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Kennebec Journal / Morning Sentinel Endorses Peter Mills
Mills, who blows into an interview trailing documents that detail his many-pointed plans, is full of ideas, energy and intelligence. He's reasonable, he wants results and he's an old hand at the Maine Senate's dynamics, which makes him effective even when he's a member of the minority party.
And one day, we hope his colleagues in the Statehouse will pay attention to, and act on, the warning he's been sounding for years: That Maine faces a huge unfunded cost for future pension payments and retiree health benefits.
[read the article...]
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12 Steps to a Better Maine
Maine is a beautiful state, full of good people. But these good people pay a heavy price for living here.
There is no magic-wand to solve our problems. It will take years to recover from our dependency on tax increases, gimmicks, and undisciplined debt creation. But we have to start somewhere. Here are 12 ideas to improve the effectiveness of government and to save money for taxpayers.
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1. Sharpen Human Services
2. Boost School Results
3. Modernize Pensions
4. Curb the Debt Addiction
5. Ask Taxpayers' Opinion
6. Rationalize Medicaid |
7. Bolster Health Care
8. Reform State Taxes
9. Reduce Duplicate Services
10. Cut School Overhead Costs
11. Care for Infrastructure
12. Practice Self-Reliance
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The Socio-Educational Complex
Toward the end of his presidency, Dwight Eisenhower famously warned Americans about the "military-industrial complex" that so dominated national spending priorities in the 1950s and continues to do so even to this day. His warning was especially cogent because Eisenhower himself had been a member of that complex for most of his life.
Today, most state governments, and Maine in particular, are subject to a similar dominance that could fittingly be called the "socio-educational complex," one that is supported by the two big pillars of state spending:
- Social services costing $2.8 billion per year in state and federal dollars; and
- Kindergarten through 12th-grade education costing more than $2 billion per year.
Together they account for more than 12 percent of Maine's gross state product.
[read on...]
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About Peter Mills
Peter Mills was born in Farmington and grew up in Maine. He graduated Harvard College and Maine Law School, served five years on Navy destroyers, and has owned Wright & Mills in Skowhegan for 23 years. During his 12 years in the Legislature, he has served as a Republican lead on Tax, Labor, Judiciary and Appropriations Committees.
He is outspoken in advocating for sensible change in tax and school funding systems. He has worked with both parties to pass significant reforms in health care and education. He has a reputation as a coalition builder with practical and independent views and a business-like approach to state finances.
[more...]
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