MAINE, USA — As Maine lawmakers hammer out the details of the supplemental budget, many Republicans are now saying the proposed $850 tax rebate checks proposed by Gov. Janet Mills should be sent to Mainers as quickly as possible.
Ray Richardson and Ken Altshuler have both opposed the idea of sending out checks and think lowering income tax rates would be a better long range goal.
But with momentum building, Richardson said Republicans should get on board and pass the proposal with enough votes to allow it to take effect as soon as the legislature adjourns. He admitted there is a political calculus here too, saying, "These checks or electronic transfers can go out in June.
I think [it] won't have the political impact Gov. Mills is hoping for. If they let it drag out, then they can't take effect sometime in July. These checks might go out during the fall campaign and maybe pick up some votes for her."
Altshuler agreed that for Mills "If it's later in the season, it's smarter, politically speaking. I think Republicans have to get on board."
The U.S. Senate held four days of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Many of the Republican senators questioning her focused on whether her track record indicates she is "soft on crime."
Althsuler said that unfortunately "The good old days" when a Supreme Court nomination could pass 97 to nothing "are long gone."
And he said some of the Republican senators attacking Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson are eying a run for president, and "are going to make the law and order issue, going to try to tie her with the Democrats."
Richardson said on some responses, Jackson gave political answers, rather than judicial ones, "And it says that maybe she will dance a little politically. I know they all do. We just don't like it. So that was disappointing. I think she'll get some Republican votes, and then we'll move on."
President Biden joined NATO leaders at an emergency summit in Brussels last week to talk about the war in Ukraine and impose new sanctions on Russia. He also stopped in Poland to talk with U.S. troops and meet with refugees.
Former Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen told NEWS CENTER Maine this week that keeping the NATO alliance unified won't be easy because we have yet to feel the full effects of sanctions, not just on Russia, but on the world economy.
Richardson thinks "The president has failed. We are in chaos from a foreign policy standpoint."
He said that for the leaders of Russia and China, "What America thinks about what they're doing appears to be no consideration for them. And that's a frightening place, not only for America, but for the world. Every leader in the world ought to be concerned about what America thinks, and I just don't believe right now they are."
Altshuler disagreed, giving Biden an "A" on the report card, saying "I think he's doing an excellent job. My criticism is that he was a little slow to stop the oil imports from Russia. But he's doing the right things, saying the right things. Going to Poland was imperative because Poland is next in line if Russia's advances aren't halted."
The analysts also discussed many of the issues facing Maine lawmakers with just about three weeks left in the session and talked about how the late Secretary of State Madeline Albright, who came here as a child when her family fled the Nazis, can serve as a shining example of what is possible in America, and nowhere else.
Political Brew airs Sundays on NEWS CENTER Maine's Morning Report.