Learn To Take "NO!" For An Answer!

The Maine Heritage Policy Center is preparing to revise the so-called Taxpayers' Bill of Rights, their usual Republican wedge issue in recent elections. Bill of Rights, indeed. It's an overly-complex, one-size-fits-all set of rules imposed on our towns that will reduce local services without any guarantee of actually reducing local taxes.

As before, this attempt to substitute state fiat for for local control will be financed from away, and will originate from an organization which claims to be

a 501 (c)3 non-profit, non-partisan, independent public policy think-tank

Let's see how true that claim is.

Their home page invites us to have lunch with Jeb Bush. OK, wanna know how to have your picture taken with Jeb? Follow the handy link and start putting your pennies together, 'cause it's $100 for the photo op. Guess I'll have to find something else to cover our dart board with.

Wanna actually get to talk to Jeb? No problem, you can have coffee with the guy for only a thousand bucks. Who are they kidding? Access to the guy who's not running for pres, and we gotta pay a grand? This guy is really raising the bucks to reduce the local control Mainers hold so dear.

So, more on the nonpartisan nature of this group:

President Bill Becker was the finance director with the Republican Cianchette for Governor campaign and a fundraiser at the Republican National Senatorial Committee.

The Center's vice president and economist, J Scott Moody, is also associated with the national Heritage Foundation. This is a prime conservative group which, when it's not telling us how dangerous liberals are, is relieving us of our misconceptions about Gitmo Bay:

Misconception #1: The U.S. must either put Guantanamo Bay detainees on trial or release them.

Misconception #2: The Guantanamo Bay detainees received inadequate due process when they were designated enemy combatants.

Misconception #3: The Guantanamo Bay detainees are entitled to habeas corpus relief.

Conclusion
While U.S. troops are deployed in the field in Afghanistan and Iraq, Congress should focus its efforts on strengthening their ability to succeed. Congress should not hamper our troops' efforts with shortsighted legislation extending unprecedented rights to foreign terrorists and other enemy combatants. Rewarding or releasing captured Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters is not any way for legislators on the home front to support U.S. troops fighting abroad.

And this is the guy directing the economic policies being foisted on the Maine voters....again!

Tarren R. Bragdon is in charge of health care initiatives. He's a Republican, formerly in the Maine legislature, and was special assistant to the President of the Maine Senate, Republican Senator Richard Bennett.

Jason Fortin, their director of communications, served in the same capacity for the Republican House Caucus.

Oh, and in case you missed it, the Jeb Bush event sponsored by the supposedly non-partisan Maine Heritage Policy Center is listed as an upcoming Maine GOP event...check it out!

So this bunch of Republicans in disguise is going to tell us how Maine Democratic governor, and Democrat-controlled legislature is spending too much money. We don't really need those libraries; there's only book anyone ought to be reading, and you can get a free copy in any motel room. We don't need good schools; let's teach our kids at home. Feeding the hungry, taking care of the sick....we don't need that either. Oh wait....do I remember hearing that somewhere that those were actually good things?

Bill Becker and the rest of you at the so-called nonpartisan Maine Heritage Policy Center, here's my message to you: be honest about who you really are and about your clearly partisan agenda, and learn to take "no" for an answer.