Maine's Governor might be hearing chants of "Liar, Liar - Pants on Fire." Not that lying is unique to this politician But it's not always so bald-faced. And one doesn't always see a journalist issuing a direct rebuttal, in which he also discusses political lying.
The article, by Forbes Magazine's Ken Badenhousen, reports on the conversation he actually had with the Governor's via an aide, contrasted with what the Governor said publicly were the reasons Forbes put Maine last in its business climate ranking. It's not difficult to conclude that (a) the chief executive of the state simply lied, and (b) his lies are consistent with his ideology, rather than the facts.
There's more. The Forbes writer also says he told the Governor's aide "creating jobs always benefits a state’s economy." Yesterday, A.J. Higgins of Maine Public Broadcasting reported on a study by the Maine Center for Economic Policy showing that the Governor's proposed cuts in the state budget will cost 4,400 jobs.
The hyper-partisanship that's destroying civic life in our country is caused partly by elected officials' extreme tactics, and partly by the triumph of ideology over common sense and truth. Tomorrow, in a piece about global power - we'll see how far local lies might be leading us.
You can read Badenhousen here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21534375?tool=MedlinePlus
The Bangor Daily News on this story here: http://bangordailynews.com/2011/12/16/politics/forbes-lepage-welfare-quotes-inaccurate/
The Portland Press Herald:
http://www.pressherald.com/news/LePage-For.html
Maine Public Broadcasting is here:
http://www.mpbn.net/Home/tabid/36/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3478/ItemId/19432/Default.aspx
The Salt Marsh in Early Autumn
