Trump's War on Iran helped the average price of heating oil in Maine jump 26% in two weeks - from $3.82 a gallon on February 23 to $4.83 a gallon on March 9. It's now at the highest price in more than 3 years. #mepolitics
www.maine.gov/energy/heati...
From the analysts at Maine Policy Institute
mainepolicy.org/lds-229-1089/
Ah yes, the classic "middle income" Maine family making $350,000 a year #mepolitics
Definitely doing a great job "crushing healthcare."
I think the idea from Shah of trying to get the property tax fairness credit applied immediately to people's tax bills is a helpful one. It's hard administratively to ask towns to look at people's tax filings to directly adjust tax bills for income but it might be possible with focused effort
Making them rise with the value of the property, the same way income taxes do. e.g you pay 10 mils on the first $250,000 of value, 15 mils on the value between $250,000 and $500,000 and 20 mils on the value over $500,000.
(Obviously a Governor can’t do this on their own, but having someone make it a campaign pledge would give the effort a popular mandate in the legislature and make it easier to pass)
I'm a little disappointed no candidate for Governor is pledging to pursue a constitutional amendment to allow graduated property taxes - that's the ultimate solution, imo. A greatly expanded homestead exemption has a similar effect, though. #mepolitics
www.bangordailynews.com/2026/03/09/p...
Don’t forget your tariff refund check
This piece is pretty on-point. I’ve yet to meet anyone in Augusta (legislator or otherwise) enthusiastic about the $300 checks. #mepolitics
www.bangordailynews.com/2026/03/09/p...
Trump was already pushing a recession trifecta of tariffs, deportations and slashing the safety net. Now he’s added a spike in oil prices.
Jeez what form is this on?!
I’m waiting for “we’ve been at war with Iran since 490 BC”
"I've been going after fraud since before Dr Oz was on TV selling fake supplements"
This is a good response. It’s defiant in the face of Trump’s political attacks, but also includes a lengthy (47 page) answer to their questions #mepolitics
www.maine.gov/governor/mil...
New data from @budgetlab.bsky.social peg this tax cut as costing $1 trillion, almost exclusively benefiting the top 10% and overwhelmingly benefiting the top 1%.
All without Congress.
budgetlab.yale.edu/research/ind...
What’s also important is the resolution doesn’t even say the president can’t declare a war, it says he can’t “introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances.” Which he’s obviously done!
I sometimes see pundits claiming the War Powers Resolution is complicated. But the text seems clear to me. It requires “a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.”
When did we see that?
A real jumble of words here but what stands out is that Golden says the president is acting under his authority. #mepolitics
golden.house.gov/media/press-...
You can watch it on "Maine Wire TV" I believe.
A good concrete affordability bill #mepolitics
mainemorningstar.com/2026/03/05/m...
Weird things happening in the Maine right-wing think-tank world #mepolitics
www.pressherald.com/2026/03/05/t...
Worth noting that this is household income, not individual, so that category could easily include a family of two teachers.
MAINE: CoverME publishes official 2026 ACA Open Enrollment report:
acasignups.net/26/03/05/mai...
For sure. Primary polling is hard anyway and especially so in a small state like Maine.
I don't know how to judge the quality of Maine polling outfits' survey methods, but I can definitively say that Pan Atlantic has the worst website of all of them. #mepolitics
I do think part of the solution can be raising those government rates. The state could do that pretty easily for Medicaid if it wanted. I don’t think we can just shovel more money into an overpriced system, but I agree that increasing some rates is necessary.
I’m not sure 200% of Medicare proposed in the bill is the perfect level to start at but I’m also skeptical of hospitals’ claims about the cost of care. I expect there to be a lot of committee discussion about the bill and I’m open to a bunch of changes. Directionally I think it’s correct
Hospitals can charge more for the services that are currently under the cap or for the self insured plans that aren’t covered by the law. They can spend less money on capital expenditures that look good on brochures but don’t do much for care. They can cut advertising and admin overhead.
The bill does include a price floor on behavioral health and primary care services for commercial insurers.
