Maine Governor Is Totally Crackerjacks

[ESF]

This guy is insane.  For the real story, see below. For Wonkette's take, here you go: wonkette.com/592525/maine-gov-paul-lepage-is-a-idiot-what-dont-write-good


mainebeacon.com/gov-lepage-writes-off-half-the-state-of-maine/

Gov. LePage writes off half the state of Maine

In a personal note he wrote in reply a Cape Elizabeth constituent who had asked him to resign, Governor Paul LePage has declared Mainers from the southern part of the state to be corrupt and exploitative.

The note, which is dated from July 16th and is written in LePage’s own hand on the stationery of the Governor’s office, reads as follows:

Louise,

I bet you would like to see me resign.

You live in the south who exploit those who are not so fortunate, or understand the level of corruption that southern Mainers ignore and welcome!

Regards,

Governor Paul R. LePage

P.S. Not going to happen!

Tortured grammatical construction aside, LePage seems to be leveling some serious charges against roughly half of Maine’s residents.

There has long been some political and cultural discomfort around Maine’s urban/rural, North/South divide, although the differences are much more complicated than the often-used “two Maines” shorthand might imply.

In one of the most extreme examples of this division, a Republican House Member once proposed that the Northern and Western parts of the state secede, with the Southern region being renamed “Northern Massachusetts.”

This is not the first time similar sentiments have been ascribed to LePage. In 2011, LePage’s Department of Marine Resources Commissioner, Norman Olsen, penned a resignation letter in which he accused LePage of refusing to work with the City of Portland because of a personal, political vendetta against that part of the state. LePage denied those charges at the time.

It’s not clear on what basis LePage is claiming that Southern Mainers commit exploitation. The Portland area alone now generates more than half of the state’s gross domestic product.

Andy Sullivan, a D.C.-based political reporter for Reuters, said his mother, a retired librarian, received the letter from LePage after writing the following: “Dear Gov. LePage, please resign. You will save yourself time and embarrassment. You will save our state time and money. Sincerely, Louise Sullivan.” His photo of the note has been shared more than a hundred times on Facebook.

[ESF]

Here is the note.

[NewOrleans]

(huh)

[cattledogkisses]

*

[ESF]

Aug 4, 2015 20:30:49 GMT -5 cattledogkisses said:

Oh this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his chucklefuckery.

I've got a good friend in Portland.  I hear things.

I just cannot believe that letter. My gawd.

[Pom]

I thought the southern states elected all the nuttiest governors. I guess this one slipped through.

[eclaires]

He's like the Stacey Campfield of Maine

[UMaineTeach]

This is what I have been telling you people! He's just less on the radar that other TP Govs.

Also:
- he's being sued for losing a legislator his private sector job
-he might have caused another person to lose a private sector job, but that person said he won't sue
- he's refusing to release voter approved bonds
- the Maine Supreme Court is hearing a bi-partisan case against by the House and Senate (except a small group of House Rs) him regarding a childish veto stunt that may lead to 65 bills becoming law w/o his signature, most he was going to veto due to his vow to veto all D bills..

And there are crack-pots in comments supporting this guy!

[UMaineTeach]

Aug 4, 2015 20:32:46 GMT -5 Pom said:

I thought the southern states elected all the nuttiest governors. I guess this one slipped through.

he won by a small % in a 3 way election both times.

re-election was due to a hunting referendum that brought the Rs out vote

[ESF]

Aug 4, 2015 20:33:31 GMT -5 UMaineTeach said:

- the Maine Supreme Court is hearing a bi-partisan case against by the House and Senate (except a small group of House Rs) him regarding a childish veto stunt that may lead to 65 bills becoming law w/o his signature, most he was going to veto due to his vow to veto all D bills..

I read about this in Wonkette.  

wonkette.com/590875/gov-paul-lepage-accidentally-turning-maine-into-feminist-paradise-haha-whoops

He makes Sarah Palin look like a MENSA member.

[LoveTrains]

I briefly mentioned this other day in some other random thread.
ETA: This thread pandce.proboards.com/thread/465266/which-11-american-nations-live after seeing the note. 

The man is truly insane. He recently refused to veto or sign legislation, so by default it became law. Now he wants to veto it after the fact and they had to get the state supreme court involved.

Although, I do blame the people of Maine for electing this chucklefuck a SECOND time. Granted it was a three way race...but still. He has alienated everyone - democrats and republicans.

[Velar Fricative]

I guess the Massachusetts hate is real up in non-Massachusetts New England...

[sweetpea508]

Totally not related but I share this dudes last name. He is crazy cakes. A total embarrassment

[sangria]

I'm snickering at northern Massachusetts. Taking it back to their roots! Lol

[charminglife]

Don't most residents live in southern Maine? I'd assume a higher percentage of overall state taxes come from that region, too. Why alienate these folks?

[cattledogkisses]

Aug 5, 2015 8:38:53 GMT -5 charminglife said:

Don't most residents live in southern Maine? I'd assume a higher percentage of overall state taxes come from that region, too. Why alienate these folks?

Because they're a bunch of dirty libruls. Lol. 

[LoveTrains]

Aug 4, 2015 21:46:37 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

I guess the Massachusetts hate is real up in non-Massachusetts New England...

They don't get called massholes for no reason....

[zoegirltx]

Aug 4, 2015 20:36:17 GMT -5 ESF said:

Aug 4, 2015 20:33:31 GMT -5 UMaineTeach said:

I

He makes Sarah Palin look like a MENSA member.

that's damn impressive..

[jaylea]

Aug 5, 2015 8:38:53 GMT -5 charminglife said:

Don't most residents live in southern Maine? I'd assume a higher percentage of overall state taxes come from that region, too. Why alienate these folks?

Yep. We keep the state afloat. But everyone hates us.

He is an embarrassment and as was stated earlier, he won because there was a bear baiting (hunting) question on the ballot at the same time that brought all the crazy right wingers out.

I wish he'd be impeached for threatening to withhold state funds from a school because he didn't like the guy they offered a job to...

[LoveTrains]

Aug 5, 2015 12:46:07 GMT -5 jaylea said:

Aug 5, 2015 8:38:53 GMT -5 charminglife said:

Don't most residents live in southern Maine? I'd assume a higher percentage of overall state taxes come from that region, too. Why alienate these folks?

Yep. We keep the state afloat. But everyone hates us.

He is an embarrassment and as was stated earlier, he won because there was a bear baiting (hunting) question on the ballot at the same time that brought all the crazy right wingers out.

I wish he'd be impeached for threatening to withhold state funds from a school because he didn't like the guy they offered a job to...

What's the status on the impeachment?

[tacosforlife]

Everything about this is amazing.

Sorry, Mainers, but thanks for the entertainment!

[UMaineTeach]

no impeachment update, but the MSJC ruled his veto scheme is a no-go and those 65 bills are law.

bangordailynews.com/2015/08/06/politics/maine-court-rules-against-lepage-in-veto-conflict/?ref=latest

AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage erred in his end-of-session veto gambit, and in so doing lost the ability to veto 65 bills that he opposed.

In an advisory opinion released by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Thursday, the justices said that the bills in question became law without the governor’s signature, and that the Legislature should not be required to consider his attempted vetoes.

The legislative session ended much as it had progressed — marred by political dispute between lawmakers and the governor, who smashed the previous record for number of bills vetoed in a single session. LePage had pledged to veto every single bill in protest of lawmakers’ refusal to bend to his political agenda.

On July 16, the last day of the session, LePage attempted to deliver vetoes of 65 bills the Legislature had enacted before it recessed on June 30. House Speaker Mark Eves, a Democrat, and Senate President Michael Thibodeau, a Republican, both rejected the vetoes as out of order.

The presiding officers of the Legislature, as well as the state’s attorney general, said the bills in question had already become law without the governor’s signature because LePage missed the 10-day deadline to veto them.

LePage, however, said the lawmakers were out of town when the deadline passed, a constitutional provision allowing him to hold the bills until their return was triggered.

The governor asked the Supreme Judicial Court to weigh in, to resolve whether the bills had become laws that he must enforce, or whether the Legislature must consider his vetoes.

In making its decision, the court relied in part on decades of precedent in which Maine governors had returned vetoes to the Legislature while it was in recess.

“History demonstrates that Maine governors, for nearly forty years, have routinely returned bills with their vetoes during temporary absences of the Legislature that came at the end of the session — after an “adjournment” but before the Legislature adjourned sine die,” the court wrote.

“These examples demonstrate that temporary adjournments of the Legislature near the end of a legislative session—whether until a date certain or until the call of the leadership, and whether beyond a ten-day period—have not prevented governors from returning bills with their objections to their Houses of origin within the constitutionally-required ten-day timeframe.”

The Legislature, with the exception of LePage’s allies in the House Republican caucus, had scoffed at the governor’s legal analysis, saying their recess did not prevent LePage from returning bills. They said the temporary adjournment order was designed specifically to accommodate the governor’s possible objections, by giving him time to consider the bills before they returned to Augusta to take up whatever vetoes may have come.

In their written briefs and oral arguments before the justices, Eves and Thibodeau’s attorney also noted communications sent by the senate secretary and house clerk to the LePage administration, indicating that they were empowered and available to accept vetoes while the Legislature was away.

The governor had argued that while he had not been physically prevented from delivering documents, a governor’s right to veto includes an inherent right to weigh the current political climate in the Legislature, LePage’s lawyers wrote in a brief filed with the court..

“Fundamentally, the veto is a political decision,” the attorneys, led by the governor’s chief legal counsel Cynthia Montgomery, wrote. “By adjourning indefinitely and dispersing its members, the Legislature frustrates the effective exercise of the veto because it is impossible to take the political pulse of the Legislature — there is no pulse.”

LePage on Thursday thanked the court for its ruling.

“This was not about winning or losing; it was about doing things right,” LePage said in a prepared statement. “We are fortunate to be able to seek legal opinions from the judicial branch, and we’re thankful the Justices came to a fast and fair resolution to this issue. We look forward to moving on and continuing to work for the Maine people.”

[cattledogkisses]

*

[ESF]

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

[tacosforlife]

Aug 6, 2015 14:23:41 GMT -5 ESF said:

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

My thoughts exactly.

Congrats, Mainers, on getting all sorts of legislation because your governor is a dumb dumb!

[UMaineTeach]

Aug 6, 2015 14:30:39 GMT -5 tacosforlife said:

Aug 6, 2015 14:23:41 GMT -5 ESF said:

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Congrats, Mainers, on getting all sorts of legislation because your governor is a dumb dumb!

These are the ones I think. Ones relating to common board topics bolded

legislature.maine.gov/ros/LOM/LOMDirectory.htm

An Act To:

Create Jobs in Aroostook and Washington Counties

Collect and Report Data on the Implementation of Proficiency-based Diplomas and Standards-based Student Learning

Clarify Wine Auction Licenses

Enhance Funding Opportunities for the Youth Conservation Corps

Make Possession of a Firearm with an Altered or Obscured Serial Number a Class C Crime

Establish a Magnet School for Marine Science, Technology, Transportation and Engineering

Attract Entrepreneurs to the State

Allow the Retrofit of Underground Oil Storage Tanks

Amend Maine's Sex Trafficking and Child Welfare Laws

Establish a State Educational Medicaid Officer

Implement Certain Recommendations of the Criminal Law Advisory Commission Relative to the Maine Criminal Code

Strengthen the Laws Prohibiting Stalking

Strengthen the Economic Stability of Qualified Maine Citizens by Expanding Coverage of Reproductive Health Care and Family Services

Reduce Commercial Shellfish License Fees for Persons under 18 Years of Age

Provide for Special Restrictions on Dissemination and Use of Criminal History Record Information for Class E Crimes Committed by an Adult under 21 Years of Age

Remove the 180-day Active Duty Requirement for the Property Tax Exemption for Vietnam Veterans

Establish the Maine Length of Service Award Program

Expand Access To Lifesaving Opioid Overdose Medication

Amend the State Election Laws

Encourage the Redevelopment of Upper Floors of Buildings in Downtowns and on Main Streets

Fund the Family Caregiver Support Program

Promote Food Self-sufficiency for the People of the State

Strengthen Laws Regarding the Manufacture and Sale of Methamphetamine and Other Drugs

Protect Taxpayers by Regulating Personal Services Contracts

Improve Tax Expenditure Transparency and Accountability

An Act To Strengthen the Right of a Victim of Sexual Assault or Domestic Violence To Take Necessary Leave from Employment and To Promote Employee Social Media Privacy

Allow Secondary Schools To Grant Certificates of Academic Proficiency

Increase Conservation District Funding

Provide Tax Credits for Adult Day Care and Respite and Hospice Care

Prohibit the Unauthorized Dissemination of Certain Private Images

Ensure That Schoolchildren with Dyslexia Receive the Assistance Needed

Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue To Support the Independence of Maine's Seniors

Amend the Laws Governing Pine Tree Development Zone Benefits for the Town of Berwick and the City of Sanford

Reverse Jail Consolidation

Improve Retirement Security for Retired Public Employees

Fund the Agreement with Certain Judicial Department Employees

Protect Older Adults from Financial Exploitation

Ensure That Collection Facilities Can Participate in the Architectural Paint Stewardship Program

Add Acetylfentanyl and Methylfentanyl Derivatives to the List of Schedule W Drugs

Correct Errors and Inconsistencies in the Laws of Maine

Regarding the Treatment of Forensic Patients

Clarify the Immigration Status of Noncitizens Eligible for General Assistance

Establish the Municipal Gigabit Broadband Network Access Fund

Allow a Former Spouse of a Member of the Maine Public Employees Retirement System To Begin Collecting Benefits When the Former Spouse Reaches the Member's Retirement Age

Clarify a Recently Enacted Law Designed To Expand the Number of Qualified Educators

Regarding the Mountain View Youth Development Center

Stabilize and Streamline the Department of Environmental Protection's Ground Water Oil Clean-up Fund and Maine Coastal and Inland Surface Oil Clean-up Fund

Protect Children and the Public from Vapor from Electronic Smoking Devices

Implement the Recommendations of the Right To Know Advisory Committee Concerning Receipt of a Request for Public Records

Amend the Polygraph Examiners Act

Prevent the Shackling of Pregnant Prisoners and Pregnant Juveniles

Amend the Maine Spruce Budworm Management Laws

Enhance the Address Confidentiality Program Regarding Property Records

Strengthen Penalties for Abuse of General Assistance

Protect Children in School Facilities by Requiring Boiler Inspections

Regarding Limitations on Certain Storm Water Fees

Improve Maine's Involuntary Commitment Processes

Reduce the Penalties for Certain Drug Offenses

Regulate Domestic Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Use

Extend the Funding Period for Landfill Closure Costs

Correct and Clarify Maine's Fish and Wildlife Laws

Amend the Tax Laws

Require the Documentation of the Use of Seclusion and Restraint at Mental Health Institutions in the State

Amend Environmental Permitting Standards





He did manage to approve...
An Act To Authorize the Carrying of Concealed Handguns without a Permit