Pat LaMarche

According to the latest Maine Green Independent Party minutes sent out by email, Pat LaMarche will be announcing her gubernatorial candidacy the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Lamarche recieved 7% of the vote for governor in 1998 (allowing the Greens to regain ballot status) and was the vice-presidential candidate for the national Green Party in 2004.

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New Maine Blog

The Maine Women's Lobby has a weblog. It's pink.

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Changes

School is starting and I won't have much time for blogging. I will still be posting at Believe in Maine, but things will be slowing down here.

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Collins Begins Investigation

I've heard complaints before (some of them from her own staffers) that Collins hasn't used her spot at Government Affairs the way she should be. It looks like that may change.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two key U.S. senators said on Friday they will open a bipartisan investigation into what they described as an "immense failure" of the government response to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who heads the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, and Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, the panel's top Democrat, said they plan to begin an oversight investigation next week when the full Senate returns from a summer recess. [...]

The Bush administration's handling of the disaster that wreaked havoc in the Gulf Coast and spilled a devastating flood into New Orleans has come under sharp criticism.

If you aren't incredibly angry about the man-made disaster that has unfolded over the past few days, then you haven't been paying attention. I hope some good comes from this investigation.

In related news, despite Katrina, Republicans are planning to hold a vote on repealing the estate tax on Tuesday. Right now, we need emergency assistance to those left homeless and starving. We need to fix the terrible problems with our national infrastructure that this clusterfuck has laid bare. We don't need another tax cut for the ultra-wealthy.

I'm headed back to Halifax tomorrow. This may be the last post for a bit.

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Mendros Struggles to Get Signatures

From the PPH:

The organizer is an anti-tax activist who doesn't even have the support of his own political party. No special-interest groups have lent a hand, and funds are in short supply.

Yet former state Rep. Stavros Mendros, a Republican from Lewiston, says at least 40,000 people have signed his petition to repeal part of the state budget.

What's resonating with many supporters - though it's only part of the proposal - is the chance to jettison Maine's new cigarette tax of $1 per pack. Signatures are being gathered at hundreds of convenience stores that sell tobacco products. [...]

The shoestring campaign still faces an uphill battle.

Organizers must submit 50,519 valid signatures by Sept. 16, just as the tax increase is due to take effect. But Mendros expects that many of the signatures will not be valid, so he hopes to gather at least 70,000.

Anyone want to take bets?

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