Le Page's buddy trump* put a lid on the H-2B visas. No mention.
College students finish the school year in mid May, long before tourists season picks up in Maine, and return to school in August, long before the tourist season is over.
Public pools in Boston close before Labor Day because of lack of summer help. And supposedly also to give student life guards time to relax before returning to school.
But if EMTs only earn $10.50 as a starting wage in Maine, it's easy to see why there is a shortage of applicants.
Public pools in Boston close before Labor Day because of lack of summer help. And supposedly also to give student life guards time to relax before returning to school.
But if EMTs only earn $10.50 as a starting wage in Maine, it's easy to see why there is a shortage of applicants.
So . . . who is he releasing, if not sex offenders? Thieves and burglars who were feeding their addictions? Drug dealers? Drunk drivers? This does not inspire confidence. I'm trying to think of what kind of ex-con — well, current con — I'd want to hire for my inn or restaurant, to clean guest rooms or cook and serve, work alongside my regular staff, and interact with guests. All I'm coming up with is tax fraud. There are a lot of small businesses in Maine who need good staff to keep their customers happy and coming back next summer. When the recidivism rate gets a lot closer 0 in Maine, maybe.
2
Maine is ruled by a public-private hegemony put into place in the 1970's when Governor Longley called the heads of Maine's most prosperous industries in to lead the legislature, The Legislature then deemed that centrally managing the economy is an essential government function which must be done through public private relationships.
In 2013, §3304.Industry Partnerships was passed. Its purpose is state management of relationships between private industries in the state of Maine.
The fiscal note for the 2013 LD90 industry partnerships, removed General Fund appropriations from the Department of Corrections and gave it to Industry Partnerships
By the year 2015, The Department of Corrections suffered a major shortfall. The total amount taken from appropriations for the Department of Corrections to fund Industry Partnerships is $2268917.00, which is almost the same amount of the shortfall.
Governor LePage publicly deplored the Department of Corrections for its lack of fiscal responsibility and proposed a new amendment in response to what he deplored as the lack of sound fiscal management by the Department of Corrections,which would allow himself to appoint a receiver for the Department of Corrections.
It's all just a totalitarian scheme to build industrial armies for the state's targeted sector owned by public-private relationships. The Legislature has already taken over the educational system to train Maine State Inc's workers.Move on to the correction system!
In 2013, §3304.Industry Partnerships was passed. Its purpose is state management of relationships between private industries in the state of Maine.
The fiscal note for the 2013 LD90 industry partnerships, removed General Fund appropriations from the Department of Corrections and gave it to Industry Partnerships
By the year 2015, The Department of Corrections suffered a major shortfall. The total amount taken from appropriations for the Department of Corrections to fund Industry Partnerships is $2268917.00, which is almost the same amount of the shortfall.
Governor LePage publicly deplored the Department of Corrections for its lack of fiscal responsibility and proposed a new amendment in response to what he deplored as the lack of sound fiscal management by the Department of Corrections,which would allow himself to appoint a receiver for the Department of Corrections.
It's all just a totalitarian scheme to build industrial armies for the state's targeted sector owned by public-private relationships. The Legislature has already taken over the educational system to train Maine State Inc's workers.Move on to the correction system!
3
I'm from Waterville, where LePage made his fortune and was mayor. He is a hardworking guy, not eloquent, but given the choice between more jobs than people can fill or high flown rhetoric that goes nowhere, I side with LePage.
Very proud to support the guy.
Very proud to support the guy.
Welcome to Bar Harbor.
There is an acute shortage in seasonal labour on MDI because there is an acute housing problem on MDI. Most workers in this town have two full-time jobs, on our feet 70+ hrs/week for a few cents more than minimum wage and count ourselves lucky if $600/mo gets a mattress on the floor in a 3 person house with 9 people in it.
There is a seasonal housing shortage because most of the rental houses once available to workers got taken over by weekly vacation rentals, more profitable than monthly or year-round tenants and totally unregulated - Bar Harbor Town Council is all gab, no agreement.
The landlords need more profitable weekly vacation tenants because tourists treat themselves to vacations but they get here and sit on their wallets. Each year visitation goes up, tourists spend less, wage-hours go down. We do more work for less money and keep on smiling because the tourists do not come here because they care about how our feet feel or how we plan to eat next winter.
The tourists spend less each year because the economists keep saying the recession is over - and it be might on Wall St, but the rest of America has yet to feel it.
----
In that context, one third the seasonal work force is from out of country: Russians, Balkans and Slavs in kitchens, Jamaicans in hospitality. They didn't get visas or didn't want to visit America at this particular juncture in our history, so one third the seasonal work force is missing in action.
There is an acute shortage in seasonal labour on MDI because there is an acute housing problem on MDI. Most workers in this town have two full-time jobs, on our feet 70+ hrs/week for a few cents more than minimum wage and count ourselves lucky if $600/mo gets a mattress on the floor in a 3 person house with 9 people in it.
There is a seasonal housing shortage because most of the rental houses once available to workers got taken over by weekly vacation rentals, more profitable than monthly or year-round tenants and totally unregulated - Bar Harbor Town Council is all gab, no agreement.
The landlords need more profitable weekly vacation tenants because tourists treat themselves to vacations but they get here and sit on their wallets. Each year visitation goes up, tourists spend less, wage-hours go down. We do more work for less money and keep on smiling because the tourists do not come here because they care about how our feet feel or how we plan to eat next winter.
The tourists spend less each year because the economists keep saying the recession is over - and it be might on Wall St, but the rest of America has yet to feel it.
----
In that context, one third the seasonal work force is from out of country: Russians, Balkans and Slavs in kitchens, Jamaicans in hospitality. They didn't get visas or didn't want to visit America at this particular juncture in our history, so one third the seasonal work force is missing in action.
6
In the mid 1970's refundable tax credits came into use in the USA. Governor Longley's newly formed boards immediately incorporated refundable tax credits into the newly created Maine Capital Corporation, a private investment company created by the Maine Legislature. which could attract stockholders with refundable tax credits worth 50% of their investment. Refundable tax credits mean if no taxes are owed the taxpayers owe the holder a cash payout. The statute for the Maine Capital Corporation included a tax exempt provision for those investing in Maine small businesses. That provision is still law, even though the Maine Capital Corporation has been repealed and replaced.
Refundable tax credits are prolific through out Maine's economic policies- almost as as prolific as the use of the term "public -private relationships"
About the mid seventies, inflation took a dramatic rise in the USA, even more dramatic than when the federal reserve was created. In Maine, since the Longley Doctrine was implemented in the mid seventies, the rich have gotten richer and the poor poorer. This is happening all over the United States and may be the reason that tourists do not have money in their pockets as they once did. The money is all going to the hegemony, aka public private relationships, aka oligarchy. Maine has a tax payer subsidized upper crust of the economy. The middle, which is the opportunity zone for the bottom is being drained to subsidize the top.
Refundable tax credits are prolific through out Maine's economic policies- almost as as prolific as the use of the term "public -private relationships"
About the mid seventies, inflation took a dramatic rise in the USA, even more dramatic than when the federal reserve was created. In Maine, since the Longley Doctrine was implemented in the mid seventies, the rich have gotten richer and the poor poorer. This is happening all over the United States and may be the reason that tourists do not have money in their pockets as they once did. The money is all going to the hegemony, aka public private relationships, aka oligarchy. Maine has a tax payer subsidized upper crust of the economy. The middle, which is the opportunity zone for the bottom is being drained to subsidize the top.
3
Of course businesses could raise wages and afford it..by raising their prices to customers. This is why there is usually greater inflation in times of low unemployment. Remember Economics 101.
No one can repeal the laws of supply and demand.
No one can repeal the laws of supply and demand.
2
What are the salaries currently being offered? I lived in Maine for 4 years and held 3 jobs in order support myself (I work in the tech field). There is no living wage in Maine, which is why there's a brain drain — all the educated kids go south to Boston, NY, etc. It's true that most of the population is elderly (rich people from away who retire there) but Maine is also welfare state. Mainers have figured out that it's easier, and pays more, to go on the dole than to work for a pittance in a service job. Even professional jobs pay a fraction of what one can make elsewhere. In the end Maine broke my heart and I returned home to Chicago, because it was such a hard scrabble life. Good luck to the reformed inmates... I hope they're paid a decent wage, it's the only way they'll be able to stay out of trouble.
9
The rational for the Longley doctrine was that there are those at the bottom who are creating a burden on the state so the board wrote in their report that "To help correct this situation, it is appropriate to use the profit motive of private investors to achieve additional economic development in the State" In other appropriate to create a burden on the top as well- otherwise known as corporate welfare. General welfare has grown as the middle has been drained from the top and the bottom. The middle is where most at the bottom find their most accessible opportunities to better themselves. Since the Longley doctrine has been implemented in Maine, the number of people on general welfare has increased along with the growth of corporate welfare.
There's no such thing as a labor shortage, only a wage shortage. If you can't pay enough to attract the talent you need, close down your business and get out of the market.
25
17 more people to fill jobs .... in a state economy of more than 550,000 working adults .... a whopping 0.003091% increase in labor force supply. That LePage sure knows how to make a big impact, eh?
6
Train them and then put them into jobs they can handle. If you are worried about their criminal activity in the future put them on probation until they prove themselves.
2
Contemporary Republicans are rarely motivated by altruism but money. Clearly the cost of this state prison is the motivation here, but heck it's better than the alternative.
4
I think it is a good idea and once they complete their time they should be allowed to vote too.
5
Maine permits prisoners to vote ie if you are in prison you can vote
3
I worked for a call center that didn't do criminal background checks and working with people who have spent time in prison is not worth it. They bring all the prison/criminal temperament to work and it was terrible. I finally was fired for complaining about having to work with drug dealers and one guy that was facing murder charges. I reported them to the headquarters after they fired me and relayed everything that was going on, the director and the ops manager were fired because they were supposed to do background checks. You can take them out of prison, but you can't take the prison out of them.
3
Like some of the nations in the middle east, America has become filled with foreign workers, particularly in the summer time. When my daughter was working as a lifeguard, all of the others working at one pool were imported for the summer, several from Australia, one from Russia. It is easy to say American kids don't want to get exposed to that much sun, but there is a lot more going on.
Most likely, it is cheaper to hire foreigners to come in for some jobs, including figuring in air fare and housing. I refuse to believe that we are becoming a nation where most people, especially the young, don't want to work any more.
There should be well established programs to move seasonal workers into Maine and other places where they are needed. This is part of what drives foreign labor into the US, payments to companies or individuals who gather and organize the groups of workers.
We have millions of people out of work. Admittedly, a mature adult living 1,000 miles away is not all that likely to want to move to Maine for the summer, but there are millions of college students available. Even Hillary Rodham Clinton did a summer in Alaska when she was a student. Better wages would help.
If we are becoming a nation too lazy to work, we are in deep, deep trouble. I suspect that many college students don't look for this type of work because they believe it won't help on their resumes. They are wrong because any type of work helps to show the ability to show up and do a job.
Most likely, it is cheaper to hire foreigners to come in for some jobs, including figuring in air fare and housing. I refuse to believe that we are becoming a nation where most people, especially the young, don't want to work any more.
There should be well established programs to move seasonal workers into Maine and other places where they are needed. This is part of what drives foreign labor into the US, payments to companies or individuals who gather and organize the groups of workers.
We have millions of people out of work. Admittedly, a mature adult living 1,000 miles away is not all that likely to want to move to Maine for the summer, but there are millions of college students available. Even Hillary Rodham Clinton did a summer in Alaska when she was a student. Better wages would help.
If we are becoming a nation too lazy to work, we are in deep, deep trouble. I suspect that many college students don't look for this type of work because they believe it won't help on their resumes. They are wrong because any type of work helps to show the ability to show up and do a job.
5
what about raising wages of non-convicts, you know, hard-working, "low risk" types without a criminal record?
9
Prison rates in the US are the world's highest, at 724 people per 100,000. The issue is not Maine nor employment. We are either over regulated or using prisons to serve other roles than incarceration for a crime.
2
Wow! Something intelligent from this guy!
Now, if we could only teach our Illiterate President to read, maybe he would do more than demand pictures, and dodge briefings. Maybe he would learn something about the job he holds...
Now, if we could only teach our Illiterate President to read, maybe he would do more than demand pictures, and dodge briefings. Maybe he would learn something about the job he holds...
1
So he lets out a 63 year old??
3
Like I want to hand my credit card over to a waiter/waitress who is an ex-con. Love Maine; am continually appalled by the governor. He was all for publishing the names of those on food stamps in the paper as I recall.
5
Perhaps those who voted for Trump for the 'jobs" can move to Maine.
9
In this nation of immigrants, as I travel the country in business, I always ask customers and those I meet how their staffing is. ALL, say they could do more if they could get qualified help. Prison and sentencing reform are good and long overdue, but can this situation the Great State of Maine finds itself in lead to a real and effective Immigration Reform as well?
1
Balancing the needs of your patrons who need cheap exploitable labor or those who need to keep their for-profit prisons full... Decisions, decisions...
7
I find it hard to believe in a state with such extreme poverty that freeing people from jail for jobs is the only option.
Are there no training programs? No ways to relocate and house residents living up north down to the tourist areas for the summer?
Are there no training programs? No ways to relocate and house residents living up north down to the tourist areas for the summer?
1
Taxpayers spend about $35,000 per year, on average, to keep prisoners locked up. Thank God this governor is on the road to spending that money for jobs rather than criminal training centers.
2
Let's not forget Paul's anti-immigrant statements. Paul is too vengeful and shortsighted to recognize that immigrants could be doing a lot of the tourism work in Maine. He'd rather attack Somali refugees and call them criminals or a burden to the state instead of viewing them as a valuable contributors to Maine's economy.
Personally I think Paul is trying to kill two birds with one stone. If he commutes enough sentences then he can close a prison and also improve the employment situation in Maine. Paul doesn't care about people enough to do this because prison reform is important to him.
I doubt the roughly 100 inmates that he would have to commute to close the prison will make much of a dent on Maine's tourism economy. And will hotels and restaurants really want to employ someone convicted of robbery who is on early release?
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/17/us/maine-governor-lepage-population-d...
Personally I think Paul is trying to kill two birds with one stone. If he commutes enough sentences then he can close a prison and also improve the employment situation in Maine. Paul doesn't care about people enough to do this because prison reform is important to him.
I doubt the roughly 100 inmates that he would have to commute to close the prison will make much of a dent on Maine's tourism economy. And will hotels and restaurants really want to employ someone convicted of robbery who is on early release?
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/17/us/maine-governor-lepage-population-d...
5
. And will hotels and restaurants really want to employ someone convicted of robbery who is on early release?
if these businesses have a choice between these ex-cons and paying another $0.25 per hour to a non-ex-con I think it is obvious who they will want.
if these businesses have a choice between these ex-cons and paying another $0.25 per hour to a non-ex-con I think it is obvious who they will want.
4
If the jobs are for the summer tourist season why aren't college students from nearby states being recruited? What is the housing market for these workers? Do the wages provide enough income for living both during the working months and in the off season? Are these prisoners qualified for the jobs available?
Certainly trying to place prisoners in jobs is a good idea. It leaves open many questions about how this will operate.
Certainly trying to place prisoners in jobs is a good idea. It leaves open many questions about how this will operate.
7
here is how it will operate: more prisoners going into work force leads to lower wages. Period. There will be no need to house out of state (or country for that matter) students. It will be far cheaper. hence the tourist industry will go bonkers for it.
3
Back in the sixties those jobs were filled by college students and were very competitive. Then in the seventies refundable tax credits came into use across the USA. The Longley doctrine was implemented in Maine with the Legislature declaring that centrally managing the economy is an essential government function, which must be done by public- private relationships- aka hegemony aka oligarchy. Today refundable tax credits proliferate in Maine economic development policies serving the upper crust of the economy. The fact that the Legislature has decreed that a "quality job" is measured by higher than average wages and benefits does not help
In the mid seventies inflation started to radically escalate across the USA. In Maine as the Longley doctrine was progressively entrenched, the rich got richer and the poor got poorer, inflation being a factor in that. Could it be that the radical escalation in inflation explains why college students no longer work those jobs?
In the mid seventies inflation started to radically escalate across the USA. In Maine as the Longley doctrine was progressively entrenched, the rich got richer and the poor got poorer, inflation being a factor in that. Could it be that the radical escalation in inflation explains why college students no longer work those jobs?
3
I had the privilege of working with former inmates in the State of Arizona last winter; they did a great job and were so grateful for the work....not to mention their conversations. I enjoyed my work day with them immensely.
The company that employs them treats them like human beings and pays them a decent hourly salary!!!
Every state should ask companies to have a work program for inmates - both male and female....and treat them like human beings.
The company that employs them treats them like human beings and pays them a decent hourly salary!!!
Every state should ask companies to have a work program for inmates - both male and female....and treat them like human beings.
7
I agree. but the problem is that there is a serious liability for employers. WHat if that employee does something not so good while employed? What impact will it have on liability insurance of employers? Will these employees be more likely to steal than non-ex cons? Will potential customers be afraid of using that businss? All these questions make it obvious why businesses are less likely to hire a con.
4
If Paul LePage - well known as a merciless blowhard to those of us who have to live under his erratic and despotic regime - were really serious about alleviating our state's labor shortage, he would welcome more legal immigrants and asylum seekers who come to Maine, instead of characterizing them all as "illegals" in a shameless appeal to his know-nothing base.
With the exception of Portland and Lewiston, where refugees have swelled the populations, generaly arriving after years in camps waiting for vetting to be completed, Maine is experiencing "Population Winter" - no growth or a decline. The hospitality industry, a major economic component, is struggling to fill jobs this summer, with hotels and restaurants cutting back on available rooms and hours of service (tourists, be warned).
There is a solution to Maine's employee shortage and overall population decline. It won't be found by releasing 17 prisoners, but it can be when Paul LePage ceases his xenophobic, racist diatribes and welcomes people who only want to come to Maine to work and make new lives for themselves and their children.
With the exception of Portland and Lewiston, where refugees have swelled the populations, generaly arriving after years in camps waiting for vetting to be completed, Maine is experiencing "Population Winter" - no growth or a decline. The hospitality industry, a major economic component, is struggling to fill jobs this summer, with hotels and restaurants cutting back on available rooms and hours of service (tourists, be warned).
There is a solution to Maine's employee shortage and overall population decline. It won't be found by releasing 17 prisoners, but it can be when Paul LePage ceases his xenophobic, racist diatribes and welcomes people who only want to come to Maine to work and make new lives for themselves and their children.
19
Why is this a major story in the NYT? Maybe a better headline would have been "Unhinged bigoted governor does something potentially sane?" Maybe sell it as a Man bites Dog story? Otherwise, I don't understand why this paper is promoting him like this.
8
does it not illustrate the hypocrisy of those advocating unencumbered capitalism? You know, those who believe in capitalism but do not believe that wages should be increased?
4
Because zillions of New Yorkers vacation in Maine and treat it like a lobster-fantasy theme park.
4
hm-m--m How long until we are looking at slave labor?
12
The same type of Wazoo that would be the first to plant a stone in that wall that Trump is supposedly going to build along the Mexican border, the one Mexico is going to pay for. Who needs those immigrants, the ones who do the jobs Americans don't want to do.
It also illustrates republican thinking, and the reason we don't have Universal health care, and why they keep raising the retirement age, and make everything so expensive, like college for your kids, so you can't retire anyway, if you make life too easy -and let people retire in their mid-fifties like they do in Europe-then who is going to do the work.
It also illustrates republican thinking, and the reason we don't have Universal health care, and why they keep raising the retirement age, and make everything so expensive, like college for your kids, so you can't retire anyway, if you make life too easy -and let people retire in their mid-fifties like they do in Europe-then who is going to do the work.
2
One of the fundamental concerns of the criminal justice system is that those who commit similar offensesbe similarly punished. A governor who wants to release who he wants to release tends to undermine parity in sentencing while it makes the governor feel like a king. If there is to be a release program it should run through the system that governs all releases -- parole. Parole boards are in the business of deciding who should be released early. Why would you delegate that power to the governor, a former general manager for a surplus and salvage business.
6
that manager of surplus and salvage business understand the value, to employers, of low wage labor (and doing everything possible to keep labor rates low).
3
Surprising that Maine has a Republican governor. It makes sense what he is trying to do. I told my colleague that per capita, has one of the highest number of prisoners in the world. He google searched and agreed with me. Okay I was not 100% correct, the tiny island of Seychelles has the highest number of prisoners per capita. But the point is USA does have just too many of our fellow Americans in prison costing the tax payers enormously. With the epidemic of drug abuse, most of the tax payer revenues are going to dealing with self inflicted damage.
3
Well, as someone who went to college in Maine and worked in politics there, this is quite a shift... He still needs to go, though, ASAP.
4
Let's get Don the Bombast in on this...If he really wants to help coal miners, he could organize a work relocation program for them to Maine. Historically, miners would not be the first group to have to migrate from their way of life to make a living. After all, human labor is a commodity according to capitalism and the best price should attract labor, right?
First things, first.. what do the Maine jobs pay?
First things, first.. what do the Maine jobs pay?
2
One reason the tourist industry is suffering probably is because of people like me. My husband and I spent many lovely summer holidays in Maine before Le Page became governor. I won't set foot in the state until he is gone. It's my own personal boycott of a place that elected such an odious man. It's not much of a protest but it is something. Won't go to North Carolina either -- not until the wackadoodle legislature has been replaced. I know my personal boycotts don't have much impact but they mean something to me. It's my own way of not supporting trends in society today that speak to the worst devils of our time rather than to the better angels.
23
LePage is wackadoodle, duly noted and thank you - but we have one of the most sensible liberal legislatures in the country.
Mainers are exceptionally progressive. Not in territory - the backwoodsers in the impoverished center of the state have the same tendencies toward Tea Party conservatism as the rest of poor rural America, but in population distribution. Maine is a ten-mile-wide band of tourist money and people along the coast and those people are still middle-class New England progressives.
LePage only happened because the ticket got split (twice, for which we are ashamed) between Mike Michaud (the centrist democrat) and Elliott Cutler (the progressive). You would be hard pressed to find a more democratic state legislature than we have here in Maine. Which is why LePage is a politically impotent embarrassment without much affect on how Mainers live.
So please come on up and enjoy your vacation.
Mainers are exceptionally progressive. Not in territory - the backwoodsers in the impoverished center of the state have the same tendencies toward Tea Party conservatism as the rest of poor rural America, but in population distribution. Maine is a ten-mile-wide band of tourist money and people along the coast and those people are still middle-class New England progressives.
LePage only happened because the ticket got split (twice, for which we are ashamed) between Mike Michaud (the centrist democrat) and Elliott Cutler (the progressive). You would be hard pressed to find a more democratic state legislature than we have here in Maine. Which is why LePage is a politically impotent embarrassment without much affect on how Mainers live.
So please come on up and enjoy your vacation.
Govenor LePage has always been a bit of a maverick, somilar to Joe Aripaio of Arizona. When folks don't fit the mold others hope they will the media uses terms like " brash and deeply conservative ".
Folks like Govenor LePage have been repeatedly reelected, Sheriff Joe served for 24 years before he lost a hotly contested election in which outside money influenced the out come.
LePage has the right idea, incarceration is not always the answer, only a Govenor who is " brash and deeply conservative " could try an experiment like this.
Good Luck Governor LePage
Folks like Govenor LePage have been repeatedly reelected, Sheriff Joe served for 24 years before he lost a hotly contested election in which outside money influenced the out come.
LePage has the right idea, incarceration is not always the answer, only a Govenor who is " brash and deeply conservative " could try an experiment like this.
Good Luck Governor LePage
1
Sherrif Joe didn't lose due to outside money influencing the election. He lost because he cost taxpayers millions in lawsuits over his continuing profiling of minorities, lawsuits over refusing to comply with federal requirements. Millions lost due to his arrogance and racism. That's why he lost. LePage is cut from the same mold. He's a nut . He and all the Trump bigots and criminals need to go ASAP. This country has lost its mind.
3
In New England, where we know him better than in Flori-DUH, we call him Paul LaRage. I despise this vile man and am boycotting Maine.
5
LePage has been re-elected once. In both elections it was a three-way race and he received less than 40% of the vote. He is term-limited and can't run again. Anybody in Maine with more than three functioning brain cells and an ounce of compassion is counting the days until the end of his term. He has been bad for our state, and an embarassment.
3
I think this is the first action ever by the governor that I can support, though I do suspect that it's mostly related to his effort to shut down Downeast Correctional. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't expect the commutations to continue.
11
business cannot find workers so the prisons are being emptied? Is this reality or the plotline to a movie?
If businesses cannot "find" workers the solution is to raise wages. Then people from out of state will consider moving there. A conservative like Mr. LePage should know this, after all it is the basis of capitalism.
If businesses cannot "find" workers the solution is to raise wages. Then people from out of state will consider moving there. A conservative like Mr. LePage should know this, after all it is the basis of capitalism.
56
Maybe he's afraid hard working immigrants might turn up.
3
I think the movie you are thinking of might be 'Metropolis'
3
In Maine there are no working men,
And so they must empty the pen
For clerks and busboys
Who may lack much poise --
But look good in stripes now and then.
And so they must empty the pen
For clerks and busboys
Who may lack much poise --
But look good in stripes now and then.
9
He does not represent the majority of the Mainers and does not rour State's best interests
12
Then how come he was elected - and re-elected? Some folks up there like him....and they voted.
2
Both times he was elected it was in a three-way race; the opposition split the votes. Don't ask. The first time around he wasn't taken seriously because he was such a caricature of a right-winger (much like Trump). The second time it looked as if the Independent would beat him; neither he nor the Democrat could be persuaded to drop out, and disaster struck again.
2
The number of commutations do not match the stated reason of dealing with the State's labor shortage.
Moving prisoners out of Bucks Harbor and closing the facility appear to be part of the Governor's plan to reshape Maine's prison system in the short time remaining in his term of office.
Bucks Harbor is a small facility well-suited to housing short-timers, sex offenders, and low-risk inmates. The facility has an excellent work-release program which is highly valued in the surrounding community. The economic contribution of the Bucks Harbor facility to the fragile economy of Washington County is substantial. Area Republican legislators do not appear pleased to have their local economy sacrificed as part of a larger game, the end point of which is not clear although privatizing the prison system might just be on the Governor's mind.
Moving prisoners out of Bucks Harbor and closing the facility appear to be part of the Governor's plan to reshape Maine's prison system in the short time remaining in his term of office.
Bucks Harbor is a small facility well-suited to housing short-timers, sex offenders, and low-risk inmates. The facility has an excellent work-release program which is highly valued in the surrounding community. The economic contribution of the Bucks Harbor facility to the fragile economy of Washington County is substantial. Area Republican legislators do not appear pleased to have their local economy sacrificed as part of a larger game, the end point of which is not clear although privatizing the prison system might just be on the Governor's mind.
14
Yes - prisons for profit are part of the GOP's overall scheme.
You say well-suited. When LePage says it unfit for habitation, it makes me wonder if you have visited it. Released prisoners need more than seasonal jobs.
k
k
Having lived in Maine till four years ago I had little respect for Mr. LePage. I now find it difficult to reconcile this policy with the multitude of mean spirited things he has said and done. Perhaps this heralds an awakening of a thoughtful decent part of him that had potentially been there all along but I have my doubts and I think even he could understand why.
Inside the best of us there is plenty of darkness and inside Mr. LePage there could be much good lurking in the shadows. If so I hope he finds the courage to let it out and put it to use.
Inside the best of us there is plenty of darkness and inside Mr. LePage there could be much good lurking in the shadows. If so I hope he finds the courage to let it out and put it to use.
12
Don't worry - he's still the same.
6
It sounds like a step in the right direction, not everyone rotting away in jail is unredeemable.
I am assuming that the 17 selected are non-violent offenders. Additionally, Maine could lead the way on providing drug addiction programs and those who sign up and stay the course get their sentences reduced or commuted.
I am assuming that the 17 selected are non-violent offenders. Additionally, Maine could lead the way on providing drug addiction programs and those who sign up and stay the course get their sentences reduced or commuted.
4
The LePage Administration has been cutting back on statewide funding for addiction-treatment programs for non-offenders; there is no reason to believe it will provide resources for those it is now releasing from prison. There has been a big decline in the number of treatment beds during the past few years; people who want to kick their addiction are desperate here. This, in a state that's experiencing, on average, one death every day from a drug overdose -- which may not sound like a lot, but our population is only a bit more than one million. It's a disgrace.
7
Super...particularly in the case of non-violent offenders. However, if LePage really wants to make this work, he needs to provide training to these prisoners during incarceration...not expect it to happen once they are released. Folks that have that mix of reading, writing, basic math, and interpersonal skills are always employable. Let the private sector provide the finishing touches relative to their industry.
12
jobs in the tourist industry do not need training (or anything else you mention). These are the jobs he and his supporters seek to fill.
1
I believe many employers would hesitate before hiring someone convicted of burglary or addiction-related crimes--since tourist season has begun here, there is little time for thoughtful vetting. There's a hidden agenda here for LePage, as usual.
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LePage has cut funding for drug addiction treatment centers (http://www.pressherald.com/2017/03/14/lepage-defends-handling-of-drug-cr..., but now is releasing prisoners who broke the law to support their addictions? Can he not see the irony of this?For how many years have the citizens of Maine been housing and feeding these inmates? Yes, drug treatment centers take tax dollars, but how much better it might have been for Maine's economy had these men received treatment instead of prison time.
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Our area of Maine used to hired many foreign students to meet the needs of summer tourism. This year - presumably due to Trumpian policies that LePage supports - we see no foreign workers, just under-staffed businesses. We enjoyed those young people and will miss them. Notice how LePage fails to connect the dots from Trump policies to his own release of prisoners.
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many of those foreign students were also pretty poorly treated. I remember the stories they used to tell me of their dorm style living quarters and working conditions. Another reason, apparently, businesses were unable to attract US workers.
It never ceases to amaze me how many conservatives do not understand how higher wages are the cure to this so-called labor shortage. It's as if they never took a class in microeconomics. Disgraceful.
It never ceases to amaze me how many conservatives do not understand how higher wages are the cure to this so-called labor shortage. It's as if they never took a class in microeconomics. Disgraceful.
4
Who would you rather have working at your local market, gas station, construction site, farm, childcare center, senior center - a hardworking, grateful immigrant? Or an ex-con?
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Will - Would you rather spend $46,000 in taxes per year per inmate to house, clothe and feed your non-violent inmate, or would you rather have him pumping your gas or bagging your groceries and paying his own way?
will,
what about an American who is actually able to live off the wages he earns?
what about an American who is actually able to live off the wages he earns?
2
it depends on the ex-con and the crime. Simplistic generalizations are unnecessarily cruel. We believe in second chances.
I hope a public private partnership can find a solution. Maine is such a beautiful state. I visited Bar Harbor the weekend after Columbus Day, 2014, when all the restaurants were preparing to close for the season. A comment I repeatedly heard were concerns from the waiters of how they'd make ends meet thru winter - some already commuting far, to tap into the tourist industry.
Perhaps tourist industry Mainers will explore seasonal jobs in South Texas, which caters to Winter Texans that flock to the area in October.
Of all the places I visited, Camden Maine was exactly what I envisioned in a N.E. coastal town.
Perhaps tourist industry Mainers will explore seasonal jobs in South Texas, which caters to Winter Texans that flock to the area in October.
Of all the places I visited, Camden Maine was exactly what I envisioned in a N.E. coastal town.
1
A yes the free market......., when there is a shortage of labor, then the wages rates should rise........ on no not in america use prison labor , slavery by another name or import them for awhile from other countries, where we later deport them when there is a economic drop. . They cant vote if felons in some states .
Do jobs serving the tourist industry pay a living wage?
Do jobs serving the tourist industry pay a living wage?
10
As Douglas Hurd, a former British politician, bravely said in 1997, "prison is an expensive way of making bad people worse."
Releasing certain prisoners to fill a labor gap is an odd motivation for prison reform, but I'll take sensible prison reform regardless of the motivation.
Perhaps Governor LaPage can place a call to Attorney General Sessions and advise him to reverse his dictum that prosecutors seek the maximum punishment for all drug crimes, including non-violent ones..
Releasing certain prisoners to fill a labor gap is an odd motivation for prison reform, but I'll take sensible prison reform regardless of the motivation.
Perhaps Governor LaPage can place a call to Attorney General Sessions and advise him to reverse his dictum that prosecutors seek the maximum punishment for all drug crimes, including non-violent ones..
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