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Yes! Yes, we're finally in the news for something good, not something our social cancer of a former governor did!

kibwen 7y ago
Hey now, you managed to be the first state to pass ranked-choice voting for state and federal elections back in 2016; here in Massachusetts we're jealous that we only might manage to bring it up for a vote or ballot initiative this year. :)
- belenos46 7y ago
  Ugh, I wish we had. Until we stuff through a (state) constitutional amendment, >"The bill does not allow ranked-choice voting to be used for general and special elections for the offices of Governor, State Senator, or State Representative unless there is an amendment to the Constitution of Maine, Article IV, Part First, Section 5, Article IV, Part Second, Sections 4 and 5 and Article V, Part First, Section 3 that authorizes the Legislature, by proper enactment, to determine the method by which the Governor and members of the State Senate and House of Representatives are elected is ratified."[0] It's like we've got a bunch of TODOs spread all over our legislation. [0] http://legislature.maine.gov/lawlibrary/ranked-choice-voting-in-maine/9509 http://legislature.maine.gov/lawlibrary/ranked-choice-voting...
  - kibwen 7y ago
    Oh heh, I knew about the constitution thing but I thought it only applied to the Maine gubernatorial elections, not for state-level legislative office as well. At least it still applies for the congressional delegation, I suppose. :P
dsfyu404ed 7y ago
The social cancer of your former governor and your reputation among the uneducated for being the Alabama of New England is a good thing in the long term. One of the nice things about Maine is that it's a fairly progressive state with very tolerant people but without the cultural tendency for busybody and authoritarian tendencies that make the southern half of New England pretty crappy and expensive for the middle class. If you lose that reputation you will be inundated (more so than you currently are) with upper-middle class Massholes fleeing the cost of living they voted into existence and they will repeat their pattern of behavior in your state. I say this as a Masshole who's lived in all but two of the New England states. You are far better off having people from elsewhere think you are all backwards hicks and being wrong than not thinking that and being right. Let them come, spend their money vacationing, admire the scenery, express disdain for the "backwards" locals and leave. Do not be a place people want to move to, it will not be good for you. Just ask Colorado if you don't believe me. That said you people need to learn to drive with some urgency, especially on the state highways. Edit: Why is this flagged? Are my observations of the social/political situation in New England that inconvenient?
- rhodysurf 7y ago
  Rhode Island is cheap compared with Mass. Its pretty much just the Boston are that has an absurdly high cost of living at this point (Ignoring the New York parts of Connecticut)
- eropple 7y ago
  Being a backwards and hostile place is why young people with any potential flee Maine. You can go hard about all those Massholes, but there is a premium on decency to consider that has economic impact, too. If Maine wants to make that choice, that's fine, but they're going to be paying and paying and paying for it. I didn't much care for him as a governor at the time, but I saw John Baldacci speak around the time I graduated and he spoke of Maine's chief export: U-Hauls, carrying the state's best and brightest away. I've thought about moving back, because there are parts of Maine I miss...but it's neither economically nor politically stable and Maine misses out by that a lot more than I do.
  - dsfyu404ed 7y ago
    >Being a backwards and hostile place is why young people with any potential flee Maine. They don't flee it. They suck it up and move elsewhere for money. The high paying jobs are in the big cities, like Boston. Most of them (all the ones I know who live in MA) want to move back and really don't like the culture here but that's basically impossible do to once you've built a professional network and started to raise a family. I graduated from UMaine. It was a morbid and forgone conclusion that we would all be moving to the Boston area if we wanted to make big bucks in our field. It was about the money, nothing else. People will put up with a lot of shit to make a buck. >but it's neither economically nor politically stable Politically stable? What the heck is that supposed to mean? Yeah, the republicans with their backwards social policy can take the legislature or governor if they the dems try to push dumb stuff people don't actually want. That's a feature not a bug. It means both parties actually have a reason to pander to the voters (i.e. do what voter want them to, stupid or not). Democracy requires competition. No, Maine isn't a one party state and I assure you you do not want it to be. The party distinction is a more malleable and relative one at the state level (i.e. a rural Idaho democrat may as well be a NYC republican). One party states are very good stifling any progress not condoned by powers that be of the established party only. It's all bread and circuses with the occasional consenting to progress at the last minute when it looks like they might actually be challenged. Trust me, you do not want that. That is bad for democracy. There's a reason this law was passed in Maine and not MA or CA. Maine's as economically stable as any other state that doesn't have an industry that basically prints money (and in reality those industries tend to only float a region, not a whole state, e.g. finance dollars are not helping Buffalo much, but that's not really important for this discussion).
bilbo0s 7y ago
Rejoice therefore. I'm in Wisconsin, and man do I wish we would be in the news for anything other than something our social cancer of a former governor did. :( Last week I was watching some comedians on a cable show. Trying to avoid late night comedians because we're always the butt of jokes over there. In any case, it's on in the background and I'm sort of paying attention enough to follow. All of a sudden I hear, "Wisconsin!" Followed by the comedy club's audience laughing. And I'm thinking to myself, "Man? Did a b-list comedian just tell a joke that featured 'Wisconsin' as not only the butt of the joke, but the punchline too?" A new low. Oh well, like my neighbor said this weekend, "There's always Florida!" So at least we're not at the bottom.
- WhompingWindows 7y ago
  Can you summarize Wisconsin politics, I don't know anything about it.

Hey now, you managed to be the first state to pass ranked-choice voting for state and federal elections back in 2016; here in Massachusetts we're jealous that we only might manage to bring it up for a vote or ballot initiative this year. :)

belenos46 7y ago
Ugh, I wish we had. Until we stuff through a (state) constitutional amendment, >"The bill does not allow ranked-choice voting to be used for general and special elections for the offices of Governor, State Senator, or State Representative unless there is an amendment to the Constitution of Maine, Article IV, Part First, Section 5, Article IV, Part Second, Sections 4 and 5 and Article V, Part First, Section 3 that authorizes the Legislature, by proper enactment, to determine the method by which the Governor and members of the State Senate and House of Representatives are elected is ratified."[0] It's like we've got a bunch of TODOs spread all over our legislation. [0] http://legislature.maine.gov/lawlibrary/ranked-choice-voting-in-maine/9509 http://legislature.maine.gov/lawlibrary/ranked-choice-voting...
- kibwen 7y ago
  Oh heh, I knew about the constitution thing but I thought it only applied to the Maine gubernatorial elections, not for state-level legislative office as well. At least it still applies for the congressional delegation, I suppose. :P

dsfyu404ed 7y ago

The social cancer of your former governor and your reputation among the uneducated for being the Alabama of New England is a good thing in the long term. One of the nice things about Maine is that it's a fairly progressive state with very tolerant people but without the cultural tendency for busybody and authoritarian tendencies that make the southern half of New England pretty crappy and expensive for the middle class. If you lose that reputation you will be inundated (more so than you currently are) with upper-middle class Massholes fleeing the cost of living they voted into existence and they will repeat their pattern of behavior in your state. I say this as a Masshole who's lived in all but two of the New England states. You are far better off having people from elsewhere think you are all backwards hicks and being wrong than not thinking that and being right. Let them come, spend their money vacationing, admire the scenery, express disdain for the "backwards" locals and leave. Do not be a place people want to move to, it will not be good for you. Just ask Colorado if you don't believe me. That said you people need to learn to drive with some urgency, especially on the state highways. Edit: Why is this flagged? Are my observations of the social/political situation in New England that inconvenient?

rhodysurf 7y ago
Rhode Island is cheap compared with Mass. Its pretty much just the Boston are that has an absurdly high cost of living at this point (Ignoring the New York parts of Connecticut)
eropple 7y ago
Being a backwards and hostile place is why young people with any potential flee Maine. You can go hard about all those Massholes, but there is a premium on decency to consider that has economic impact, too. If Maine wants to make that choice, that's fine, but they're going to be paying and paying and paying for it. I didn't much care for him as a governor at the time, but I saw John Baldacci speak around the time I graduated and he spoke of Maine's chief export: U-Hauls, carrying the state's best and brightest away. I've thought about moving back, because there are parts of Maine I miss...but it's neither economically nor politically stable and Maine misses out by that a lot more than I do.
- dsfyu404ed 7y ago
  >Being a backwards and hostile place is why young people with any potential flee Maine. They don't flee it. They suck it up and move elsewhere for money. The high paying jobs are in the big cities, like Boston. Most of them (all the ones I know who live in MA) want to move back and really don't like the culture here but that's basically impossible do to once you've built a professional network and started to raise a family. I graduated from UMaine. It was a morbid and forgone conclusion that we would all be moving to the Boston area if we wanted to make big bucks in our field. It was about the money, nothing else. People will put up with a lot of shit to make a buck. >but it's neither economically nor politically stable Politically stable? What the heck is that supposed to mean? Yeah, the republicans with their backwards social policy can take the legislature or governor if they the dems try to push dumb stuff people don't actually want. That's a feature not a bug. It means both parties actually have a reason to pander to the voters (i.e. do what voter want them to, stupid or not). Democracy requires competition. No, Maine isn't a one party state and I assure you you do not want it to be. The party distinction is a more malleable and relative one at the state level (i.e. a rural Idaho democrat may as well be a NYC republican). One party states are very good stifling any progress not condoned by powers that be of the established party only. It's all bread and circuses with the occasional consenting to progress at the last minute when it looks like they might actually be challenged. Trust me, you do not want that. That is bad for democracy. There's a reason this law was passed in Maine and not MA or CA. Maine's as economically stable as any other state that doesn't have an industry that basically prints money (and in reality those industries tend to only float a region, not a whole state, e.g. finance dollars are not helping Buffalo much, but that's not really important for this discussion).

bilbo0s 7y ago

Rejoice therefore. I'm in Wisconsin, and man do I wish we would be in the news for anything other than something our social cancer of a former governor did. :( Last week I was watching some comedians on a cable show. Trying to avoid late night comedians because we're always the butt of jokes over there. In any case, it's on in the background and I'm sort of paying attention enough to follow. All of a sudden I hear, "Wisconsin!" Followed by the comedy club's audience laughing. And I'm thinking to myself, "Man? Did a b-list comedian just tell a joke that featured 'Wisconsin' as not only the butt of the joke, but the punchline too?" A new low. Oh well, like my neighbor said this weekend, "There's always Florida!" So at least we're not at the bottom.

WhompingWindows 7y ago
Can you summarize Wisconsin politics, I don't know anything about it.