Chairman's Blog

You'll hear a lot of wild talk from TABOR opponents in the coming weeks. More often than not, the people who oppose TABOR are the very same people who are responsible for Maine's financial mess. At the very least, TABOR opponents have a stake in maintaining the status quo - after all, they want to maintain power and control and view all of us as their personal ATM.

But what is TABOR?

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Yesterday, the Lewiston Sun Journal endorsed TABOR. We're grateful and appreciate the support from a respected Maine broadsheet. The key graf for us is the conclusion:

Blame the economic downturn for this. But also blame the lack of foresight by policymakers in restraining spending during boom times. For years, the message has been clearly sent to the State House that what's coming out is not commensurate with what's going in. It's too much.

The recession is evidence that you reap what you sow.

No more messages. No more chances. At some point, endorsing the same process that has failed to garner results so far is fruitless. That's why we are favoring TABOR. It is time to do things differently in Maine.

Contrary to our opponents' lies, TABOR is nothing to fear and instead promises a new beginning for the people of Maine. continue reading

In a prior post, we noted that the PAC opposing Question 4-TABOR calls itself "Citizens Unified for Maine's Future" (CUMF). We also noted that CUMF is pure astroturf, comprised of unions and non-profit groups with their hands in all of our pockets. In fact, the one thing that unites the disparate groups in CUMF is their revenue stream, which gives credence to the old saying, "follow the money". We'll examine in an upcoming post the two non-profit front groups operating within CUMF, "Maine Can Do Better" and "EngageMaine", both of which have as their maestro Ben Dudley of Portland, one of CUMF's "primary decision-makers".

But one of the major players in CUMF is none other than the Maine State Employees Union, which is affiliated with the corrupt Service Employees International Union (SEIU). As we've seen from recent news, SEIU is practically indistinguishable from ACORN, with the founder of ACORN having also founded SEIU Local 100 (Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana), one of SEIU's largest locals. Local 100 is run from the same New Orleans address as ACORN and the national union works hand in glove with ACORN to provide muscle for the "community organizers".

But what of the MSEU-SEIU? It's an organization that's had its share of embarrassment. Its recently-resigned executive director, Tim Belcher, was charged last year with criminally restraining a UPS driver who was trying to leave his property after making a delivery. In the Belcher household, anti-taxpayer sentiment apparently runs in the family. His wife Deb Hutton - herself a former legislator - recently filed a harassing - and unsuccessful - ethics complaint against Maine Leads.

But it's when we examine MSEU's financials that we begin to see the extent both of its financial power and its ties to SEIU. continue reading

On Monday, October 5, Maine Equal Justice Partners (MEJP) jumped into the fight against Maine's taxpayers. Sara Gagne-Holmes, MEJP's executive director, announced that the organization "is joining the growing group of organizations, businesses, and labor unions against Question 4 by launching an online video series that highlights the potential harm created by TABOR II for families, schools, and our communities." Her statement, of course, begs the question of the identity of the "organizations" and "businesses" opposing TABOR.

The videos themselves are crudely done and - in our opinion - quite harmless. They begin with a cheap animation and then continue with a Maine teacher and parent reacting in irrational fear to TABOR. They repeat the same untruths presented by Kristi Hargrove, who visited Maine this past week and bashed her home state of Colorado and its TABOR. As I said, pretty thin soup and easy to refute - even for the irrationally fearful.

But just who and what is Maine Equal Justice Partners? MEJP is one of the non-profit groups listing itself on the Maine Can Do Better website and is one of the "control" organizations listed on the EngageMaine site. In fact, MEJP boasts in its annual report that it helped found Maine Can Do Better. Both are fronts for Maine non-profits that largely susbsist on $550 million in contracts with the state Department of Health and Human Services. MEJP is a "social justice" organization with some strange bedfellows, which don't necessarily concern us in this post.

What does concern us, however, is MEJP's 2007 Form 990, which shows income of approximately $750,000.00, one-third of which consists of government grants. Its board of directors seats several lawyers - and here the irony grows thick.

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The Maine Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) is not opposed by the taxpayers. It's opposed, rather, by a coalition of unions, leftist non-profit groups and larger businesses. And guess what they all have in common? Their revenue derives, directly or indirectly, from the very same taxpayers they oppose. What a surprise.

These anti-taxpayer unions, businesses and non-profit groups have organized a political action committee (PAC) calling itself "Citizens Unified for Maine's Future" (CUMF). It is by no means a "citizens group" - far from it. In reality, it's a coalition of the groups just mentioned: unions, businesses with state contracts and non-profits that survive not by raising money from the community, but through contracts with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services totaling over $500 million.

But what are the specifics? Well, CUMF's PAC registration tells us a lot:

1. The PAC's Address - 60 Community Drive, Augusta, Maine. That just happens to be the address of the Maine Municipal Association. Are we surprised?

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In prior posts, I discussed the Maine Ethics Commission's finding that several TABOR opponent organizations were in violation of Maine election law. A copy of the Commission's ruling is here.

Attached also is a copy of my prepared remarks before the Commission. I tried to strike a constructive note - which is more than I can say for certain individuals who've appeared before the Commission simply to harass the Maine Heritage Policy Center and Maine Leads.

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Did you know that people who want to help Maine's long-suffering taxpayers are "pests", akin to a plague of mosquitoes? That's what the Maine Education Association says in its anti-Question 4 advertising.

The MEA was out in force this weekend, ritually denouncing TABOR as the devil's work that will devastate our schools. For the uninitiated, the MEA is the local affiliate of the National Education Association, which is the teachers' equivalent of the teamsters union.

In the midst of their denunciations, the good people at the MEA didn't mention that Maine's per-pupil K-12 funding is among the highest in the nation. But never let facts get in the way of irrational fear.

Now, while Maine's taxpayers doubtless have great respect for teachers and the profession of teaching, they can hardly be pleased at the campaign being waged against them by the MEA. We've already seen the MEA's description of TABOR as a "slasher film".

Their latest broadside against Question 4 compares the Maine Heritage Policy Center and taxpayer advocates as "pests" - as in blood-sucking mosquitoes.

Frankly, I would have expected something more intelligent from people who teach our children.

For more information about the Maine Taxpayer Bill of Rights, please visit the Question 4 (TABOR) website.

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Anti-taxpayers groups are deep into the retreads. It's all they've got. And no retread campaign would be complete without Colorado-basher Kristi Hargrove.

It was nice to see Kristi back in Maine for another go at the taxpayers. Yesterday she attended a "rally" in Portland sponsored by Planned Parenthood and an organization called the "Maine Women's Lobby". From the news footage, approximately seven women listened to Hargrove bash Maine's taxpayers and her own state of Colorado. Glad to know that yet another bunch of radicals has it in for Maine's taxpayers.

Both organizations are part of a coalition called "Engage Maine", which is a coven of leftist organizations that includes such luminaries as the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which is ACORN's alter ego. Today, she attended a rally of the Maine Education Association, which has already denounced TABOR as a "slasher film".

But who is Hargrove? According her own bio, she claims to be a Republican (how convenient) and a typical PTA mom. But this "typical PTA mom" just happens to take her show on the road to any state where the taxpayers are restless. She's sort of like Iris Lav, come to think of it.

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In my last post, I discussed TABOR Now's ethics complaint against several opponent organizations, including our old friend, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. As you'll recall, CBPP is the group that leftists call whenever taxpayers anywhere try to relieve themselves of the burdens heaped on them by every special interest pleader with outstretched hand and political influence. We've already met Iris Lav, CBPP's dedicated taxpayer disciplinarian, whose particular specialty is blaming Colorado's TABOR for every imagined ill up to and including the common cold.

In the course of TABOR Now's ethics complaint, CBPP made several filings, including this letter filed two days before the October 1 hearing. In it, CBPP's Debra Schwartz tried to clarify CBPP's expenditures relating to Maine's TABOR. Quite apart from estimates drawn from her own fundament, she boasted about CBPP's activities around the country and made this quite remarkable - and asinine - series of statements:

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On August 27, 2009, the Maine TABOR Now campaign filed a complaint with the Maine Ethics Commission against four organizations coordinating to defeat TABOR in Maine. These groups are (1) the Maine Center for Economic Policy, (2) the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, (3) the Maine People's Alliance, and (4) Maine Can Do Better. We have written previously about the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and will continue to explore this organization at length in future posts.

Who are these organizations? We've already discussed CBPP. The Maine Center for Economic Policy is the local analogue to CBPP - devotedly left-wing and the ally of bureaucrats, unions and every non-profit special pleader with outstretched hand. The welfare of Maine's taxpayers is certainly not MECEP's first concern.

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