states.

There’s no reason to forge our own handcuffs by accepting this Trojan horse. Clearly, the law is flawed, which can provide, at the very least, leverage for states who have the courage to resist and stand strong.

Read more: http://clashdaily.com/2012/11/trojan-horse-alert-obamacares-state-insurance-exchanges/#ixzz2CcDDBI81

Topics: States, Health Reform, Medicaid, Politics, Insurance

Nov 08, 2012

Stateline: Obama Win Means Big Health Care Decision For States
Since the day it was enacted, many of the Affordable Care Act’s opponents have preferred to treat it as provisional. … there remain some significant uncertainties in the immediate future of the ACA, particularly in how Republican governors, who have vociferously opposed the law until now, will react in the wake of President Obama’s victory. The ACA is indeed the law of the land and will remain so for the foreseeable future, but that doesn’t mean that Republican governors have to be full participants (Vestal and Ollove, 11/8).

The Hill: Analysis: 20 States Will Run Their Health-Law Exchanges
Twenty states will operate their own insurance exchanges in 2014 under President Obama’s healthcare law, according to a new analysis. Avalere Health released its estimate after Obama won a second term on Tuesday, … Governors have a choice as to whether to implement the law’s exchanges or leave the task to the federal government. A third option is a “partnership” model in which the state and federal government jointly manage the marketplace (Viebeck, 11/7).

Politico: States Face Swift Deadline On Health Exchanges
By Nov. 16, states must tell the Obama administration whether they plan to run at least part of their own health insurance exchanges, new state-based marketplaces that will provide subsidies for low- and middle-income individuals and small businesses to purchase coverage. Eventually, states also will have to decide whether they’ll accept a larger expansion of Medicaid, which comes with a generous match from the federal government but still requires states to pony up some of their own money (Millman 11/8).

Kaiser Health News: State Political Shifts Likely To Affect Health Law
Republicans will have 30 governors and control 24 state legislatures next year, compared to 19 Democratic governors  and 18 Democratic-controlled legislatures. The rest are split or tied. The Medicaid expansion and new insurance exchanges are the key ways the health overhaul expands coverage to as many as 30 million people starting in 2014. But the Supreme Court in June gave states the option to decide whether to expand Medicaid in 2014 (Galewitz, 11/7).

Kaiser Health News: Maine May Warm To ‘Obamacare’ After Democratic Sweep
North of the Mason-Dixon Line, it’s hard to find a state that has given more of a cold shoulder to President Barack Obama’s health law than Maine. … But Maine’s voters may have short-circuited further resistance Tuesday by initiating a Democratic sweep that flipped control of both houses of the State Legislature, and is now poised to challenge Gov. Paul LePage, a tea party Republican opposed to the law (Galewitz, 11/8).

CQ HealthBeat:  After Election, Governors Face Medicaid Decision
So far, six GOP governors, all of whom remain in power, have said that they would not expand the health program for the poor (Adams, 11/7).

The Associated Press: Obama’s Win Forces Walker’s Hand On Health Care
President Barack Obama’s re-election is forcing the hand of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who had stopped all efforts to implement the federal health care reform law in the hopes that Republicans would take over in Washington. … Walker’s administration and Republican leaders in the state Legislature are now scrambling to figure out their next move (Bauer, 11/7).

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Walker, Other Officials Have To Scramble On Obamacare Compliance
Walker decided late last year to stop planning to implement the health care law in the state, preferring instead to hold out for an Obama defeat and a repeal of the law (Stein, 11/7).

The Associated Press: Kan. Officials Ponder Next Health Care Step
Kansas officials are considering their next steps to implement the federal health care law now that the presidential election has been decided and deadlines are looming. The state has until Nov. 16 to tell the federal government whether it wants to be a partner in creating an online health insurance marketplace (Milburn, 11/7).

Kansas Health Institute News: Praeger Seeks Quick Insurance Exchange Answer From Governor
Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger said today that she wants to meet this week with Gov. Sam Brownback about how to move forward with implementation of the federal health reform law.  Specifically, Praeger said she wants to talk to Brownback about the state partnering with the federal government on a health insurance purchasing exchange (McLean, 11/7).

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Big Healthcare Decisions Loom For State In Election’s Wake
Two major decisions loom for [Georgia] Gov. Nathan Deal and other Republican governors who have put off key decisions tied to the law, hoping it would be repealed if Mitt Romney won election. One is whether they to accept billions of federal dollars to expand Medicaid, the government health program for the poor. Deal’s decision will determine whether hundreds of thousands of low-income Georgians get access to health coverage. To date Deal has said the state can’t afford the expansion longterm (Williams, 11/7).

Georgia Health News: Health Care Law Lives – And Ga. Faces Big Choices
Still, there may be a middle ground between states rejecting [Medicaid] expansion and fully pursuing it, Custer said. Some states have approached the federal government about a partial expansion, up to 100 percent of the federal poverty rate, rather than up to 138 percent ($15,415 for an individual; $26,344 for a family of three in 2012) as currently required (Miller, 11/7).

North Carolina Health News: In Wake Of Election, Questions About NC’s Implementation Of Health Reform
One of the questions that’s been open during this campaign season in North Carolina has been the fate of the state’s Medicaid program. … Although some in the General Assembly have balked at the price tag, the political backlash of not covering a big chunk of North Carolina’s 1.5 million uninsured may be too great. And the state’s hospitals stand to lose big if a Medicaid expansion does not go forward (Hoban, 11/7).

Health News Florida: FL To Miss Exchange Deadline
[L]ike a kid who didn’t do his homework, the state’s about to miss an important deadline in implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. On Nov. 16 — in just eight days — states are supposed to turn in the applications and blueprints for their health insurance exchanges. … Even if Gov. Rick Scott had a change of heart and wanted to send in an application, the Legislature hasn’t given him the authority (Gentry, 11/8).

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Va. To Use Federal Health Exchange Option – For Now
[Gov. Bob] McDonnell said he would default to a federal exchange with the understanding that the state could change course later. … Defaulting to a federal exchange would reverse the position that McDonnell and the General Assembly took last year, when he signed a law giving him the authority to plan for implementing a state-based health benefits exchange under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Martz, 11/7).

MPR: Election Likely Removes Obstacles To Health Care Overhaul In Minn.
Democrats now control the capitol, led by Gov. Mark Dayton, who solidly supports the president’s health care overhaul. … Consultant Joel Ario, who formerly headed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Health Insurance Exchanges during the Obama administration, said Minnesota is well ahead of most other states. “I expect Minnesota will be one of the first states to be approved for a state-based exchange,” Ario said (Stawicki, 11/8).

Health Policy Solutions (a Colo. news service): Now In Control, Colorado Democrats Want Medicaid Expansion
“We would like to push to get health care to as many people as possible because that’s going to reduce the costs for everyone,” said Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, who is expected to take the reins of the Colorado House in January after Democrats recaptured control of it on Tuesday. Gov. John Hickenlooper is more circumspect. While he supports expansion of health care, Hickenlooper refused to say whether he’ll support Medicaid expansion (Kerwin McCrimmon, 11/7).

Los Angeles Times: California Speeds Revamp Of Health Insurance Market
With President Obama’s reelection lifting a potential roadblock, California officials are rushing to implement the federal healthcare law and revamp the insurance market for millions of Californians starting next fall. … Wednesday, California officials disclosed plans to spend nearly $90 million next year on marketing and outreach to millions of consumers who may become eligible for premium subsidies and other assistance under the federal law starting in 2014 (Terhune, 11/7).

California Healthline: December Special Session Now ‘Full Steam Ahead’
The nation’s re-election of Barack Obama means California lawmakers will have a much busier and more productive special legislative session in December, according to state lawmakers. Gov. Jerry Brown (D) called for the December special session as a way to make sure California is fully on board with implementation of the Affordable Care Act. … Issues to address in the special session … include reform of the individual health insurance market (Gorn, 11/7).

California Healthline: Prop. 30 Could Stem Health Care Costs
Although revenues from Prop. 30 will help fund education, if it hadn’t passed on Tuesday, the Legislature would be facing yet another massive budget shortfall and lawmakers would need to look at cutting many more millions of dollars. Health care programs and services would’ve been on the chopping block once again (Gorn, 11/8).

The Associated Press/Dallas Morning News: After Election Texas Legislature Faces Tough Issues Ahead
Texas Republicans will go into the 2013 legislative session with much of the same agenda as last year: tackle government spending, tighten immigration laws and discourage abortion. … The first order of business will be to make up for a $4.3 billion budget deficit by March, when funding will run out for Medicaid, the health care for the poor, elderly and disabled. Comptroller Susan Combs has forecast $5 billion in unexpected revenue this two-year budget cycle, so covering the tab should be relatively easy. The next two-year budget, though, will present a bigger challenge, with the Department of Health and Human Services expecting Medicaid costs to increase more than $7 billion (11/7).

English: President Barack Obama discusses his plan for health care reform in a speech delivered to a joint session of the 111th United States Congress on September 9, 2009. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is part of Kaiser Health News’ Daily Report – a summary of health policy coverage from more than 300 news organizations. The full summary of the day’s news can be found here and you can sign up for e-mail subscriptions to the Daily Report here. In addition, our staff of reporters and correspondents file original stories each day, which you can find on our home page.

Let’s face the reality.  We didn’t invite these people into our country nor did we force them to come here.  This state along with other states got screwed into taking these people whether they like it or not.  The mayor is probably angry at the fact that these people are taking many city resources without giving anything back to the community.  It costs money to educate their children and to make matters worse to teach these people English as a second language.  Many probably don’t care to learn the language and wish to rely on translators instead.  Again, this is an abuse to the system.

I remember going to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) a couple of years ago to try to get on the MaineCare system.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t get on because I had no kids and they were no longer accepting any new people to the program.  Unless of course you consider that the majority of the people there in the lobby were foreigners who didn’t speak English and wish to get on some sort of state aid.  Why should they get onto a program when they have never worked in this country when somebody like me who needed it couldn’t get it?  Certainly our system is messed up and the Lewiston mayor is probably fed up with them.  I feel that what he said was certainly not out-of-place nor do I feel it was wrong.  If these people are offended, I say too bad.

Consider also that if we went to visit their country, women would be required to where their garbs and dress accordingly.  Why they can’t comply to our customs is beyond me?  After all, it is a two-way street.  Unfortunately, these people are all take and no give.

Feel angry is you ever felt like you lost a job to one of them — guaranteed it will happen if it hasn’t happened already.  The U.S. needs to get serious on immigration reform and stop the flow of people into this country.  This is causing more problems than any other problem in our economy.  Why is nobody addressing this problem?  Are they afraid of offending anybody..certainly the Lewiston mayor wasn’t at all?  Kudos to him…this country needs more people like that in politics.

Let’s face the reality.  We didn’t invite these people into our country nor did we force them to come here.  This state along with other states got screwed into taking these people whether they like it or not.  The mayor is probably angry at the fact that these people are taking many city resources without giving anything back to the community.  It costs money to educate their children and to make matters worse to teach these people English as a second language.  Many probably don’t care to learn the language and wish to rely on translators instead.  Again, this is an abuse to the system.

I remember going to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) a couple of years ago to try to get on the MaineCare system.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t get on because I had no kids and they were no longer accepting any new people to the program.  Unless of course you consider that the majority of the people there in the lobby were foreigners who didn’t speak English and wish to get on some sort of state aid.  Why should they get onto a program when they have never worked in this country when somebody like me who needed it couldn’t get it?  Certainly our system is messed up and the Lewiston mayor is probably fed up with them.  I feel that what he said was certainly not out-of-place nor do I feel it was wrong.  If these people are offended, I say too bad.

Consider also that if we went to visit their country, women would be required to where their garbs and dress accordingly.  Why they can’t comply to our customs is beyond me?  After all, it is a two-way street.  Unfortunately, these people are all take and no give.

Feel angry is you ever felt like you lost a job to one of them — guaranteed it will happen if it hasn’t happened already.  The U.S. needs to get serious on immigration reform and stop the flow of people into this country.  This is causing more problems than any other problem in our economy.  Why is nobody addressing this problem?  Are they afraid of offending anybody..certainly the Lewiston mayor wasn’t at all?  Kudos to him…this country needs more people like that in politics.

In the last couple of weeks, there seems to be a rash of Maine agencies that have made some very stupid moves.

Consider first, the Maine Turnpike Authority has had its share of problems.  Now with a new head of Peter Mills, the agency was supposed to put itself in order.  It seems that instead of order, they are creating disorder.  The agency held several meetings across the state to get input from Mainers on alternative suggestions on how to raise revenue for the MTA.  The agency had an idea to raise the rates significantly in some area and after several meetings decided to keep their initial plan in place.  So was this all just an act to make it look like that the agency was really listening?  I highly doubt it and just think of the money that could have been saved by NOT having these meetings in the first place.

The Maine Republican Party had decided to throw out half of the Ron Paul delegates and hand them off to Mitt Romney instead.  Talk about not playing fairly.  Certainly the delegates deserved to raise a stink on the National Convention floor last week and certainly a meeting was in order of the party people afterward.  However, this meeting did nothing more than tear people further apart by not coming up with any solution at all, but just listening to the people’s blah-blah-blah.  How much was wasted by having these delegates travel to Florida for no good reason and then go to this stupid useless meeting afterward.

Then of course we have the Department of Health and Human Services.  I know many of you are as shocked as I am over the 10 year old girl who murdered a baby.  To add insult to injury was the fact that this was not the first time that this girl attempted murder using the same technique.  The biggest issue in this is that the child had access to their ADHD pills and fed them to the two babies.  Why in the world would any parent who is sane keep pills in someplace where a child could access them?  Does the parent not know to keep medications out of the hands of children as mentioned on every medication in existence!?!  Ironically, the DHHS said that the parent was “partially responsible” for one baby’s death.  Seriously?  This is like saying that John Wilkes Booth was partly responsible for Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.  It is apparent that DHHS doesn’t want to take any real action against the parent, but instead blame the child.  With so many problems that DHHS has, why can’t they get a real caseworker who was willing to see the problems in the first place and get this child the help that she needs and for that matter issue a conviction against the mother.  This is just more proof of sloppy justice we have in this state.

Finally, as I have already mentioned a few times before is the stupidity of the Maine Human Rights Commission.  The MHRC usually rejects most all of their monthly cases without actually doing any investigating at all as I will prove in future posts.  Imagine how much money these meetings are costing just to assemble with the goal of rejecting everything put in front of it.

It should be apparent that not only does Lady Justice have one eye covered, she has both covered as well.  Along with that, she is also wearing earmuffs and has a gag in her mouth.  Sadly Maine agencies have turned from helping people to hurting people by not waking up and seeing reality around them,  Sure, the excuse of “procedure” could be said as being used, but there comes a time when logic should come into play instead.  But whoever said the state was logical, just look at dumbass Paul LePage.  As if we needed anymore proof than that!

Adding corrupt cheating insult to the injurious cheating process of voter suppression, Romney’s gang did not even let Ron Paul‘s hardworking grassroots delegates get their day and Ron Paul’s day, or let the media know the truth about how much they had accomplish. The rulers in smoke-filled rooms showed their canines, you know, the teeth that make them look like vampires, and obviously ruled that the obvious “No!” vote was a “Yes” vote and they were bold-faced about it.

The teleprompter told the story: There was going to be no respect for their own rules, no respect to the party’s now “lower class”.

Now it’s out. They are treating party delegates as peons, as showpieces, to go through the motions and pretend that they are of the Republic, while tearing it down.

The Republican Party is now dead, dead, Dead!

The liberty movement is now going to metastasize and it will appear everywhere. It has already infiltrated into many local and state party offices.

Maine Governor Paul LePage kept his word and boycotted the Republican Party National Convention because the national RNC refused to seat the legitimate delegates from the state because they were majority Ron Paul supporters.

If you cheat, and you’re caught, in all legitimate competitions, and most especially in a Republic, you lost. And in that sense, Mitt Romney LOST and Ron Paul WON.

If Obama is reelected, it WON’T be because Ron Paul spoiled it, or Gary Johnson, or anybody else from any “third” party.

It will be because ROMNEY’s gang of thieves spoiled it.

And if all hell breaks loose during the next four years and the dollar crashes and we get the apparently pre-planned wars against Syria and Iran, it will be because the RNC showed itself no better than the cheaters of the other party

But we knew that right?

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. – Proverbs 29:2

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• GOP Destroys Integrity of National Convention, Flagrantly Cheats Ron Paul Out of Nomination (theunconventionalconservative.wordpress.com)
• “Fuck You, Tyrants!”: Ron Paul Supporters Rebel On Convention Floor (motherjones.com)
• RNC Sham 2012 [Video] (informationliberation.com)
• Sen. Rand Paul: The Republican Party Needs to Embrace Libertarians In Order to Win (foxnewsinsider.com)
• Maine GOP delegates walk out of convention, plan to boycott (bangordailynews.com)
• It Is Time For The Ron Paul Revolution To Move Beyond Politics (theburningplatform.com)

Enter the Ron Paul Revolutionaries. While most of the Republican National Convention VIPs were waiting out Tropical Storm Issac’s non-arrival in Tampa’s hotel bars, the Libertarian faithful were crowding an auditorium, rallying for a Presidential candidate that the rest of the world forgot about three months ago. Thousands of anti-fed acolytes descended upon the University of South Florida’s Sun Dome one last time on Sunday night to hear their fearless leader give his non-conciliatory concession speech in what should be the 77-year old Paul’s last run at the Oval Office. Paul has not been invited by the Republican brass to speak at this week’s convention because the Texas congressman has refused to endorse the Romney/Ryan campaign. Instead, Paul has chosen to rage against the dying of the light and continue to fight his peculiar fight along with the small, passionate base he has created for himself—a base that honestly believes it can still win the nomination despite all evidence to the contrary.

It’s not that Ron Paul has no chance of being nominated at the convention. Like the Chicago Cubs, he is not technically out of the running just yet. But, unlike the Cubs, he has every shred of organizational machinery working against him in pursuit of victory. At least the Cubs don’t have to deal with umpires that were paid off by the opposing team’s owner. Paul only won 10% of the vote in the Republican primaries and failed to carry a single state at the polls, but thanks to his tenacious ground game, he was able to pick up 177 delegates through state-level politicking and states where delegates were distributed proportionally amongst the candidates. In order to be eligible for nomination at the convention, RNC rules state that a candidate needs to have a plurality of delegates in 5 states and Paul only has a plurality of four at the moment (Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota & Colorado). The only problem is that Paul originally had a plurality in 5-6 states before the Romney campaign took Paul to court and arrested his chances at getting nominated. In fact, Republican Maine Governor Paul LePage is so furious over the course of events that he has refused to attend the GOP convention in a sign of support for Paul, who lost half of his 20 Maine delegates to Romney after an RNC credentials committee ruled that he had acquired the delegates illegitimately.

Listen to me Mittens: You don’t want to piss these people off

This indeed may be the single dumbest thing that the Romney camp has done yet, which is saying a lot. And, to compound the damage, the pro-Romney RNC party officials quickly voted on a rule change that would make campaigns from men like Paul even more difficult to mount in the future, upping the number of majority states needed for nomination from 5 to 8 for the 2016 election. Even with those extra 10 Maine delegates, Paul was going nowhere. While the delusional pro-Paul floorwalkers at the convention may be spouting pie-in-the-sky drivel about the GOP suddenly having a crisis of conscience and giving Paul the nomination after three or four ballots, it’s just kool-aid talk. Romney has had this thing in the bag since Super Tuesday and nothing short of an armed insurrection can stop coronation this week. So, why, in the name of Ronald Reagan’s excess chin flesh did the Romney camp decide it would be a good idea to shaft the good doctor from the lone star state?

In case you were wondering, that was a purely rhetorical question. I have no clue why these things took place the way they did. The only two rationales I can come up with are abject idiocy or a hearty helping of masochism. Romney needs the Ron Paul people to be checking his name off in November if he wants to win this thing. Polling has had Romney and Obama in a dead heat for much of the summer and there’s no reason to expect either of them will pull out to a commanding lead before election day. Every vote matters and I would think it might be sound policy not to flip the bird to 10% of your base and growing number of Libertarian-leaning swing voters. If you were to ask a typical Ron Paul supporter why the Romney campaign has decided to do a hatchet job on their electoral hopes, I would imagine a stock response would center around the sentiment that Romney is scared of Paul and his constituency. Objectively this doesn’t make any sense and I’d like to chalk it off as another example of Libertarian hubris, but, I can’t because it looks like the truth.

If there has ever been a sign that Mitt Romney and his staff have a serious inferiority complex, this decision is it. How the hell are you people scared of the little OB/GYN bridge troll? No one in the mainstream media gave him any coverage, he didn’t win the most votes in a single state and half of his policies are directly at odds with mainstream GOP voter beliefs. Despite what his minions might proclaim, Ron Paul is not a viable candidate for the Republican nomination. What he is, is a pied piper of Libertarian voters that are 10 times more passionate and driven than any of the people Romney has going to bat for him. These are people that could inject your sad-sack, Anyone-But-Obama campaign with some life and you’ve lit a flaming bag of poo on their front porch. To bring baseball back into it, Ron Paul supporters are like Craig Biggio or David Eckstein: they’re that tiny middle infielder who isn’t fast, can’t hit for power and doesn’t have a cannon for an arm, but they out-hustle everyone else on the field and get on base by beating out a bunch of slow-rolling infield dribblers. Every team needs that firecracker who’s got no business being as good as he is and who sprints to first on every routine fly or grounder on the off chance that the center fielder loses the ball in the sun. That’s how Ron Paul got the majority of the 177 delegates he’ll take to the convention. His people on the state level schmoozed and massaged local delegates for months until they finally saw things from Paul’s point of view and agreed to represent him at the convention. They ran out all of the routine grounders to short that the Romney camp pulled up on because they thought they weren’t worth the effort.

A video “tribute” to Ron Paul will be the only acknowledgement given by the RNC this week that the Paul campaign happened at all. If they know what’s good for them, Reince Priebus and his band of sniveling sewer rats will drop to their knees immediately and begin asking Paul and his followers for forgiveness. In all likelihood, they will act like they never screwed the good doctor over and hope that Paul’s base hates Obama more than they hate Romney. If I were a Ron Paul Revolutionary, I’d transfer my allegiances to Gary Johnson and his Libertarian ticket to begin the torch-passing right now instead of waiting for 2016. The cynical among you may think that my obscenely liberal self just wants to take votes away from Romney to make way for an Obama victory, but, while that is a nice ancillary benefit, it isn’t my reason for suggesting abdication from the GOP. Unless Barack has a sudden change of heart and decides to actually care about the poor and disenfranchised, I will be voting for Green Party nominee Jill Stein this November. So, if you’re worried about your vote for Johnson keeping the POTUS at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., just know that my vote will be canceling yours out.

I agree with very little that the Libertarian party stands for. As a matter of fact, as an uber-liberal, New Deal progressive, my views on the role of government in the lives of the American citizenry couldn’t be much farther from those of Ron Paul and his followers. However, while I disagree with what they stand for, I am whole-heartedly in favor of them standing for it. Having a thriving Libertarian party in this country would do much to ignite substantive debate about America’s fiscal, social and international policies and may even light a fire underneath the ass of the disjointed American Left to resurrect a third party of their own. I will fervently fight the ideals of Libertarianism that I believe to be injurious to the health of our society, but it will be a fight that I am more than happy to engage in. Hopefully, Ron Paul’s supporters can take that for the compliment it’s meant to be.

“All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.”

Thomas Jefferson

The Credentials Committee has overturned Maine‘s elected delegation to the Republican National Convention.

This comes as no surprise, as we have seen the Republican National Committee repeatedly disenfranchise voters by ousting delegates chosen at several state conventions. Maine’s situation shows the blatant attempts to alienate those who are in support of Ron Paul.

The following information was gathered from a live Twitter report:

The attorney for the GOP argued that the Maine convention was, “so flawed that the results were invalid.” The GOP also cited a lack of quorum and rule breaking as the reason for contesting the delegation. They claimed that the election of delegates was done in an illegal manner and that there was a “total inability to determine whether quorum existed due to credentialing breakdown.”

Maine’s Appellate Counsel argued that there were 2790 delegates and not one complaint at the convention. There were no instances of foul play. They concluded that the original delegation should be seated.

“The original Maine delegation should be seated. A committee of 9 cannot undo the will of 2000 Maine delegates,” said the representative for the Maine Appellate Counsel.”Although you may not like who beat you in an election, that is why you have elections – you should not be able to appeal to a few…”

The Ron Paul counsel also made remarks. They rebutted that Rule 17 was the proper procedure for filling vacancies, and that the remaining delegates should choose who fills those vacancies in accordance with the rules. “The contrary view being given to you by opposing counsel – is that the RNC gets to select the new delegates,” said the Ron Paul counsel.

“This contest is not about Ron Paul, it is about our young people who are being unseated by the Republican National Committee.”

An amendment was proposed to seat the rest of the Maine delegates. Drew Ivers, delegate chairman from Iowa, spoke in favor of the amendment and pointed out that Maine’s governor was elected in the same manner as the delegates.

A delegate from VA also spoke in favor, saying that the woman who ran the Maine credentialing was just now disputing it. He also said that the RNC would be disenfranchising voters.

A Maine delegate spoke as well. He said that Maine overwhelming supports Dr. Paul and that 13 of 16 counties wanted the current delegation seated. He received copious amounts of applause from the guest section.

The amendment failed.

A new amendment was brought to the floor, allowing the remaining delegates to choose who would fill the vacancies. Ivers spoke in favor of the amendment.  A VA delegate spoke in favor as well. “This is a great opportunity to allow the RNC to push the power back to bottom,” the VA delegate said.

No one spoke in opposition, yet it failed, 83 to 12.

Despite support from other states , the establishment prevailed over Maine. The state received five delegates from the original election, and a 9 person committee from the RNC will choose who fills the vacant seats.

Liberty was not served in Tampa today. Oklahoma and Oregon are still to be argued. The GOP are putting themselves in a bad position by setting a terrible precedent…when did it become okay to overturn the will of those who elect their delegates at state conventions?

Governor Paul Le Page stated that he would not attend the Republican National Convention if the elected delegates were not seated.

“We have a right, also, in various ways, to act upon our unfavorable opinion of anyone, not to the oppression of his individuality, but in the exercise of ours.”

John Stuart Mill

So rather than keeping with his nickname of “Front page LePage”, I’m sure he would love to be anointed king:

It seems as though all the politicians are acting like they have a stick up their butts.  Just today, Maine Governor Paul LePage wants to call a special session of legislature to possibly do something that nobody in the state will love.  This is on top of other thug statements made in the last week or so.

Examples include:

• Vice President Joe Biden calling that citizens will be “in chains” if Romneyis elected President.
• Super PAC for Obama which airs an ad for a man whose wife had died because he lost his job and thus his health insurance because Romney shut down his company.

Both of these examples represent the type of extreme lengths that the Democrats will go to retain the White House.  However, I believe in both of these cases, there is more truth than falsehoods in the statements as has been reported by media outlets.

The reason I believe this is that big business and Wall Street have controlled the way politics are run without any consideration of the general public.  If these groups considered the general public, they would not be spending millions of dollars to defeat each other’s candidate.  These people would be spending their money on hiring workers and not wasting it on political campaigns.  But then again, individuals mean nothing to corporations.  Just ask any unemployed person like myself and they too would blame people like Romney for their unemployment.

Even though both sides could be blamed for being thugs in these turbulent times, it is the general public who will have to decide which thug better agrees with their own beliefs.  May the lesser thug win!

William Lloyd Garrison

Once again, the GOP is changing the rules, keeping the challenged Maine delegates in a state of uncertainty.

Maine Republicans Peter Cianchette, Chairman of the Maine Mitt Romney Campaign, and defeated former National Committeewoman Jan Martens Staples, issued a challenge to the Republican National Committee against the elected delegation last month.

Cianchette and Staples claim that issues with procedure, incorrect credentialing, and no quorum allowed for the delegation to be elected illegally.

Maine has 21 delegates with seats at risk, all Ron Paul supporters. The challenge is not supported by the majority of GOP leadership in Maine.

Challenges are handled by the Committee on Contests, who are expected to rule either in favor or against the challenge, according to RNC rules.

No evidence of fraud, ballot tampering, or cheating has been found in this case, so by National GOP rules, the delegation should be seated.

However, the Committee on Contests has failed to issue a ruling, instead changing the rules to allow the challengers a second chance to prove their case against the Maine delegation. This is a rules change that has a large impact. The change gives the opposition the opportunity to “gather” (or potentially fabricate) evidence of wrongdoing.

At the state convention, the “fraud” was from the other side. Paul delegates confronted a Romney operative after he was found to be passing out fake “Liberty Slates”. You can view the video here:

Fraud in Maine

The Committee issued a request on Friday for a full hearing.

Charlie Webster, Chairman of the Maine Republican Party, tried to “compromise” with the delegation, issuing a list of demands to which the delegates would be required to adhere to in order to be seated in Tampa. Here is that list:

First, they would have to sign a statement promising to cast their vote for Mitt Romney if Ron Paul’s name was not on the ballot at the convention.

Second, Brent Tweed (a Paul supporter) would have to step aside and Webster or state Governor Paul LePage would act as spokesman for the Maine delegation and announce its vote for president at the convention. Additionally, the newly appointed spokesman would do all the talking for the delegation, especially to the media.

Third, the delegation would be forbidden from saying anything negative about Mitt Romney or positive about Barack Obama.

Fourth, in return for the foregoing commitments, the Maine delegation would be granted full access at the convention, including to all committee assignments.

Fifth, the challenge to the delegates’ election at the state convention would be dropped.

These demands were unacceptable and the entire delegation (including the 20 alternates) refused to accede to the GOP Establishment’s demands.

(as reported by The New American)

The delegation rejected the compromise.

Convention Chairman Brent Tweed did not feel Webster’s “compromise” was in the best interests of the Maine Republican Party.

“It is unreasonable for the Republican Party at either the national or state level … to attempt to pressure the Maine delegation to vote any particular way,” stated Tweed.

“We will not be intimidated into signing political deals under threat of being unseated. We are accountable to the Maine Republicans who elected us, not the Mitt Romney campaign.”

In the caucus, Ron Paul and Mitt Romney came within 2% of each other in voting totals. Maine’s delegates are not bound to a particular candidate.

Maine’s governor, Paul Le Page, is standing by his delegates, though he does not support Paul. He told Ray Richardson, conservative talk show host on WLOB 1310 in Portland, that he would boycott the convention if the delegates weren’t seated.

Richardson told the Maine Sun Journal,”"I spoke with him (Le Page)  on the phone at 9:13 a.m. and he told me if Maine’s delegates were not going to be seated, then he would not be going.”

Richardson posted this to his Facebook page:

“The Governor of Maine, Paul LePage, in a conversation five minutes ago said that if they do not seat the Maine Delegation at the RNC, he will not go. These folks need to be seated.

 The Governor gave me permission to make this public.”

Eric Brakey, Chairman of Defense of Liberty PAC, wants to make sure that delegates know that their vote matters.

“At this moment this is not a legal fight, it is a moral fight. It is a fight to stand up to the powers that be at the GOP and for us to tell them clearly, ‘We will not be bullied into taking a plea deal. We will not play games. We will continue this fight.’”

DOLPAC has set up a survey for delegates to tell the GOP of the sacrifices that they made to attend the convention. You can view the survey here:

Convention Survey

The fact that the Committee on Contests wants more time for evidence to be produced suggests that the case against the delegates doesn’t hold water. If the Republican National Committee and the Romney campaign are so certain that Romney will be nominated, why are they pushing so hard to disqualify delegates?

With no evidence of wrongdoing, Maine could be the tipping point that gives Paul a five state plurality and a prime time speaking spot at the GOP National Convention. With that plurality, Ron Paul could be put on the ballot for the nomination.
Will success in Maine put Paul on the road to the White House?

Human nature itself is evermore an advocate for liberty. There is also in human nature a resentment of injury, and indignation against wrong. A love of truth and a veneration of virtue. These amiable passions, are the “latent spark”… If the people are capable of understanding, seeing and feeling the differences between true and false, right and wrong, virtue and vice, to what better principle can the friends of mankind apply than to the sense of this difference?

John Adams

Doug Wead is a presidential historian and New York Times bestselling author. He has been an adviser to two American presidents and served in the White House as special assistant to the president under George Herbert Walker Bush. In 2012, he took a sabbatical from writing history to serve as a senior adviser for the Ron Paul presidential campaign.

By Doug Wead
DOUGWEAD.WORDPRESS.COM

RNC: Ron Paul delegates not welcome in Tampa

Remember all of those hard fought victories? Thousands of people who gave up their time and money to attend precinct caucuses?  And then faced coordinated attacks at District and County Conventions, where threatened establishment Party hacks had hired thugs ready to arrest them?  Sometimes the very new Country Chairman, duly elected to replace them?

Remember all of that?

And we won some of those battles and people were saying, don’t be a defeatist Doug, we can still win enough states to get him nominated in Tampa and thus galvanize the nation behind his message.   And they were right if it had been fair and it had happened naturally but there was always this, that the cheating that was experienced on a local level, often happens at the national level too and so we have come to that moment, the one that I have been warning you about.

Here is the message coming out of Headquarters tonight:

The Committee on Contests recently issued a ruling on the establishment’s challenge to Ron Paul’s delegates and alternates who were duly elected in Maine, and on our challenges to the outright cheating that occurred in Louisiana, Massachusetts, and Oregon (alternates only).

Despite Ron Paul’s supporters being so clearly in the right in these four states, the establishment is so far refusing to rule fairly and seat our duly elected delegates and/or alternates.

Here’s a brief summary of the bogus challenge made by the GOP establishment against us in Maine, as well as our challenges to the cheating that occurred elsewhere:

In Maine, where Ron Paul supporters held a clear majority at the State Convention, the establishment is attempting to unseat the state’s duly elected delegates and alternates – acting like sore losers in the process. The challenge to our delegates in Maine is so bogus that Republican Governor Paul LePage – who is one of the few delegates not being challenged by the establishment – has declared he will not attend the Republican National Convention unless Ron Paul’s delegates and alternates who were duly elected are seated;

In Louisiana, establishment “big wigs” used threats, intimidation, and force – literally smashing the bones of one gentleman – to shut out Ron Paul supporters who had a clear majority at the State Convention;

In Oregon, the State Chairman blatantly ignored the votes of the Convention, taking it upon himself to replace the duly elected alternate delegates with an “appointed” slate chocked-full of establishment cronies;

In Mitt Romney’s home state of Massachusetts, corrupt Party officials changed the rules after the game was over – kicking out Ron Paul’s duly elected delegates and alternates and replacing them with their hand-picked cronies.

As you can see, the Old Guard establishment doesn’t care about cheating, lying, abuse of process, and high-handedness in our Party.

All they seem to care about is maintaining their iron grip over the Republican Party.

But Ron Paul’s number-one goal for the RNC is making sure his delegates and alternates who deserve to be seated in Tampa are credentialed.

So if the establishment wants a fight in Tampa, rest assured we’re going to give them one.

Currently, our campaign lawyers and staff are furiously working to analyze and craft the appropriate response to the Committee’s rulings, and we’ll be sure to keep you informed as we move forward in the process.

And believe me, we will not sit idly by and watch the establishment run roughshod over Ron Paul’s supporters who were illegally railroaded by the GOP.

We will stand up and fight for all of Ron Paul’s delegates and/or alternates in these four states – and we will not back down.

Of course, one would think the Romney campaign would want these conflicts resolved so they didn’t become major issues at the Convention.

But so far they’ve sat idly by on the sidelines.

Hopefully they’ll change their do-nothing approach once they realize we’re serious about going all-out to win these credentials battles.

And remember, nearly 90 major media outlets have already reserved a spot at our “We are the Future Rally.”

So if the GOP goes through with these bogus challenges, they won’t be able to hide behind their iron curtain.  They will be exposed by the press.

The good news is, the Committee on Contests’ ruling is not the final word in this fight.

The battle will be decided by the Credentials Committee in Tampa – where we are very organized and prepared to take action.

As the battle rages on over the next two weeks, I’ll be sure to keep you updated on our progress and any new developments that occur along the way.

via RNC: Ron Paul delegates not welcome in Tampa « Doug Wead The Blog.

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I received the the following email from John Tate (Ron Paul Campaign Manager) earlier this afternoon.  I’ve noticed people on Facebook talking about this email from the Ron Paul Campaign quite a bit today, so I thought I’d share it with you all.  We have the fight of our lives this month in Tampa, and fight is exactly what the revolution plans to do.

Dear Marshall,

The credentials fight you and I were expecting to have in Tampa has already started.

The Committee on Contests recently issued a ruling on the establishment’s challenge to Ron Paul’s delegates and alternates who were duly elected in Maine, and on our challenges to the outright cheating that occurred in Louisiana, Massachusetts, and Oregon (alternates only).

Despite Ron Paul’s supporters being so clearly in the right in these four states, the establishment is so far refusing to rule fairly and seat our duly elected delegates and/or alternates.

Here’s a brief summary of the bogus challenge made by the GOP establishment against us in Maine, as well as our challenges to the cheating that occurred elsewhere:

***  In Maine, where Ron Paul supporters held a clear majority at the State Convention, the establishment is attempting to unseat the state’s duly elected delegates and alternates – acting like sore losers in the process. The challenge to our delegates in Maine is so bogus that Republican Governor Paul LePage – who is one of the few delegates not being challenged by the establishment – has declared he will not attend the Republican National Convention unless Ron Paul’s delegates and alternates who were duly elected are seated;

***  In Louisiana, establishment “big wigs” used threats, intimidation, and force – literally smashing the bones of one gentleman – to shut out Ron Paul supporters who had a clear majority at the State Convention;

***  In Oregon, the State Chairman blatantly ignored the votes of the Convention, taking it upon himself to replace the duly elected alternate delegates with an “appointed” slate chocked-full of establishment cronies;

***  In Mitt Romney’s home state of Massachusetts, corrupt Party officials changed the rules after the game was over – kicking out Ron Paul’s duly elected delegates and alternates and replacing them with their hand-picked cronies.

JEENYUS CORNER LIVE!
Midnight (EDT) 9:00pm Pacific.

As you can see, the Old Guard establishment doesn’t care about cheating, lying, abuse of process, and high-handedness in our Party.

All they seem to care about is maintaining their iron grip over the Republican Party.

But Ron Paul’s number-one goal for the RNC is making sure his delegates and alternates who deserve to be seated in Tampa are credentialed.

So if the establishment wants a fight in Tampa, rest assured we’re going to give them one.

Currently, our campaign lawyers and staff are furiously working to analyze and craft the appropriate response to the Committee’s rulings, and we’ll be sure to keep you informed as we move forward in the process.

And believe me, we will not sit idly by and watch the establishment run roughshod over Ron Paul’s supporters who were illegally railroaded by the GOP.

We will stand up and fight for all of Ron Paul’s delegates and/or alternates in these four states – and we will not back down.

Of course, one would think the Romney campaign would want these conflicts resolved so they didn’t become major issues at the Convention.

But so far they’ve sat idly by on the sidelines.

Hopefully they’ll change their do-nothing approach once they realize we’re serious about going all-out to win these credentials battles.

And remember, nearly 90 major media outlets have already reserved a spot at our “We are the Future Rally.”

So if the GOP goes through with these bogus challenges, they won’t be able to hide behind their iron curtain.  They will be exposed by the press.

The good news is, the Committee on Contests’ ruling is not the final word in this fight.

The battle will be decided by the Credentials Committee in Tampa – where we are very organized and prepared to take action.

If you’re going to Tampa for the convention, we want YOU to help us RECORD HISTORY!

As the battle rages on over the next two weeks, I’ll be sure to keep you updated on our progress and any new developments that occur along the way.

I hope to see you in Tampa. 

For Liberty,  

John Tate
Campaign Manager 

P.S. Please keep in mind that we are helping our delegates who are suffering from financial hardship during these tough economic times attend the convention.

If you’d like to help your fellow Ron Paul delegates get to Tampa for the Republican National Convention, please click HERE to chip in with a generous contribution.

Any amount you contribute will be put directly toward helping Ron Paul’s delegates.

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The act does get old, and as such, I try and refrain from constantly writing about ways in which the Governor has gone awry. I want to be original, and often I succeed. However, this has gotten personal.

Last week, Harvard released a study on student improvement in public education. To boil the study down, its data showed that Maine was 49th in the country in student testing improvement between 1991 and 2012. Without getting into a separate rant about how pointless standardized testing it, the report certainly threw up some red flags.

The governor’s initial response was appropriate. “Clearly, the status quo in education is not working” he said. Fair enough. After all, being 49th in the nation in “student improvement” is not a good way to promote yourself. Secretary of Education Stephen Bowen added that the study had inspired the state to “move forward with an aggressive plan to improve student outcomes.” Again, positive and proactive.

Then, there was this: “I don’t care where you go in this country. If you come from Maine, you’re looked down upon.” Now let’s be clear, this is nowhere near the top of the list as far as LePage gaffes are concerned. Yet this one truly is personal, as it is for thousands of Mainers. The underlying commentary simply states that Mainers are so poorly educated that we can never succeed outside of the State due to how disabled we are by our native state.

I, for one, beg to differ. Growing up in South Portland, and spending 12 years in South Portland public schools, I was able to grow and learn without limit. Although I attended an elementary school with only one class of each grade, the school provided me with the resources and challenge that I needed to succeed. Then, moving through middle school into high school, I found remarkable teachers who truly enjoyed their work, and subject matter that was engaging.

It was from this launching pad that I was able to gain acceptance to Bates College, which coincidentally is both ranked in the top 25 liberal arts colleges nationally, and in Maine. Not only did I excel at Bates, but I became a better person, a more curious observer of the world around me, and a young professional with numerous passions and professional aspirations.

I will readily admit that I was lucky. I didn’t choose where I went to school, and maybe, had my parents wanted to spend more of their hard-earned money, I could have gained a slightly better, or at least more exclusive, education, at a private high school. Likewise, had it not been for numerous sacrifices and trade-offs, the debt incurred to attend Bates may have been too much.

My point is this, if the Governor feels that Mainers for some reason are disregarded nationally, then he is either mistaken, or this fact should be attributed to a factor other than our public education.

Maybe we aren’t challenging our young people enough; maybe we need to diversify our educational offerings to incorporate more vocational options; maybe we need to be suring up our post-secondary offerings, so more people, from more parts of the state, can fulfill the dream of attending college. These are all realistic goals. Yet to say that Mainers are somehow looked down upon is not only false, but is a scurrilous attack on our integrity.

The irony is that our Governor trumpets his own success in life, despite his being homeless and less than articulate in English. He believes that he embodies the American dream. But in his attempt to take shots at teachers’ unions, he discredits the thousands of Mainers, who have also made something of themselves. What about the record number of graduates from the University of Maine? What about the increasing number of Mainers who are gaining entry to the State’s most prestigious colleges, as well as peer institutions across the country? Do you think they would agree that they have somehow been looked down upon simply due to where they came from? I think not.

The bottom line is that success is only partially attributable to circumstances which we cannot control. The rest is up to us. To steal a line from the Governor’s own handbook: “if it is to be, it is up to me.” The people I grew up with, and those from Maine who I attended Bates with, are some of the most driven, compassionate, and hard-working people I have ever met. And the scores of other young Mainers, who are supposedly hampered by their upbringing, represent some of the brightest minds in the country. We are clearly unaware that our native state has given us an aspirational handicap.

Education is certainly not perfect in Maine. Growing up in Southern Maine is more conducive to receiving a better funded education. And there are still far too many others for whom college is a merely a dream due to potential financial ramifications. These are but a few of the issues that need attention. That is  the place of the Governor. But my message to the Blaine House is clear. Don’t ever believe that being from Maine is a curse, or hampers our ability to make something of ourselves. Maine is better than that.

“His vision of humanity is just a million tons of meat floating around in a sea of base calculations.”

–Matt Taibbi, on  Mitt Romney

Our Matt sure has a way with words. While I’m the first to admit that MBA training, with its laser-like focus on profit, tends to eliminate any sort of humanity from one’s business practice, still, this one’s in the running for hyperbole of the year.

The Bronze:

Scott Brown

“I can name a litany of Democratic-sponsored bills that I’ve done that never would have passed hadn’t it been for me,” Brown told CNN. “And the president had called me, and vice president calls me, and Secretary [of State Hillary Rodham] Clinton calls asking for my vote all the time.”

In reality, Brown’s staff says he has spoken by phone with Clinton just twice during his Senate career — most recently over a year ago, on July 5, 2011.

The other call occurred in December 2010, when the Obama administration was seeking votes to pass the New START Treaty.

Brown and Clinton have spoken in person twice, when the secretary addressed a group of senators on political uprisings in Egypt and Libya. Those sessions were over a year ago, in February 2011 and March 2011.

The contrast between Brown’s comment and his office’s records recalls a similar statement he made in another recent media interview.

“Each and every day that I’ve been a United States senator, I’ve been discussing issues, meeting on issues, in secret meetings and with kings and queens and prime ministers and business leaders and military leaders, talking, voting, working on issues every single day,” Brown said June 21 during an interview on WTKK-FM’s “Jim & Margery Show.”

An aide later said he “misspoke when he said ‘kings and queens,’ ” and Brown himself clarified he meant to say he has regular meetings with representatives of such monarchs.

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/articles/2012/07/13/browns_talk_of_constant_white_house_calls_butts_against_reality_of_staffs_own_records/

The Silver:

Governor Paul LePage of Maine

On Thursday,

Governor LePage doubled down on his casual Holocaust analogy during an interview with Burlington weekly Seven Days:

Asked if he had a sense of what the Gestapo did during the Second World War, LePage said, “Yeah, they killed a lot of people.” Asked whether the IRS “was headed in the direction of killing a lot of people,” LePage answered: “Yeah.”

(audio here)

If that kind of incendiary rhetoric [sounds familiar], it should. Because back in the 1990′s, Congressional Republicans used it to undermine both the Internal Revenue Service itself and the tax revenue it is supposed to collect.

As the Los Angeles Times reported in 1998, “Americans are failing to pay $195 billion annually in taxes owed to the federal government, the highest estimate ever of the so-called tax gap.” But that was before the full force of the anti-IRS jihad led by Phil Gramm and his Republican allies was brought to bear.

As David Cay Johnston explained in his 2003 classic

Perfectly Legal, the GOP during the Clinton administration waged an all-out war on the IRS, turning the priorities for auditing Americans upside-down. Then as now, GOP spinmeister Frank Luntz framed the issue for his Republican allies, “Which would you prefer: having your wallet or purse stolen or being audited by the IRS?” As Senator William Roth’s Finance Committee held hearings in 1997 and 1998, Mississippi’s Trent Lott decried the IRS’ “Gestapo-like tactics” while Alaska’s Frank Murkowski protested, “You don’t need to send in armed personnel in flak jackets” Former Senator Don Nickles of Oklahoma raged, “The IRS is out of control!” Congress went on to pass and Bill Clinton signed the IRS Reform and Restructuring Act in 1998.

Even as then-IRS Director Charles Rossotti warned Congress about an epidemic of tax cheating,

Senator Gramm in May 1998 denounced the agency. Peddling myths of jack-booted IRS agents tormenting American taxpayers, Gramm called on Rossotti to fire his 50 worst employees. Gramm concluded:

“I have no confidence in the Internal Revenue Service of this country. You do not have a good system. This agency has too much unchecked power.”

As the New York Timesrecounted that spring, the plan to gut the IRS advocated by Phil Gramm and his allies was a popular political gambit, but almost certain to create incentives for tax evasion:

Mr. Gramm spoke at length of how he had ”no confidence” in the I.R.S., remarks that were in sharp contrast to those of every other senator, who emphasized that the majority of I.R.S. workers were honest and most taxpayers law-abiding.

A variety of tax experts have said in recent weeks that attacks on the I.R.S., which polls show are a potent device to win votes and contributions for Republicans, give comfort to tax cheats and discourage honest taxpayers.

Which, of course, is exactly what happened. IRS staffing was slashed and audits of the wealthy dropped precipitously. As Johnston explained:

In 1999, for the first time, the poor were more likely than the rich to have their tax returns audited. The overall rate for people making less than $25,000 a year was 1.36%, compared with 1.15% of returns by those making $100,000 or more…Over the previous 11 years audit rates for the poor had increased by a third, while falling 90 percent for the top tier of Americans.

By 2006, as the New York Times reported, “Over the last five years, officials at both the I.R.S. and the Treasury have told Congress that cheating among the highest-income Americans is a major and growing problem.” By 2010, estimates put the tax gap, that is, revenue lost to evasion, fraud and underreporting, as high as $500 billion a year.

Mercifully, the Obama administration in the face of continued Republican opposition and budget cuts to the IRS has made progress against tax cheating, especially by the rich. But when it comes to making sure people who flout the insurance mandate pay up, the Massachusetts experience shows it was all business as usual for the government’s revenue agency. That is, what Paul LePage calls the Gestapo.

http://crooksandliars.com/

It’s also interesting to note that Greece’s current financial difficulties have been attributed to widespread tax evasion.

The Gold:

President George H.W. Bush

“Who The Hell Is Grover Norquist, Anyway?”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/13/grover-norquist-george-hw-bush_n_1671106.html?ref=topbar

I don’t mean this in any sense of snark. Of course GHW Bush knows who Grover Norquist is. He just publicly asked the question I’ve been asking myself for a long time: Why does an oath to an unelected political operative outweigh one’s oath to that Constitution thingie that Conservatives claim to value above all else?

Okay, there’s the fact that Mr Norquist has positioned himself as a middleman between politicians and gobs of Right Wing cash. The remainder of his power relies upon Upton Sinclair’s observation that “[i]t is impossible to get a man to understand something if his paycheck depends upon his not understanding it.”

The amazing thing is that Grover’s understanding of politics comes from his father snagging spoonfuls of ice cream from his dessert dish, proclaiming, “This is the government taking your money!”

And you wondered why the Republican Party is acting like a bunch of spoiled brats? They’re being manipulated by a man whose understanding of the world froze when he was 6 years old.