"It is inappropriate for a taxpayer funded agency to appear to be one sided or the other...The Department of Labor works closely with employees and employers."posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:58 PM on March 23, 2011
Why should unions have moral privileges beyond those given to any other racketeers trying to monopolize and set prices for a previously competitive economic activity?Why should business owners have moral privileges beyond those given to any other slave-exploiters trying to ransom food and medicine for profit? (See? This is fun.)
Why should the state glorify unions -- which add jobs only in union officialdom -- and not celebrate the businesses that actually create the employment that pays the taxes that builds these fine government buildings, and pays muralists to decorate them?Math is hard, isn't it?
"The directive comes amidst rising tensions between the LePage Administration and organized labor over the governor’s support for a right-to-work bill and efforts to roll back the state’s child labor laws." *posted by ericb at 2:52 PM on March 23, 2011 [3 favorites]
'We have received feedback that the administration building is not perceived as equally receptive to both businesses and workers – primarily because of the nature of the mural in the lobby and the names of our conference rooms. Whether or not the perception is valid is not really at issue and therefore, not open to debate. If either of our two constituencies perceives that they are not welcome in our administration building and this translates to a belief that their needs will not be heard or met by this department, then it presents a barrier to achieving our mission.'"*posted by ericb at 2:54 PM on March 23, 2011
Judy Taylor, Judy Taylor....where have I heard that name before....JESUS CHRIST IT'S MY WIFE...Thanks for all the support !Very cool. Ever since I read this story, I've been wondering something. Perhaps you can ask your wife. When she was commissioned to make the mural, did her contract include a VARA waiver?
posted by lobstah at 4:05 PM on March 23
"LePage's two-year, $6.1 million budget proposal includes $200 million in tax breaks, including lowering the top income tax rate from 8.5 percent to 7.95 percent.posted by me & my monkey at 5:51 PM on March 23, 2011 [9 favorites]
To pay for the tax cuts, the budget proposes several changes to teacher and state worker pension benefits.
The bill, filed by Sen. Debra Plowman, R-Hampden, was supported by industry groups including the Maine Restaurant Association and the Maine Innkeepers Association...That link has some interesting details about the bill, which the Dept. of Labor actually apparently favored. In reading through it, I can find some things that might be a little more restrictive than I, personally, would like for a teenager's work schedule. The cap on no more than four hours a day is kind of tight, especially if it means, in practice, you have to work more separate shifts. That costs more in transportation, and let's say you work in a restaurant - it would be far easier on a teen's schedule to work six hours on a Saturday as opposed to three hours on each of two weeknights, which effectively just ruins study and sleep time. In a state like Maine, where there are a lot of poor families and anything you can earn as a teen might help you help the family heat the house, pay for stuff you need for school, or send you to college, I can see an argument for loosening the regulations on teens. When I was a teen worker in NJ the laws were much more loose than this proposed change - there were certainly weeks I worked more than 32 hours, especially during Christmas. I'm not saying it was a great idea to allow this but it didn't end the world. So the bill itself may not be any crazier than the already existing child labor regulations are, but it definitely appears to be business driven and driven by specific industries, not by a true need or a social welfare concern.
"Here's an important clarification, however. Lots of early reports, including Seitz-Wald's initial post, said that this missive came in the form of a fax transmission. LePage's office now says that it was 'a letter, not a fax.' If true, there's no reason to be concerned about the fact that there wasn't a fax transmittal timestamp on the released document. However, this point from Seitz-Wald still stands: 'But more importantly, why is LePage making policy decisions based on a single [letter] from an anonymous "Secret Admirer"?'posted by ericb at 3:19 PM on March 24, 2011
It's a good question! Fortunately, it's one that we can test. LePage's office address is #1 State Hall Station, Augusta, Maine, 04333. So send him your letters! Demand that he flood the streets of Bangor with delicious chowder! Insist that the Whoopie Pie should not be Maine's state dessert. Order him to send the Maine Army National Guard to annex New Brunswick. If LePage stays true to form, pretty soon Maine will be up to its waist in bonkersauce.
(For best results, sign your letters, "Love, the Koch Brothers," obviously.) *
Maine owns the mural, but the federal funding that contributed to its commission means that if LePage does not exhibit the art in an appropriate government building, he must reimburse the state’s unemployment trust fund account 63.39 percent of the “current fair market value,” according to the Labor Department. Given the painting’s new cultural significance, LePage may unintentionally have taken on the role of a political Larry Gagosian, the art dealer who has a knack for driving up prices. Tom Denenberg, the chief curator of the Portland Museum of Art, said that while he wouldn’t put a dollar amount on the mural’s appreciation, the governor’s focus “without a doubt dramatically increases its importance.” That complicates LePage’s efforts to take full control of the situation, and Bennett said the office is still “assessing” what to do with the work. She insisted that LePage wishes the mural no harm — he just finds it anti-business.
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posted by saulgoodman at 1:40 PM on March 23, 2011 [25 favorites]