Preserving The American Political Philosophy

SHARE THIS! TWEET THIS USING THIS SHORT LINK; http://goo.gl/VXLcX8 Continuing where I left off in my last post - addressing the Lepage Campaign talking points as presented by Representative Heather Sirocki in this Portland Press Herald article titled  Maine reaping rewards of governor’s commitment to fiscal responsibility The article says: Let’s start with the state’s improved credit standing. In June, rating agencies issued their outlooks for Maine’s creditworthiness. Standard & Poor’s Rating Services assigned its AA rating to our long-term bonds, while Moody’s Investor Services affirmed its Aa2 rating and upgraded its forecast of Maine’s debt from negative to stable. The agencies cited several major factors that influenced the strong ratings, including repayment of $748 million in MaineCare’s hospital debt; substantial public pension reform; and measures to control costs in the MaineCare program, which provides “free” taxpayer-subsidized health care to more th...

In an article in todays PPH,  Republicans charge House Speaker with conflict of interest.   , there is a discussion of legislative conflicts of interests.  The article is centered around House Speaker, Mark Eves allegated conflict of interest in the expansion of Medicaid (Maine Care) Last week, 26 House Republicans signed a letter requesting that House Speaker Mark Eves, D-North Berwick, recuse himself from voting on a bill that would expand Medicaid, the publicly funded health insurance program for the poor. The freedom to legislate in areas in which conflicts of interests exists is openly defended by Rep. Lance Harvell, R-Farmington, who said he refused to sign the letter.  "If we start down that road, there isn’t going to be anybody in this damn place who can vote,” The article then cites various instance of conflict of interest covering a range of situations. But if the legislature itself abides by the laws written by that body - it should be s...