Liberals, moderates, sensible conservatives and all working Americans should be appalled by the recent actions of Maine’s new Tea Party Gov. Paul (“ I got 38 percent of the vote!”) LePage. First, he removed from the state’s Dept. of Labor a mural honoring—scandal!—Maine’s Labor history; and now, with his GOP legislature, LePage is rolling back child labor laws.
Let’s party like it’s 1893.
Remember when Maine represented solid, moderate, common sense and decency? Remember when the state voted for Barack Obama by 17 points over John McCain? Remember Ed Muskie? Lest we forget Maine’s two Republican senators, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe; they may drive liberals crazy at times. But they are bona fide moderates—perhaps the only GOP moderates in the Senate—though we can be sure Scott Brown will move to the center as he runs for reelection in deep Blue Massachusetts.
No one better personified Maine’s moderate tradition than its great, four-term (1949-73) GOP senator, Margaret Chase Smith—the inspiration for Lacey Davenport in Garry Trudeau’s Doonesbury. Her husband, Rep. Clyde Smith, was a Republican supporter of the New Deal. And less than two years into her quarter-century tenure in the Senate, Margaret Chase Smith was one of few legislators with the courage to stand up to the Red-baiting Sen. Joseph McCarthy. In June 1950—at the height of McCarthy’s power—she delivered, on the floor of the Senate, her “Declaration of Conscience.” While arguing that the “ineffective” Democratic administration of President Harry Truman needed to be defeated, Sen. Smith added:
“Yet to displace it with a Republican regime embracing a philosophy that lacks political integrity or intellectual honesty would prove equally disastrous to this nation. The nation sorely needs a Republican victory. But I don’t want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny — Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry and Smear.
I doubt if the Republican Party could — simply because I don’t believe the American people will uphold any political party that puts political exploitation above national interest.”
The Four Horsemen of Calumny. Wow. They don’t make ‘em like Maggie anymore—or “Moscow Maggie,” as the McCarthyites branded her after her brave stand. One can only imagine what Sen. Smith would think of Sarah Palin. And Michele Bachmann. And Newt Gingrich. And Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Ann Coulter. And Fox News….
And….
… Paul LePage. His removal of the 36-foot mural—which he claims was biased toward organized labor and at odds with his pro-business philosophy—was an insult, to be sure. But the child labor legislation is disastrous. The law would allow children under 16 to work up to 24 hours a week—in addition to school, homework and, if humanly possible, any extracurricular activities. Leaving aside the potential for exploitation—the whole reason for child labor laws in the first place—these young Mainers would be allowed to work for $5.25/hour, $2.25 under the minimum wage.
Maine’s 7 percent jobless rate is slightly below the national 8.8 mark. But it’s still too high. Now, with an infusion of young “talent,” any adults applying for low-end employment will have to compete with underpaid kids—an entire new pool of cheap labor.
After all, who needs illegal immigrants when you have “legal” 8th-graders?
There is an old expression, “as Maine goes, so goes the nation.” It refers to Presidential elections. Let’s pray it doesn’t apply to labor laws.
The results could be catastrophic, for children and adults alike.