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Elections that will decide the direction of the country are just a few weeks away. Voters must decide what stances our state will support on issues from voter initiatives like the highly-publicized Taxpayer Bill of Rights, to who will run our state’s legislature and governorship. Running against Democrat and incumbent governor John Baldacci is Green candidate Pat LaMarche, a former international journalist and broadcaster.
On April 14 of 2006, LaMarche was officially considered part of the race for the Blaine House. She acquired the required number of signatures from voters, 2,000, to receive Maine’s Clean Elections Funds, which provides candidates with money for campaigns in order to circumvent large contributions from wealthy and influential donors. Maine is one of only two states that has clean election funds.; Arizona is the other.
LaMarche is pushing hard for the “cornerstone of her campaign,” universal healthcare for all Mainers. “The thing about it is, it would lower taxes and it would help business. So in addition to being a moral imperative and helping our country have a healthier society, it’s going to have a healthier business climate and lower taxes,” LaMarche said.
According to LaMarche, this resource of wealth comes from the money that Mainers pay for insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses, such as emergency room visits that cost far more than scheduled and insured doctor visits. The LaMarche campaign estimates that there is $3.4 billion lost annually in this costly process.
“So we’re talking about $3.4 billion– back into Maine’s economy which is not being put in insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses,” LaMarche said. “$3.4 billion, there’s no other campaign talking about this kind of economic stimuli.”
With this new hypothetical healthcare system, some of the companies moving jobs overseas would lose incentive to take their business elsewhere.
“GM and Ford are heading to Canada cause it’s so much more affordable to do business up there, not because Canadians work so much cheaper, but because their expenses are so much lower,” LaMarche said.
LaMarche’s plan for statewide programs doesn’t end at healthcare. In fact, LaMarche would like Maine students who qualify to receive free tuition, paid for by the state of Maine. As an example, LaMarche points to the Georgia school system, which provides free tuition to any student that has a “B” average or higher. The level of debt accrued by college students seems gratuitous to LaMarche, as most students leave college working not to build a new life, but to pay for the old one.
“These kids are coming out of school with thousands of dollars worth of debt and that’s no way to start a life,” LaMarche said.
Another point of interest in the campaign for better education is her plan for new schools. LaMarche has talked with University President Robert Kennedy about building an alternative energy school, as well as dental, medical and pharmacy schools to broaden the possibilities for students at the University. In addition to these new schools, a nursing school would open at the Hutchinson Center in Belfast to meet the needs of those who have lost their jobs in the recent buyout of MBNA by Bank of America. Waldo County Hospital has a nursing shortage and an influx of people looking for work.
“It only makes sense,” to provide a way of keeping Mainers employed, LaMarche said.
As for the costs of these proposed programs, LaMarche said it’s a matter of give and take. “[Poland Spring Water] is sucking up water from the state of Maine at a rate of billions of gallons per week. We want a percentage so that we can pay for our education. We think the best use of that is that you get an education and you’re not broke.”
Still, the issue of taxes is one that all potential governors must face. With TABOR as the frontrunner for press coverage, the candidates have all made sure that their campaign doesn’t shy away from the issue of tax relief within the state of Maine. This proposed citizen-initiated referendum would prohibit state legislature from passing tax increases without the public’s approval of these measures first. Proponents claim that this will stop Maine’s out-of-control tax spending, while opponents say that cutting the state tax revenue requires cutting programs in Maine, mostly from the public systems like schools.
“TABOR is a cry of pain. TABOR is a bunch of people in the state saying ‘I’ve begged you, I’ve pleaded with you, to give me some relief, you won’t give me any relief so now the legislature and governor is going to be locked in the bedroom.’ If we take a bunch of bad leaders and tie their hands, it won’t make them better leaders, it will make them bad leaders with their hands tied,” LaMarche said.
LaMarche would prefer to have leaders better equipped to meet the growing challenges of the economy, rather then isolating themselves from a problem while the need for growth is still there. “I’m not in favor of TABOR, I’m in favor of good leaders.”
LaMarche is currently campaigning throughout Maine, hoping to rally enough support to bring change to Maine this Nov. 7.
