Better Management for Maine Town Hall: Springvale
Watch the video highlights here
The tour to bring competent management to Augusta made a stop in Springvale last week where the crowd was early and ready to go. It was another lively discussion about what Mainers expect from their next Governor.
I sensed similar frustrations, as in other parts of our state, about jobs, high taxes, our punitive business climate, and health care costs. I asked what they thought the next Governor could do to improve Maine’s economy and the consensus answer was to reduce the cost and complexity of doing business here. The good news is that streamlining regulations, enforcing rules consistently, and having a pro-job growth attitude don’t cost us anything – and we can make those reforms immediately.
I also received constructive feedback from one attendee who said that he was skeptical about those who have business experience promising to run government more effectively. It is a legitimate concern.
First, we know what doesn’t work: political experience. For decades, politicians have been mismanaging our state finances because they either don’t know how or don’t have the courage to make the difficult decisions to preserve the long-term prosperity of our state.
Second, it’s not just enough to say you have private-sector experience. Our state government needs the right kind of comprehensive private sector experience, managing large enterprises as well as handling the day-to-day decisions made by entrepreneurs and small businesspeople.
I spent the first part of my professional life managing a large company that grew from $35 million in assets to more than $5 billion during my time there. The three of us that ran the company oversaw 80 employees and safely invested more money than our state spends in a year.
More recently, I have been managing a housing project in the Mid-Coast area. I fill out the paper work, pay the taxes, and deal directly with state regulatory agencies. I’ve invested my own capital in the project, hired hundreds of Mainers to do the work, and put millions of dollars into Maine’s economy.
This is the kind of real world experience Maine’s next Governor needs to address our fiscal, economic, and job-related problems. Political experience is what has gotten us into this mess. We need someone who will bring a lifetime of professional accountability and competent management to Augusta.
Day One
On day one, Maine’s next Governor will face a projected $1 Billion budget hole. There’s no silver bullet to fix it. No state program or initiative to address it. No tax credit or investment in economic development that will solve it. Borrowing more, spending more, and shifting money around only makes the problem worse.
The critical nature of Maine’s addiction to spending, and the resulting deficits, has pushed all other priorities to the back burner. Specifically, the ability to teach our kids, promote healthy lives, and repair our infrastructure have all taken considerable hits due to the consistent mismanagement of state finances.
I am deeply concerned that if our next Governor does not put the full weight of his or her administration behind solving the root causes of our recurring budget crisis first, Maine will continue to spiral further into debt and fall further behind.
Our elected leaders can no longer ignore the fact that our state government is broken. We must tell the people the truth.
Spending two- to three-hundred million dollars a year on economic development has done nothing to create jobs in Maine. Borrowing millions more from our children hasn’t stopped the exodus of businesses fleeing to more competitive states. Shifting the way we tax from one method to another doesn’t lower the cost of living in Maine for families or companies.
I am proposing something very different – a new approach to state finances that starts with asking fundamental questions about what we should provide and what we can afford. I will make the difficult, but critically necessary decisions to reform spending, find savings, and use taxpayer money wisely.
I have spent my entire professional life in the private sector doing just that.
Maine’s next Governor must have the courage and the experience to tackle our most pressing economic challenges, and he or she must be ready to do so on day one.
Better Management for Maine Town Hall: Dover-Foxcroft
Our second stop on the Better Management for Maine Tour took us to Dover-Foxcroft. In the basement of the Thompson Free Library, I heard a great deal about people’s frustrations with our state government.
One former state legislator set the tone early by announcing, “Leave businesses alone.” That sentiment was consistently heard throughout the night. Our businesses are treated like the enemy by our state government. They are taxed and regulated out of the state, and our young people lack career opportunities as a result.
Deep down people are very concerned about spending. One voter said he was certain that we take in enough revenue to fund priorities, but state government always wants to live beyond its means. We need someone in the Blaine House who understands that we can no longer survive like that.
We need to competently manage our budget. That means addressing spending in a fundamental way, so we only spend what we take in. It’s going to be tough, but an experienced manager from the private sector who’s successfully dealt with these real world economic, fiscal, and job-related problems can fix it. That’s my skill set. That’s the kind of experience no one else in this race can claim.
There was also a discussion on Second Amendment rights, energy, paying for social services, the new federal health care bill, immigration, how I plan to work with the Legislature as Governor. We packed in a ton of issues into a full 90 minutes!
I hope to do the same on Friday and Saturday as our Town Hall Tour heads to Springvale/Sanford on Friday and Bath on Saturday. It’s critical our next governor understand the issues that are important to you, so I hope you’ll come out to the event in your area.
Better Management for Maine Town Hall: Skowhegan
Watch the video highlights here
Tonight we began our series of town halls to bring Better Management to Maine. The first event kicked off in the central part of our state at the Skowhegan Community Center.
As I travel the state hosting these town halls, my aim is to hear directly from Mainers about the concern they have with our state government. I feel strongly our elected officials aren’t listening to our citizens and no one is being held accountable in Augusta. I heard a similar sentiment on Monday night.
We discussed a number of issues, mostly having to do with Maine’s economy. Jobs are, of course, a primary concern. Government spending, particularly on social services, always tops the list. And many in Skowhegan are also worried about a loss of Maine’s heritage and sense of community.
I left the event with a sense that Mainers know we are at the precipice and are looking into the abyss. I made the case that now more than ever our next Governor must be a competent manager with successful financial experience if we are going to right this ship.
This was the first of sixteen similar town halls I’m hosting around the state. See the full schedule here. I hope you can attend the one in your area and look forward to hearing your thoughts on how to make Maine a better place to live and work.
Successful Management Experience
Maine’s next Governor must be ready to tackle our enormous economic and fiscal challenges. On day one, he or she will face a projected $1 billion budget deficit, billions more in unfunded liabilities taxpayers are constitutionally required to pay, and excessive spending that drives one of the highest tax burdens in the country.
The next Governor will also have the responsibility to improve Maine’s job prospects. This will be a major challenge. Though our unemployment is below the national average and in the middle of the pack for New England, decades of fiscal mismanagement by our state government makes the potential for significant job growth unlikely in the next few years without the right structural reforms.
Maine’s economic hardships are due to a failure of leadership, a failure to follow sound fiscal policy, and a failure to competently manage state finances. Our elected leaders wrongly believe they can spend, tax, and borrow our way to prosperity. They have taken on a jaw-dropping amount of debt that risks the future of our state.
Maine can no longer afford that kind of failure.
Solutions to Maine’s economic and job-related problems will only come from someone with successful financial experience in the private sector. Mainers deserve a Governor who will earn their trust to properly manage hard earned tax dollars.
Maine’s next Governor must not continue our state government’s fiscal mismanagement by focusing narrowly on symptoms of our poor economy. For example, to improve Maine’s job prospects, many of the other gubernatorial candidates propose tax credits for favored industries, borrowing more, and even increasing spending in certain areas.
Even those that propose tax cuts, do so with no serious discussion of fundamentally reforming excessive spending on services Maine provides or making the tough decisions about what we can afford.
Continuing to spend more than what we take in is gross fiscal mismanagement that will, in fact, hurt Maine’s job prospects, not help.
As a business manager with extensive experience in finance and economics, I am proposing something different. I have been travelling the state non-stop for more than a year telling Mainers the truth about how to improve our economy, create jobs, and make Maine a more hospitable place to do business.
It all starts with having the right person in the Blaine House who has successful experience in the private sector managing businesses, balancing budgets, and creating jobs.
At town halls, meet & greets, debates, fairs, and forums, I have been making the case for bringing competent management to Augusta. I hope you will join our team, and continue to help us get the word out.
Earning Back Taxpayers’ Trust
A poll released on Tax Day last week reveals unsurprisingly that 3 out of 4 Americans believe their tax dollars are being wasted. Half believe that the tax system is unfair.
Taxpayers are frustrated by the poor management of our resources and the feeling that no one is being held accountable for it.
In the private sector, executives who ruin their companies shouldn’t walk away with millions and leave investors holding the bag. Companies do fail, but the ones who caused the failure shouldn’t profit from it.
Similarly, in the public sector, our elected officials shouldn’t be able to bring our state economy to the brink of insolvency with overspending, high taxes, and mounting debt, then expect a promotion.
Reform is only going to come from someone who has successful experience in the private sector, properly managing budgets, avoiding debt, and has the specific qualifications to fix our economic, fiscal and job-related problems.
Our next Governor will not only have the responsibility to address Maine’s fundamental economic challenges, but an obligation to properly manage taxpayers’ money and earn back their trust.
We can’t leave Maine’s future in the hands of those who have proven they can’t or won’t make the right decisions.
Weekly Campaign Update: 53 Days
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With just 53 days left until the primary, your help is going to be critical to our success.
We are reaching out to voters all across the state through our TV ads, interviews, phone bank, Meet & Greets, town halls, and walking door-to-door. If you haven’t yet joined our campaign to bring competent management to Augusta, now is the time to contribute!
This week, I held events in Ogunquit, Falmouth, and Georgetown. I had several media appearance, including an interview with Ray & Ted on WLOB to discuss my specific qualifications to deal with Maine’s fiscal, economic, and job-related problems.
Next week, I have events in York, Brunswick, and Winslow, and I’ll be on the George Hale & Ric Tyler Morning Show on Bangor’s WVOM at 7:00 am on Wednesday. I hope you can tune in or make it to these events.
The next reporting period ends on April 20th - next Tuesday - and we need to show as much grassroots and financial support as possible!
Every $25, $50, or $250 contribution puts us that much closer to bringing competent management back to Augusta. There are a lot of ways to help, and it starts as soon as you contact us!
Upcoming Events:
Monday, April 19
York County Republican Committee Meeting
Alfred Town Office
16 Saco Rd., Alfred
6:00 PM
Wednesday, April 21
Meet & Greet hosted by Stan & Celeste LaPointe
The Pointe Afta,
252 China Road, Winslow
5:30 PM
Thursday, April 22
Breakfast Meet & Greet hosted by Alisa Coffin
The Great Impasta
42 Maine Street, Brunswick
7:00 AM
Saturday, April 24
Meet & Greet hosted by John & Sherrye Trafton
Sable Oak Equestrian Center
38 Bridge Rd., Brunswick
12:00 noon
Hope you’re able to attend these events!
More Than Just a Tax Pledge
Today, hundreds of thousands of Maine families and businesses will send their hard earned money to the federal and state government with an heightened sense of frustration.
Mainers are tired of the politicians who promise and pledge to lower taxes, but have no experience successfully dealing with real-world fiscal, economic, and job-related issues.
They know how to make pledges, but have never done what it takes to honor them.
Mainers deserve better.
Mainers deserve a strong leader with private sector experience who knows first-hand how expensive it is to live and work in Maine.
They deserve a Governor who has been in the real world, successfully starting, managing and running businesses and keeping costs down.
As Governor, I will lead the effort to, spend only what we take in, reduce taxes in a meaningful way for all families and businesses, and grow our private sector to bring jobs back to Maine.
It’s going to take someone with courage, who has experience handling these fiscal, economic, and job-related issues.
We can no longer depend on career politicians to reduce taxes when so often they pledge one thing and do another.
Please join me in the effort to bring real tax relief to families and businesses. Let’s take back Maine.