A  Declaration  of  Fundamental  Expectations  of  the  Citizens  of  Maine  

  We,  citizens  of  Maine,  grateful  for  our  unique  heritage  and  beautiful  State,  committed  to  the  well-­‐being  of  our  neighbors,  and  responsible  for  the  life-­‐prospects  of  our  young,  believe  that  the  civic  health  and  material  prospects   of   our   State   and   nation   are   radically   de-­‐graded   and   at-­‐risk.     We   seek   to   reverse   this   decline   by  identifying  its  origin  and  advancing  a  positive  alternative.    

COMPLAINT       Decades  ago   -­‐-­‐   in   the  honorable  effort   to   secure   civil   rights  and  civil   liberties,  help   for   the  needy,   and  protection  for  America’s  environmental  majesty  -­‐-­‐  our  State  and  national  governments  began,  at  great  taxpayer  cost,  a  course  of  relentless  growth  and  intervention  in  the  lives  of  citizens  with  the  intent  that  parts  of  America's  way  of   life   and  beliefs  be  erased  and   the   rest   irremediably  altered.    Now,  knowing  no  bounds,   that   instinct  of  control   -­‐-­‐   incompetent   in   governance   and   intolerant   in   nature   -­‐-­‐   has   grown   perverse  while   recklessly   fueling  discord   between   Americans   of   different   races   and   economic   situations.     It   erodes   our   freedoms   while  encumbering  us  with  fundamentally  illegitimate  governance  and  cultural  decay,  all  aided  by  a  climate  of  strident  political  correctness  and  intimidation  that  aims  to  silence  people  of  good-­‐will  who  disagree.    The  results  include  these:  

• Waste   of   Maine's   Human   Capital     For   forty   years,   both   political   parties   in   Maine   pursued   policies  whose  ultimate  effect    converted  our  State  from  a  productive,  industrial  powerhouse,  populated  by  hard-­‐working,   dignified,   builders   and   craftsmen,   into   a   hollowed   shell   of   its   former   self.     As   the   economy  worsened,   the  State  created  a  culture  of  dependency   intended   to  dull   the  decline.    Now,  nearly  one   in  three  Maine  residents  depends  on  some  form  of  public  aid  just  to  survive.  

• Decline   of   Lifetime   Opportunities     Nearly   half   of   births   in   Maine   are   to   mothers   on   Medicaid   thus  ensuring  that  too  many  of  our  future  fellow  citizens  suffer  from  grievous  and  avoidable   life-­‐difficulties  beginning  with  their  first  breath.  

• Constraint   of   Taxes     Confiscatory   and   ill-­‐spent   taxes,   including   its   estate   tax,   have   forced   a   flight   of  wealth  from  the  State.    While  other  states  enjoyed  population  growth,  Maine's  population  stagnated  and  grew   poorer.     While   citizens   of   all   political   leanings   agree   that   the   total   tax   burden   is   far   too   high,  dysfunction  in  State  government  prevents  reform.    

• Decline   of   Population   Vitality     Maine   is   one   of   only   two   states   with   more   deaths   than   births,   an  unwitting  condemnation  of  the  State  and  its  social  and  economic  climate  by  its  young.  

• Discouragement  of   Job  and  Wealth  Creation     For  decades,  Maine  has  been  one  of   the  most   severely  unwelcoming   states   for   businesses.     High   taxes,   overbearing   regulatory   requirements,   and   needlessly  high  energy  costs  suffocate  incipient  entrepreneurship  and  job  creation.  

• Failure  of  Adult  Responsibility  to  Maine's  Young    Maine’s  schools  and  much  of  its  media  increasingly  function   as   gullible   purveyors   of   a   petulant   sense   of   grievance   and   complaint   -­‐-­‐   utterly   ignorant   and  unappreciative  of   our  historical   foundations   -­‐-­‐   instead  of   preparing   children   to  work   in   a   competitive  global   economy   and   endowing   adults   with   the   information   needed   to   act   as   citizens   in   a   complex  democracy.     Primary   and   secondary   education   remain   unsatisfactory,   with   too   much   money   for  

An  Initiative  of  the  Maine  Heritage  Policy  Center,  September  3,  2015  

administrative  overhead   costs   and   too  much  power   in   the  hands  of   union   interests.    Much  of  Maine's  media  has  been  a  willing  accomplice  to  the  State's  decline,  compromised  by  agenda-­‐driven  interests  and  now  rightly  deprived  of  public  trust.    

A  MAINE  REVIVAL  

  This   erosion  of   our   civic  health   and  economic   values  has  deprived  broad   swaths  of   our  population  of  education,  civic  compass,  and  economic  opportunity.     It  has  undermined  our  national  character  and  ability   for  self-­‐government.     Only   a   docile   people,   unworthy   of   their   citizenship   in   a   great   and   free   nation,  would   resign  themselves   to  such  decline.    We  seek,  here   in  Maine,   to  create  an  exemplary  State  where  a  compassionate  but  prudent  government  lets  flourish  the  prosperity,  liberty,  and  instincts  of  mutual-­‐support  of  independent  citizens.    The  elements  would  include  these:  

• Education   as   Preparation   for   Lifetime   Opportunities     Maine’s   public   schools   and   universities   will  operate  with  the  sole  objective  of  equipping  students  with  the  knowledge  and  social  skills  required  for  becoming   informed   American   citizens   and   leading   productive   lives   in   a   global   economy.     Maine’s  educational  system  and  its  critical  mission  will  not  be  governed  by  political  correctness  and  politicized  unions.  

• Prudent   and  Thrifty  Government     The   core   duty   of   State   government   being   to   use   the   tax   dollars   it  appropriates   from   citizens   only   in   prudent   and   beneficial   ways,   the   State   will   strictly   identify   and  eliminate  all   spending   that   is  wasteful,  duplicative,  or  with  no  measurable  net  good   to   its  citizens  and  provide   a   comprehensive   annual   accounting   to   citizens   on   these   waste-­‐reduction   and   spending-­‐justification  efforts.    

• Compassionate   Help   for   Truly   Needy     Maine  will   implement   the  most   aggressive   system   of   welfare  reform   in   the  United  States,   borrowing   from   innovative   and   successful  programs  nationwide,   so   as   to  provide   fuller,  more  humane,   and   far  more  effective   support   to   the   truly  needy  and   those   requiring  a  hand  up  and  to  absolutely  no  one  else.      

• Reduced  Tax  Burden    There  will  be  comprehensive  reform  of  Maine's  tax  code  leading  to  substantially  lower  or  no  income  or  estate  tax.  

• End   of   Public   Sector   Union   Influence   on   Elections       Maine’s   public-­‐sector   unions   will   be   dissolved.    Their   transfer   of   union   dues   -­‐-­‐   in   origin,   taxpayer   dollars   -­‐-­‐   to   politicians   who   act   in   their   narrow  interests   and   not   those   of   all   Maine   citizens   will   cease.     So   too   will   its   degradation   of   the   essential  preconditions  of  representative  democracy.  

• Reasonable  Regulatory  Climate    The  State  will   identify  and  repeal  the  many  existing  regulations  that  serve  no  useful  purpose  and  unduly  burden  already  struggling  businesses  and  provide  a  comprehensive  annual  accounting  to  citizens  on  these  efforts.    

RESOLUTION  

  We  firmly  resolve,  and  we  ask  fellow  Maine  citizens  who  agree  with  these  propositions  and  judgments  to  so   resolve,   to  work   relentlessly   toward   revival   of   a  Maine   that   conforms   to   its   unique   cultural   and   economic  heritage.    We  will   accomplish   this   through  mobilizing   at   the   local   level   concerned  Maine   citizens   to   demand  proven  and  effective  change   in   the  areas  of  economic  growth,   taxation,  education,  and  government  operations  that  will  benefit  all  Maine  residents;  through  fair  scrutiny  and  exposure  of  dereliction  of  civic  duty  in  increasingly  unaccountable  organizations,  including  schools  and  the  media;  through  sponsorship  of  alternative  organs  of  vital  information,  including  The  Maine  Wire,  in  support  of  an  informed  democratic  process;  and  through  unassailable  research  and  analysis  of  public  policies  in  Maine  to  inform  those  in  positions  of  power  so  they  can  restore  and  extend  the  heritage  of  our  great  State.