Monthly Archives: February 2014

Could we get the truth about what Medicaid expansion costs, please?

Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves has launched the latest missile in the never-ending back-and-forth over whether Maine should expand Medicaid. His office announced Monday that Democrats will propose a bill that calls for the cancellation of the state’s contract with the Alexander Group. That’s the consulting firm the LePage administration retained to assist Maine in […]

Is a tax cap good politics, good policy, neither or both?

It’s been a busy week in Maine politics, from the governor’s State of the State address to a fiercely partisan battle over municipal revenue sharing. Political analysts Phil Harriman and Ethan Strimling go In The Arena with Pat Callaghan. Top of the agenda in the below segment is whether there will be bi-partisan support for his […]

Is LePage taking the Republican Party back to the 1990s?

Ethan: So, your boy gave quite a speech on Tuesday night. War on drugs. Tax caps. Union bashing. It sounds like the Republican Party has decided to refight the lost battles of the 1990s. Phil: Didn’t you mean to say: compassion for drug-affected newborns, limits on government and the right to choose if you want […]

Why was there silence when ‘Gestapo’ was used against LePage?

In July of 2012, Gov. Paul LePage made an ill-advised comparison of the Internal Revenue Services to the Nazi Gestapo. Appropriately, much of the state reacted strongly. Newspapers wrote editorials expressing outrage. Columnists slammed yet another offensive comment made by the governor. Political opposition piled on. And Phil and I started the bipartisan demand for […]