MAINE’S LEPAGE EYES WALKER-LIKE PLAN…. When looking at the national landscape and GOP union-busting efforts, we obviously start with Wisconsin. Ohio, Florida, and Tennessee are likely labor battlegrounds, too.
Yesterday, Maine’s buffoonish governor, Paul LePage (R), signaled his interest in waging a related fight.
Maine Gov. Paul LePage said Saturday he would push forcefully ahead with right-to-work legislation in his state, even if it means a Wisconsin-style fight with unions.
In an interview at the National Governors Association, the Republican praised Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and couched his own proposal in the language of liberty loved by tea partiers.
“He’s got a big challenge, and quite frankly, once they start reading our budget they’re going to leave Wisconsin and come to Maine because we’re going after ‘right to work,’” LePage told POLITICO.
Maine, like Wisconsin, not only recently elected a right-wing governor, but also created Republican majorities in the state House and state Senate. That said, much of the state GOP is fairly moderate, and may not be eager to embrace LePage’s scheme.
The governor predicted yesterday, “You know, it’s going to be a battle.”
This has, by the way, been another interesting week for LePage. State policymakers are exploring the effects of the chemical bisphenol-A, a common additive to plastics, accused of being dangerous to children. The Republican governor declared this week that he’s not inclined to care.
“Quite frankly, the science that I’m looking at says there is no [problem]. There hasn’t been any science that identifies that there is a problem,” LePage said, overlooking the science that suggests there may be a problem. He added, “The only thing that I’ve heard is if you take a plastic bottle and put it in the microwave and you heat it up, it gives off a chemical similar to estrogen. So the worst case is some women may have little beards.”
Maine voters elected quite a governor, didn’t they?
