After 25 years of term limits, Maine still has plenty of career politicians

Maine enacted legislative term limits in 1993, when 67 percent of voters endorsed the measure proposed through a citizen-initiated referendum.

But 25 years later, the politician it targeted is still in office, candidates with legislative service dating to the 1970s are running and Maine’s citizen legislature is populated by elected officials who would have a hard time disputing that the label “career politician” fits them. Being a legislator is a part-time job, but it’s one that some State House regulars have held for decades.

By switching from one chamber to the other or taking a couple of years off before launching a new campaign, lawmakers have found ways to stick around longer than the eight consecutive years limit in the law.....................

http://bangordailynews.com/2018/03/12/politics/after-25-years-of-te...

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Comment by Deborah Andrew on March 12, 2018 at 12:55pm

I am thrown to pose a perspective that is new to me: perhaps we would want 'career politicians' if they actually served the public good.  This is not to suggest that once being elected, those in office are automatically there until retirement, but rather that (1) we seek candidates who, at the very least, have a credible history that would support the platform they espouse; (2) selection and election of candidates that occurs through a rigorous process, publicly (not privately) funded, absent debates (which are about winning, but do not allow for any in-depth inquiry or response), with equal 'air' time; (3) the understanding/expectation of regular reporting to the public by candidates re: bills proposed, bills supported or not supported + rationale.  If this were carried out, it would seem that the public would be better informed as to whether re-election or replacement of existing office holders was the wiser course of action.  This, it goes without saying, has to be accomplished using only public funds, of a specified amount, for each candidate.  How we then address lobbying is a challenge.  The public does want to reserve the right to plead their case, whatever it may be.  

Comment by Bob Stone on March 12, 2018 at 11:13am

Voters get the government they deserve, and they deserve to get it good and hard,  - H.L. Mencken

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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