Gubernatorial scorecard: The quiet man

Published in the Portland Phoenix

Governor Paul LePage has, perhaps unexpectedly, refrained from loudly saying stupid things over the past month or so, since GOP legislators confronted him and told him he was a problem child. (Dems figured this out too, and are using LePage's photo on flyers recruiting activists for summer work.) Here's our fifth Gubernatorial Scorecard, in which we score Governor Paul LePage on political savvy, and on whether what he's trying to do is good policy. Note the running total.

QUIET ATTACK | LePage's budget proposal would eliminate all state funding for the Maine Public Broadcasting Network ($2 million a year), and is widely viewed as payback for aggressive coverage by MPBN news staff during his campaign. When asked, LePage denied it was payback, and stuck to that line.
POLITICS • He may have mastered the art of attacking without seeming to | 7/10
POLICY • Slashing the only decent news provider available to most of rural Maine | 2/10

QUIET SPENDING | LePage's budget also gives big handouts to Maine's wealthiest (in the form of income- and estate-tax cuts); he has claimed it is better for everyone because it also gives tiny handouts to working Mainers. This assertion, while technically true, has yet to be challenged by nonpartisan observers (such as the press), who might note that trickle-up is the economic model backed by the evidence; trickle-down, based on evidence and experience, is a failure.
POLITICS • Is he also mastering the art of double-speak? | 8/10
POLICY • Giving money to the rich barely helps the economy; giving it to the poor is a massive boost to all | 2/10

QUIET ACTIVISM | The governor promised during his campaign to take away worker rights, ostensibly to give employers more freedom to create jobs. He has carried this through, by killing a bill that would have increased the minimum wage, by reviving an anti-union proposal long thought dead by State House watchers, and by cutting welfare benefits.
POLITICS • Keeping his campaign promises | 7/10
POLICY • The jury's out on whether employers will exploit workers, hire more, or both | 5/10

QUIET DEATH | The governor and his GOP operatives rammed through a major overhaul of the state's health-insurance system, reducing consumer protections and allowing different companies to play by different (and fewer) rules. It drew very vocal opposition around the state and forced the resignation of the state's top insurance regulator. Fewer people will be able to afford care, what care there is will be more limited and more expensive, and companies will be freer to screw customers.
POLITICS • Proved he can work the system to get major agenda goals accomplished | 10/10
POLICY • Insurers from other states welcome, except Vermont, which just moved closer to single-payer | 2/10

QUIET DESTRUCTION | LePage has moved to reduce Maine's efforts toward energy independence, saying existing rules are too burdensome on customers, including businesses. In addition to supporting continued dependence on foreign sources, critics say the move could kill Maine's nascent green-energy industry. The governor says much of that industry depends on tax breaks and is "temporary."
POLITICS • Policy-wonk move cleverly explained as "you save money" | 9/10
POLICY • Green innovation needs government mandates to succeed | 4/10

This month's total | Politics 36/50 | Policy 15/50 | Last month: Politics 24/50 | Policy 29/50 | Overall: Politics 148/250 | Policy 106/250

Press releases: Doing Harmon

Published in the Portland Phoenix

He won't thank me for pointing this out, but Portland Press Herald columnist MD Harmon is a liberal's best friend. The infamously reality-detached arch-conservative textbook-cranky-old-white-man has established a reputation for himself of explaining in great detail the exact nature of conservative viewpoints on controversial issues.

This goes back at least as far as a 1991 column I recently learned of, in which Harmon opposed allowing gays to serve in the military because, he claimed, they would become sex predators in uniform. And in 2009, in a column opposing same-sex marriage he demonstrated, as I wrote then, "that the strongest objections to same-sex marriage are thin, weak, and, where related to flaws in legislation, already fixed in the bill Maine lawmakers have before them." (See "Press Herald Does An Amazing Public Service," thePhoenix.com/AboutTown, April 17, 2009.)

Last Friday, Harmon again published a column that, precisely because it was well documented, clearly argued, and transparently explained, achieved its polar opposite, exposing the weakness of his analysis, revealing the inconsistency of his logic, and ultimately doing more to disprove his argument than most people who actually disagree with him have ever done.

He took on three abortion-related bills now before the Maine Legislature.

First he addressed LD 1457, which requires parental consent before a minor can get an abortion. "The bill empowers responsible parenting, nothing more or less," Harmon writes, without a sense of irony. For Harmon, "responsible parenting" does not appear to include family planning, or parents and children talking openly about sex. His definition does, however, seem to include parents withholding consent for an abortion, thereby forcing their underage daughters to become mothers.

Harmon, a small-government conservative on most issues, here commits logical hara-kiri, arguing that when it comes to abortion, the state knows best, and the citizens are children who need to be told what's good for them.

Next, Harmon takes on LD 116, which would make women wait 24 hours between requesting an abortion and actually getting the procedure performed. He says that "surveys of post-abortive women widely show that many regret their decision," and alleges that "substantial numbers say they were pressured into it."

His logic is incomplete here: Harmon ignores surveys of women who have either chosen to become parents at a very young age or offered their newborns up for adoption. Regret numbers are high there, too, proving the obvious: When a young woman is pregnant, there are no easy answers.

Rather than sympathize with women forced to make grown-up decisions at too early an age, Harmon argues for a state interest in requiring a delay for an abortion, on the grounds that women are easily pressured into doing things they regret.

Lastly, he supports LD 924, which would require doctors to give women seeking an abortion a whole host of information about medical risks of abortion (and of childbirth), offers of economic assistance to carry a fetus to term, and basic legal advice about parents' rights and child support.

He patronizingly claims it is "hard to understand that anyone would object to giving a woman who is contemplating an invasive procedure information about what is occurring," and says the bill requires "simple, informative actions" that do not "keep women in ignorance."

Harmon even claims he supports the bill because "It views women as responsible agents," but the form of his argument belies that claim. He apparently actually believes that many — even most — women would walk into a doctor's office and ask for an abortion without seriousness of purpose, without understanding what is involved, without having talked it over with trusted friends. As a reasoned, thoughtful explicator of conservative values, Harmon is a top-notch portrayer of their shortcomings and flaws.

Gubernatorial Scorecard: Back from Vacation

Published in the Portland Phoenix

Governor Paul LePage recently returned from a Jamaican vacation, which provided fodder for some political controversy, and probably helped him avoid getting into new messes. Here's our fourth Gubernatorial Scorecard, in which we score Governor Paul LePage on political savvy, and on whether what he's trying to do is good policy. Note the running total.

PERMANENT VACATION | LePage has fired Charlie Colgan, the leader and most visible member of the state's Consensus Economic Forecasting Commission, the group that guesses how Maine's economy and tax revenue will do in the future, a key part of the budget process. Forecasts are never exactly right, but being overly optimistic, as Colgan was, causes more problems than guessing low.
POLITICS • Colgan was replaced with LePage-base-friendly ultra-conservative Maine Heritage Policy Center economist Scott Moody | 7/10
POLICY • Colgan's rosy predictions led to repeated rounds of excruciating "emergency" cuts to services; his departure is no loss | 10/10

IN NEED OF A VACATION | Top gubernatorial aide Dan Demeritt resigned his state post April 16, in the wake of reports that he and his businesses are behind on mortgage and utilities payments at several buildings, five of which are now in foreclosure.
POLITICS • Firing someone for financial trouble amid a recession? Heartless | 2/10
POLICY • Having a top aide who can't pay his bills is bad GOP form | 9/10

ACCOUNTABILITY VACATION | Shortly after his return, LePage told a group of business leaders that he was free to go on vacation because of how little the Legislature had gotten done so far. That drew fire from State House Dems and Repubs alike, with House Speaker Bob Nutting retorting, "I'm sorry that the governor still doesn't understand the legislative process and apparently nobody on his staff has explained it to him."
POLITICS • Excellent defense if his policy initiatives continue to crash and burn | 6/10
POLICY • Reckless antagonism of people he needs to achieve his goals | 3/10

STRAIGHT-FACE-TEST VACATION | In a three-day period, the governor: admitted his Environmental Protection commissioner was ineligible for the post because of a conflict of interest; moved that man (Darryl Brown) to a state office LePage has slated for closing; declared the state law the nomination violated needs revision; fired his Economic Development commissioner for making offensive remarks; declined to disavow the racist, classist comments in question.
POLITICS • Created enough moving targets that weaseling out of any actual error will be easy | 8/10
POLICY • Cleaning house incompletely leaves a lot of dirt behind | 3/10

VISIBILITY VACATION | As the Maine Turnpike Authority scandal gains mainstream attention years after the initial sounds of alarm (see "E-ZPass on Ethics," by Lance Tapley, August 4, 2006), LePage is nowhere to be found. This is precisely the sort of ridiculous entrenched-bureaucrat, government-waste problem LePage railed against when campaigning. But he is not stepping up to condemn it as loudly as we might have expected from his pre-election rhetoric.
POLITICS • Missing a massive opportunity to get on message | 1/10
POLICY • Raises a question: Does he really dislike cronyism and waste? | 4/10

This month's total | Politics 24/50 | Policy 29/50 | Last month: 32/50 | Policy 15/50 | Overall: Politics 112/200 | Policy 91/200

Commentary: This trickle-down stinks

Published in the Portland Phoenix

True free-market capitalism has lasted 30 years — barely half as long as its arch-enemy, Soviet communism. It began with Reagan chipping away at the social contract that bound us all together as fellow Americans, as human beings. Now, as funds "saved" by slashing programs for regular people are handed off to megamillionaire plutocrats as tax breaks, we can see clearly that the winner-take-all philosophy has bankrupted America morally, just as surely as it has punished her people financially.

That realization is taking hold among the rich — recent MarketWatch and Vanity Fair columns warn of dire consequences if the wealthiest one percent continue to neglect the suffering of the masses. The rest of us must now drive this point home. The risks if we do not are clear: Republicans in the US House of Representatives have just suggested slashing Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security — without canceling a dime's worth of tax breaks for the uber-rich.

As tax day, April 15, approaches, it is obvious that we live in an era of taxation without representation. The government takes money from the working class — the only people left who do not get massive tax breaks — and makes decisions that serve only the wealthy few.

Today, with endless war and limitless profiteering, America is in crisis. The Reagan-esque "trickle-down theory" appears ascendant, as politicians on left and right alike dole out government handouts to the wealthy and the corporations they own, while simultaneously eliminating government help for those who are the neediest. The stated promise — the vain hope — is that the rich will reinvest in America, creating jobs and thereby spreading wealth to everyone.

But we know that's not working — for decades now, America has been stripped of her wealth, her workers left to rising unemployment, their homes foreclosed upon, their children's schools gutted.

Self-serving politicians have co-opted the Tea Party movement, turned it into a pawn, a shill for corporate interests. The crowds that attend Tea Party rallies obviously do not realize that they are in a very real way demanding to pay higher taxes and receive fewer services, so that corporations can boost profits. Tea Party orators promote destruction of the social safety net that keeps children from starving, the elderly from freezing, and the poor from dying in the swamp of need. It is time for a return to the real Tea Partiers' values, for us to refuse to pay up without a voice in how our collective riches are allotted.

In Wisconsin, in Ohio, and in Maine, working people are finally standing up and reaffirming the true American ideal, one that generations grew up working to achieve: that we are all members of the same community, who thrive or perish together. We should not tolerate a nation in which corporations and the ultra-rich tread on the poor and middle classes, exploiting them by depriving them of fair pay, humane working conditions, and a decent education.

As the greedy, the heartless, and the power-crazed grow in influence, the American dream is turning into a nightmare. It is already a bad dream for far too many.

The real American dream — the one millions of Americans died striving for, perished protecting, and still work for today — is far from perfect. Still, it is a world in which some corporations are socially responsible, in which some of the wealthy recognize their private fortunes are built on the skills of the many, in which some of the privileged exercise what used to be called noblesse oblige but today goes by the name of public responsibility.

The real America is a nation in which every person has an equal chance to better his or her life, and by so doing also betters the lives of everyone around them. It is a nation in which we help our neighbors in need — knowing that when our day of need comes they will help us.

Today, as I prepare to pay my taxes to a government that does not represent my interests, I'm angry — and not just at the politicians and corporations. I'm angry at those who voted for Bush, for McCain — even, it seems, for Obama. We are complicit in our own ruin at the hands of the robber barons.

Now is a crucial moment for us to change course. The privileged, who have already achieved their fortunes by hook or by crook, seek to bar the door to us, to deny us our dreams forever.

It is time for us to stand up and tell the wealthy what, in fact, is trickling down on us from up there, where they sit, comfortable on their thrones. It is not prosperity, nor even opportunity. It's something very rudely different. And this trickle-down stinks.

Press releases: Build on each other

Published in the Portland Phoenix

Why is that when one Maine news outlet breaks a big story, the others spend more energy trying to copy it, rather than extend it? Take the most recent example, the labor mural dispute.

Governor Paul LePage's remarks and actions about the historical mural at the Maine Department of Labor office in Augusta are indeed newsworthy.

But after more than two weeks of non-stop coverage by Maine reporters, serious — and obvious — questions remain. We still don't know where the murals are, whether any actual business leaders disliked them, whether their removal was legal (a question now before a federal court), why they were removed so abruptly, nor why the governor later said he wished his removal order hadn't been followed so quickly.

These unanswered questions highlight a strange phenomenon of Maine journalism, which I have observed throughout the course of many years as a reporter and editor here.

In a competitive media environment, publications don't worry about getting the scoop a competitor had yesterday — they care about getting the news that hasn't been told yet. If someone gets a big break, other reporters swarm to the topic, seeking to build on that original story. Only rarely does this involve on-the-ground cooperation; mostly, reporters believe in the integrity of the competition, and bring their own resources to bear, driving deeper into the heart of an issue.

Maine has what might be called a passive-cooperative media environment, where media outlets don't acknowledge each other — for good or ill. Perhaps that's to avoid making the others look bad. But in the process, they make themselves weaker, and hurt the public interest.

As a contrary example, look at the New York Times-Washington Post relationship: They regularly scoop each other on topics both papers cover, such as national security. If the Times breaks a story, the Post will develop additional sources and insights to move the story forward, and will often make its basis explicit, saying in an early paragraph, "the New York Times reported X." By expanding on the information someone else has already reported, the Post can get a better, deeper, more insightful story. The Times will respond by building on the Post's reporting. Readers — whether they read one paper, the other, or both — learn lots more, very quickly.

That's not the case in Maine. Here, editors act as if their readers don't look at any other sources of news. So if the Press Herald, the Sun Journal, or the Bangor Daily News gets something good today, you can bet that tomorrow's editions of the other papers will have that story. But don't expect anything else. We see this in the coverage of the mural mess. Despite the massive reporting effort by the State House press corps (and the Press Herald was not the only paper to assign extra reporters to cover different angles), none of Maine's daily papers got anything substantially different from what any other paper had.

The basics still remain unknown. The problem is easily fixed, if only Maine media outlets would acknowledge that somebody has already covered some turf, and decide to move the entire story forward. Instead, busy covering what was already known, none of them bothered to figure out what the next question was, nor determine its answer.

• Another casualty of all this coverage of the mural controversy is news about WHAT ELSE WENT ON IN THE STATE HOUSE LAST WEEK. This is an administration and legislative majority with big plans to make big changes in Maine's governance — and while they likely didn't plan this particular massive distraction, key players are definitely poised to take advantage when the media spotlight turns away. Someone in the State House press corps should have the sense not to follow the pack, and to look in the dark corners others neglect.