Dan Billings

Ok- this thread is definitely one of the most enjoyable threads I have seen on the popular conservative forum, As Maine Goes.

Talk show host, Ray Richardson, Republican attorney Dan Billings, GOP Party Chair, Mark Ellis, GOP Treasurer Phil Roy, and a bevy of Ron Paul supporters are doing a marvelous job of convincing folks that it really is that bad for the GOP.

Prior to the Vote Yes on 2 for Maine political action committee being formed for the Oxford County casino effort, the casino project was funded by the MaineCasinoNow.com PAC.

The PAC, controlled by Rumford Attorney Seth Carey, reported being $13,592 in debt today. Carey had led the casino referendum drive prior to selling the project to Olympia Gaming in Las Vegas last month.

The PAC’s name is MaineCasinoNow.com. The Web address MaineCasinoNow.com used to direct to Carey’s Web site for the casino project, but now is an empty domain.

A state representative running unopposed has brought an ethics complaint against a state Senate candidate Valerie Carr-Winocour (R-Old Town) for a flier she sent out attacking her, the candidate’s opponent and another state representative.

Winocour, a clean elections candidate, sent out a mailer to all of Senate District 30 with the banner “The Baldacci bunch”. It accuses the Democrats of siding with Gov. John Baldacci to increase state spending and taxes. Sen. Elizabeth Schneider (D-Orono), her opponent, is the main target, but Reps. Emily Cain (D-Orono), Michael Dunn (D-Bangor), Richard Blanchard (D-Old Town) and John Martin (D-Eagle Lake) are also mentioned.

“Since the fine people of Eagle Lake are unlikely to vote Mr. Martin out of office, we must fix things ourselves,” the mailer states.

Following Thursday night’s debate between Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden and Republican candidate Sarah Palin, PolitickerME.com contacted a Republican and a Democrat in the state for their response.

Democratic state House candidate Alex Cornell du Houx said that his appearance in a new third party ad against U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Bangor) won't conflict with the Maine Clean Elections Act.

If his appearance in the ad is deemed legal, it could open up a loophole for third party groups to interfere with Clean Elections candidates, said Dan Billings, a Waterville attorney and an expert in Maine's campaign finance laws.

The ad, paid for by VoteVets.org, criticizes Collins for supporting the Iraq War. Cornell du Houx, of Brunswick, appeared in his capacity as an Iraq War veteran, and did not mention his candidacy for the Legislature.

Dan Billings, a Waterville attorney and Republican activist, said that while Gov. Sarah Palin brings balance to the Republican ticket with John McCain, people still will vote for the top of the ticket, not the Vice Presidential pick.

If she came to Maine to campaign, however, residents would relate to her.

“Gov. Palin in Alaska has done a lot of things Barack Obama claims he wants to do,” Billings said, such as working across the aisle and getting past presidential politics.

“Most people she’s had problems with in Alaska are Republicans,” he added.

Legislative Democrats were quick to point out that history appeared to be repeating itself after the Republicans proposed a special session without pay for legislators last week.

In 2004, the Democrats had approved retroactive legislation to waive pay for lawmakers in a special session that dovetailed the regular session. Republicans sued, won, and back pay was awarded.

The circumstances, however, were vastly different.

Matt Wickenheiser of the Portland Press Herald took an interesting look at the adverse effects of a recent ruling by the Maine Supreme Court that took independent U.S. Senate Herb Hoffman off the ballot.

The court ruled that the individual signing the back of the petition must personally witness each of the signatures being signed. If the petitioner can prove that one signature cannot meet that requirement, this violates the oath on the back of the sheet therefore invalidating the full petition.

It will likely affect referendum and people’s veto petition drives. Wickenheiser wrote:

Click here for a previous report on the issue.

In the last legislative session, state lawmakers approved measures that made it 30 percent harder for candidates for governor to qualify for public financing. They also required all gubernatorial candidates to be audited by the Ethics Commission.

Lawmakers also asked Jonathan Wayne, executive director of the commission, to study further improvements to public financing in gubernatorial elections.

At a public hearing Friday morning, a handful of proponents – mostly the usual suspects – said that the most recent round of changes should play out in 2010 before any more are made.

The Ethics Commission will again determine if it wants to investigate the Maine Heritage Policy Center for its 2006 efforts to promote the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.

The matter will be taken up at the commission’s monthly board meeting Monday.  read more »