John Baldacci

AUGUSTA, Maine --A broad package of health insurance reforms that builds upon Dirigo and would lead to mandatory coverage for businesses and individuals was unveiled Wednesday by Gov. John Baldacci.

Baldacci's plan, designed to move Maine closer to universal health care, also includes market reforms such as a state reinsurance plan, requiring insurers to give discounts for nonsmokers and worksite wellness programs, and more rigorous reviews before rate increases are allowed.

In the MaineCare program, Baldacci proposes a 50 percent increase in prescription copays, reducing administrative costs and recovery of more money from insurers, workers' compensation and Department of Veterans Affairs. The plan also sees a modest increase of roughly 1,000 people in the Dirigo Health program to 14,500 over the next year or so.

The Democratic governor said that once those and other steps are in place, Maine would institute a "pay or play" program mandating coverage for employers by July 2008 and individuals by January 2009.

Baldacci said initial steps toward universal health care were taken when the Dirigo Health program was established in 2003, putting Maine in the national spotlight and helping it to address the swelling ranks of uninsured.

"Maine has been able to turn back the tide," Baldacci said. But he said more work needs to be done to reduce costs, enhance quality of care and create a more favorable market for insurers.

A major component of what he described as "a responsible package" is creation of a state reinsurance program, which would relieve private insurers of costs related to their highest-risk customers.

The governor also wants to go after those who can afford insurance but choose to go without, which effectively passes the cost to others who are insured. It calls for a study to come with rules for implementing a "pay or play" insurance mandate, which would apply to businesses and individuals whose incomes are 400 percent of the federal poverty limit.

It also continues but modifies the savings offset payments made by health insurance carriers to help finance the Dirigo program. The SOPs have been unpopular with the insurance industry. Baldacci's plan incorporates legislation to make Dirigo self-insure rather than have a private company market and design the program.

The governor's proposal, whose fine points were still being drafted Wednesday, was met with mixed reviews.

The leader of a consumers' group said the proposed reinsurance plan amounts to a high-risk pool, something the Republicans advocated long ago as an alternative to Dirigo.

Joseph Ditre of Consumers for Affordable Health Care said the reinsurance plan creates a system in which taxpayers subsidize insurers. He said Baldacci's proposal is "really not a plan but a grab bag of proposals."

A Republican leader applauded Baldacci for including reinsurance and higher MaineCare copays, calling them "a step in the right direction." But House Minority Leader Josh Tardy of Newport also said he has reservations about mandated insurance for individuals and businesses.

The conservative think tank Maine Heritage Policy Center was troubled by what it believes are tens of millions of dollars in new taxes woven into the governor's proposal.

David Clough of the National Federation of Independent Business said Baldacci's plan gives the insurance industry some of what it wants and some of what consumer advocates want, but "overall it's hard to say this will improve choices and affordability for small business."

Kennedy oil program blasted as `propaganda' for Venezuelan leader

BOSTON --In a TV commercial, former Rep. Joseph Kennedy stands aboard an oil tanker moving across the Boston skyline and promises that millions of gallons of discounted heating oil are on their way to poor, shivering families, courtesy of "our good friends in Venezuela."

What he doesn't mention is that those "good friends" include Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a socialist and staunch U.S. critic who famously called President Bush "the devil" in a speech last year at the United Nations.

The reference to Venezuela has led to accusations that Kennedy is a shill for Chavez.

Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla., fired off a letter to Kennedy this week accusing him of working with "a sworn enemy of the United States" and betraying the legacy of President John F. Kennedy, his uncle, who spoke of the perils of communism.

"Hugo Chavez is providing your company `low-cost heating oil' not to help the American people, but rather to exploit his apologists in the name of public relations. Sadly, you have chosen to actively participate in his charade," Mack wrote.

In an interview this week with The Associated Press, Mack went further, calling the ad "part of a propaganda message from Hugo Chavez."

Kennedy fired back by saying that if Mack wants to create a moral litmus test for oil-exporting countries and other trade partners, the congressman should hold Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Russia and China to the same standard.

"Once we've followed the Mack Doctrine and refused oil from every country that fails to meet our disciplined moral standards, I'm sure you'll enjoy your walks to Washington, because there certainly won't be fuel to fly you there," Kennedy wrote to Mack.

In an interview with the AP, Kennedy defended his decision to refer to "our good friends in Venezuela."

Kennedy said he approached other oil companies but only Citgo, the Venezuelan government's Texas-based oil subsidiary, responded with an offer of aid. He said nothing in his contracts require him to publicly thank Citgo and Venezuela. That was his decision, he said.

"I think it would be the height of arrogance to accept the help and assistance of Citgo, the only oil company to respond to my plea to help, and never even mention them in the ad," said Kennedy, who served in Congress from 1987 to 1999.

Although he declined to offer an opinion on Chavez, Kennedy did say he had "significant disagreement with the kind of personal politics that have characterized the relationship" between Chavez and Bush, on both sides. He also said "there have been many changes in Venezuela since I started going there 25 years ago, some of them for the better."

Citizens Energy was founded by Kennedy in 1979 in the wake of the energy crisis of the late 1970s with the goal of reducing the cost of home heating oil for the poor and elderly.

The corporation signed its first crude oil contract with Venezuela that year, and in its first 18 months, Citizens Energy had delivered more than 13 million gallons of home heating oil from Venezuela to families in Massachusetts. Citizens Energy has since expanded to 16 states, including Maine, and this year will deliver low-cost oil to between 300,000 and 400,000 households.

Washington resident Lucille Benjamin lives in one of those households. "It doesn't matter to me where it comes from as long as it keeps me warm," she said, "and right now I'm warm."

This is not the first time Massachusetts has found itself debating Chavez. Last year a Boston City Council member called for the demolition of the famous neon Citgo sign above Fenway Park in a protest over Chavez's "devil" insult. The sign remains.

Kennedy's energy-assistance program has won praise from some Republicans, including former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who is running for president.

In 2005 Romney extended his thanks to "all of those around the world working to get lower-priced energy to us," but refused to answer a question about the propriety of doing business with Chavez.

A spokesman for Romney said he is a staunch critic of Chavez, noting Romney denounced Chavez as a "cartoon character" in a TV interview in August.

Chavez is "trying to play politics, of course, with oil prices," Romney said in that interview. "The reality is we buy a lot of oil from Venezuela. We ought to get as much oil we can for as cheap a price as we possibly can and suck it dry if we possibly could."

Off topic of the Maine smoking issue, but one of great interest to me concerning Gov. Baldacci:

In 2005, the Democratic Governor of Maine, John Elias Baldacci, Democrat House Speaker John Richardson, and Democrat Representative Edward Dugay took a trip to Cuba to play kissy face with Castro.

The photo shown above was taken at a reception for the Maine delegation, which Fidel Castro attended, and during which time a Proclamation was presented by the Governor which called for normalization of relations with Cuba. Seen in the photo are the President of Cuba, Fidel Castro, the Democratic Governor of Maine, John Elias Baldacci, Democrat House Speaker John Richardson, and Democrat Representative Edward Dugay.

Now, within the past year, we find out that Maine is going to get cheap fuel oil from Citgo

Now, Citgo, we all know, is owned by Chavez of Venesuala who is a dear friend of Castro and practically a blood brother of the President of Iran.

Recently reported that the President of Iran and Chavez are going to spend BILLIONS to spread hatred for the U.S. around the world.

PORTLAND - Maine Gov. John E. Baldacci and his staff swapped agricultural anecdotes with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro this weekend while closing a $20 million trade deal with the Marxist regime. The visit with Castro has drawn criticism from some state lawmakers.

Arriving Tuesday morning at the Portland Jetport from Montreal, the governor said agriculture was the only topic broached during his meeting with Castro, who served as Cuba's premier from 1959 until 1976 and has since assumed the title of president.

"He wanted to know how Maine dairy cows had produced versus the Pennsylvania cows that had gone there before and which was able to produce the most volume and content," Baldacci said. "It was a very detailed agricultural discussion which former Agriculture Commissioner [Robert] Spear and he engaged in for about 20 minutes."

The United States government broke diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1959 and has maintained a mission in Havana since 1977. The U.S. allows food to be sold directly to the country on a cash basis, but continues to ban Cuban exports.

Maine's Democratic governor said he was aware his visit to Cuba might be perceived as controversial by some, given that government's harsh treatment of dissidents and political opponents.

In its 2005 report, Amnesty International maintained dissidents are routinely threatened, harassed, detained and imprisoned. Castro has barred Amnesty International representatives from the country for the last 17 years.

Baldacci's visit followed the observance of International Human Rights Day on Saturday in Cuba, where wives of imprisoned political prisoners, known as the Ladies in White, joined leading Cuban dissidents who claimed government repression worsened in 2005.

In a Saturday interview with Reuters news service, U.S. mission chief Michael Parmly said Castro was targeting political opponents by dispatching mobs of government supporters to demonstrate outside their homes.

The Havana-based American diplomat described the strategy as a "particularly disgusting" practice that recalled Nazi brownshirts or the Ku Klux Klan.

Human rights violations, however, were not even on Baldacci's radar screen when his plane touched down in Havana. The governor said he was there to do anything he could to bolster Maine's economy. (ANYTHING???!!!)

"As governor of the state of Maine and having businesses that depend on this and being allowed under federal law and being monitored and scrutinized very closely and [with] 37 other states doing the same thing, I thought it was important to be there to support those businesses," Baldacci said. "It had been [Maine's] third mission and [businessmen and the department representatives] had told me, 'Governor, we need you in order to raise the visibility of the Maine delegation so we can get contracts and business.' (The trip) greatly exceeded the expectations, doubling what had originally been the contract price at the beginning."

Despite the fact that the trade mission will benefit numerous Maine industries and businesses, including apple and potato growers and dairy cattle farmers, Baldacci's trip to the communist country was assailed by Republican legislative leaders who claimed the governor's Havana stop amounted to "political grandstanding."

"There was no reason for him to fly all the way down there at taxpayers' expense other than political grandstanding and posturing and to embarrass President Bush," said House Republican leader David Bowles of Sanford in a prepared statement. "It worries me that he's willing to meet with communist rulers who have absolutely no regard for human rights. If trade is the goal, why not go to friendly countries? Also, I question why the governor is spending so much time traveling when we have tremendous problems here in Maine with health insurance costs and other serious issues."

Sen. Paul Davis of Sangerville, leader of Senate Republicans, insisted Maine farmers could have still received the benefits of the trade agreements without Baldacci allowing himself to "become a propaganda tool against our own government."

"People have died trying to escape Castro's Cuba," Davis said. "People are in prison there for disagreeing with his policies. Yet our governor thinks it is important for him to show the world that Maine is willing to hold hands with Fidel. He could have helped the farmers just as much by helping us lower the tax burden they face year after year."

Crystal Canney, communications director for Baldacci, said the Cuba trip had "everything to do with Maine's economy and nothing to do with politics."

Baldacci said earlier that another Cuban trade mission could be on the state's agenda in April.

Passamaquoddy Tribe complains of Baldacci betrayal

Bangor News backs Baldacci, rejects TABOR

AUGUSTA, Maine --Addressing two top-of-the-ticket ballot issues, the Bangor Daily News on Saturday urged the re-election of Democratic Gov. John Baldacci and the defeat of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights citizen initiative.

"John Baldacci concludes what is likely to be his final political campaign with the same focus on issues, the same attention to Maine and the same admirable work ethic he has had throughout his career," the newspaper said in its lead editorial.

"Though he has been attacked politically during his nearly four years as governor, had to face down difficult economic events and made a few missteps himself, he has built a strong record of achievement. He deserves to be returned to office as governor of Maine," the newspaper said.

Baldacci, a Bangor native, began his political career on the Bangor City Council and served from the city in the state Senate for 12 years before heading to Washington for four terms as a U.S. representative from Maine's 2nd Congressional District.

In a separate editorial, the News said the Question 1 spending-and-tax curbing plan known as TABOR is too negative, confining and unnecessary.

"Groups that support the Taxpayer Bill of Rights ballot initiative fairly say that Maine has been largely unsuccessful in lowering its tax burden, a result of the absence of leadership on state and local budget reform.

"But instead of placing their trust in the public's ability to understand its responsibility, their solution is to install narrow, formulaic tax-and-spending restrictions. TABOR is the mechanical alternative to representative government; it is the machinery to which Maine would surrender when it has lost faith in its ability to govern itself.

The News credited Baldacci for building "a commendable record," citing his part in bridging a large potential budget gap without raising broad-based taxes, establishing Pine Tree economic zones to spur economic development, championing the Dirigo Health initiative and the creation of a community college system and pushing for broadband access in Maine.

While doing that, the newspaper said, the incumbent was "successfully fighting to keep mills open and ... joining the effort against a federal attempt to shutter military bases here."

"Most surprising," it said, "was state Rep. Barbara Merrill, who wrote a policy book, qualified as a Clean Election candidate without a party and attracted voters through a combination of pragmatic fiscal arguments and moderate social positions."

Turning to the GOP nominee, the News said: "A gentleman and a valued member of the Legislature, Republican state Sen. Chandler Woodcock provided commonsense ideas about Maine, but also showed himself to be on the far right, and therefore in the minority, not just on social issues but on almost all issues."

The newspaper added: "Green Independent Pat LaMarche added creative energy often lacking in political races, and her reminder that Maine a decade ago devised a much more ambitious health care plan was much needed."

Last weekend, the Maine Sunday Telegram came out in an editorial in favor TABOR.

The Portland-based newspaper said there were flaws that needed to be corrected by the Legislature, but it supported the concept as a way to make sure government officials keep their promises to lower spending.

At the same time, the Telegram's sister papers in central Maine -- the Kennebec Journal in Augusta and Morning Sentinel in Waterville -- came out against TABOR, saying the best way to control spending is at the ballot box.

Baldacci wins newspaper endorsements

AUGUSTA, Maine --With varying degrees of enthusiasm, Gov. John Baldacci won weekend endorsements of his re-election campaign from newspapers in the north and south of Maine.

Addressing two top-of-the-ticket ballot issues, the Bangor Daily News on Saturday urged the re-election of the Democratic incumbent and the defeat of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights citizen initiative.

In a separate editorial, the News said the Question 1 spending-and-tax curbing plan known as TABOR is too negative, confining and unnecessary.

On Sunday, the Portland-based newspaper declared its backing for Baldacci in tempered language, saying his performance in his first two years as governor had not been matched in the last two years.

"Had the Republican nomination gone to another candidate, our endorsement might have turned out differently," the Telegram said.

"Our choice of Baldacci over state Sen. Chandler Woodcock, however, does not rest simply on Woodcock's conservative social views. Woodcock, 57, a retired high school teacher and coach, has pledged to lower taxes and health care costs but has yet to articulate how. The plain-spoken Farmingtonian does not come across as the kind of pragmatist Maine needs in these pivotal years."

Concluding its editorial statement, the Telegram said: "Should voters decide to give Baldacci a second term, we hope the governor will recapture the vigor that marked his first two years. Although John Baldacci is not our ideal candidate, he is the best available option to lead Maine for the next four years."

WESTBROOK, Maine --More than a dozen labor unions are highlighting their support behind Gov. John Baldacci in his re-election campaign this Labor Day weekend.

Baldacci, a Democrat, met with union paper mill workers outside of the Sappi Fine Paper mill in Westbrook yesterday afternoon.

Among the unions registering their support for Baldacci were the Maine State AFL-CIO; Teamsters Local 340; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; and the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees.

Baldacci faces Republican Chandler Woodcock, Green Party candidate Pat LaMarche and independents Barbara Merrill and Phillip Morris NaPier in November's election.

Gay rights campaign chief to head Baldacci re-election bid

PORTLAND, Maine --Jesse Connolly, the Democratic activist who managed John Kerry's presidential campaign in Maine and helped engineer the defeat of the effort to repeal the state's gay rights law, will now go to bat for Gov. John Baldacci.

Connolly, 27, of Portland, was tapped by Baldacci to manage his 2006 re-election campaign and will begin his new assignment Jan. 1.

"He has done a lot of good things in his four years, and I believe he deserves a second term. We will communicate that to the people of Maine," Connolly said.

Connolly led the campaign that ended last month when 55 percent of Mainers voted to keep the gay rights law. Baldacci was a staunch supporter of the antidiscrimination measure as it made its way through the legislative process.

I just got a phone call that claims that 400 more Somalians have recently come to Maine, 200 in Portland and 200 more in L/A.

The caller also stated that they are receiving compensation in the 60K a year range.

Any one have any collaboration or corrections on this?

Thanks

AUGUSTA � Gov. John E. Baldacci�s job approval rating plunged over the cliff this week, according to a New Jersey-based polling organization�s state-by-state comparison of chief executives.

He talks out of both sides of his mouth. Now, in 2005 he is purposing tax hikes!

Then on June 21^st, Maine's notoriously anti-traditional family/pro-homosexual Governor, John Elias Baldacci, signed and Executive order including "sexual orientation" in their policies regarding non discrimination. Baldacci while in the US Congress, roll call votes

WHEREAS, the Baldacci Administration endorsed the State of Maine Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Policy Statement and the Policy Statement Against Harassment of employees in June 2003, each of which affirmed and demonstrated the Administration's commitment to ensuring the rights and protections of the men and women who serve the citizens of the State; and

WHEREAS, Maine law currently provides that contractors providing goods for the State must comply with laws that, among other things, prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation (see 5 M.R.S.A. � 1825-L(2)(A)); and

WHEREAS, the State of Maine may contract freely with private entities for services to be provided to the People of the State of Maine; and

WHEREAS, Maine law currently requires that contractors performing work for the State "will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religious creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, [or] physical handicap or mental handicap," and, further, that such contractors "will, in all solicitations or advertisements for employees placed by or on behalf of the contractor, state that all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religious creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, or physical or mental handicap":

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOHN E. BALDACCI, Governor of the State of Maine, do hereby order that agencies entering into contracts for services to be provided to or on behalf of the State of Maine must, in addition to the classes of citizens protected under current law, provide in such contracts that contractors must not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of that employee's or applicant's sexual orientation.

That State contracts for services must require contractors to state, in all solicitations or advertisements for employment, that all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sexual orientation;

That State contracts for services must require the contractor to notify each labor union or workers' representative of the contractor's obligations under this Executive Order and post such notice in conspicuous places available to employees and applicants for employment; and

That State contracts for services must require contractors to cause the requirements of this Executive Order to be inserted into all contracts for work covered by a State contract for services such that those requirements will be binding on any and all subcontractors.

Developing, look for weekly updates on Maine's efforts under the Baldacci administration and the Hannaford corporation to make Maine the Gomorrah of the United States.

Immigration lawyers supporting illegal aliens are pushing Governor Baldacci to sign an executive order that will stop state agencies from questioning a person's immigration status.

Even more unsettling is the title of the order: AN ORDER REGARDING INQUIRIES INTO IMMIGRATION STATUS. It reads, "I, John E. Baldacci, Governor of the State of Maine, do hereby order that no State agencies question any person about his or her immigration status and engage in any activities for the purpose of ascertaining the immigration status of any person."

"They fooled the Legislature" about the liquor proposal, Bruno said. "They ramrodded that budget through, false assumptions were made, and we didn't have a proper amount of time to review it.

Ahmed said some patrons eating lunch in the Somali market bolted out the back door - not because they were undocumented, but because they were scared to death.

The demonstrators have been showing up to St. John's since June, saying Baldacci and other politicians who support abortion rights should be barred from using church facilities for fund-raisers and other political events.

Several Democratic Members, meanwhile, are furious about the magazine's portrayal of a private dinner they had at the Capital Grille on Sept. 13, which was crashed by Davis and two female friends.

The mag describes a "rowdy" get-together, during which, "one by one, cigars in hand, the men stand to give toasts before drinking deep into the red wine and breaking into fits of loud laughter."

There are even photos of the ladies posing with jovial-looking Democratic Reps. Mike Doyle (Pa.), Robert Brady (Pa.), John Larson (Conn.), John Baldacci (Maine) and Bill Pascrell (N.J.).

BALDACCI AND ALLEN SEEK FEDERAL ASSISTANCE TO ADDRESS INFLUX OF SOMALI IMMIGRANTS

Representatives Baldacci and Allen called for $100,000 in funding to enable Catholic Charities of Maine to provide needed services to Somali immigrants in Lewiston and other communities. Catholic Charities provides outreach and assistance to refugees and immigrants.

Maine has a hard time finding work and feeding their own. Yet Baldacci and Allen want an INFLUX of immigrants! What's up with this!

Governor Baldacci is my shepherd. I shall not want.

He leadeth me beside still factories.

He showeth me empty stores.

He restoreth my doubt in government budgets.

He guideth me to the path of unemployment.

He annointeth the legislative budgetmakers, so that my tax burden runnethover my income.

He giveth in to the MEA agenda for schools which teach not the three Rs.He giveth in to the enviros who maketh a National Park of my home.He giveth me jobs waiting table on people From Away who can afford vacations.Surely, poverty and hard living shall follow the Baldacci Administration and

I shall liveth in a trailer forever.

Baldacci and Tom Allen) are big spenders of taxpayer dollars.

You know, I have found that just downloading and distributing their immigration voting records is effective in converting most Democrats I know to the Republican side.

People just didn't know--and they are often shocked. No one wants more of the same, not to mention more budget problems.

They have voted in every way possible for:

1. annual net immigration of 1.3 million poor, illiterate people from third world countries, who are overcrowding American schools, depressing wages for American workers, contributing to one-half of all sprawl, overwhelming American hospitals, and reproducing babies at rates 3 to 45 times the rate of Americans, not to mention fiscally breaking the backs of American state and local governments and the American taxpayers.

2. They have repeatedly voted to extend amnesty to illegal aliens (8 to 11 million of them in the country now).

3. They have repeatedly voted in support of H1B visas, displacing 1 million American technical workers and resulting in no job opportunities for recent American college grads. And they continue to support an increase in the number of h1B visas.

4. They have each played a major role in preventing any efforts brought about by members of Congress who, in accordance with the wishes of 70% of the American people, sought to bring about even the slightest immigration reform in terms of lower refugee and immigrant numbers.

5. They have repeatedly voted in favor of chain migration, where the elderly, social-security-collecting parents, husbands, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, married children and so on, are guaranteed entry into America consequent to one migrant. (the young working chinese have turned social security into a commodity industry for their elderly parents)

6.They have voted for automatic citizenship for any child born to illegal immigrants on American soil. This has resulted in foreign businesses where pregnant women from poor countries like China and Africa pay to be flown here just when they're about to deliver.

And then there is the Somali situation in Lewiston.
What a coward is Mr. Baldacci.

�He considers himself the front-runner and he just wants to hide,� Carter said. �He won�t be able to hide forever and when he comes out of hiding, we will expose the fact that he has a very limited understanding of the problems here in Maine and doesn�t really articulate a serious program for improving the economic well-being of the state.�

But in unusually harsh criticism Tuesday, three of Maine�s major pollsters challenged the veracity of the survey�s findings and dismissed its methodology as �flawed,� �unreliable� and �unsound.�

Not if you believe in smoker's rights! He, like Governor King, hates smokers. In his latest article, he states:

�Four out of five of the leading killers in Maine are attributable at least in part to behavior,� Baldacci said Monday. � Maine can save tremendously if we smoked and drank less , exercised more, ate healthier and worked and played more safely. Leading a healthy lifestyle is a responsibility of each and every one of us, but it can be difficult to achieve.� (Be careful here: since the Surgeon General came out with a report that Obesity is worse then tobacco usage, is Baldacci going to go after our over-weight people in Maine, also?)

Smoked less? Drank less? He sounds like he was cut out of the same cookie cutter that King came from. King closed the Liquor Stores in Maine "For MORAL REASONS!" I have wondered, since when did our Governor become the Head Clergy for the State of Maine? Baldacci is following in these same footsteps.

He states that "Maine can save tremendously........." I do not think Maine did so bad collecting all the billions from the Tobacco Settlement money. Do you? What if all Mainers DID quit smoking? I think Maine would be in big trouble if those Tobacco Settlement monies disappeared. Especially, since under the current administration, most of their "pet programs" are being paid for from the MSA!

Email I received from John Baldacci when I wrote to him not to raise cigarette taxes:

Thank you for contacting me regarding proposals to raise the tobacco
tax. I appreciate hearing from you. Although I appreciate your
concerns, I generally believe that raising taxes on cigarettes to
discourage youth use of these products is good public policy.

Preventing children from smoking must be our first goal in enacting any (click here for debunk)
tobacco-related legislation. I have supported efforts to limit
advertising of tobacco products and to increase education efforts to
prevent children from smoking, as well as to raise the costs of
purchasing tobacco products. I have gathered a number of health
officials in the state to serve on my Tobacco Advisory Committee , and I
held a town meeting in Bangor on the issue. Although Congress has not
passed legislation to further curtail the ability of tobacco companies
to sell their products to minors, I welcome the opportunity to support
any future efforts to do so.

John Baldacci

If your like me, your "tired" of hearing "It's For The Kids!" This is just an excuse to go after tobacco, smoking and the adults in Maine who are paying more then their fair share to balance the state government. Also, he is apart of Maine's government who have many pet programs, so they want to keep lapping at that honey pot of the tobacco settlement money. BEWARE!

Baldacci has a number of "health officials" on his Tobacco Advisory Committee. If Maine government is so worried about the budget and being in a recessions, why in the world would he waste funds working against a legal commodity? He needs to project his energy in another direction.

Another inaccurate statement he makes: Tobacco companies selling products to minors. I have yet to see RJ Reynolds or Phillip Morris opening a store in town. Have you? It's up to the individual shop owners to card. Why continually blame everything on the tobacco companies?

Another site posted on the net about John Baldacci. See how he stands up. His voting record. Many of us have not known about this until now:

One of many good reason why families should not have voted for Baldacci's reelection.

Think long and hard about casting a vote for Baldacci. If we think we have it hard in Maine now, just get this guy into office.

Baldacci reforms include mandatory insurance

Kennedy oil program blasted as `propaganda' for Venezuelan leader

Passamaquoddy Tribe complains of Baldacci betrayal

Bangor News backs Baldacci, rejects TABOR

Baldacci wins newspaper endorsements

Gay rights campaign chief to head Baldacci re-election bid