Every election year, Mainers can count on a handful of desperate political campaigns that rely on confusion and deception in attempts to get our vote.

The people running these campaigns know that many of us don’t pay close attention to every issue. We sometimes cast our votes based on our emotions and with minimal information – such as in the last two presidential elections.

This year in Maine, we seem to have more than the usual number of misleading and blatantly deceptive campaigns. Two in particular come to mind.

UNFAIR BEAR CAMPAIGN

The “Yes on 1” campaign run by the Humane Society of the U.S.-funded group Mainers for Fair Bear Hunting is audacious in its dishonesty. Their signs, their TV ads and their slogans are confusing, contradictory and intentionally misleading.

Their television ads, for example, end with the slogan “Restore Maine’s hunting tradition” – as if Maine once banned baiting, hounding and trapping. These harvesting methods have never been banned in Maine. In fact, these are some of the oldest methods of hunting bear and were all used by Native Americans.

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Also, according to the Mainers for Fair Bear Hunting website, Maine should follow Washington state’s example and ban these harvesting methods. They tell us that it resulted in “more black bears killed by hunters following the passage of the citizens’ initiative” – as if the “Yes on 1” campaign were in favor of more bears being hunted and killed in Maine. The truth, as publicly stated by Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society, is the exact opposite.

It is not surprising that Charity Navigator has recently placed the Humane Society of the United States on its “donor advisory” list.

DEMOCRATS FOR WELFARE REFORM?

Perhaps even more disturbing are the campaigns by Democrats in the Maine Legislature touting welfare reform as one of their goals. Both in fliers and taxpayer-funded end-of-session mailers, Democrats are trying desperately to change the unpopular but accurate image of them as weak on welfare abuse and against welfare reform.

An end-of-session mailer from my state senator, Somerville Democrat Chris Johnson, said: “The Senate passed a bill preventing TANF money from being spent on alcohol, strip clubs, and gambling. Unfortunately, not a single Republican voted to pass our bill.” That statement is simply wrong. And there’s more …

Fliers in several districts are saying that “(Your Democratic senator) has a real plan to stop waste, fraud and abuse in Maine” and “supported tough, compromise measures to limit welfare fraud and abuse.” They go on to imply that it is indeed Democrats and not Gov. LePage who want to stop welfare abuse!

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The truth is that five welfare reform bills were submitted in the last legislative session – all sponsored by Republicans, none by Democrats. These bills would have eliminated out-of-state spending with welfare money as well as using welfare in casinos or strip joints or for alcohol, tobacco products, bail, tattoos and body piercings. Penalties for abuse were strict.

Allbutonewere voted down by the majority Democrats. That one bill, L.D. 1822, however, was gutted and rewritten. The new, Democratic-amended version actually weakened the penalties for fraudulent use of welfare dollars. The first proven abuse would have resulted in nothing more than a written warning. Subsequent offenses resulted only in short-term losses of benefits.

Democrats also included a study of the welfare abuse problem in the bill. And they included an “education program” for welfare recipients. This would have informed would-be abusers that spending money on drugs, alcohol, tattoos, adult entertainment, etc., is not the best use of welfare dollars. This is the Democrats’ version of “cracking down.”

CAN’T FOOL EVERYBODY

This toothless new version of the original bill allowed Democratic candidates to do exactly what they are doing this election year – claiming they supported welfare reform legislation.

The bottom line, however, is that Maine Democrats prevented meaningful welfare reform and have no intention of truly addressing this serious problem. Because of their inaction and obstruction, Maine welfare cash can still be legally spent all over the country, and there are few limits on what can be purchased. Democrats’ campaigns are telling us the exact opposite.

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How stupid do they think we are?

The bombardment of deceptive propaganda from the left this year is unprecedented. These are just two examples – look for more and you’ll find them.

Not everyone is falling prey, however. Recently at a coffee shop in Damariscotta, a patron pulled out one of the above-mentioned Democratic mailers he had received, read aloud from it to his friends and asked, “How stupid do they think we are?” I’ll let you answer that question.

Jonathan McKane is a former Republican state representative from Newcastle. He can be contacted at:

Twitter: JBMcKane


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