Preserving The American Political Philosophy

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 ...

 Into The Belly Of Maine State Socialism Part One I have gotten on to a side track here on the University of Maine, which is a major recipient of  funds from the legislature's redistribution of wealth programs. As mentioned previously Peter Pitegoff, the current Dean of The University of Maine Law School,  is on the board of the Coastal Enterprises Incorporated whose mission statement  includes the words " … all to achieve social and economic justice within sustainable communities." Peter Pitegoff's bio contains a similar statement, stating that his focus is on social and economic justice In Maine, Pitegoff is advancing the Law School through new program development and engagement with diverse institutions. He has positioned the Law School to expand upon its pivotal role in law, policy, and economic development regionally and in Maine and to achieve a higher profile on a global stage. Curricular innovation is bolstering a historically stellar teaching...

The Kestrel de-financing mystery.  Two articles, one from CEI Capital Management LLC, in April 2011 and another from Areo News on January 03 2012 , report that it $20.7 Million from the New Markets Tax Credit Program fell through.  The New Markets Tax Credit is a federal program designated low-income areas. It can be used for any kind of business.   CEI Capital Management, LLC (CCML) is a for-profit subsidiary of Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) that furthers CEI's mission to help create economically and environmentally healthy communities in which all people, especially those with low incomes, can reach their full potential by working to help attract capital to low-income areas using the U.S. Treasury Department’s New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program. The New Market Tax Credits program targets low-income areas and applies to any kind of business, not only those in the Maine legislature's "targeted sector".  However, the state agencies that I hav...

Kestrel Aircraft eyeing Wisconsin for new mfg. facility This story tells the story of what is happening not only in Maine but in this country. At some point one state had the grand idea of offering large company's tax breaks to locate in their state which grew to  a competition among the states, led by the transfer of wealth to the federal government, which then is re-distributed back to the states. Not only do the states have to offer state tax incentives but federal money as well and the ante keeps going up as each state tries to have the competitive edge over the other. This article doesn't explain why the MRRA lost it"s federal funds to grant to Kestrel Aircraft . I guess Maine Biz either has no curiosity or doesn't believe that the tax payers need to know. Could it be because the legislature chartered the MRRA as a "municipal corporation" and then chartered it as an "instrumentality of the state" creating complications for federal fundin...

The latest in my letter writing binge !  Dear Mr. Lansley, I read your article in the Sun Journal , It may hurt, but it's time to suck it up and deal. As suggested, I am sending you my own thoughts on the matter, and I am not going to mince my words. Since you are a former member of the legislature, you may have helped to create what I see as the source of Maine's economic problems, which is it's government manipulated economy, which has grown to the scale of a full fledged corporate state without anybody saying BOO about it, despite the blatant unconstitutionality of the current entrenched economic system. This system has been constructed by the legislature over the course of at least thirty years. It is designed to "benefit " the "targeted sector"- those businesses that will fulfill the ideological vision of a small elite sector of Maine, which is marketed as "socially beneficial" as a form of self-justification. The legislature seeks ...