By Robert E. Macdonald

Mayor of Lewiston
I have not seen this level of “tuning up” since I left the Lewiston Police Department. Senate President Justin Alfond and Speaker of the House Mark Eves are acting like a pair of street-wise, thug cops in an off-the-wall police show.  Their target, the short tempered Governor of Maine, Paul LePage.
I like Governor Paul LePage. Whether you agree with him or not, you must concede that he has brought to the forefront the dire fiscal mess we currently find ourselves in. His use of the bully pulpit wards off the ability of the Democrats to brush off our fiscal distress as nothing more than a bump in the road.
But Governor, you must learn to control your temper or it will become your downfall. Like experienced cops, Senator Alfond and Representative Eves have zeroed in on this major flaw and are going to exploit it for all it’s worth—along with their allies in the press—until they run you out of office.

Senator Alfond and Representative Eves, it’s time to stop acting like the class clowns and start acting like adults. Like common street bullies, you have realized how easy it is to exploit the Governor’s temper. In the end, how does this childish behavior help Maine’s struggling taxpayers?

Then we have our Legislature. Is there anyone in either party with the intestinal fortitude to stand up to leadership and make it clear that the foolishness on all sides has got to stop? This political bickering on both sides is not a game to those who must live with the results of your partisan bickering. You were elected to solve the state’s problems, not to treat us to Kabuki theater.
While you fiddle, local hospitals continue with layoffs. While you fiddle, many state and municipal workers (as opposed to employees) wonder if they will have a job at the end of the summer. While you fiddle, city and town administrators wonder what local services they will be able to provide their citizens. While you fiddle, property taxpayers, especially the elderly on fixed incomes, wonder if they can afford to continue to live in their homes.
When we elected you, it was not to reward you with a title and a legislative plate to stick on your car. We elected you to do a job—so save the excuses and get cracking.
The actual date of Memorial Day is Thursday, May 30. It is a day set aside to remember and reflect on the supreme sacrifice made by those who died in battle. Please take time to reflect on their sacrifice. When we forget the sacrifice of our war dead, we cease to be a country.