By Robert E. Macdonald

Mayor of Lewiston

If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull you-know-what.

Apparently apoplectic that Governor Paul LePage and myself “demonize” the Maine taxpayers’ biggest enemy—the Maine People’s Alliance (MPA)—Lewiston’s former mayor, who used to occupy this space, sent a letter to the local daily newspaper extolling the MPA.

It appears he believes the Governor and I should appear in a public square dressed in sackcloth, covered with ashes and groveling for forgiveness. You see, in this new politically correct world it is a grievous sin to criticize anything that is liberal progressive.

Let’s take a look at the MPA’s virtues, as listed in the letter by the former mayor.

They advocate for enhanced Social Security benefits. Really? It seems that my Social Security check, along with many others, is getting smaller each year because of the Medicare increases brought on by ObamaCare and miniscule COLAS.

While the elderly struggle, layabouts and non-citizens appear to be taken care of better than those who have contributed all their life to the system. Protests and carrying signs result in nothing more than wasted time spent protesting and carrying signs.

Progressive liberal Democrats had a chance to pass Social Security reform a few years ago when both houses of Congress and the White House were controlled by Democrats. Nothing happened. Fifteen years ago, Maine State Democrats tried to pass a bill that would have allowed the State of Maine to tax your Social Security check.

Social Security is an emotional issue rolled out before each election, then put back in its crate minutes after the polls close.

Then we have healthcare as a human right. Translation: those of us who actually pay health insurance premiums will see an increase in our premiums in order to cover layabouts and non-citizens. This comes at a time when there is a move to encourage doctors to dissuade elderly patients from expensive treatments that might prolong their lives. This would allow more dollars to be spent on the medical needs of younger people.

Also listed is safe housing. I’m going to make a big assumption here. This probably refers to buildings owned by people the MPA refers to as “slum lords.”

I will concede that a few fall into this category, but the majority have buildings in a state of disrepair due to tenants not paying rent (some for a few months), opening apartment windows during the cold of winter, driving up heating costs, and removing batteries from lifesaving smoke-detector units found in their apartments, occasionally even removing entire units from the apartment wall.

They fill the halls with clutter, sometimes blocking fire exits. But hey! According to MPA, these conditions are the landlords’ fault.

Then there is protecting the environment. What does this mean? After shoveling several feet of snow this winter and seeing my heating bill skyrocket, you’re going to try and convince me this was due to global warming?

Their environmental stance does nothing but drive up the average person’s heating and gasoline costs. They are also driving out and preventing businesses from considering relocation in Maine.

They claim they are fighting to protect children from toxic chemicals. So is everyone else! As part of the Mayors’ Coalition, I was among the many who successfully testified for a bill lowering the acceptable rate of lead in the blood of children.

The former mayor further states the MPA helps small businesses. He then goes on to say the MPA supports a minimum wage, paid family medical leave and paid sick days. How do these added expenses help small businesses? This goes to show how out of touch they are with the realities of running a small business.

Lastly, the MPA was successful in lobbying the Legislature into passing a rewritten version of LD 369. This forces Lewiston taxpayers to support a certain number of immigrants who refuse to go home. They can now legally bleed the taxpayers because federal officials are not performing their Constitutional duties.

Finally, the former mayor characterizes the views of both the Governor and me as biased. I would characterize his views as both delusional and enabling.