LePage letter to Rep Jeff McCabe.

Refreshing change isn't it.
Unlike the hope and change we got.

A perfect defense of his position, Bravo Governor!

I think I just heard McCabe whining on the radio about this. Let him invest his own money in his town if he thinks it is worthwhile.

He can help by using this paddle to row the boat rather then rock it. Maine is already up a shallow creek with too few to paddle!

Splendid!

Can anyone provide links to the letters from Rep. McCabe? It would be helpful to see the requests he made of the Governor. Thank you.

McCabe is a sinister whiner. VOTE HIM OUT!

So the judgement of the one (Governor) is superior to the will of the voters? Just checking, it seems to be inconsistent with the general attitude. Wait and see what the interest rates are when he finally does sell the bonds and see if this turns out to be a wise choice.

No matter what the rates are when the point is at this point the interest owed is 0% , which at this time is better than a pay out of 1% or 5% or whatever % !
Yes, he was on radio and he was really whining!!

Reminds me of the homosexual marriage when the people of Maine voted it down but Baldacci went against the will of the people and put it in place anyhow, not sure if MidCoast Mainer protested but I doubt it.
I will trust the decision of a businessman on this rather than a politician.

Who proofreads his letters? In the 2nd paragraph: ... demands that I reign in the reckless spending ...

Reign or rein, it works for me. But the former plays into the hands of liberal parsers who are always looking for evidence that the governor thinks he's a monarch going around the "will of the people".

Right now, the bonds on Maine's books already cost us about $100 million per year in interest. How much more do we "need" to pay, with the other crushing debts we already owe (pensions, hospitals), and endless new DHHS bills from the Feds?

Anything that can be put off for now, should be put off until times get better.

I would like for someone to show me how many real, permanent jobs have been created by these bonds...the first promise always seems to be " will create jobs"...but like roads, most of the jobs already exist, you are merely ensuring their continued employment (and with roads you could make an argument roads will be fixed with or weithout bonds). I plan to only support jobs for needed infrastructure such as roads and bridges or those PROVEN to create jobs.

I'm sure one could marshall enough signatures to get on the ballot a recommendation the governor jump off a cliff. It doesn't follow that he must do it. The will of the people is not reflected in the 51% who vote for whatever it is on the ballot because we are not a democracy. A mob of 51% of the people should not be able to trod on the rights and confiscate the property of the 49% who may not want what the 51% want.

One of the mentioned purposes of these bonds was projects aimed at downtown economic development.
The best thing about is it will give towns a chance to rethink these things before they are done.
They all should really look back and look at "Urban Renewal of the 70's" and ho successful it was. Westbrook is still planning and spending money to fix the failures
of it 40 plus years ago.
Until then the savings in interest paid is money in the bank , opposed to no gain from an expenditure of other peoples money ,that in most cases will sooth a planners' ego and return less than spent !

If the downtown's are already suffering why pour more money into them? Let the towns or cities float their own bonds (if they can) to do whatever they want to their downtowns etc.

Reminds me of the homosexual marriage when the people of Maine voted it down but Baldacci went against the will of the people and put it in place anyhow, not sure if MidCoast Mainer protested but I doubt it.
I will trust the decision of a businessman on this rather than a politician.

The Legislature passed the law, not the Governor. Try having a basic understanding of how government works.

LePage has said that he will release the bonds, so this is not a question of if, but of when. So, if the interest rates climb between now and when he does release the bonds, I will look for all the sycophants here to say atta boy Gov, you just cost us more than you needed to.

Mid-coast.....your simple math is terrific. If we reduce debt before adding debt.......but hey, as usual, please never let facts sway you. I would bet if you had a credit card maxed out with a 16% interest rate, another maxed out at 11%, you're not going to assume another at 5% until at least one card is paid off? Why? because you have to manage your household budget. Then again, you'd probably support legislation to get a bond to bail you out becasue you made poor choices and those evil credit card companies gave you the credit....

The Legislature passed the law, not the Governor. Try having a basic understanding of how government works.

Mid-Coast - I seem to remember Governor Baldacci signing the bill to make it law. Or is my basic understanding failing me?

Representative McKane, please don't insult your own intelligence with a silly question like that. Some may not realize that you are being sarcastic. Yes, the Governor signed the bill after a majority of elected representatives also supported it. Kind of like the bonds, that were approved by a majority of elected representatives and then by a majority of Maine voters.

I am surprised that the simple challenge of questioning should one person (the Governor, admittedyl elected by fewer citizens than those that approved the bonds) be correct to choose to override the choice of the voters? Further, because he has committed to issuing the balance of the bonds (yes, some of the bonds that were approved have been issued in stages) what will people say if the costs are greater then than they are now.
Economists will tell you that because of the interest rates and the unemployment situation, the best thing would be to issue the bonds now, at a low rate and put some people to work.

If the Governor were to say that he has no intent to issue the balance of the bonds, the question would be different. Perhaps his strategy is to wait until he is no longer Governor and leave this error in judgement to his successor. After all, the bond's shelf life is probably longer than his one term.

To Mid coast:
Stop spending my money. I can do that myself. End.

Baldacci was elected by fewer voters than LePage and he could have supported the Maine voter and vetoed the bill, but he went against the will of the people. I guess just don't understand how things work.

Chris Johnson (D) stopped by the house campaigning yesterday.

I had one question for him: Did you vote for or against the spending bonds?

Yeah, that's what I thought. Thank you for your time, but you don't get my vote this year.

Votes have consequences, it's high time the legislature learned that.

Jeepn - Amen, and "well done."

So, someone please explain why the Gov signed the bonds that are going to be voted on (and approved) by the voters in November if he honestly thinks the State has too much debt. Does anyone see the slightest hypocricy here? (I will go out on a limb and guess the answer is no).

Does anyone see the slightest hypocracy here? (I will go out on a limb and guess the answer is no).

First, it is spelled hypocrisy. Second, I see the hypocrisy here - that you don't mind that *both* the former Governor and former Legislature overrode the will of the people of Maine on gay marriage, but you have your knickers in a knot about LePage making fiscally sound decisions.

And please stop the hysterics about interest rates. I'm glad that you know the direction in which rates will head. While you're at it, please gaze into your crystal ball and clue us in on this year's World Series winner, so we can place some bets.

Just thought I'd saw off that limb that you went out on. Have a very moonbatty day.

Even at todays low rates, not borrowing will still cost less than borrowing.....

Mid-Coast,

Time to deploy the AMG tractor to assist in pulling your head into the
sunlight.

Sign Bonds? Leg. overide of veto? any of this seem to fit?

Four more years!