2010 Maine Republican Party Platform

The LePage folks obsession with Abbott is interesting. Makes me think they know who is really winning.

Who are the authors and what is their interest in Maine politics? The Ron Paulist laundry list does not include either state or national issues that have been important in Maine for years: environmentalism versus land rights and the economy, and the high taxes and abuse of civil rights by both MRS and IRS.

"The Ron Paulist laundry list does not include either state or national issues that have been important in Maine for years: environmentalism versus land rights and the economy, and the high taxes and abuse of civil rights by both MRS and IRS."

Exactly right!

Hear hear!

Someone should discuss that with the authors as they credit the Tea Party in the document.

duh, the beverages!

Rector, or any legislator who votes for/with his or her constituents in opposition to either Constitution is not honoring his or her oath of office.

And when did he do that?

Everyone who voted for the platform voted to ignore the Constitution.

In the new GOP Platform's Preamble, it states that, ""The constitutions, both State and Federal, are the framework to which any and all legislation must adhere." Later, in the "To Insure Domestic Tranquility" section that "promotes family values", it states that, "Parents, not government, are responsible for making decisions in the best interest of their children, whether disciplinary, educational, or medical." Regarding the fiscal matters "discussed" within this thread, the document states in the section pertaining to "Promote the General Welfare", the following: "Return to the principles of Austrian Economics, and redirect the economy back to one of incentives to save and invest." -and: "cut spending, balance the budget, and institute a plan for paying down the debt."
By the way, Ron Paul's bill to "Audit the Federal Reserve" had numerous (hundreds of) co-sponsors - from both "sides of the aisle"! Maybe he was not a "whacko" after all. I believe you, Ken, were one of his major supporters here in Maine. Right?

Sexual deviancy or any lawful sexual activity, is not a government, but a private issue. Government has attempted many times to legislate morality (remember prohibition?) and failed. It will be no different in the "new age".

Because the ingrained hierarchy of the GOP refused to acknowledge it, and disseminate it as they were supposed to do. They had it made available to them Friday morning as required by the Rules - ample time to have it copied and placed on the chairs before the next day's session addressing the Platform issue at 11 AM Saturday. The leadership of the elected GOP offices failed, not the delegates who made the proposal.

I oppose gay marriage. But nobody has suggested that it is unconstitutional for a state to recognize gay marriage.

Wayne, how is your good friend Ed Cohen doing these days? You two made quite a team during Ronulan Uprising two years ago. Has he returned tothe Democratic Party or is he part of the LePage Lunatics? He'd fit in with Rosen and Steve Martin.

"Sexual deviancy or any lawful sexual activity, is not a government, but a private issue. Government has attempted many times to legislate morality (remember prohibition?) and failed. It will be no different in the "new age"."

Hear hear!

I just got another response from another candidate for Governor. I think it would have been nice if he was more specific about where this document fell short of the goal, in his opinion.

Thanks for the question. I believe in traditional Republican principles of individual liberty, fiscal restraint, free enterprise, limited government, and personal responsibility. I agree with some parts of the new Party platform. However, some portions are unnecessarily divisive. As Republicans, we should articulate our core values in a way that attracts all those who share them. Several additions to the document fall short of that goal.

Best,
Bruce

Bruce Poliquin
Bruce Poliquin for Maine Governor
207-232-4387
bruce@bruceforme.com
BruceForMe.com

That's a darn'ed good answer from Poliquin.

I knew , and worked with Ed during the Ron Paul presidential campaign, and have not heard from, nor seen him since. I know not where he is, what he is doing.
It is a shame that McCain won the Primary, but we are reaping the results of that - and the farce that followed, bringing on the "enlightened one". How is your eco-comical Obamarism bailout, stimulus, nationalization (of banks, insurance, auto companies), plan & outlook doing? "LePage Lunatics"? Now, now! Don't tell me you must resort to name calling. What a shame! Re-election of LePage - twice - in a Democrat stronghold - with the tax cuts, increases in their reserve funds from $1M to $10M, while keeping services and repairing roads (both city & state) without cutting a significant amount of jobs, seems like the kind of lunacy Maine could use in Augusta. I've had enough of the "nanny state's" (past 35-40 years) socialistic baby sitting of every aspect of we "free" people's lives. We need personal responsibility, not more of the same old cradle to grave MIS-management.

" However, some portions are unnecessarily divisive." Like his recent TV ads that attack "divisively" another GOP gubernatorial candidate, Les Otten??? I do not think the GOP is nearly that harsh.

GOP's Utah and Maine conventions show a party coming unglued

By Dana Milbank
Sunday, May 16, 2010

Future historians tracing the crackup of the Republican Party may well look to May 8, 2010, as an inflection point… Less well known, but equally ominous, is what happened that same day, 2,500 miles east in Maine. There, the state Republican Party chucked its platform -- a sensible New England mix of free-market economics and conservation -- and adopted a manifesto of insanity…

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/14/AR201005...

Hows that Dan?

What are you asking?

Al Diamon column:
The Tea Partiers’ unfocused anger is dangerous. Their scattershot attempts at solutions to problems that don’t exist (threats to their religious freedom), problems that have always existed (illegal aliens) and problems that can’t be solved without sacrificing the political liberty they claim to revere (dissenting views on the appropriate roles of the state and federal governments) lend themselves to scapegoating.
Link
(HC Word Count Checked)

Steve Martin defends the new platform
“Mainers are not too dumb to understand Austrian economics. They are certainly not too dumb to see that globalism is at the root of our problems, and that addressing the federal government’s forced acquiescence to a Republican-declared ‘New World Order’ is indeed the issue of our times,” said Martin.
Link

(HC Word Count Checked)

Martin attacked the 2008 platform as being something set upon the party by Snowe, Collins, the Tri-lateral Commission, etc etc. Nowhere does he mention that Paul Davis was the chair of the committee that created the 2008 platform. I liked and voted for the 2008 platform. I think Mr. Martin owes Paul Davis and others who worked on that platform an apology.

Says it all really...

"Nowhere does he mention that Paul Davis was the chair of the committee that created the 2008 platform."

Mebbe Im missing something...why would such a pronouncement be necessary?

"I think Mr. Martin owes Paul Davis and others who worked on that platform an apology."

He owes Davis and the rest of the committee...an apology...? For what? Because he did not like the 2008 platform?

And do you also think that the committee owes Mr. Martin an apology...for writing a platform that he thinks was weak?

That makes as much sense as what you are suggesting...

Dolley, thank you for pointing out that I am not making this clear.

The attacks against the 2008 platform by some corners have been inaccurate in claiming that it was set upon the party by what they perceive to be moderates. Paul Davis chaired the committee that submitted the draft of the 2008 platform at the 2008 convention. Paul is hardly a moderate.

Martin and others are attempting to rewrite history in order to defend the current platform instead of allowing the current platform to be defended on its merits.

Again, thank you for providing me the opportunity to make my point more clear.

I would write more but the tri-lateral commission may be monitoring AMG.

www.bangordailynews.com
guest column
Flawed process led to equally flawed GOP platform
5/27/10
By Robert K. Slaven

It is said that one does not want to know how laws and sausages are made. To this adage we now add how platforms are adopted.

Here is an insider’s view of how the platform process worked at the recent Republican State Convention.

The Hancock County Republican Committee elected early in the year a representative to serve on the Standing Resolution Committee of the state party.

http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/144448.html

The platform essentially as it is today was presented at the first meeting of the platform committee. All members saw it. There was a considerable discussion. At the second meeting there was still considerable disagreement and the 2008 platform with one short addition was proposed for adoption at the convention. The delegates at the convention adopted the original platform essentially as proposed at the first platform committee meeting. To feign outrage, claim that it was secret and protest our platform after adoption just serves the Democrats.