Chaos In Maine: Gov. LePage Botches Veto Of 19 Bills He Opposed

Talking Points Memo ^ | 07/08/2015 | Tierney Sneed

[Timber Rattler]

Idiot governor should have just vetoed them and been done with it instead of trying to be clever.

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

The dems and the RINOs over-rode the governor’s veto of the state budget.

The pocket veto was a strategy for the governor to kill other bills he didn’t like. It only works if the Maine House and Senate have adjourned. The controversy concerns when, and if, they actually adjourned.

The governor said he will sign the Constitutional Carry bill, which passed recently, today or tomorrow.

[DoodleDawg]

Looking at their website it looks like your legislature is still in session; there are committe meetings scheduled and both houses have sessions planned for next week. So then it appears that your governor just screwed up. The Constitution says “If the bill or resolution shall not be returned by the Governor within 10 days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to the Governor, it shall have the same force and effect as if the Governor had signed it unless the Legislature by their adjournment prevent its return...” The legislature is in session, nothing prevented the return by the governor, looks like a major “oops” on his or his staff’s part.

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

Paul LePage is the most conservative governor in the country.

He sure as hell is NOT an idiot. It was a political calculation....the dems and the RINOs overrode his veto of other bills, something they can’t do when the Maine House and Senate are not in session.

My only problem with him thus far is his endorsement of Christie for president.

Last November, Christie gave money to Paul LePage’s re-election campaign and actively campaigned for LePage here in Maine a number of times.

[Svartalfiar]

If the Gov. intended to veto the bills, why didn’t he simply do so? I’ve never really followed the concept of pocket veto, the decision should be binary. You either do or do not want to pass the legislation.

There would not be “any confusion” had this dumb-a$$ Governor simply vetoed the bills.

They should be vetoed the second they hit his desk

I agree. He should have the guts to sign his name and say “this is a crappy law and I reject it”

Come on guys, do a bit of research and read the article: "By not signing the bills and "pocketing" them, LePage could under some circumstances have effectively vetoed them. In theory, that would have allowed the proposals to die without legislators having a chance to override his veto." If he had simply vetoed the bills, then the legislature has the ability to override his veto and still make these bills into law. By using his pocket veto, the legislature can't override the veto, and the bills are defeated.

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

Meanwhile, the legislature issued a proclamation on June 30th to adjourn.

Maybe it was a head fake, and they decided to stay in session after all, and the governor or his staff didn’t notice.....a major “oops” like you mentioned.

The Maine House is controlled by the dems and the Senate is controlled by the GOP.

There are some really good conservatives in the state Senate here....I’ve heard them speak on local radio talk shows. Then we have some RINOs who typically are in cohoots with the dems.

Starting in September, the governor plans to hold town meetings all over the State of Maine in order to gin up support for a constitutional amendment to eliminate the state income tax in Maine. I hope he succeeds.

[itsahoot]

Like the president the Governor decides when the legislature is in recess.

[HiTech RedNeck]

In a saner time that would have been ok, but now the opposition is disloyal. Looks like this is going to need to go to court, which is another shot at calvinball, sadly.

Only reason I could see for a pocket veto would be the fear that a non-pocket veto would be overridden by legislature.

[Riflema]

Thanks for defending Paul, I am not a Mainer, but have heard him often on Howie Carr and he certainly strikes me as one of the good guys. He deserves our support here on FR.

[HiTech RedNeck]

It looks like it underwent a non-adjourning adjournment. New territory.

I hate parliamentary weasels.

[Temujinshordes]

Did you read the bill? How many ways can you interpret “ADJOURN UNTIL THE CALL OF THE SPKR AND PRES” or “READ and PASSED”?

Like the SCOTUS definition of “State”.

[kevkrom]

If the Gov. intended to veto the bills, why didn’t he simply do so?

According to the article:

In theory, that would have allowed the proposals to die without legislators having a chance to override his veto.

Appears to be a tactical move against a hostile legislature.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Gee. Now the lefties/communists DEMAND we follow every letter of the law ...

Maybe they should follow the supreme court’s “intent” of the governor.

[Steven Scharf]

“I agree. He should have the guts to sign his name and say “this is a crappy law and I reject it”.”

He has actually vetoed 100 other bills and the veto letters mostly note: “As promised, I am vetoing all bills sponsored by Democrats because they have stifled the voice of Maine citizens by preventing them from voting on the elimination of the income tax.””

[itsahoot]

Did you read the bill?

Nope and I doubt the fools who voted for it did either. I do now understand the tactic the Governor was using, guess it will be up to the lying lawyers to decide whose lie is the winning one.