Preserving The American Political Philosophy

Maine Biz has an article on the Governor's Veto and uses the Maine Development Foundation as one of their sources on behalf of the legislature. This is my online comment to that article. MTI- Maine Technological Institute is BOTH government and non-profit. It is a non-profit corporation chartered by special act of legislation in violation of the Maine State Constitution, which our legislature routinely ignores as it continues to entrench a network of special corporations chartered by special acts of legislation. Article IV, Part Third Section 14 of the Maine State Constitution prohibits the legislature from chartering corporations by special act of legislation with an exception for municipal purposes and - an almost never applicable exception - for something that can't be done any other way. Article IV Part Third Section 14 of the Maine State constitution then goes on to say that all corporations, however formed , are subject to general law. However corporate records a

I hope others will join me in researching the real facts behind the rhetoric of the current bond debate instigated By Governor LePage's veto of the  research and development bond.. This page Maine State Legislative Links is where I keep track of what I come across in my research and makes a good starting point.  I invite all to contribute a guest editorial about this subject. Close to the top of the list is The Journal of Innovation & Transformation,  published by the Southern Maine Community College, a likely recipient of those r&d funds that the governor just vetoed. About two thirds of the way down is The Midcoast Campus A Model In Educational Development  by Charle s Lawton , P .h. D . There you will find a chart of the "targeted sector", which looks pretty comprehensive were it not for the fact that it noticeably excludes the retail and tourist industries, which happen to be the main stay of my small community. It seems these sectors are not desirable

This editorial ‘Conservation Priorities’ response makes some important points that are not often discussed in our Maine main stream media. It describes the land trust interests which have been acquiring land on a tax exempt status as a united network of corporatons, and ties the effect of the tax exempt status to the economic burden of rural communities. Quote: For the past 30 years, preservationists have aggressively pursued land acquisition — sometimes at the expense of the taxpayer, sometimes with the support of private funding. The $126 million borrowed by Maine taxpayers, to be repaid by future generations, has been used to acquire 530,000 acres of the total 1.8 million, or roughly 30 percent. The remaining 70 percent was acquired through collaborative efforts with Maine’s land trust community. With Governor LePage's veto of the research & development  bonds and refusal to sign off on the other bonds, igniting a debate between those who claim that the bonds

A Guest Op Ed By Roger Ek , Republican Town Chairman for the Town of Lee LURK LEGISLATION UNDER DISCUSSION                                                 Paintings by Michael Blaze Petan Bigger Stronger Meaner Over 40 years ago, the Maine legislature decided that the residents of the Unorganized Territories should not be allowed to govern themselves. They would be better off if they were controlled by seven appointed members of a commission. At the time, a legislator from Aroostook County said that such a bill would cause poverty throughout Northern Maine. He was right. The bill creating LURC passed by one vote.  Two years ago during a television interview of the seven Republican candidate for governor, the moderator asked if the candidate were to significantly cut back or eliminate a state agency which one it would be. Paul LePage answered, "LURC." Last year Rep. Jeff Gifford introduced legislation to do just that. The legislature did what it us

There is legislation currently under consideration in our state legislation that as a strange similarity in name to the report commissioned by GrowSmartMaine from EnvisionMaine- both nonprofits started by Alan Caron. The EnvisionMaine report is " Reinventing Maine Government " The name of the legislation is  LR 1981 An Act To Implement Recommendations on Reinventing Governmen t GrowSmartmaine just testified favorably for the passage of this bill - This is the current status of the bill Sponsored by Senator Richard Woodbury Status Summary Reference Committee Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Last House Action 6/29/2011 - Carried over to any special and/or regular session of the 125th Legislature pursuant to Joint Order HP 1190. Last Senate Action 6/29/2011 - CARRIED OVER TO ANY SPECIAL OR REGULAR SESSION OF THE 125th LEGISLATURE PURSUANT TO JOINT ORDER HP 1190, IN CONCURRENCE D 1437 (SP 444) "An Act To Implement Recommendatio

There is so much to write about that I can't keep up with it. Sometimes I think I should start my own non-profit organization but I always meet that huge roadblock that is my own visceral feeling about what non-profits have become in this day and age and so I wonder if by doing so, I would have to sacrifice everything that is worth while. I like the freedom of being non-affiliated, in part because all my attempts at affiliation have been a confrontation with those who would censor the expression of my views. But when I see something such as "Envision Maine", which as far as I can tell is an organization devoted to the election of Elliot Cutler, and which publishes and sells their manifesto called "Reinventing Maine Government" , I think that someone should start and organization called "Reclaiming Maine" and publish a manifesto called "Reclaiming Maine Government", which would be a map for deconstructing all the government business develo

Getting Back to the Kestrel Line of this story. There was a story with an active comment discussion on the Portland Press Herald today at the link below but you will not find it there now, although last I checked on Google it is listed and dated 13 hours ago.  http://www.pressherald.com/news/Wisconsin-says-Brunswick-aircraftc-company-to-expand-there.html  Currently the latest Kestrel story at The Portland Press Herald is dated January 14th. I commented on the disappeared page and was not the only one questioning our government's activities in venture capitalism. The first comments opined that there is something about this story that really stinks- to which I responded that what stinks is the charter of the MRRA. I mentioned the government regulation I had come across that stated that local government disqualifies a project for federal funds and the disappearance of that link from my blog post and the internet. Now the whole conversation in which I made this statement has a