Club Meeting of Jan 6, 2010

Our guest speaker on Wednesday January 6th was Tony Payne, the Executive Director of Alliance for Maine's Future . The Alliance is a statewide non-profit, non-partisan organization whose objective is to hold legislators accountable for a healthy Maine economy through workplace education and voter action. Their affiliated political action committee works to elect candidates who will support the growth and vitality of the private sector. Tony passed out charts which showed how the Androscoggin Legislative Delegation voted on certain bills. Based on how they voted, they were given a "thumbs up" if his or her vote supported jobs and efficient government and a "thumbs down" if the vote opposed jobs and efficient government. Only 3 members of the 15 member delegation voted in a manner that showed that they supported jobs and efficient government. Tony urged us to find and support candidates (maybe even ourselves) who are pro jobs and efficient government. Tony also did a power-point presentation showing how Maine ranked among the other 49 states when it came to supporting a strong private sector and an efficient and affordable public sector. Unfortunately, Maine seemed to fall at or near the bottom in all categories. All and all, a very thought-provoking presentation.