The King Files
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In the interest of consolidating interesting stories about Angus King I start this thread.
Here is the first from long-time media and political observer and commentator Al Diamon:
King came into office with budget surpluses set up by his predecessor Jock McKernan, but left office leaving billions in deficits.
Politics & Other Mistakes: Little King
"It’s easy to see why King was a popular governor. He served during the greatest peacetime economic boom in U.S. history....You can get away with that stuff when there’s plenty of money to spread around...until King’s final year, there was. He managed to spend hundreds of millions on all sorts of projects, boosting the state budget by nearly 90 percent...[King] would leave his successor with a budget hole..(it turned out to be $1 billion)."
http://www.dailybulldog.com/db/opinion/politics-other-mistakes-little-king/
Angus King's ransom: Which side would he join in Senate?
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/73803.html#ixzz1p1QJ8IpX
"Angus King’s candidacy in the Maine Senate race is putting Democratic leaders in an awkward spot: They’d like to embrace him but they can’t..For now, Democrats have settled on this strategy: Say nice things but stay noncommittal..."
A lesson from past.
During" Anquishes" productivity scam he was scheduled to speak in Portland The Regency Hotel for a $150 a plate dinner.
I helped organize a group of protesters to picket the event. As the diners arrived they were greeted with cheers of "your paying $150 dollars he lied to us for nothing".
When Anquish got up top speak he was visibly upset and announced that the protesters "were violent ",in a moment of losing it and quickly he regrouped and corrected himself saying they were opposed to him. This event of course was not reported by Portland media at the time but Sun Journal did catch it!
Anquish does not take criticism well.
“I must confess to considerable skepticism about the idea of turning our entire medical system over to the state.”
“I am not confident that our political system will be able to provide the discipline to control health care costs.”
“What has the government (national or state) done so well lately that makes us want to give them another 14 percent of our Gross National Product...and the power of life and death?’
On the Canadian single-payer model:
“...For two weeks during the 1993 Christmas holidays...all the hospitals in Ontario were closed because the province was out of money. That’s rationing with a vengeance.”
“...there are many people in Canada who are willing to pay out of their own pockets for heath care in the United States—not exactly a vote of confidence in their system.”
“...Canada has been experiencing medical cost escalation close to ours in recent years.”
Angus King, Making a Difference, 1994. pp. 106-107
Sensible observations; so what has happened since that makes AK an Obama supporter?
Flam, I would have to say Wind Power made him an immediate convert, or maybe just by being in the presence of Sussman and breathing the same rarefied air.
Islander. A plausible explanation and it will have to do in the absence of a better one.
No just Flim Flam man when you come down to it very little substance. If he could do something with the tides between Baileys and Orrs Island he would as long as it made him look good and cost him nothing and profited!
Keep an eye on National Review Online over the next week. Brian Bolduc called me today for an interview on an article they're doing on King and the Maine Senate race.
VIc, post the link here when it comes out. Thanks.
Long-time liberal Edgar Allen Beem endorses King:
"...I’m really pleased that Pingree decided not to run and to hold on to her 1st Congressional District seat. I also hope that former Gov. John Baldacci doesn’t decide to run for the Senate..."
Speaks volumes for Snowe's move to the right though, sarcatically of course:
"...Snowe...voted against Environmental Protection Agency regulations and for eliminating funds for Planned Parenthood and Title X."
All because she was "forced" to move right.
http://www.theforecaster.net/news/print/2012/03/12/universal-notebook-ki...
Tea Party is having impact!
Maine is like many states that have been bombarded with the construction of intrusive, environment-destructive wind turbines, all hiding behind the image of providing alternative energy, lowering energy costs and saving the planet. Those who have had the nasty turbines planted in their back yards are finding out that all the promises made about how quiet and unobtrusive they are were false. In addition, while the entire efforts were billed as a cost effective alternative to carbon polluting oil and coal, over time we are finding out that much of the goings on behind providing funds to promote more wind energy, is nothing more than political paybacks by the Obama Administration from the 2008 campaign. With a new election coming this year, what kind of palm greasing can we expect?
From the book, “Throw Them All Out”, by Peter Schweizer, on page 94 we discover that Obama gave $115 million in taxpayer money to a wind energy company First Wind. People of Maine, Utah and New York in particular are familiar with First Wind.
I would put into action exactly what the title of the referenced book says: Throw Them All Out!
The chart below shows a listing of people who were large contributors and/or bundlers to the Obama presidential campaign in 2008. For Maine residents, take notice that former Gov. Angus King and now owner of Record Hill Wind, received $102 million in taxpayer money to build his wind farms.
The center column shows the energy companies, i.e. wind energy, these donors own. In the right hand column is the amount of tax dollars kicked back to these donors by the Obama Administration after the election. So it’s all about clean energy is it?
http://tomremington.com/2012/01/17/i-wind-energy-about-clean-alternative...
"...Snowe...voted against Environmental Protection Agency regulations and for eliminating funds for Planned Parenthood and Title X."
That was inconsequential. Just last Friday both of our liberal senators voted for huge federal land grabs.
Snowwalker, you mentioned a 'chart below' can you provide chart or link?
Roger Ek, please provide reference. PS this is not a thread about Snowe or Collins.
US yes it is ,I have a cousin w/ psoriasis it's their fault!!!!(joking of course)
US Grant wants a reference regarding the Snowe & Collins attack on Maine landowners and taxpayers. Here you go:
Land Rights Network
American Land Rights Association
http://www.landrights.org
Massive LWCF (CARA) Land Acquisition Funding Passes Senate
*Urgent Action Required. This is an all out call to action NOW!*
* *
Stop The LWCF Transportation Bill Land Grab, Go To www.landrights.org
for details.
*The Problem: (The Solutions are listed below)*
The Senate just passed an Amendment to the Transportation Bill that
added the Restore Act. The Restore Act provides billions of dollars
of the Gulf Oil Spill penalty money to the Gulf States but it also
*adds billions of dollars to the Land and Water Conservation Fund
(LWCF) to buy private land and convert it into government ownership.*
*It is CARA all over again.* In a historic vote, the Senate added the
Nelson LWCF Amendment (Restore Act) to the Senate Transportation Bill
and takes billions of dollars of the Gulf Oil Penalty Money and gives
it to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). *This is an attack
on Rural America. It is an attack on you. The LWCF is used to buy
private land. *
* *
*Go to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn* and all other social networking
sites to get this issue networked out quickly. You can stop this huge
land grab and put the money to reducing the deficit and creating jobs.
* *
Please send an e-mail to ccushman@pacifier.com
to let us know what you did or a copy of what you sent. That will
help give us more ideas.
* *
*-----From Energy and Environment Newsletter:* “The result is an
amendment that supporters now say would provide perhaps the
largest-ever federal boost to conservation and environmental efforts
in the nation.”
"This could be the biggest infusion of conservation dollars in
history," said Joshua Saks, legislative director for the National
Wildlife Federation. "This would be a remarkable achievement."
*What’s wrong with the LWCF Amendment to the Transportation Bill
(Restore Act)?*
-----A. *It doubles funding for the LWCF adding $700 million for each
of the next two years.*
-----B. Extends the LWCF until 2022 from the present law of 2015.
-----C. *It funds a CARA like Land Acquisition Trust Fund that will
be a threat to all private property owners and Rural America for many
years.*
-----D. *None of this money will be used to create jobs.*
-----E. *None of this money will be used to reduce the deficit.*
-----F. The LWCF money will be a dagger in heart of the economy.
-----G. A fully funded LWCF is an all out attack on Rural America.
-----H. A fully funded LWCF is an attack on local communities.
-----I. Inholders and landowners are in grave danger.
-----J. The LWCF Restore Act will lead to a massive expansion of
Federal lands thereby reducing your access and use. The green groups
will work to get the new Federal lands into Wilderness status.
*Solution: (Action Items)*
The Senate must still vote on the full Transportation Bill including
the Restore Act (LWCF) funds this week.
-----1. Deluge both your Senators immediately to oppose the full
Transportation Bill that includes the Restore Act and the huge
multi-billion dollar LWCF land acquisition funding. *It is CARA all
over again. *The Senate is expected to vote on the full bill Tuesday
or Wednesday of this week. It could be delayed.
Call, fax and e-mail your Senators every day this week to bury them
in contacts. Look below to see how your Senator voted on the Restore
Act Amendment that included the LWCF land acquisition funding. The
vote results are at the bottom of this e-mail.
When you call, make sure your Senators know you know how they voted.
If your Senator voted against the Restore Amendment, thank him and
urge him to block the Senate Transportation bill any way they can.
They have lots of ways in the Senate.
Call any Senator at (202) 224-3121. Ask for the staff person who
handles the Transportation Bill. Ask for his or her e-mail. Do not
make threats. Be respectful. But make sure your Senators understand
that the Senate Transportation bill is an attack on Rural America and
all landowners if it includes the LWCF (Land and Water Conservation
Fund) in the final version.
Ask your Senators to promise to vote against the Transportation Bill
when it comes to the Senate floor this week if it includes the LWCF.
Call every day this week.
-----2. Deluge your Congressman with calls. Call any Congressman at
(202) 225-3121. You must make his or her phone come off the hook.
Make sure he or she understands that you will remember this vote in
November.
Ask him or her to oppose any version of the Transportation bill that
has LWCF land acquisition funding inside. The Restore Act has already
passed the House in a separate bill. But it can still be stopped by
the House.
If the Senate Transportation Bill (With Restore and LWCF inside)
passes the Senate it is likely the House will vote on the Senate bill
instead of passing their own bill. *That would be a disaster. *
*Call speaker of the House John Boehner at (202) 225-3121 *to urge
him to pass a Transportation Bill without any LWCF funding.
The Restore Act has already passed the House. So if the House votes
on the Senate bill there may be no Conference Committee. It is
critical that your Congressman add Amendments to the Transportation
bill to force it into a House-Senate Conference Committee. ANWR
(Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) drilling bill would be a good
choice.
The House will not be in session this week. That gives you time to
contact your Congressman when he or she comes home as well as call
their Washington, DC office at (202) 225-3121.
Your Congressman will likely be in your district this week
(March 12-18). Find out where he or she will be and go to any public
meetings being held. Call at the numbers above to find out.
You must jump on your Congressman quickly and keep the pressure on
for the next two weeks. It takes time, but it will save you a lot of
suffering later. So call, call and call again.
You Must Stop the Transportation Bill in the House.
You must get your Congressman to oppose the Senate passed version
when it comes to the House.
-----3. Go to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and all other social
networking sites to get this issue networked out quickly. You can
stop this huge land grab and put the money to reducing the deficit
and creating jobs.
Below is the analysis about the Amendment before it was passed by the
Senate and added a double funded LWCF in the Senate Transportation
Bill *in a back door move with old time dark of night politics. *
*-----From Energy and Environment Newsletter*
GULF SPILL:
Amendment would send penalty money to Gulf, devote historic amount
to conservation
Paul Quinlan and Phil Taylor, E&E reporters
A measure to send most of the Deepwater Horizon spill penalties to
the Gulf Coast and boost land acquisition funding could be voted on
by the Senate this afternoon, potentially providing the largest
single federal contribution to conservation in history.
The proposal, introduced as an amendment to the Senate
transportation bill by Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Richard Shelby
(R-Ala.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.), would send 80 percent of the
potentially tens of billions of dollars in Clean Water Act fines to
the five Gulf states.
The money would be used to pay for economic and environmental
restoration projects in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and
Texas and to fund Gulf Coast ecological research and national oceans
research endowment (E&E News PM, July 21, 2011).
In a bid to attract the necessary 60 votes, which supporters say the
amendment now has, the measure includes a massive infusion of cash
into a popular federal conservation program called the Land and Water
Conservation Fund (LWCF). The provision would double current funding
levels for the LWCF program to $700 million for each of the next two
years and reauthorize it until 2022, at $1.4 billion total.
Injecting cash into and extending the LWCF appeared intended to
attract support from key Senate leaders who favor the program -- such
as Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.) -- as well as
others outside the five-state Gulf region.
The result is an amendment that supporters now say would provide
perhaps the largest-ever federal boost to conservation and
environmental efforts in the nation.
"This could be the biggest infusion of conservation dollars in
history," said Joshua Saks, legislative director for the National
Wildlife Federation. "This would be a remarkable achievement."
To pay for it all, architects of the amendment have agreed to delay
for an additional year, until 2022, implementation of a law that
would relax rules under which multinational corporations may claim
tax deductions on interest expenses incurred overseas. Essentially a
corporate tax loophole in waiting, the rule change has been
repeatedly delayed to pay for various programs over the years.
Lawmakers yesterday had considered a different way of offsetting the
$2.8 billion cost -- $1.2 billion for the RESTORE Act plus $1.4
billion for the LWCF -- through a fee on mortgage transactions. That
caused an uproar among some Democrats and was scrapped.
Landrieu had previously suggested extending a per-barrel oil
drilling tax for three years but that, too, was scrapped.
Nelson urged passage of the amendment in a speech on the Senate
floor this morning. The House approved a stripped-down version of the
"RESTORE Act" last month (E&E Daily, Feb 17).
"In the U.S. Senate today, we have a chance to take a step that will
make the Gulf whole," Nelson said.
Nelson noted that without a change in the law, most of the spill
penalties would likely be spent in any number of ways, unrelated to
the spill.
"Otherwise the money is going to end up in the federal Treasury, and
there's no telling where it will be spent," he said.
Doubling LWCF funds
The amendment would also roughly double funding for LWCF over the
next two fiscal years. Its adoption would be a major victory for the
Obama administration and conservationists, who have argued the
account has been shortchanged for decades.
The program allows up to $900 million in offshore oil and gas
revenues to be spent annually on land acquisitions, conservation
easements and grants to states to promote urban parks.
While the Obama administration requested full funding for fiscal
2012, it received about $350 million. Today's amendment would provide
$700 million in each of the next two fiscal years, significantly
higher than the administration's most recent request.
"We are essentially trying to right what has been a 50-year wrong,"
said Alan Rowsome, who directs conservation funding for the
Wilderness Society.
The amendment would also require 1.5 percent of the LWCF money
promote land access for sportsmen, a provision that appears similar
to a proposal by Montana Sen. Jon Tester (D) (E&E Daily, June 24,
2011).
"That's a critical piece of this because we want to make sure our
public lands stay open and accessible," Rowsome said.
The fund has enjoyed a resurgence under the Obama administration
after facing multiple years of declining appropriations. But the
program faces many skeptical lawmakers, mostly Republicans, who
oppose enlarging the federal estate during times of fiscal
constraints.
Yet, Republican Sens. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Richard Burr of
North Carolina and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have signed onto
a separate measure by Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Bingaman
to provide full funding for LWCF.
###
Vote Summary
CNGRESS > ROLL CALL VOTES > Senate Vote #32 (Mar 8, 2012)
Amendment (Nelson (FL) (Restore Act including LWCF)
Amdt. No. 1822)
*Number: *Senate Vote #32 in 2012
*Date: *Mar 8, 2012 3:24PM
*Result: *Amendment Agreed to *Amendment: *to S. 1813: MAP-21
* *
*VOTE OVERVIEW*
*Totals **Democrats Republicans Independents *
*Yea: *76 (76%) 51 23 2
*Nay: *22 (22%) 0 22 0
*Present: *0 (0%) 0 0 0
*Not Voting: *2 (2%) 0 2 0
*Required: *3/5 of 98 votes (=59 votes)
* *
*VOTE DETAILS*
* *
/Maine/
Yea ME Collins, Susan
Yea ME Snowe, Olympia
Chuck Cushman
Executive Director
American Land Rights Association
(360) 687-3087
ccushman@pacifier.com
Roger Thanks but, TMI Already. Please edit to provide link/reference only.
This Thread is about Angus King not the Land and Water Conservation Fund and threats to private property rights.
TMI = To Much Information
Please do not use initialisms. How are the rest of us supposed to know what TMI means?
"This Thread is about Angus King not the Land and Water Conservation Fund and threats to private property rights."
US Grant, You don't get it.
Angus King is a walking, talking threat to private property rights.
US didn't I tell you!
Roger, Thanks. Post something on that about Angus King. Edit the above please.
Here is new one on the left's assault weapon of choice-AK:
"...He even lays a little down home lingo on us with “I calls ’em as I sees ’em.”
One can almost hear him asking if he can get him a huntin’ license here.
King defines himself as the prettiest one at the prom. He has staked out one strong position; he’ll quit if it looks like he can’t win. Bill Nemitz thinks King will take the high road; from King’s own mouth one could imagine him taking the first exit on that journey if that road gets bumpy."
http://www.themainewire.com/2012/03/op-ed-angus-apex-it%e2%80%99s-good-k...
I post this here in the public interest. It came from a non-poster friend of mine.
Angus King is a snake. He's managed to change his spots when it suits him, giving him that charming chameleon luster. He's entrenched very deeply in the wind power debacle, and now that he sees his payoff becoming more elusive, he figures he'll win this Senate seat and either get what he wants (for the wind power movement) and recoup his millions, or recoup his millions (both at taxpayers' expense). His legacy is on the line after all: he proclaimed a Chevy Volt for every household and windmills for every yard. Volt isn't being produced anymore, and the wind power fad is fizzling…Dems outside of Maine think that he might court inklings to the right, but they need not worry. Mainers know where he stands. He would split the votes for Princess (lib) Pingree, and for some of us, that's an entertaining prospect…
PS I heard that the Chevy Volt was engineered to only make left turns, limiting its marketability. But that's just an unverified rumor!
Angus King has 'seen the future' and it is the Chevy Volt:
Just four months before GM scraped it.
USG....I fixed the link but I'll put it again here.....
http://tomremington.com/2012/01/17/i-wind-energy-about-clean-alternative...
Vic Bardarelli quoted in National Review as per his previous post:
“In northern Maine, practically any Republican speaks with disdain about Angus King,” Berardelli says.
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/293531/who-angus-king-brian-bolduc
An endorsement by Edgar Allen Beem tells you all you need to know, and hints at King being a closet socialist, since that is what Beem resonates to.
Thanks to AMG's own 'editor', three files are now available to AMG'ers that provide historic background for Maine's fiscal circumstances going back as far as the 70's. And they span the Angus King years. I believe he was elected in 1994, or FY 95, which means his first budget year was FY 96.
The files include ones that show all Maine spending for a dozen or so years; one showing buget balances at the end of budget years for a dozen or so years, and a file showing budgeted expenditures and revenues dating back to the 70s.
Interested students can extract appropriate figures to characterize King's stewardship of Maine's fiscal house during his 8 years, and what might be inferred as to his fiscal discipline should he make it to the senate.
I hope this spurs some interesting insights and commentary, and some useful campaign fodder.
Mel - thank you so much for providing that information.
A little history on King's involvement with the gas tax indexing.
Currently, the tax is adjusted each July 1 unless the Legislature votes to stop it from doing so. Previously, it took an act of the Legislature to raise the tax. The indexing mechanism was built into law during Gov. Angus King’s tenure as a way to remove the stigma of voting for a tax increase for legislators.. It was an easier sell in the early 2000s when the per-gallon price of gasoline was lower than the per-liter cost of spring water.
Ask yourself about elected and selected. Why did the others back off to clear the path for Anquish?
Thanks, Mainelion. I made the correction you note and all three now work fine.
I thought the links looked odd, but used what I was provided. I'm sure it was an oversight.
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Disclaimer:
Given the history of efforts along these lines ("The Cutler Files" and the legal and political procilvity of Elliot Cutler to attack the exercise of the First Amendment), and Mr. Elliot Cutler's alliance with Angus King, posts are made to this thread at the poster's peril.
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