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RELEASE: John O'Dea: Maine voters are fools, cannot be trusted
AUGUSTA - John O'Dea, Chief Executive Officer of the Associated General Contractors of Maine, a zealous opponent of Question 4, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR), confirmed his distrust of Maine citizens having a vote on excessive spending increases and state and property tax increases.
The forum was hosted by the Maine Municipal Association on September 3 at the Bangor Public Library to oppose Question 4 on the November ballot, as well as Question 2, which would cut Maine's seventh-highest-in-the-nation auto excise tax in half and promote the purchase of new hybrid or energy efficient vehicles that get 40 miles per gallon or more.
A video clip posted on YouTube features O'Dea discussing his personal background, which includes terms in the State House and State Senate, and an admission that he still keeps "his fingers in the pie in Augusta." In his introduction, O'Dea also says, "I guarantee you that anything I tell you will be the unvarnished truth as I see it..."
The YouTube clip also includes a portion of the Question and Answer period of O'Dea's presentation, during which a member of the audience asked why he mistrusts Maine citizens so much that he believes giving those Mainers the right to vote on tax increases will be a disaster for Maine. In his answer, O'Dea makes a startling comparison, likening Maine voters to "fools" who cannot be trusted to vote on matters of how their tax dollars are taxed and spent by politicians. A link to the full video clip on YouTube is available below.
"Mr. O'Dea's answer to why he distrusts Maine citizens shows the arrogance of the politicians, bureaucrats and special interests with a stake, both politically and financially, in censoring people from the debate over how their hard earned wages are taxed and spent," said TABOR NOW State Chairman David Crocker. "I wonder if Mr. O'Dea expressed this same lack of trust in Maine voters when his name on the ballot."
O'Dea has been outspoken in his opposition to Questions 2 and 4, and has participated in a controversial closed door meeting with Senate President Elizabeth "Libby" Mitchell and Speaker of the House Hannah Pingree, daughter of Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree.
This closed-door meeting, which included lobbyists and other public opponents of the two citizen initiatives, has been the subject of a Freedom of Information request filed August 12 by the campaigns supporting Questions 2 and 4 to determine the extent of Mitchell and Pingree's unethical use of taxpayer-funded state resources to engineer the initiatives' defeat. To date, neither Mitchell nor Pingree's offices have submitted any of the requested information.
"With his admission that Maine voters cannot be trusted to vote on how their money is taxed and spent, Mr. O'Dea has solidified his membership in Augusta's political class," Crocker said. "He joins a long list of politicians and special interests who resort to name calling and misinformation to keep control over our money. They know TABOR is a game changer, and that makes them scared."
On YouTube Now: Maine TABOR II - What the opponents think of the Maine voter