Tag Archives: state budget

House GOP shuts down government to please their Dear Leader LePage

The State House is engulfed in tumult as the failure to pass a budget has resulted in a state shutdown for the first time since 1991. Sixty House Republicans have taken government hostage through a series of last-minute and erratic demands, and as the drama unfolds it’s getting harder and harder to understand their motivation […]

Maine needs leadership, not acrimony, to pass a budget

If this latest budget/shutdown fiasco teaches us anything, it’s that Maine’s way of running state government is broken. And this year’s budget situation, though closer to the precipice of shutdown than normal, is not really much different than in previous years since Gov. Paul LePage took office. LePage’s budget approach disregards the key component of […]

House Republicans join LePage in push for shutdown

Imagine this for a moment — liberal activists push a “tax the rich to fund education” referendum and win narrowly, making Maine’s top tax rate the highest in the nation. But a united Republican Party, with the state’s economy and best interests in mind, rolls back the tax increase completely and still finds a way […]