During the past two years, the Maine State Legislature has been operating in a divided government. The Senate was controlled by Republicans, the House by Democrats, and Gov. Paul LePage is a Republican. Every piece of legislation has to be handled by all three of these entities, and that means the past two years had […]
republicans
Posted inOp-Eds
GOP leaders must deal with the fallout
WASHINGTON — “What does this say about your party that this is your standard bearer?” The headlines from President Obama’s excoriation of Donald Trump on Tuesday rightly highlighted his flat declaration that the Republican nominee is “unfit to serve as president.” But the challenge to Republican leaders who fell in line behind Trump was even […]
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Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Is the GOP losing its religion?
WASHINGTON — In American politics, where has God gone? Of course this is an inadequate way of posing the question. God is always present for believers, even if the political workings of the divine can be hard to discern. And religious people continue to occupy points all along the spectrum. Just ask Hillary Clinton about […]
Posted inLetters
Trump thinks like us
Why are the liberals and the establishment Republicans so very scared of Donald Trump? They are demonizing him in the press, trying to railroad his campaign and accusing him of inciting riots. They are scared because Trump will not bow down to their demands. He will not follow their stupid, politically-correct agenda — an agenda […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Trump still not a sure thing for GOP
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump has decided that sexism in the quest for victory is no vice. Trump’s supporters have regularly asked why his long string of primary successes has not led his Republican opponents to accept him as “the presumptive nominee,” the phrase he used about himself Tuesday night. The candidate helpfully answered the question […]
Posted inMaine
Gov. Paul LePage effort to raise minimum wage falls short
AUGUSTA – An attempt by Republicans and Gov. Paul LePage to set a minimum wage lower than the eventual $12 an hour voters will decide about in November fell short Thursday night in the state Senate. A Republican-led effort to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour by 2020 garnered a vote of 22-12, […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Ben Carson to give keynote address at Maine GOP convention
BANGOR (AP) — Former presidential candidate Ben Carson will be the keynote speaker at the Maine Republican Party state convention on April 22. Carson, who ended his campaign prior to Maine’s Republican caucus on March 5, will speak on the first day of the two-day convention. Republican Gov. Paul LePage, who like Carson has endorsed […]
Posted inMaine
Legislature approves bill to create presidential primaries in Maine
AUGUSTA — The Legislature has sent Gov. Paul LePage a bill that would move Maine back to a statewide presidential primary in 2020. It’s a move LePage has said he supports, but at least a handful of state lawmakers are questioning whether all taxpayers should have to foot the $1 million to $2 million bill […]
Posted inMaine
Lewiston lawmaker proposes using liquor profits to help veterans
AUGUSTA — A bill before the Legislature proposes using about $550,000 from the $46 million profit the state makes selling $144 million worth of alcohol each year to help Maine’s 140,000 veterans. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Lewiston, offered the proposal Tuesday as part of an amendment that rolls together several recommendations from a special commission that […]
Posted inLetters
Conservative propaganda
Once again, Thomas Shields is spreading propaganda touting the virtues of conservative politics (March 19). Americans don’t support welfare as a way of life. Certainly fraud shouldn’t be tolerated. What conservatives and liberals disagree on is how to fix it. According to usgovernmentspending.com, welfare is 6 percent of the 2016 Maine budget and 7 percent […]