Paul LePage in As Maine Went, by Mike Tipping
On Corporations:
AdWatch 2010: only candidate from both business & government
In 2010, Paul LePage, the mayor of Waterville and general manager of Marden's Surplus and Salvage, a chain of fourteen discount retail stores, logged on to the Internet forum hosted at AsMaineGoes.com. Using the pseudonym "For The People," he composed
a series of posts about the republican primary race for Maine governor in which he was a candidate. In these posts he took advantage of the forums anonymity policies to describe his qualifications in the third person.[LePage] "beat the elite vote for
the person who truly wants to represent the Maine people, not the entrenched special interests," wrote LePage in one such post. "Vote LePage for governor, he has a proven track record in government, business, many non profit organizations and the life
experience to make a difference for Maine people. Many candidates have business or government experience but lack both.'
Before the year was over, LePage would be proven right. he and his grassroots reporters would "beat the elite."
Source: 2010 AdWatch in "As Maine Went," by Mike Tipping, p. 25
Jul 14, 2014
On Corporations:
OpEd: Opposed to the basic functions of government
LePage's governorship--especially the interplay between his grassroots base, the corporate interests that have backed his rise and helped to dictate his policies, and his own often
combative personality--offers important insights into the kind of government that may result wherever Tea Party-backed individuals are elected.
It provides a case study of what happens when politicians who are radically opposed even to some of the most basic functions of government come to power and what might happen nationally if
their movement gains more influence or if a Tea Party candidate is elected president.
Source: As Maine Went, by Mike Tipping, p. 9-10
Jul 14, 2014
On Corporations:
Maine is "open for business" by "cutting red tape"
LePage isn't shy about his corporate deference, calling it "cutting red tape" or being "open for business." The result is an administration deeply influenced by corporate lobbyists, many playing a role directly in government, as well as national
corporate groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council. While this might seem at odds with LePage's grassroots, Tea Party pedigree, it's actually one more way in which his career has mirrored the national movement. LePage's administration, much
like the National Tea Party, has been influenced and in many ways subsumed by the interests of the corporations and wealthy donors that provide both funding and the ideological infrastructure on which they had both relied.These corporate influencers
were both noticeable from the first days of LePage's transition into office and are clearly seen in many of his policies, particularly his attempts to roll back environmental protections, break Maine's labor unions, and deregulate health insurance.
Source: As Maine Went, by Mike Tipping, p. 61-62
Jul 14, 2014
On Education:
Supports charter schools and virtual schools
LePage has been pushing to allow more public money to flow out of Maine's public school system and into private charter and virtual schools. Charter school legislation backed by
LePage and passed in 2011 allows public funds to be sent on educating students through online classes by virtual academies.The LePage's administration's push for virtual schools is one of the most documented aspects of his time in office.
LePage's ties to virtual education companies began during his campaign when k12 education, the nation's largest online education program, gave
$19,000 to the Republican Governor's Association's Maine PAC (political action nominee), money that was spent helping LePage win the general election.
Source: As Maine Went, by Mike Tipping, p. 84
Jul 14, 2014
On Environment:
Outsourced regulatory decisions to make the less harmful
As a candidate, LePage stuck mostly to speaking in general terms about making government more business friendly and getting rid of un-specified harmful regulations. Once he became governor, however,
he addressed his lack of specificity by outsourcing the work of selecting which environmental regulations should be targeted to a group of people who had plenty of ideas: corporate lobbyists.
Source: As Maine Went, by Mike Tipping, p. 70
Jul 14, 2014
On Government Reform:
2010: Voluntarily limited donors to $9,500, with disclosure
Paul LePage ran on a platform of transparency in government. "Every Maine citizen has a right to know what government is up to," read his campaign website. "He will fight for stronger laws to protect and expand
Maine citizens' right to access information from state and local government. When Paul is governor, open government will be a reality, not a talking point.'Shortly after he won the general election,
LePage reiterated those guarantees and announced that he was launching the most transparent administration in Maine history.
He got off on the right foot. Unlike previous Maine governors, LePage placed a limit of
$9,500 on individual contributions given to his transition organization and disclosed the names of people and businesses that gave to the fund (although not the amounts they gave).
Source: As Maine Went, by Mike Tipping, p. 63
Jul 14, 2014
On Government Reform:
2013: no government transparency; no campaign disclosure
LePage's shift away from transparency was obvious in his response to some of his new administration's first Freedom of Access requests by journalists and the Conservation Law Foundation. Requests to view documents related to the administrations
formulation of environmental policies were stymied by LePage's insistence that he wouldn't turn over documents from the transition period.In 2013, LePage completely and finally turned his back on the principles espoused in his initial call for
transparency, vetoing two bills that would have required the disclosure of donations to future gubernatorial transitions. In his veto message for one of these bills, LePage said that instituting such a requirement would be an affront to
the integrity of new governors and would disrespect the voting public. "When Maine voters speak at the ballot box, their newly elected officials should be trusted to do the right thing," wrote LePage.
Source: As Maine Went, by Mike Tipping, p. 65-6
Jul 14, 2014
On Government Reform:
Vetoed increased penalties on campaign finance disclosure
In 2013, LePage vetoed a bill, officially passed without opposition in the Maine House Senate, that would have increased the penalties for candidates and future PAC's that miss deadlines for reporting expenditures close to an election. This proposed
election [disclosure rule] was meant to discourage the late reporting of large political expenditures, such as in 2010, when the Republican State Leadership committee made a last minute expenditure of $160,000 in five key Maine senate races, failed to
report their spending at the time, and faced only a small [fine, which the new bill would have increased].In his veto message, LePage said that he opposed strengthening the regulations because people might make unsupported claims about ethics
violations in order to tarnish political opponents, a nonsensical argument that the Bangor Daily News likened to "blaming the referee, who's trying to ensure that a game is being played fairly, for the actions of players who commit fouls."
Source: As Maine Went, by Mike Tipping, p. 66
Jul 14, 2014
On Health Care:
ObamaCare will make IRS into Gestapo enforcers
LePage has made his distaste for the Affordable Care Act clear from the beginning of his campaign, calling it unconstitutional. When the Supreme Court upheld its legality, LePage responded on July 8, 2012: LePage vowed that he would do everything he
could to stymie the law's implementation, calling the IRS "the new Gestapo" for the agency's role in helping to implement portions of the law.Unlike many of LePage's colorful or controversial comments, which had been made "off the cuff" or in front
of small audiences, this reference to the Nazi's secret police was an official, vetted communication. LePage insisted these remarks be inserted into his prepared remarks.
After calls for him to disavow the comment, the governor issued a statement
lamenting that "the word Gestapo has clouded my message." Speaking later, however, LePage doubled down on the sentiment of his statement, acknowledging that the Gestapo had "killed a lot of people" but insisted that the IRS was "headed in that direction.
Source: As Maine Went, by Mike Tipping, p.109
Jul 14, 2014
On Jobs:
Able-bodied Maine residents are refusing to work
[LePage] has attacked the NAACP with "special interest." He has joked that the worst lax policies on toxic chemicals in consumer products would do is to grow little beards. He accused a state senator who opposed his policies of "giving it to the people
without Vaseline." He has claimed, completely without evidence, that an active wind turbine was fake and run by a little electric motor, and that 47% of able bodied Maine residents are refusing to work.
While these and other outbursts may have brought national ridicule and hurt to his standing with moderate voters, they have done little to erode his overall level of support and may actually have helped him among his base of Republican and conservative
residents. The negative attention his antics have attracted has allowed him to paint himself as a victim of biased media. Many of his Tea Party supporters see his controversies as sure signs that he must be shaking things up in Augusta.
Source: As Maine Went, by Mike Tipping, p. 8
Jul 14, 2014
On Principles & Values:
Tea Party dominance over New England Republicanism
Maine offers a unique case study of the Tea Party movements. In 2010 the state's moderate to progressive voters split their votes between the Democratic nominee and her chief independent competitor in a three way general election.
This allowed the Republican nominee Paul LePage to win election with just 38% of the popular vote, largely with Tea Party support. LePage is without question the most conservative and controversial governor in modern Maine history.
His rise signaled the end of a hundred years of New England style Republicanism in the state. In its place, LePage created a new Maine conservative coalition, one based on hard right economic and social views and primed for political combat rather than
legislative compromise.The 2010 election also installed Republican majorities in both houses of the Maine legislature for the first time in decades, many of the new lawmakers having likewise been elected with Tea Party support.
Source: As Maine Went, by Mike Tipping, p. 7
Jul 14, 2014
On Principles & Values:
First language is French; grew up in Little Canada region
Some of LePage's most thorough public recollections about his childhood came on the occasion of his first visit back to his hometown of Lewiston after becoming governor."Merci beaucoup, c'est avec plaisir de retourner a la ville de mes ans," said
LePage, whose first language is French, to the crowd at the Franco American Heritage Center a few months after the election. He reminisced about growing up in the part of town known as Little Canada, named for French speaking immigrants who came from
Quebec to work on the local mills. He talked about the tenement building where his family shared space with eleven others, together raising a family of 83 children. He also joked about the mean streak that he developed living on the streets.
LePage's French ancestry gave him an entree with a voting block in Maine's elections. Franco American Mainers of Quebecois or Acadian ancestry compromise a potent political force in Maine. One in four Mainers claims French or French-Canadian heritage.
Source: As Maine Went, by Mike Tipping, p. 37
Jul 14, 2014
On Social Security:
Cut pension cost-of-living increases to reduce other taxes
The budget that was eventually passed approached the pension debt in a slightly different way than LePage had promised, by cutting back on retirees' cost of living increases rather than make cuts right up front.
The burden of changes, however, remained squarely on the backs of teachers and state employees.
"The pension savings in this budget allows for taxes to be cut by $203 million over the biennium," said LePage budget director.
Referring to LePage's planned income and estate tax cuts that predominantly benefited the wealthy. It was a clear statement of the priorities of the new administration.
Source: As Maine Went, by Mike Tipping, p.133
Jul 14, 2014
On Tax Reform:
Reduced state income tax to 4%; would prefer 0%
Republicans also passed another law that automatically applies future state surplus funds (even temporary ones) toward permanently reducing the state income tax rate to a target of
4%, severely restricting the state's ability to put money away or invest in the future. LePage said he would like to eliminate the state income tax completely, despite the fact that this tax is far more progressive
(being based on people's income) than sales and property taxes.Republicans lauded the largest tax cut in Maine's history, while
Democrats attacked their opponents for supporting the new tax breaks that predominantly benefited the rich.
Source: As Maine Went, by Mike Tipping, p.100
Jul 14, 2014
On Tax Reform:
As mayor: keep state taxes; as governor: cut state taxes
Revenue sharing funds are an important part of the towns budgets in Maine. With limited alternative revenue funds at the municipal level, cuts in this transfer from the state can either be made up by an increase in local property taxes or absorbed by
local schools and municipal services. There are no other real alternatives. In addition to these indirect tax increases, LePage's budget proposal also indicated raising property taxes directly by further cutting back on property tax relief programs.
Governor LePage argued that the towns did not need to raise taxes or cut services and instead trim fat from municipal services. His argument was somewhat undercut, however, when a video emerged of him speaking at a Waterville City Council meeting during
his time as mayor. The video captures Mayor LePage angrily attacking state government for exactly the same kind of revenue cuts that, as governor, he now proposed. At the time he promised they would lead to property tax increases.
Source: As Maine Went, by Mike Tipping, p.101-2
Jul 14, 2014
On Welfare & Poverty:
Five tiers to welfare; keep more when you earn more
In 2010, one of Governor LePage's most repeated anecdotes was about his employee at Marden's Surplus who was struggling to make ends meet. The anonymous employee, a single mother, was making $10 an hour. She could be making more (either by accepting a
small raise or working an hour more per week) but didn't because she feared her family would lose access to government programs including heating assistance and food stamps. He promised that as governor he reduce welfare gradually if and when people's
income improved."What we really need to do is stage it. I want to have a five tier system. Every time you reach a tier, instead of taking you off welfare completely, we reduce 20% of your benefits, let you keep
80%, then when you reach the next tier, the same thing, so once you've gone through your five tiers you're at living wage and you don't need welfare. It's not an automatic cut the minute you make an extra dollar."
Source: As Maine Went, by Mike Tipping, p.121
Jul 14, 2014
On Energy & Oil:
FactCheck: misinformed that windmills use electric motors
LePage [met] with the Constitutional Coalition [who] believe that large scale wind power development is not just undesirable but part of a conspiracy to deprive them of their land and freedom.A little more than a week after the meeting, LePage
blasted wind power and made a strange claim about one wind turbine in particular. "Now to add insult to injury, anybody here been up to see that damn windmill in the back yard?" asked LePage. "Guess what, if it's not blowing wind outside and they have
somebody visiting, they have a little electric motor that turns the blades. I'm serious. They have an electric motor so that they can show people wind power works. Unbelievable. And that's the government you have here in the state of Maine."
LePage was later forced to recant his accusation after his remarks made national news. He tweeted, "it was not my intention to misspeak about the windmill, but I admit I had misinformation." He did not reveal the source of the conspiracy theory.
Source: FactCheck 2013 in "As Maine Went," by Mike Tipping, p. 17-18
Aug 1, 2013
On Environment:
FactCheck: Maine EPA never counted buffaloes nor black flies
At the Kennebec County Republican Party Caucus in March 2010, Gubernatorial candidate Paul LePage told a horrifying story of anti-business overreach by Maine's Department of Environmental Protection. "In 1992 I was running a power plant in Eastern
Maine, the DEP comes up and says 'we would like to do a study'," said LePage, speaking about one of his consulting jobs. "So it cost us $50,000 and June, July, and August to count all the buffaloes in Maine. Lo and behold we found one, at the Acadia
Zoo. The next spring they came up & said, 'Now that you've been so successful with the buffalo, we'd like you to count the black flies." It was a well-practiced performance (far from the first time LePage had shared his buffalo story). The only problem
with the story, as with many of LePage's anecdotes, is that it never happened. The DEP had ordered no such studies, or any study of buffalo or black flies ever. There weren't any mandatory buffalo studies, so what change was he actually proposing?
Source: FactCheck 2010 in "As Maine Went," by Mike Tipping, p. 69-70
Mar 1, 2010
Page last updated: Nov 25, 2021