James Myall

Charles I also tried to abuse his authority to collect an existing tax (ship money) by declaring a fake emergency.

AG isn't a statewide elected race in Maine. It's chosen by the legislature. But she has won statewide elections twice.

Even George III knew you couldn’t do this.

Not only is Johnson the Speaker, but he voted for the 2019 law that guarantees back pay for furloughed employees!

Committee Jurisdiction | United States Senate Committee on Appropriations United States Senate Committee on Appropriations

Here’s the appropriations committee website with the quote.

www.appropriations.senate.gov/about/jurisd...

Sen. Susan Collins criticizes Democrats for shutdown, Trump for layoff threats Maine's Republican senator said Monday that she has asked the Office of Management and Budget not to pursue mass layoffs of federal workers, something the White House has threatened.

“The [Appropriations] Committee, chaired by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), writes the legislation that allocates federal funds to the numerous government agencies, departments, and organizations on an annual basis.” - Senate website #mepolitics

www.pressherald.com/2025/10/06/s...

Libraries Can’t Get Their Loaned Books Back Because of Trump’s Tariffs Libraries have shared their collections internationally for decades. Trump’s tariffs are throwing that system into chaos and can ‘hinder academic progress.’

Another item caught in Trump's tariff war? Library books. via 404 Media

I get why Yglesias thinks it would be better for Democrats to take moderate positions. I get why elected Dems would like to be able to get group endorsements while compromising on values for the sake of electability. But I don’t see why LCV should be selling themselves out for electability

The groups have learned nothing We got the League of Conservation Voters’ endorsement questionnaire and it’s bad.

This piece captures a lot of what’s annoying with complaints about “The Groups.” Yglesias seems to start with the assumption that the job of groups is to help Dems win, so they should compromise or build coalitions. But that simply isn’t the job of an advocacy org

www.slowboring.com/p/the-groups...

I just came back from (the other) Portland. It had karaoke, comedy shows, good food, and caring neighbors dedicated to helping their immigrant friends.

Nothing there justifies Trump’s authoritarian deployment of troops to a US city.

The Tariff Exemption Behind the AI Boom Data Centers get Tariff-Free Imports. Why Shouldn't we All?

Good piece from @josephpolitano.bsky.social - giant tech corporations get tariff exemptions to build AI data centers while you pay more for coffee and bananas.

www.apricitas.io/p/the-tariff...

It’s very important to have an armed citizenry to stop tyranny.

Unless you try to stop the government grabbing people off the street. Then they get to shoot you.

ICE says they targeted him because he had a 12 year old arrest for traffic issues including driving without a license. Presumably he wasn’t deported at the time because it’s not a high priority. But they had a record of his name and status.

Research shows Question 1 would harm Maine voters | Opinion There's a lot more to the Nov. 4 referendum question than simply presenting identification to vote.

Political science research clearly shows that Question 1 would make voting harder. Why would we want to do that? (gift link) #mepolitics www.pressherald.com?p=7506109&uu...

Relatedly, there is at least one proposal, from Rep @looknerfurther.bsky.social, for a bill to unmask law enforcement officers. It will need support from legislative leadership to get a hearing and vote next year.

Plus $2 billion is a tiny portion of the overall Medicaid and ACA cuts Republicans pushed through

My initial impression is that this chart is conflating non citizen with “illegal alien” a lot. Apart from the emergency Medicaid (which is only a change to whether state or federal taxpayer pay for it anyway), the other provisions are about immigrants with a documented status.

To extend the analogy, if you’re one of the relatively well-off diners in the non-smoking section you can mitigate the worst effects of the smoke. But if you’re the server earning less than minimum wage you bear the brunt of it.

Bodycam videos show ICE agents’ initial reactions to fatal Chicago shooting Video from local police who first responded to the scene provides crucial context, since the immigration agents weren't wearing body cameras.

Full NBC article is worth reading

www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcn...

So much to mourn here. ICE shot and killed a single father just after he has dropped his two kids off at daycare. Their justification for stopping him was traffic violations form 12 years ago. Their justification for shooting him was that he was driving away.

A completely needless tragedy.

Maine won’t adopt Trump’s tax breaks on tips, overtime until lawmakers weigh in Gov. Janet Mills has directed the state tax assessor not to align Maine's tax code with provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill unless directed by lawmakers, saying it will cost the state more than $...

More detail from me later but Gov Mills made the right call here. It would be fiscally irresponsible and an overreach of executive authority to adopt $400m a year in tax breaks without legislative review, esp since many of the provisions are useless gimmicks

www.pressherald.com/2025/10/03/m...

Anyone without insurance is entitled to emergency medical care. The Trump Administration really wants some people to die because they don’t have the right papers.

The unemployment figure is from an attempt by the Social Security Administration to retroactively calculate unemployment rates for the states. (See table 5)

www.ssa.gov/history/repo...

The unemployment rate in Maine in 1932 might have been as high as 32%. Hoover won 55% of the vote.

Seems like both a violation of the Hatch Act and a First Amendment infringement as enforced government speech.

230000% tariff on miracles

Source www.bangordailynews.com/2025/10/01/p...

I’ve seen other folks make this argument apart from Pres Trump and Sen King. But it doesn’t make sense to me. Trump’s already doing this! And how does the shutdown give him any extra legal power to do what he’s already doing illegally?

Pfizer to offer cheaper US drugs via Trump's website in new deal Pfizer says prices for some drugs will be cut by up to 85% on the direct-to-consumer TrumpRx site.

The details will be important to watch here, but it would be a real win if (IF) Trump can strongarm pharma companies into reducing prices.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Trump succeeds in closing 18 primary care clinics in Maine serving 8,000 people. #mepolitics

www.bangordailynews.com/2025/10/01/s...