July 11, 2008 - 7:32am
Soda Wars continue
By Wally EdgeTom Sawyer, former two-term State Senator and current Senate candidate for the District 32 seat (Bangor and Herman), took former Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives/current Senate Democratic Leader/35 year veteran of state politics Libby Mitchell to task in a column published in the Bangor Daily News this week.
Sawyer's column is in response to a June 27th column in the BDN written by Mitchell (D-Augusta), in which she attacked Newell Augur, leader of the People's Veto effort to repeal a $70 million tax increase to fund the government-run Dirigo Health program.
Highlights of Sawyer's column include:
- Labels of "career politician" and "out-of-touch" when referring to Mitchell.
- Charges that Mitchell is avoiding the issue of a $70 million tax increase on beer, wine, soda and health insurance claims while Mainers' face one of the highest tax burdens in the country.
- Recollections of promises that Dirigo would cover every uninsured Mainer by 2009 and never require a tax increase for funding.
Perhaps Sawyer's most potent sting against Mitchell is found towards the end of the column where he call in to question Senator Mitchell's attacks on Newell Augur for being a puppet of lobbyists. Here it is:.
Sen. Mitchell's personal political action committee, Mitchell Leadership Fund, received more than $20,000 in contributions from lobbyists and large national corporations - over two-thirds of the total contributions received during the entire reporting period. If we were to hold Sen. Mitchell to the same standards she holds Augur, then perhaps Sen. Mitchell should be held accountable for being a tool of corporate America as well."
This back and forth in the editorial pages is all very interesting for the 50 or so insiders that read it. Unfortunately for Tom, however, he's not running against Libby Mitchell for the State Senate. He's going for a rematch against Sen. Joe Perry, the chair of the taxaxtion committee and Democrat, who took the seat from Sawyer in 2004.
If I were Mr. Sawyer, I would knock on 50 doors in Bangor and leave the soda wars to the professionals.
Expect to see a Joe Perry op-ed soon.
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BDN OpEd
"Wally",
Since Sen Libby Mitcell decided to send her piece to the BDN, and since I'm the last Republican Senator to represent Bangor in 25 years... I was the designated hitter to respond.
Unfortunately, the BDN editor removed my paragraph that Mr. Auger was also good enough for the Democrats last summer to represent Sen. Perry before the State Ethics Committee... "ran out of space" was the line used.
Added a tad more irony to Libby's shots on Mr. Auger.
Your comments are all fair enough, except I don't understand the one where I should; "... leave the soda wars to the professionals".
Do you mean to imply that the very same State Senator quoted in the Maine Ethics Commission minutes that after six campaigns for state office, "I'm not smart enough to be my own Treasurer" is somehow an expert in business taxation matters?
I think any reasonable reader will find my own bonifides for Business issues to far exceed my opponents.
In the meantime, I'll be knocking on over 3,000 doors this summer; the number required to knock off the highly-respected Rep. Jane Saxl in 2000.
Thanks for thinking of Joe and me nonetheless.
Wally, you missed one of the
Wally, you missed one of the most interesting parts of Tom's Op-Ed, the fact that the BDN identified Mr Sawyer as "W. Tom Sawyer Jr., a former state senator from Bangor, lives in Hulls Cove". Maybe I'm just confused, but since when is Hulls Cove, which is found in Bar Harbor, a part of Senate District 32, the seat Tom is running for? Perhaps Mr. Sawyer should focus a little less on Senator Mitchell and a little more on finding his way back to the district he supposedly lives in.
Residence
Perhaps the writer should read every Opinion page of the BDN wherein the Editor listed a "correction" the next day showing "Bangor, ME" as Sawyer's residence.
Sorry, but we now need to ramp the debate up a bit beyond something so silly and onto something of import to residents of S 32.
Keeping an eye on things
I believe the term is carpet bagger.
I for one think ones residence is very important. If you wish to run for office you are required to be a resident of said district.
Perhaps Mr Sawyer should be challenging Sen. Damon?
I would think that someone
I would think that someone who would use the term "carpet bagger" would actually know what the term meant. Seeing as Sawyer has actually served the people of Bangor in the legislature and has deep family roots in the Bangor area.
Perhaps "Carpet Bagger" may take a closer look at the dictionary and a little refresher in basic United States History. Seeing as carpetbaggers used tactics to reconstruct a broken nation, teaming up with freed slaves and southern reconstructionists to prevent slavery from happening again and to help rebuild our nation.
Even if you were to use the current colloquialism, it would imply Sen. Sawyer would have no ties to the community he is attempting to represent again. I don't see how a two term Senator from the same constituency would qualify as a "carpet bagger"
The BDN issued a correction the next day correcting their error. Which seems to slipped past the watchful eye of "I believe the term is carpet bagger"
Maine may not be broken (or we may be depending on which part of the state you ask), but we sure are broke. And for that we can thank the absurd tax and spend policies of politicians such as Senators Mitchell AND Perry and their colleagues.
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