The trait his supporters like most about Paul LePage is also the flaw that makes him a failure as governor.
Fans of the Republican chief executive claim they love that he’s not a politician. He says whatever he thinks – without considering the consequences. He disregards the facts – fabricating factoids as he goes along. He makes enemies – out of folks who ought to be friends.
LePage is undeniably refreshing – in an ineffective way.
Take, for example, his controversial budget package. Instead of lobbying legislators reluctant to support an increase and expansion of the sales tax to pay for income tax cuts, the governor prefers to threaten them. In a speech earlier this month, he promised to campaign against anybody who refused to vote for his plan, including members of his own party.
“First of all, I would question their ideology,” he told WMTW-TV, “whether they’re truly a Republican by ideology or are they a Republican because that’s the only way they can get elected in their district.”
That prompted state Senate GOP leaders, who’d previously been tactfully silent about the tax-reform proposal, to issue a statement making it clear they weren’t all that enthusiastic about the LePage manifesto or his attempts at intimidation.
“While the governor has a way of making comments that grab headlines, Senate Republicans are committed to reducing the overall tax burden on Maine citizens,” Senate President Mike Thibodeau is quoted as saying. “In the coming weeks, we look forward to a discussion that will lead us to passing a budget that Mainers can afford.”
Which is a polite way of telling LePage to pound sand.
Thibodeau is a staunch right-winger and was a firm opponent of a 2009 Democratic effort to cut the income tax by expanding the sales tax, legislation that’s shockingly similar to LePage’s plan. His GOP credentials appear to be impeccable. But if the senator undermines LePage, Thibodeau faces the bizarre possibility the governor might show up next year in his Waldo County district campaigning for whatever liberal Democrat runs against him.
Should be fun to watch.
If LePage understood how state government works, he’d realize he’s in a strong position to negotiate passage of about 90 percent of his agenda. If he set aside his bully-boy persona long enough to do a little horse-trading, he might find the Legislature amenable to the more important parts of his tax shifts, in return for the governor modifying his plan to eliminate revenue sharing to cities and towns (something opposed by virtually all Democrats and a sizable segment of Republicans), instead agreeing to gradually reduce the program and boost individual property tax relief.
The trouble with that idea is that while LePage could claim victory, so could those non-Republican Republicans. And even the Democrats. It’s not in the LePage psyche to share the credit.
As with tax reform, there are other potential compromises available to settle disputes over the more controversial aspects of the governor’s budget. The squabble with Portland over General Assistance spending, the uproar over levying property taxes on non-profit organizations, the firefights over cuts to mental health services and anti-smoking efforts – all could be resolved, mostly to LePage’s satisfaction, if he’d just discuss the matters calmly with his opponents.
The only thing required for that to work is for the guv to undergo a complete personality change.
LePage regards negotiation as a sign of weakness. In the business world he came from, the boss told his underlings how things would be. Dissenters found themselves cleaning out their desks and being escorted off the property by security.
But this isn’t Marden’s Surplus & Salvage, where LePage was once CEO. This is Maine Lack-of-Surplus & Hard-to-Salvage, and roughneck tactics don’t work. In fact, they’re counterproductive.
Which is why many political observers have concluded the governor’s tax plan and other innovations will go nowhere in the Legislature, That’s too bad, because there are a lot of good ideas and needed changes in his budget. A tweak here, a minor modification there, and those measures could become law. All it would take is LePage’s willingness to make a few deals.
But it seems the governor is less concerned with winning passage for a majority of his proposals and more interested in gaining new talking points. It’ll be a lot easier to hit the campaign trail in 2016 if LePage can craft his stump speech around the claim that those damn legislators are a bunch of obstructionists. That’s far simpler than having to explain why the average Mainer is paying sales tax on items that were previously tax-free or why their property tax bill is significantly higher.
Because doing that would take more than bombast. It would require real political skill.
And LePage doesn’t have what it takes.
Has the limited warranty expired on our factory-second governor? Send your thoughts to aldiamon@herniahill.net.
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