Maine
updated
4:09 a.m.
In an email to supporters today, Green gubernatorial candidate Lynne Williams announced she will quit the race for governor after failing to gather the required 2,000 signatures from registered Green-Independent Party members to place her name on the ballot. Williams says that she and her campaign volunteers will now focus instead on helping Green candidates attempt to win seats in the state le...
Maine Politics - Mon 11:59 a.m.
Republican Peter Mills today became the first gubernatorial candidate to claim to have met the requirements to run a publicly financed campaign under Maine's clean election system. In a recent Sun Journal article , Mills said the main hurdle to qualifying as a clean elections candidate was not raising $40,000 in $100 seed money contributions, but collecting the 3,250 $5 contributions now requi...
Maine Politics - Wed 11:08 a.m. - 9 clicks 
Quote of the day: "I hate small business, I absolutely hate them, I hate all business, I want to see them completely fail and drive them into the ground." -Rep. Steven Butterfield, sarcastically defending his support for paid sick days legislation. ...
Maine Politics - Wed 7:48 a.m.
As we all know, Sen. Collins professes to want the health care discussion to focus more on lowering costs. Here's the President: ...
Collins Watch - Tue 11:47 a.m. - 5 clicks
Former President Bill Clinton today endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Libby Mitchell. In an email to her supporters, he notes her tenure as chair of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, a position she was appointed to by his administration. Full release and email after the jump. read more ...
Maine Politics - Tue 8:06 a.m.
Remember when the national arm of the League of Conservation Voters shelved its own standards and, in a move that betrayed its membership, endorsed Sen. Collins? Even though she had a far weaker record on environmental issues than her opponent? Even though local Maine LCV officials were lining up against her ? And even though the organization was unable to articulate why its own environmen...
Collins Watch - Mar 8 - 3 clicks
BDN : All members of Congress should be concerned that the body routinely passes measures that aren't paid for. But, it seems odd to hold up a $10 billion bill that would help working-class families and the elderly, but not take a similar stand against measures that have added trillions of dollars to the deficit. Sen. Bunning voted for the tax cuts proposed by President George W. Bush and for th...
Collins Watch - Mar 4
If I'm reading this right, Sen. Collins was the only Republican to vote to keep a $100+ billion unemployment assistance-themed bill on track yesterday. I'm all for it. But it does raise the question: Since the junior senator votes for all the spending and all the tax cuts, wouldn't it make sense for someone to ask her how she proposes to balance the budget? ...
Collins Watch - Mar 4 - 3 clicks
Sen. Collins will gladly cross the aisle to hand out goodies . But she consistently rails against unpleasant things like service cuts and allowing tax cuts to expire. She likes to have it both ways. And that's why they call her a moderate. ...
Collins Watch - Mar 3
Yesterday, Sen. Collins was blaming Democrats for Sen. Jim Bunning's (R-KY) crusade against unemployment benefits, health benefits and highway programs. Today she went to the floor to make it clear that she disapproves of his filibuster. Tomorrow, who knows. ...
Collins Watch - Mar 2 - 2 clicks
She sure is a loyal soldier : Hundreds of jobless Mainers woke up today with the looming threat of losing their unemployment benefits. Benefits expired this weekend, and a measure in Congress to extend them for another month is being held up by one senator, Jim Bunning, a Kentucky Republican. [...] But Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, says both parties share the blame for the gridlock. ...
Collins Watch - Mar 1 - 2 clicks
Obviously, that's not the whole story. But sending soldiers off to fight multiple tours in a grueling, misconceived and abysmally planned war-- without sufficient resources --can't help. ...
Collins Watch - Mar 1
Edward Luce in The Financial Times : In order to win over Susan Collins, a Republican senator from Maine, the Democrats removed $83bn of short-term spending from the [stimulus] bill at the cost of 400,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics. ...
Collins Watch - Feb 27 - 2 clicks
Also in the latest FEC filing from Dirigo PAC, Sen. Collins' political action committee, is news of donations to the senate campaigns of ousted executive Carly Fiorina and Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL). The support for Crist, in particular, puts the junior senator at odds with conservative activists. ...
Collins Watch - Feb 26 - 4 clicks
The top contributor to Sen. Collins' political action committee, Dirigo PAC, for the 2009-10 cycle? Blue Cross/Blue Shield . ...
Collins Watch - Feb 25 - 3 clicks
The entire "jobs" bill that Sen. Collins has decided not to try to block clocks in at less than two percent of the stimulus bill. It's $15 billion cost is also a mere fraction of what Collins and allies stripped from the Recovery Act, at a time when every additional dollar of stimulus was sorely needed. So let's be frank: Her support is little more than a token gesture. This isn't a centr...
Collins Watch - Feb 22 - 2 clicks
Senators Snowe and Collins joined fellow Republican Senators Kit Bond, George Voinovich and newly elected Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown in breaking with their party to vote down a filibuster. ...
Maine Politics - Feb 22
The fact that so many wingnuts hate Sen. Collins with such passion demonstrates that they're focused much more on rhetoric than substance. With the exception of the stimulus bill--which she worked hard to water down--the junior senator has voted with the Republicans on every single major piece of legislation over the last 9 years. ...
Collins Watch - Feb 20 - 3 clicks
Sen. Collins has spent half a year , give or take, carrying water for the GOP and lying about health care. But now she says she's back to being a bipartisan moderate pragmatist. Anyone who thinks she's interested in advancing serious reform rather than killing it is either incredibly--almost willfully--gullible or just hasn't been paying attention. ...
Collins Watch - Feb 19 - 4 clicks
Thomas Cushing Munjoy notices something the deferential, power-coddling Maine media aren't in a hurry to report. I do wonder where he got that picture. ...
Collins Watch - Feb 18 - 4 clicks
Yesterday : "It's a bad sign," Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine told me about Bayh's retirement. "The loss of someone like Evan speaks volumes about people's frustrations with the Senate and our failure to work in a bipartisan fashion." Two weeks ago : "The Obama administration appears to have a blind spot when it comes to the War on Terrorism. “And, because of that blindness, this a...
Collins Watch - Feb 17 - 4 clicks
Rush Limbaugh has called out MOOMilk , the Maine-based organic milk producer, for its evil, socialist philosophy. ...
Maine Politics - Feb 13
Thrasybulus at As Maine Goes : Collins is 100% as conservative as she can be AND win re-election in the dystopia that is Maine. Cut some slack. ...
Collins Watch - Feb 12 - 8 clicks
The Market Decisions poll released today has 46% of Mainers sampled opposing the "Obama/Congressional health reform proposal" while 39% support it. Setting aside for the moment the fact that there isn't a specific proposal to be for or against, the interesting part of this poll is the reason why it seems that Mainers have turned against the kind of reform that may now be considered by Congr...
Maine Politics - Feb 11 - 3 clicks
Just a week ago, Sen. Collins had a national platform and was on the attack . This morning, she dialed in to a local talk radio show to--in the show's own words--" defend her criticism " of President Obama. Things haven't exactly gone according to plan. Not surprisingly, Collins spends much of the interview on the defensive, testily delivering the talking points she's been using since the argum...
Collins Watch - Feb 11 - 3 clicks
A bit more unflattering exposure for Sen. Collins. Start at 0:55 and stick around for the great Bush clip: Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy ...
Collins Watch - Feb 10 - 2 clicks
It's not just BDN . All of a sudden, even PPH has the audacity to allow criticism of Sen. Collins in its pages. Greg Kesich unloads on the junior senator today. Remember: Since Richard Connor's early flirtation with Collins skepticism, the Portland daily (like BDN) has handled her as a kind of sainted celebrity , keeping its pages totally free of sentiments critical of Collins. So what to...
Collins Watch - Feb 10 - 3 clicks
Who would have thought that a former state senator would have the temerity to call out Saint Susan's noxious rhetoric about the Obama administration? Or that BDN would have the temerity to publish his criticism? A year ago in an OpEd published here, I praised Sen. Susan Collins for the independence she demonstrated in crafting and voting for the Obama recovery act... Sadly, last week Sen. Col...
Collins Watch - Feb 10
The New York Times editorial page : An election is coming, so the Republicans are trying to scare Americans by making it appear as if the Democrats don't care about catching or punishing terrorists. [...] Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, suggested--without any evidence--that vital intelligence was lost by [having the FBI arrest and interrogate Abdulmutallab]. [...] The Republican ...
Collins Watch - Feb 10
Sen. Collins, you'll remember, voted in favor of policies generating trillions of dollars of debt during the Bush administration. But now, things are different : Collins, meanwhile, said she would be open to exploring a bipartisan jobs bill that focuses on creating private-sector jobs without adding to the federal deficit. It's just like her response to the Christmas Day bombing: One standar...
Collins Watch - Feb 10
If you haven't yet read Chris Busby's feature on the state of Maine's Green Party in last month's Bollard, you should. ...
Maine Politics - Feb 9 - 2 clicks
A.J. Higgins has just posted what he says is his first column in three years at the Capitol Connection Facebook page . Higgins takes a look at the well-funded leadership PACs run by House and Senate leadership candidates, most of whom are running for their own seats as clean elections candidates. There's also this great tidbit: "So when are you guys going to start covering the governor’...
Maine Politics - Feb 5
...if it turns out to be true ? Mere days from assuming the presidency and closing the door on eight years of Bill Clinton, president-elect George W. Bush assured the nation in a televised address Tuesday that "our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is finally over." read more ...
Downeast Politics - Nov 17 - 2 clicks
Obama's Executive Orders are being posted over at Whitehouse.gov . So far, we have the following: Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel Every appointee ... shall sign ... the following pledge: read more ...
Downeast Politics - Nov 17
Part of the stimulus act provided for a website to allow people to track where the money goes. That site, Recovery.gov , shows the various states that have their own versions. Turns out that Maine is one of them . :-) There are already posts from Susan Gendron about how the money will be used for school projects, and a report about the apparent low bidder on a I-295 construction project. This s...
Downeast Politics - Nov 17
In J. R. R. Tolkien's The Two Towers , Faramir refused to take the One Ring, even to save his city - because it ultimately would not do so. read more ...
Downeast Politics - Nov 17
I was curious as to what the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 actually said, so I went and looked it up on Thomas.loc.gov , where the Library of Congress posts legislative information from Congress. The final version is the one that was "Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate". read more ...
Downeast Politics - Nov 17
I’m sorry, but this is laugh out loud funny. The right wingers (as their party dies as we approach the finish line) are now going after Barack Obama’s letter he wrote to Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke. Apparently, the right wingers are blaming Barack for not doing enough. Some of the wingers, like this one, [...] ...
White Noise Insanity - Nov 17
(picture of MCS) The late great republican Us Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine once said of the republican party back in the 1950’s: “Smears are not only to be expected but fought. Honor is to be earned, not bought.” and… “I don’t want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny [...] ...
White Noise Insanity - Nov 17
Someone over on FDL just posted a link to this in the comments. I though it was hysterical (and frightening of course!) and I hope Tom Ryan wins his race this Tuesday: Posted in Election 2008, Election Fraud, Politics, Voting ...
White Noise Insanity - Nov 17
Your post music… Remember the post I did about current republican Oxford County Probate Judge Dana Hanley and how the documents he’s filled out over time show him not living in Oxford County, but rather, it appears he actually lives in Cumberland County in the town of Windham? Well, the drama is gettin’ good. Maybe he [...] ...
White Noise Insanity - Nov 17
This is just a bunch of bullshit. If the Bradley Effect was really in play, then in my very white state of Maine on Caucus Day in February of this year, Hillary Clinton would have won over Barack Obama! But that didn’t happen. Nope. Forty five thousand mainly white Democrats came out to vote for [...] ...
White Noise Insanity - Nov 17 - 2 clicks
Ooopsie dooooo. It appears John McCain is MORE connected to Bill Ayers and Rashid Khalidi (a PLO sympathizer) than Barack Obama is. Seems Johnny gave Mr. Khalidi close to $500,000 in the last ten years when Johnny was in charge of the International Republican Institute. Keith Olbermann explains (hat tip to Rutherford Lawson for posting [...] ...
White Noise Insanity - Nov 17
I love it. Apparently the people of Erie, PA despise the Phillies. Had Sarah Palin done her homework like an exceptional executive leader would have or had surrounded herself with people who could look past her looks, she would have known this prior to opening her lipstick coated mouth. Huh. I guess she has surrounded [...] ...
White Noise Insanity - Nov 17
HYSTERICAL. Enjoy! (hat tip to Foothillsmike of FDL for posting this video today) Posted in Election 2008, Integrity, John McCain, Sarah Palin ...
White Noise Insanity - Nov 17
The right wing robots keep spewing their crap! Stop them now!!!! Before it’s too late!!!! (hat tip to Jane Hamsher of FDL for the video) Posted in Barack Obama, Election 2008, Joe Biden, Obama/Biden '08, Politics ...
White Noise Insanity - Nov 17
La loi n° 55-385 du 3 janvier 1955 modifiée par la loi n° 551080 du 7 août 1955 et l'ordonnance n° 80-372 du 15 avril 1960 was put into effect yesterday evening. For those to young to recall, this is......
Wampum - Nov 17
I lived for most of three years in the Commune of Ixelles / Elsene. At least one Sunday a month I'd go to Gare Central / Centraalstation and catch a train one stop south to Gare du Midi / Zuidstation,......
Wampum - Nov 17
Today's Cartoon is from Mike Lester of the Rome (Ga.) News Tribune.......
Wampum - Nov 17
Mandatory reading. I learned something from it. Click on her book's gif on the right sidebar.......
Wampum - Nov 17
Riots in France by Adrien Wing, November 3, in blackprof.com. Thoughtful and under two pages. The problem with France by Steve Gilliard, November 6th, in stevegilliard.blogspot.com, both a piece from the Euro version of Boonews and some background pieces (and......
Wampum - Nov 17
This shows the conflict in its social dimension. The cités (aka "HLM", trans. "the projects") are largely abandoned by the French state, anonymous and experienced as "other", not as French neighborhoods, and the CRS/GM/police, also anonymous and experienced as "other",......
Wampum - Nov 17
It took 18 days to collapse (and invert) the Iraq Army defensive perimeter, from the initial movement order to the final investment of central Baghdad. One plan, which I will characterize as "Stay the Course", broadly retains US forces as......
Wampum - Nov 17
As Duncan pointed out late last night (pointing to this TPMCafe post), Corzine won in New Jersey because he actually approached women as key voters, not as a special interest group. In particular, he framed his economic policies in terms......
Wampum - Nov 17
It is now clear that the administration drove us to war in Iraq based on a group of false claims. That was a huge mistake. We have paid for that mistake with thousand lives, more than ten thousand injuries, and......
Wampum - Nov 17
Santorum Exposed, by way of Atrios, reminds us that Rick Santorum is a hypocrite with regard to statutory limits on pain and suffering awards in personal injury actions. They link to this ABC News piece: In recent years many......
Wampum - Nov 17
We (well, I, as Eric is on a plane to Pittsburgh at the moment) sit here (in North Carolina) waiting for the polls to close on Election Day in our home state of Maine (yes, we voted absentee.) While there......
Wampum - Nov 17 - 3 clicks
Some years ago, among certain people, it was considered witty to remark that a conservative was a liberal who had been mugged. Google returns 138,000 hits for conservative + liberal + mugged. Lets turn the adage around and ask a......
Wampum - Nov 17
Three years back, a small, insignificant event took place in the blogosphere. The first post on Wampum.......
Wampum - Nov 17
Autism is a pervasive disorder. The National Institute of Mental Health writes: Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), also known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDDs), cause severe and pervasive impairment in thinking, feeling, language, and the ability to relate to others. At......
Wampum - Nov 17
That's the word early this evening from Toulouse where a group of 30+ civilians and an undisclosed number of police were engaged in an exchange of gas grenades and diverse projectiles. For the first time the police are being engaged......
Wampum - Nov 17
