Some Mainers worry that their state—long a stamping-ground of moderate Republicans and conciliatory independents—is getting attention for the wrong reasons. Mr LePage does not seem to care. He attributes his brashness to a tough childhood. One of 18 children, he left home after being beaten by his father and supported himself on the streets shining shoes and cleaning stables. He was adopted, went to college, managed a discount store and was a small-town mayor before winning the governorship.
His forceful personality and peppery tongue have served him well. He rode an anti-government wave into office. With a Republican-controlled state legislature, the first in 35 years, he pushed through tax cuts for two-thirds of Mainers (adding up to roughly $400m) in his first two years, and tough restrictions on Maine’s generous welfare benefits. He also eliminated a hefty chunk of the state’s pension shortfall.
Mr LePage hopes his doggedness can entice more private investors into a state that still does poorly in rankings of business climate. Energy and transport costs are uncomfortably high, leading many to dismiss as daft his decisions to delay state construction spending and stall a $200m wind-farm project. Jobs growth since Mr LePage took over has been disappointing: Maine has added a net 8,000 jobs out of a total non-farm workforce of 600,000. That breaks down as 12,000 net new private-sector jobs and minus 4,000 in the public sector. Naturally, Mr LePage presents the trimming of the public payroll as a splendid achievement.
In Washington County, along Maine’s hardscrabble northern fringes, one resident in five is poor and one in three is on welfare. Many locals say that, by rejecting federal funds for Medicaid expansion, Mr LePage missed giving the state an easy economic lift. Instead, the governor is endorsing the “Free Maine Initiative”, a plan cooked up by Maine Heritage Policy Centre, a right-leaning think-tank, which would eliminate sales tax and income taxes in the county. In Eastport, near the Canadian border, residents reckon any plan is worth a try. “This would give us one more tool in the box, and Washington County is a unique place to try it,” says Chris Gardner, the director of the Eastport Port Authority. A revitalised deepwater port and a planned $120m wood-pellet factory suggest that industry could well return.
But time may be running out for the governor to see schemes such as this get off the ground. Mike Michaud, a seasoned Democratic congressman representing Maine’s northern half, is running for governor in 2014. Mr LePage’s best chance of re-election would be if the opposition vote is once again split. Eliot Cutler, a popular independent who ran in 2010, may do so again. Mr LePage must hope that his plain speaking enthuses more conservatives than it repels swing voters. Either way, few expect him to dab his tongue with Maine honey any time soon.
Read more: Maine’s abrasive governor: Front page LePage | The Economist
His forceful personality and peppery tongue have served him well. He rode an anti-government wave into office. With a Republican-controlled state legislature, the first in 35 years, he pushed through tax cuts for two-thirds of Mainers (adding up to roughly $400m) in his first two years, and tough restrictions on Maine’s generous welfare benefits. He also eliminated a hefty chunk of the state’s pension shortfall.
Mr LePage hopes his doggedness can entice more private investors into a state that still does poorly in rankings of business climate. Energy and transport costs are uncomfortably high, leading many to dismiss as daft his decisions to delay state construction spending and stall a $200m wind-farm project. Jobs growth since Mr LePage took over has been disappointing: Maine has added a net 8,000 jobs out of a total non-farm workforce of 600,000. That breaks down as 12,000 net new private-sector jobs and minus 4,000 in the public sector. Naturally, Mr LePage presents the trimming of the public payroll as a splendid achievement.
In Washington County, along Maine’s hardscrabble northern fringes, one resident in five is poor and one in three is on welfare. Many locals say that, by rejecting federal funds for Medicaid expansion, Mr LePage missed giving the state an easy economic lift. Instead, the governor is endorsing the “Free Maine Initiative”, a plan cooked up by Maine Heritage Policy Centre, a right-leaning think-tank, which would eliminate sales tax and income taxes in the county. In Eastport, near the Canadian border, residents reckon any plan is worth a try. “This would give us one more tool in the box, and Washington County is a unique place to try it,” says Chris Gardner, the director of the Eastport Port Authority. A revitalised deepwater port and a planned $120m wood-pellet factory suggest that industry could well return.
But time may be running out for the governor to see schemes such as this get off the ground. Mike Michaud, a seasoned Democratic congressman representing Maine’s northern half, is running for governor in 2014. Mr LePage’s best chance of re-election would be if the opposition vote is once again split. Eliot Cutler, a popular independent who ran in 2010, may do so again. Mr LePage must hope that his plain speaking enthuses more conservatives than it repels swing voters. Either way, few expect him to dab his tongue with Maine honey any time soon.
Read more: Maine’s abrasive governor: Front page LePage | The Economist
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