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Old 03-01-2011, 11:41 AM
 
Location: Maine
7,727 posts, read 12,381,561 times
Reputation: 8344

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Quote:
Originally Posted by broadbill View Post
Especially in Maine:

LePage's budget called for a income tax cut (just like he promised, right?)
Guess who it is for....why, those is the TOP tax bracket!

Why not an across the board tax cut, if tax cuts are more important? Sounds like the plan is to soak the low income folks for the sake of the rich folks.

LePage's budget also calls for an increase in the estate tax exemption from 1 million to 2 million. Again, I wonder who this is for? How many third shift-factory workers do you know that are fretting about what will happen to their millions in assets after they die?

Oh yeah, then there is that little ditty about LePage's budget which actually increases spending (only by 300-400 million dollars though, so its ok). What was all this about LePage getting the state deficit under control?


But don't let me interrupt you fine folks from complaining about state entitlement programs and how they are ruining the state....
Applause!!!! Would have "repped" you but I'm all out for now!

 
Old 03-01-2011, 07:03 PM
 
Location: God's Country, Maine
2,054 posts, read 4,578,554 times
Reputation: 1305
Quote:
Originally Posted by broadbill View Post
Especially in Maine:

LePage's budget called for a income tax cut (just like he promised, right?)
Guess who it is for....why, those is the TOP tax bracket!

Why not an across the board tax cut, if tax cuts are more important? Sounds like the plan is to soak the low income folks for the sake of the rich folks.

LePage's budget also calls for an increase in the estate tax exemption from 1 million to 2 million. Again, I wonder who this is for? How many third shift-factory workers do you know that are fretting about what will happen to their millions in assets after they die?

Oh yeah, then there is that little ditty about LePage's budget which actually increases spending (only by 300-400 million dollars though, so its ok). What was all this about LePage getting the state deficit under control?


But don't let me interrupt you fine folks from complaining about state entitlement programs and how they are ruining the state....
We have learned to ignore the LePage bashers.

Elections have consequences. We won! Over 80% of the voters in Maine DID NOT VOTE FOR THE DEMOCRAT!

We voted for cuts in budgets, regulation and taxes/fees. ANYPLACE is a good start. The Governors budget hasn't even been implemented yet.

Welcome to Maine, we're open for business again!
 
Old 03-02-2011, 06:42 AM
 
1,402 posts, read 3,501,225 times
Reputation: 1315
Quote:
Originally Posted by dmyankee View Post
We have learned to ignore the LePage bashers.

Elections have consequences. We won! Over 80% of the voters in Maine DID NOT VOTE FOR THE DEMOCRAT!
True, but only 38% voted for LePage...which means that 62% didn't vote for him specifically, but I guess can make the numbers say whatever you want, right?


Quote:
Originally Posted by dmyankee View Post
We voted for cuts in budgets, regulation and taxes/fees. ANYPLACE is a good start. The Governors budget hasn't even been implemented yet.

Welcome to Maine, we're open for business again!
You can ignore me all you want, but you might want ask Gov Lepage why he campaigned for smaller government, tax cuts, and decreased gov. spending and his budget calls for increased spending, a tax cut just for the rich, and what seems to be larger government (e.g. splitting DHHS into two units, each with their own budget, commissioner, etc...how is this smaller government again?).

Yep, but he's making sure getting rid of that pesky Bisphenol A ban....thank goodness we won't have that regulation anymore...now just watch Maine's economy BLOOM!
 
Old 03-02-2011, 06:44 AM
 
3 posts, read 6,653 times
Reputation: 38
Quote:
Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man View Post
The DHHS imagines that Maine has the worst parents in the nation. I don't believe it. There is no crime in being poor. It does not serve the child to be torn from his family and placed with a different low income family of strangers. All it gets the kid is a new pair of pants and a life of misery until he gets to go home.
It sounds like you have a true lack of understanding about what some of these kids go through, and then what is expected of the new foster family. Being part of a family that has taken in foster kids for over 20 years now, I've seen some outright barbaric behavior by biological parents. And I can assure you, the reason they've lost their kids was not because they were "poor."
One of my foster sisters was hit by a car at 3 years of age, because her bio-mother sent her across a 50mph main road to get the mail (interesting side story here, guy who hit her thought she was a dog, and said, I quote "I didn't think you had to stop for dogs in the state of Maine). After she suffered physical injuries and brain damage, she was mostly kept in a small bedroom, where they would [rarely] throw food in for her to eat. They made no attempt at any physical or mental rehabilitation (including, but not limited to, speaking), would hit her in the head when she didn't do as she was told, and was not only forced to defecate on the floor of her own room, but would be forced to pick up the feces with her hand, or have it smeared on her face by the bio-mother or the mother's boyfriend.
How did we know all this? Her older biological sister, who was friends with my bio-sister, kept running away from home due to the abuse she and her sister were receiving.
When we finally had both of them under the safety of our roof, they both received a good education (one went on to college), the younger was rehabilitated (she can now walk, speak, converse with her friends, hold down a "limited" part time job, and in general, live with a smile on her face).

Now that I've enlightened you to the actualities of why people lose their children (and I haven't even told you about my foster sister that was continually raped by her father, under the knowledge of the mother), I'll tell you about what we have to go through to maintain a foster care license in our home.
We have monthly and annual inspections of the house, cleanliness and safety are the priorities, but inspections also include water quality (we have a well), temperature of the refridgerator, furnace maintenance, no obstructions in hallways, etc., and a long list of other safety and maintenance items that need to be kept up with. We have to keep extremely detailed (almost monotonously so) daily records of what was done with the foster children, and what we are doing to improve their living skills. I won't even go into all the appointments, special service providers/workers, and meetings we have to attend/keep up with, and not to mention that special training is required with the conditions that some of these children have (CNA, ASL, etc.).

So anyway, I guess my point is, is that you should take a little time to educate yourself on a matter before you actually open your mouth about it. And next time you ramble on about paying taxes into this kind of system, and how cutting these funds would better the situation of the people paying taxes, stop and think about what you're taking away from someone else. Kids can't pay taxes, and they need advocates, and believe you me, when I say that these kids don't have enough advocates. If you don't give a damn about the community, fine, but there are those of us that do, and those of us that have no problem paying in a little, whether it's money or time, to better the situation of other people.
 
Old 03-02-2011, 07:17 AM
 
Location: Maine
169 posts, read 283,103 times
Reputation: 166
Maine's biggest industry is Tourism. Will it benefit from a cut to taxes to the rich? Hard to tell. There may be some who flock to Maine just to see what LePage will do next, but overall his policies are killing the golden goose that is tourism. Maine's environmental laws and its attention to quality of place is what brings people here. If he hurts them, he's wrecking our brand. That will end up in bring less money to the state, not more.
 
Old 03-02-2011, 08:46 AM
 
Location: Maine
7,727 posts, read 12,381,561 times
Reputation: 8344
Props to HillbornNH. Maine also has a policy to place children in foster care with relatives whenever possible. They also do everything possible to "reunite" children with their biological parents (not always a good thing imo). I have been a foster parent in Maine and understand the inspections. Case workers continually second guess everything you do with a child in care. It's not easy and the funds from the State barely cover clothing and basic needs.
 
Old 03-02-2011, 08:58 AM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,461 posts, read 61,379,739 times
Reputation: 30409
Quote:
Originally Posted by Revi View Post
Maine's biggest industry is Tourism. Will it benefit from a cut to taxes to the rich? Hard to tell. There may be some who flock to Maine just to see what LePage will do next, but overall his policies are killing the golden goose that is tourism. Maine's environmental laws and its attention to quality of place is what brings people here. If he hurts them, he's wrecking our brand. That will end up in bring less money to the state, not more.
The end of surplus oil will kill tourism. Not just in Maine, but everywhere.

Worldwide production of oil has peaked. Worldwide demand for oil is still growing. As oil production begins to now decrease, the effects will be felt on all tourist destinations.

As oil prices double what will be the effect on airline prices? And then when it triples?

As gasoline prices climb everyone complains about how it effects their commute, but commuting might only be one tank a week. A 10 or 12 hour drive to get to a vacation destination, will consume much more gasoline.

The era of cheap gasoline is over. Europe has always had expensive gasoline, soon will we be locking step with their fuel prices.

I do not think it is wise to hitch your wagon to the petroleum pony.
 
Old 03-02-2011, 11:08 AM
 
Location: On a Slow-Sinking Granite Rock Up North
3,638 posts, read 6,167,614 times
Reputation: 2677
Quote:
Originally Posted by Revi View Post
Maine's biggest industry is Tourism. Will it benefit from a cut to taxes to the rich? Hard to tell. There may be some who flock to Maine just to see what LePage will do next, but overall his policies are killing the golden goose that is tourism. Maine's environmental laws and its attention to quality of place is what brings people here. If he hurts them, he's wrecking our brand. That will end up in bring less money to the state, not more.
True, I suppose, but I don't think it's a stretch of the imagination to believe that at least some of "the rich" became that way by cutting 'extras' like a trip to MDI.

They're holding on to their money too, which is why I still think we need to move away from counting our golden geese before they hatch as a means of long-term survival.

It's a lofty ideal given the state of America, I know, but I think it's pretty clear now that we can't just count on tourism as many families are either losing their jobs, or cutting back due to increased expenses.
 
Old 03-02-2011, 12:00 PM
 
Location: Northern Maine
10,428 posts, read 18,679,925 times
Reputation: 11563
Many in Maine remember the foster parent who drowned a foster child in her own vomit. Evil is not limited to biological parents. That said, I vigorously maintain that Maine does not have the worst biological parents in the nation. Somebody in Maine government does. We will correct that situation.
 
Old 03-02-2011, 01:21 PM
 
Location: Maine
7,727 posts, read 12,381,561 times
Reputation: 8344
Quote:
Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man View Post
Many in Maine remember the foster parent who drowned a foster child in her own vomit. Evil is not limited to biological parents. That said, I vigorously maintain that Maine does not have the worst biological parents in the nation. Somebody in Maine government does. We will correct that situation.
I don't believe anyone said that Maine does have the worst biological parents in the world. Neither are all foster parents horrible humans that duct tape children to high chairs. I vigorously mantain that there are reasons kids are removed from their homes. There are some parents that neglect, abuse or otherwise mistreat their children. It's near to impossible to terminate parental rights. I've seen cases in which children were brutalized and yet, the parents retain rights.
In one particular case an infant with a broken arm that had been removed from the home (following a pattern of abuse) was returned months later only to end up beaten and back in the hospital. The parents relinquished custody in order to avoid prosecution and the child was adopted by the foster family that had been raising them.
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