RepRichCebra's Blog

In the last 2 weeks of the Legislative session hundreds of bills bottlenecked over the session scramble to be worked through the legislative process. Several of those bills are worthy of note not just because of their transformational character but their outcome is also very noteworthy.

LD 144 was a bill that would have reduced the size of the Legislature from 151members to 121 members. This is a very popular idea whose time has come. I supported the bill. Unfortunately it was defeated on party lines.

LD 290 was a bill that would have allowed Mainers to purchase Health Insurance from out of state companies. This would have an almost immediate effect on the incredibly high cost of health insurance in Maine lowering those costs by some estimates as much as 20 percent.

LD 1206 was another health insurance bill that would have created a High Risk Pool in Maine, had this bill passed in conjunction with LD 290, the total savings in Health Insurance premiums to Maine people would have been between 30 and 40 percent. It would have also meant savings in the millions for our state, town and school employee benefit budgets. I supported both bills and both failed down party lines.

LD 254 was my bill to enact a 5 point welfare reform package. This bill would have put common sense restrictions on welfare benefits. It failed on a party line vote.

When I say “party line vote” I mean that almost all members of a political party voted a certain way.   In my opinion these four bills were good bills that would have had a very big, very positive impact on the people of Maine and our economy.

There is one bill that has received a lot of attention in the media, LD 1088 This bill adds or increases the sales tax on a whole list of goods and
services including auto repairs, movie tickets, meal and lodging, skiing,
golf, rafting, dry cleaning, appliance repair, just to name a few. Many
businesses and industries will be hurt by these tax increases. Maine people
will be forced to pay more for services and entertainment.

The bill would also no longer allow for itemized deductions, including mortgage interest and charitable contributions meaning that while the bill does gradually reduce the Income Tax rate it takes away the traditional deductions for homeowners. Most people will not see any savings. With the shifting in the sales tax most people would actually be paying more taxes, a lot more. It’s a bad deal for Maine’s taxpayers and I did not support this terrible tax shift bill, unfortunately it passed in the House and I’m proud to say, with no Republican support.

There was also a Transportation Sub Committee that I served on that looked at Maine’s gas taxes. I was asked by my leadership to negotiate in good faith and work towards getting rid of the Automatic Gas Tax Indexing. Currently every year the gas tax goes up automatically with inflation. This group met for a few weeks at the end of May and there was no final consensus. (I also had an out of context quote of mine played numerous times on Portland radio during the discussions of this sub- committee creating quite a stir).  In the end, I did however manage to get the Gas Tax increases stripped out of the Highway fund budget. Subsequently Democrat members of the Transportation Committee submitted a separate bill to increase the gas tax that did not eliminate the automatic indexing. I did not support their bill and voted against any increase in the gas tax.

As a Republican, I fully believe in the core conservative values of limited government, low taxes and responsible fiscal policy. But these beliefs are not only for members of the GOP. We all want a government that protects the environment, but we also want that same government to protect the financial security of American families. And that’s why cap and trade is a climate change plan that Congress should avoid.

Cap and trade, also known as the Carbon Tax, is the anti-global warming weapon of choice for the Obama administration and most Democrats in Congress. It’s a deeply flawed strategy that would be too hard to implement, difficult to monitor and, if the European experience is any indication, won’t even lower emissions. It will, however, raise your taxes – big time. By some estimates, an average family’s tax burden could increase as much as $3,400 a year.

The Carbon Tax bill has only just begun its journey through the congressional committee process, but it has already been loaded with special interest handouts that give away billions of dollars in free emissions permits. Many observers fear that the potential for political favoritism and pork barrel spending under cap and trade is virtually unlimited, and with the current crowd controlling the levers of power in Washington that can't be a good thing.  

The permit-trading scheme that lies at the heart of cap and trade is another potential disaster. The same inefficient setup that allows politicians to hand out pork also gives Wall Street traders an opening to rake in fortunes for themselves at the public’s expense. Cap and trade could bring about the next mortgage market-style meltdown, the next financial crash that will bankrupt the country while traders walk away with multi-million dollar bonuses for themselves.  

The inherent problems with cap and trade will cause widespread damage to a U.S. economy that is still just beginning to mend and to American families that are struggling to make ends meet. It would raise energy prices even higher and thereby increase the cost of goods and services throughout the economy. Employment would also take a savage hit. A study prepared by CRA International for the Coalition for Affordable Energy found that President Obama’s cap and trade plan would result in 1.9 million net job losses by 2020 and 3.2 million by 2025. We don’t have much manufacturing left in the United States, but what there is can be expected to move to countries where electricity is still affordable.

A similar cap and trade plan was attempted last session. A study of that bill commissioned by the National Association of Manufacturers estimated that its effects would cause gasoline prices to increase by as much as 69 percent in 10 years and 145 percent in 20 years. Fuel cost increases like that would devastate the U.S. transportation system and dramatically affect the quality of our lives.  

Worst of all, this damage could be done for no discernable environmental benefit. The complexity of cap and trade, coupled with its vulnerability to political manipulation, makes it extremely difficult to successfully administer.

The European Union has tried to master cap and trade for more than 10 years now, with little success. In fact, they’ve seen their greenhouse gas emissions increase more than those here in the U.S. No progress has been made on climate change, but consumers are still paying higher electricity rates and businesses are losing their competitive edge. And that leads to a growing suspicion that cap and trade has nothing to do with the environment. It is, instead, just a gigantic tax increase. The costs are measured in the hundreds of billions and the trillions of dollars.

There are other ways to protect our environment.  Certainly we can develop strategies that don’t enrich Wall Street while impoverishing Main Street. We need plans that encourage fiscal responsibility, not backroom political deals and government handouts to potential campaign contributors. The president and his Democratic congressional colleagues should devote more time to examining these options and put cap and trade aside. Republicans need to step up to the plate and actually lead the way. After all, historically, conservation is a conservative principle. It was Richard Nixon who established the Environmental Protection Agency.

While cap and trade is not a state issue, it will affect everyone in Maine and throughout America. If you don’t like the sounds of this plan, I suggest you contact Maine’s congressional delegation and make it clear where you stand. Public opinion has stopped some of Washington’s other bad ideas over the past few years, and it can stop this one, too.

Representative Richard M. Cebra of Naples is serving his third term in the Maine House of Representatives representing District 101, which includes Casco, Naples and part of Poland.

I would like to thank the organizers for having me here today, it is a real honor and privilege to be here with you this afternoon.

 

 

Today a very considerable number of people who would profess themselves to be Christians do not find much meaning in prayer. I believe that is because they don’t understand what prayer is.

 

 

 Today on the National Day of Prayer we turn our national attention toward prayer.

 

 

Prayer is at the heart of Christian discipleship.
Prayer is not an attempt to change the world after our own desires, but it is communion with God to seek his will.  Our prayers, each and every one, are heard by an ever living and loving God.

 

 

There are a lot of questions surrounding prayer.

 

 

Is there an acceptable or best prayer style? That is, do you have to get emotional, or do you need to be formal? Can you laugh, or Cry, or Moan or Be loud or must you Be quiet? Do you have to be serious or can you be light hearted? Should we pray aloud or silently?
Is there a best or required time of day to pray? Is there a certain position to get into when praying, should we kneel or sit or stand?
How long do we have to pray for us to come to God and to be in his presence?

 

 

All those questions have to do with style and I don’t believe Prayer style is important.

 

 

Prayer is communication, it’s a dialog and part of your personal relationship and walk with God. In a similar way that you would talk differently to different people in your life so too prayer to your Father God can and should be intimate and personal.

 

 

The Lord wants you to pray, he wants you to bring him your highlights and your lowlights, he wants to be part of your life.

 

 

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 and 18 We are told to “Pray without ceasing. 18In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 

 

 

The Lord wants us to bring it all to Him, he wants us to make Him a part of every bit of our lives and our prayer life is how we do that.

 

 

I once heard a story about the Evangelist Billy Graham, after a long day at one of his famous Crusades a few people who had just met him were gathered there, and as they were about to leave the backstage area Dr. Graham paused to pray. Now you would think that Dr. Graham must be a powerful prayer warrior and that his prayers would be very grand and elaborate. They paused and waited thinking that they would get to hear Dr Graham pray. His prayer went like this: “Lord, Where’s my hat?Amen”

 

 

I’ve often thought about that story in relation to my prayer life. That someone like Dr. Graham, who has done so many big things in the service of God would have a relationship with him that he knew that even asking God where his misplaced hat might be was not outside the relationship he had with the father.  

 

 

I want that kind of relationship with My heavenly father. The kind of relationship where I can bring him anything, big or small. Where I can tell him what I’m happy about or angry about.

 

 

You see, nothing is too big or small for Him because when you are his and have a relationship with him he wants it all.

 

 

He wants to hear from you today. He wants to know you and he wants to be in your life.

 

 

Here’s what the bible says about prayer, think about these bible verses and how they might fit into where you are today:

 

 

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. --Romans 12:12  This is how He wants us to live.

 

 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6  He wants you to turn your worries over to Him and present your requests to him.

 

 

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. --Colossians 4:2  He wants you to keep praying.

 

 

Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do." --Jeremiah 42:3  He wants you to ask for His guidance in your life.

 

 

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. --Romans 8:26 Sometimes we’re so frustrated in our lives we don’t even know what to say but He already knows and the Holy Spirit goes before the father for us.

 

 

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. --James 5:16   He wants us to pray for others, friend and foe so that He can be glorified. AND He says- that the prayer of a righteous man is POWERFUL and EFFECTIVE- in that statement He is telling us that He’s listening and that your prayers are important to Him.

 

 

So pray today my friends, if you’ve never prayed or haven’t prayed in a long time it’s easy to get started, start by telling God that you want to start talking again and then tell him what’s on your mind. Ask Him to forgive you for the things you’ve done and then ask Him to be part of your life every day. He’s waiting for you. In the Book of Revelation in the Bible, Chapter 3 Verse 20- Our Lord God himself says “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”

 

 

Prayer opens that door.

 

 

State House Status Report

 

By Rep. Rich Cebra

 

The legislative session in Augusta is in full swing right now. A lot of the recent media attention has focused on the state’s General Fund budget shortfall of around $570 million. There’s also a sizable shortfall in the Highway Fund. I wanted to take an opportunity to tell you about a few of the other bills I have sponsored or have been working on this session.

 

LD 194- An Act to Require an Independent Audit of State Government Every 4 Years

 

This bill would have given the citizens of Maine an impartial look at exactly what is going on in Maine State Government. Currently the State Auditor is elected by a majority of the Legislature making that position a political office. In my testimony presenting this bill I likened that to the fox guarding the chicken coop. The bill was killed by the majority party. From their vote, it looks like they don’t want you to know where your money is going in state government.

 

LD 254- An Act to Enact a 5-point Welfare Reform Program

 

This bill would put into place common sense reforms to our open-ended welfare system and help ensure that Maine’s safety net would be there for Maine residents. During the public hearing of this bill, about 50 citizens attended the hearing in favor of the bill, many of them testifying passionately. I was able to present to the committee over 100 written testimonies in favor of the bill from Maine residents from all over the state. The opponents of this bill at the hearing were all either state employees or lobbyists. Currently the bill has come out of committee on a partisan divided report, meaning the Democrats voted against it and the Republicans voted for it. It has yet to come before the Legislature for debate.

 

LD 532- An Act to Clarify Allowable Practices Concerning Maine Farm Wineries

 

I submitted this bill at the request of a small winery in Casco in the interest of supporting local small business. This bill allows employees of these small wineries to pour their own wine at a civic organization’s public event. Currently this is prohibited. The bill passed the committee unanimously and is on its way to becoming law.

 

LD 1234- An Act to Regulate the Use of Traffic Surveillance Cameras

 

The discussion of traffic cameras that take a picture of a vehicle if it goes through a red light or speeds on a stretch of road has been before the Legislature several times before. While on the surface these cameras may appear to increase public safety, recent studies have shown that they actually increase the occurrences of accidents at intersections where the public is aware that there is a camera. The placement of these cameras is also a civil rights issue, creating the issuing of a summons and possible fines and jail time to the owner of a vehicle and not necessarily the actual driver of the vehicle. In many places around the country, these cameras have become nothing more than a money-maker for municipalities. This bill prohibits the use of these cameras. The Transportation Committee unanimously passed the bill and it now heads to the full Legislature for approval.

 

LD 1367- An Act to Increase the Homestead Property Exemption

 

This bill allows a municipality to approve a higher exemption amount under the Maine resident homestead property tax exemption program. This would provide much needed property tax relief to Maine residents on their primary residence. This bill is still pending.

 

I have also testified or given my support to numerous bills that are broad-reaching and reform-oriented, such as allowing Maine residents to purchase health insurance from companies operating outside of Maine. I have also testified against several bills one is LD 1353, An Act Regarding Salary Information for Public Employees. This bill is a blatant attempt by some in the legislature to deny public information to the citizens and taxpayers of Maine. By hiding the names of government and school employees who are paid by our constituents’ tax dollars, this bill sends a disturbing message that elected officials will not hold themselves accountable to Mainers.

 

###

 

 

Testimony of State Representative Richard Cebra

 

To the Joint Standing Judiciary Committee

 

 

 

 

Opposition to LD 1353: “An Act Regarding Salary Information for Public Employees"

 

 

 

 

April 30, 2009

 

 

 

 

Senator Bliss, Representative Priest, members of the Judiciary Committee, I am State Representative Richard Cebra and I have the honor of representing the people of Casco, Naples, and part of Poland in the Maine House of Representatives.

 

 

 

I stand here today in opposition to LD 1353, “An Act Regarding Salary Information for Public Employees.”

 

 

 

Never in recent memory has there been such a blatant attempt to deny public information to the citizens and taxpayers of Maine.  By hiding the names of government and school employees who are paid by our constituents’ tax dollars, this bill sends a disturbing message that elected officials will not hold themselves accountable to Mainers.  Passage of this bill means Mainers should not be inquiring how government spends their money.

 

 

 

This is not the message I believe our legislature should be sending to the people of Maine.  This information has always been public.  This sudden push to hide public information and shut down government transparency is as confusing as it is dangerous.

 

 

 

Open government is not just a privilege, it is a right—a right this bill tramples upon.  Although some members of this committee have cosponsored the bill, I urge them to change their position to achieve a unanimous recommendation of “Ought Not To Pass.”

 

 

 

Now is the time to empower citizens with greater government transparency.  Our efforts should be spent tearing down the roadblocks that prevent access to public information.  We should not be using our positions as elected officials to blindfold the citizens of Maine.

 

 

 

Thank you for your time.  I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Americans Rally for Economic Sanity

 

 

By Rep. Rich Cebra

 

 

The results of the great Tax Day Tea Party are rolling in, and they could not be more clear. Hundreds of thousands of worried citizens turned out around the country to plead with Washington to not bankrupt our country. In return, the liberal elites dismissed them as ignorant rednecks.

 

That must have come as quite a shock to the hundreds of people at the Portland tea party that I attended. These were ordinary, working class men and women – many with their kids – who feel our country is spinning out of control. They are worried sick about the nation that their children will inherit, buried beneath an unfathomable mountain of debt.

 

They don’t like the budget proposed by President Obama – and now passed by the Democratic Congress – that will spend an incredible $3.6 trillion next year, while leaving a deficit of more than $1 trillion. In fact, the Obama spending blueprint will saddle the country with trillion-dollar deficits for at least the next decade. He plans to deepen our national debt by $9 trillion, more than four times the size of the deficits amassed by President Bush, himself one of the biggest spending presidents in American history. In fact, the national debt under Obama will surpass the total national debt amassed by all other U.S. presidents combined.

 

Today’s young people will have to deal with a $20 trillion national debt, with interest costs approaching $1 trillion a year. Much of that interest will flow to the lending countries, primarily China, which is already using our money to build a massive military machine. Their attack on a U.S. Navy ship in the South China Sea last month may be a sign of things to come. The Chinese recently unveiled their “carrier killers,” anti-ship missiles with a range of 1,200 miles and which skim over the waves at mach 5 speed.

 

While our parents, the Greatest Generation, gave us a country of unparalleled prosperity and a seemingly boundless future, we are leaving our descendants a horrific mess. The folks at the tea parties understand that our current economic problems were directly caused by Congress, with their insane laws that forced banks to give mortgages to people who had no job, no income and no assets. In fact, the bankers were not even allowed to ask mortgage applicants if they were in the United States legally. Millions of mortgages were awarded to illegal aliens.

 

The people at the tea parties also don’t like the Obama plan to legalize the 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens and put them on a fast track to citizenship. Once legalized, they can “sponsor in” an unlimited number of relatives. The existing average is five apiece. By some estimates, the amnesty and its aftermath will increase the population of our country by more than 100 million people, primarily from the third world. We know that one-third of today’s immigrants are on welfare, so we can project that tens of millions more would come here and immediately demand Medicaid and the myriad other welfare benefits. This would hasten our slide into economic oblivion, while making our energy, crime and infrastructure problems much more severe.

 

And for good measure, the tea party people are not exactly keen on the new policy of the Homeland Security Department to target as potential “right-wing terrorists” such groups as military veterans, defenders of the Bill of Rights and those who want our borders enforced. Meanwhile, the Homeland Security secretary, Janet Napolitano, said not one word about the dozens of Islamic jihadist training camps reportedly operating right here in America. So Homeland Security under Obama intends to keep an eye on loyal, patriotic Americans who have fought for their country and believe in the Constitution while practically turning a blind eye to the very people sworn to kill us.

 

It’s no wonder that the people at the tea parties feel that the America they love is slipping through our fingers. They fear the liberal elites in charge plan to transform our country into something we won’t even recognize. Even those who voted for Obama for “change” didn’t bargain for a bankrupt country with Big Brother spying on veterans.

 

These are some of the reasons for our growing national paranoia about the future. These are the things that brought people out by the hundreds of thousands to tell Washington, “No, we will not allow you to destroy our nation.”

 

It’s now clear the liberal elites do not even begin to grasp the depth of our fears. Consider David Axelrod, the man who ran Barack Obama’s campaign and now serves as a senior advisor. On the CBS show “Face the Nation” a few days after the tea parties, Axelrod said the movement is an “unhealthy” reaction to tough economic times. He spoke as if the people at the tea party rallies – an organic grassroots uprising – are ignorant dolts. In his words, “I think any time you have severe economic conditions there is always an element of disaffection that can mutate into something that’s unhealthy.” In other words, “You little peasants have no right to protest the sacking of your country.”

 

The media elites were just as appalling. Here’s a report by an MSNBC correspondent a day after the tea parties “Let’s be honest about what this is about. It’s not about bashing Democrats, it’s not about taxes. They have no idea what the Boston Tea Party was about; they don’t know their history at all. This is about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism straight up. This is nothing but a bunch of tea-bagging rednecks.”

 

You know the elites are nervous when they have to tell such bald-faced lies. They know the truth – this is popular revolt against a government gone mad. As more Americans learn about the ruinous policies of the Obama administration, the tea party movement will grow bigger and more powerful. The people who pay the taxes and make America work are drawing a line in the sand. We will not stand by silently while our country is wrecked, no matter who is in the White House.

 

 

The Obama plan to bankrupt America

 

 

By Rep. Rich Cebra 

 

In recent months, it has become clear that the Democratic Party is no longer the party of Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy or even Bill Clinton. Regardless of their personal failings, those presidents usually worked for a better future for our country. The Democrats who control the federal government today, however, are a breed apart – left-wing zealots whose economic ignorance is matched only by their contempt for national security. We now have evidence that they also hate our children.

 

On April 3, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives voted to condemn our kids to a future of debt and national desolation. The budgets they passed will double our national debt in five years and triple it in 10 years to $20 trillion. This will be the legacy of the “progressive” Democrats – a bankrupt America.

 

Not a single Republican in either chamber voted for this budgetary monstrosity. House Democrats voted for a fiscal 2010 budget of $3.6 trillion, the same staggering sum proposed by their leader, President Barack Obama. The Senate, in a wild fit of fiscal “discipline,” cut that to $3.5 trillion. Both versions will bring on budget deficits in the $1 trillion range as far as the eye can see, and the end result will be financial collapse. The Democrat Congress, driven by either sheer stupidity or an actual desire to terminate the United States as a free country, has apparently set out to wreck the nation.

 

I realize that most people will find this hard to believe, but facts are facts. Senator Judd Gregg, a New Hampshire Republican, put it this way: “The practical implication of this is bankruptcy for the United States,” he said. “There’s no other way around it. If we maintain the proposals that are in this budget over the 10-year period which this budget covers, the country will go bankrupt. People will not buy our debt; our dollar will become devalued.”

 

For those of us who love this country, it is incredibly sad to watch these Democrats in action. Now in total control of Washington and drunk with power, they have become completely unhinged from reality. The ringleader of this financial fiasco is President Barack Obama, a man who had never run so much as a hot dog stand before deciding that he should be the leader of the free world. He now seems determined to take our country over a cliff. Sure, he “charmed” the queen of England and slickly maneuvered through Europe, but style is superficial and shallow. The inner guts of the man are very different. The millions of Americans who have fought for our country, and the thousands who have died defending liberty, probably never imagined the day would come when our own government would seek to hasten our demise.

 

Obama knows precisely what he is doing. He knows that the country is dangerously in debt already, but he has no qualms about making the situation much, much worse. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a highly respected, non-partisan group, predicted that the Obama budget will produce $9.3 trillion worth of red ink over 2010-2019. Obama’s own budget director, Peter Orszag, said that if the CBO’s forecast proves accurate, Obama’s budget would produce deficits that could not be sustained. And mind you, none of this even includes the coming fiscal cataclysm when baby boomers hit Social Security and Medicare in their full force of 80 million people.

 

A prudent leader would examine these facts and take action to curb spending and set a course for financial survival. But not Obama. And not the Democrats who control Congress. They all ignored the voices of reason. Sen. Susan Collins, who sided with Obama on the stimulus plan, came out strongly against the president’s budget from her vantage point on the Senate Appropriations Committee. As she said, “It poses a threat to the basic health of our economy.”

 

It also poses a threat to our national security. The Obama budget slashes military spending to get more money for his lavish new social welfare programs. The Pentagon, now working on its piece of the budget, plans to reduce the Navy’s aircraft carrier fleet from 11 to 10. It also will likely cancel out the F-22 stealth jet fighter, designed to enhance U.S. air superiority and pilot survivability. Other projects to be scrapped include the Army’s Future Combat Systems program, which combines manned and unmanned ground vehicles and drones acting in sync. As the Pentagon’s spokesman said. “These are not changes at the margins. This is a fundamental shift in direction.”

 

Stop and think about this for a moment. We now face a resurgent Russia and an increasingly belligerent China. We have a madman in nuclear-armed North Korea, who recently launched a long-range missile in the direction of the United States. Iran is on the verge of obtaining nuclear bombs and has pledged to obliterate Israel. Hugo Chavez and his fellow left-wing dictators in South America have formed an alliance against our country, and communist China controls the Panama Canal (thanks to Jimmy Carter).

 

Considering these ominous and growing threats, what kind of president would decide that now is the time to weaken our national defense? And what kind of Congress would agree to such lunacy? With these poltroons in charge, our future is looking very grim, but most of all I feel sorry for our children. They will inherit the bankrupt carcass of a once-great nation. The 2010 election will be too late to sweep out the Obama Democrats. The damage has already been done.

 

Bureaucrats Battling Back Against Welfare Reform

 

By Rep. Rich Cebra

 

 

On Tuesday, March 31, in a legislative committee room in Augusta, citizens gathered to support a bill before the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services. That bill was LD 254, “An Act to Enact a 5 point Welfare Reform Plan.”

 

The idea behind the bill, without delving into too much detail, is to place reasonable restrictions on Maine’s open-ended welfare system. One provision, for instance, would establish a residency requirement to make sure recipients have actually lived in Maine for at least 90 days before they start collecting our tax dollars. Another provision would place a lifetime limit of five years on benefits so that people don’t spend a lifetime on the dole. That would put Maine in sync with provisions of the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, a landmark achievement of President Bill Clinton.

 

I sponsored this bill for several reasons. Over the last five years I have surveyed my House district several times. On each survey I have included a question on welfare, and each time the overwhelming response has been to place reasonable restrictions on welfare. Surveys from other legislators have produced similar results.

 

Two years ago I was a co-sponsor on an identical bill. That effort got the discussion started but fell short because the majority party circled the wagons to protect the bloated government that they’ve created. They believe government can and should be all things to all people forever. Any attempt to slow down the growth of their huge bureaucracy is met with agonizing cries of doom and a heavy-handed blow to the hardworking taxpayers of Maine.

 

LD 254 is no exception. I was proud to sponsor this legislation not just because of the contents of the bill but because something has happened over the last few weeks to recharge my belief in the people of Maine. Citizens of our state are becoming energized by political events that seem out of control and by an upcoming state budget that is facing a shortfall potentially as big as $1.5 billion. In the spirit of the times, I will double my efforts to fight against our oversized state bureaucracy that is controlled by entrenched lobbyists whose special interests are keeping government big, costly and inefficient.

 

At the public hearing for LD 254 dozens of Mainers from all over the state assembled in the committee room to testify and support the bill. The committee heard passionate testimony from Maine citizens in favor of the bill and received over 100 written testimonies from hard-working Mainers who couldn’t take time off to get to Augusta.

 

When it came time for the opposition to speak, the testimony came from state employees at the Department of Health and Human Services, the gigantic department that handles welfare, Medicaid and the countless “safety net” programs. They were joined by lobbyists from agencies that make their living off of keeping things just the way that they are. There was a stark difference between the proponents and opponents – between the Mainers who supply the tax dollars and the bureaucrats who fiercely resist any attempt at reform.

 

The bill will come up for a vote before the Legislature in the coming weeks. That vote will show the people of Maine exactly who is working hard for them and who is working hard for the lobbyists and special interests that have controlled our state for too long.

 

Another bill that I sponsored, LD 194, would have required an independent audit of state government every four years. The bill would have given us an independent picture of where our tax dollars are going. At the public hearing for that bill you would have thought I was trying to destroy the world. Government employees from several departments, including the State Auditor’s office, testified that there was no need for an outside audit and that everything in state government was just fine. This is a classic example of the fox guarding the chicken coop. Special interests and big government spokespeople won the day with committee members, who were all too happy to keep the public in the dark about government’s shenanigans. There’s a reason why Democrats refer to state government as “the family business.”

 

Our republic was founded on the principle that government derives its power from the people and not the other way around. Reading the testimony and seeing the involved group of citizens testifying in favor of LD 254 showed me that there is still hope. If citizens get involved in their government, we can take it back from the entrenched special interests and put it on a more sustainable course. It may not happen soon, but the battle has been joined and with every small defeat our efforts should be intensified. This state belongs to the people, not the government. I look forward to keeping up the fight.

 

Is U.S. on the road to bankruptcy?

By Representative Rich Cebra

 

 

“There is no native criminal class except Congress.”

 

—Mark Twain

 

 

 

For more than a century, the American people have known that Congress is corrupt, a collection of ambitious hustlers, self-serving greed heads, tax cheats and outrageous imbeciles. We’ve watched their drunken antics, their sex scandals and their talent for getting rich while in office. Every so often a good man or woman makes it into the House or Senate, a real patriot who actually cared about our country. Such people are too few and far between.

 

Most Americans tolerated the Washington cesspool as long as the Congress critters left us alone and kept their stupidity contained inside the Beltway. Despite the damage these “leaders” inflicted on the nation, our system of free enterprise kept the country afloat. We thrived, creating the highest standard of living in history. Our farmers fed the world and our pharmaceutical firms provided cures for many of the worst diseases. Meanwhile the Bill of Rights kept these power-mad congressional buffoons at bay. Observing them was like watching a stadium riot on TV. It was too distant to affect our lives.

 

But now we’ve reached a breaking point. With one party controlling Congress and an inexperienced, unaccomplished novice in the White House, we now have a government that’s driving us to socialism and third world status. By forcing banks to give mortgages to people with no jobs, no assets and no income, congressional Democrats have touched off a global financial collapse.

 

We also must hold accountable the greedy bankers on Wall Street and the Democrat operatives who looted millions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But it was Congress that refused to rein in the wild frenzy as toxic mortgages spread like milfoil throughout the world’s financial system. To make sure Congress turned a blind eye to the gathering storm, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made large “donations” to Capitol Hill regulators, such as Senate Banking Committee chairman Chris Dodd. Number two on the list of recipients of Fannie Mae money was none other than Barack Obama, now president of the United States.

 

The economic meltdown created by Congress has wrecked the stock market, the banking system, the housing industry and the economy. American families have lost trillions of dollars they had saved for retirement, or to send their kids to college. Millions of people are unemployed. States, including Maine, are in dire financial straits. Retail stores have been shut down from coast to coast. And we’re told that the worst is yet to come.

 

Now in a panic, and with their approval ratings collapsing, Congress has lurched into action with the so-called stimulus package of $787 billion. It’s the largest single expenditure in American history, and it was jammed through Congress before members even had a chance to read the bill. The ringleader was the dangerously inept speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, who rushed the thing through at warp speed because she had to catch a flight to Italy to meet the Pope – at taxpayers’ expense.

 

The stimulus plan, of course, is an abomination. It is packed with hundreds of billions in pork that will not produce lasting jobs. It includes billions of dollars for left-wing extremist groups, payback from Mr. Obama to his supporters. Instead of lowering tax rates and capital gains rates – which would have stimulated the economy – the economic ignoramuses controlling our country decided to try spending our way to recovery. In the process, they have added to the staggering mountain of debt that awaits our kids and their kids.

 

We’re told that the plan will cost $787 billion. But that’s a low ball. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the real cost will be $3.27 trillion over the next decade. That’s right – trillions. Hidden deep inside this 1,000-page monster are new and expanded welfare programs that are permanent. The bill also repeals the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, so we will again be treated to the spectacle of the “welfare queens” made famous by President Reagan.

 

As grim as things look now, they will get even worse. The national debt is about $12 trillion, and now we have added some $9 trillion in bank bailouts and guarantees. After the bankers took the first $350 billion installment, the money vanished without a trace. The Wall Street types handed each other huge bonuses with our tax dollars, but they didn’t use the money as intended – to begin lending again. Where is it? The bankers won’t say.

 

Now comes more disturbing news. According to the “2008 Financial Report of the United states Government,” released by the Treasury Department, total federal obligations, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, total $65.5 trillion. That exceeds the gross domestic product of the entire world.

 

Where on earth will we find the money to make good on this unimaginable debt? China and Japan , which historically buy our debt, are themselves floating bonds to raise money to salvage their own economies. So are the Europeans. Congressional stupidity over the years has left us some nasty choices. We can wildly inflate the currency to pay off these debts in money that will become worthless. Or we can raise interest rates high enough to attract whatever money is available to be borrowed, but those higher rates would kill off the same economy we’re trying to save.

 

In their rush to “do something” to fix a problem they created, the Washington  elites have moved us a big step closer to national bankruptcy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would like to thank everyone who was involved in the campaign to elect the slate of officers to the Cumberland County Republican Committee.

Our slate was elected to fill all of the elected positions on the Executive Committee.

We are looking forward to working with all Republicans in Cumberland County to move the Republican cause forward.

One of our major focuses will be to build up and make more effective every town committee in the county.

In the next few months we will be looking for talented people to fill a wide variety of volunteer positions in the organization.

The Executive Committee is ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work and we have the drive and energy to make the Cumberland County Republican Committee a sucessful political force in Maine politics.

all the best,

Rich Cebra

Check out my Campaign TV commercial

go to:  www.richcebra.com

Maine Taxpayers United
Sunday morning, 19 October 2008
 
Press Release
Gray, Maine
 
Maine Taxpayers United Endorses Rich Cebra for Re-election
 
The Board of Directors of Maine Taxpayers United has endorsed Representative Rich Cebra of Naples for re-election to the State House of Representatives on November 4th. Cebra has represented House District 101, which includes the towns of Casco, Naples and part of Poland. 
 
Cebra, a two-term legislator, has been a consistent opponent of any tax increases proposed by the Baldacci administration and considered by the Democratic majorities in both Houses of the Legislature.  Most recently, Representative Cebra voted against LD 2247 - the so-called beverage tax - when this bill came to the floor of the House late on April 15th.  It's approval was along party lines: Most Democrats voting to inflict a tax increase of $75M on Maine citizens and small businesses, and most Republicans opposing.  Cebra has since worked in support of the Peoples' Veto of LD 2247, which if passed in referendum, would repeal that tax.
 
During the campaign of 2006, Rich Cebra was an enthusiastic supporter of the Maine Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR), which failed in referendum by five percentage points. A new version of TABOR will be brought to referendum next year. TABOR will set limits on increases in government spending.
 
Maine Taxpayers United (www.mainetaxpayers.com ) is a state-wide,grassroots organization whose mission is to reduce the tax burden which Maine citizens have carried for many years now. The Maine tax burden has been at or near the top when compared to the other States, while Maine ranks low in personal income. As a result, the Maine economy has been flat for decades now, while the remainder of the country has prospered.  Rich Cebra has consistently worked to reduce that onerous burden.
 
 

Repealing Dirigo Tax is key Election Issue

By Rep. Rich Cebra

            With Election Day fast approaching, voters are focusing in on their choices. Besides deciding on candidates for federal and state offices, Maine voters face another important ballot issue. This year, they have a chance to repeal a big new tax passed last April by the majority party in the Legislature. This will appear on the ballot as Question One.

I don’t have to tell you that Maine’s state and local tax burden is among the highest in the country – about $5,000 for every man, woman and child in the state. This new tax of $75 million will make our situation even worse, and it comes at a time of extreme economic stress.

 

Advertising campaigns are under way on both sides of this issue – between those who want the tax abolished and those who think it’s just fine to heap another big tax on overtaxed Mainers. If you have not decided how to vote on Question One, let me provide some information that might help you make up your mind.

 

The Democrats passed this tax to prop up the governor’s pet program, Dirigo Health, so let’s start with that. To say that the state-run Dirigo is a failed program would be an understatement. After four years of operation, it has achieved less than 10 percent of its original goal, at a cost to taxpayers of more than $100 million.

 

Dirigo has been called a noble experiment. It was supposed to provide affordable coverage to every Maine resident who lacks health insurance – an estimated 130,000 people. Instead, Dirigo counts only about 11,000 members, or roughly one percent of the state’s population, and most of them had health coverage before Dirigo began. They jumped on board to receive insurance subsidies. Despite this record of abject failure, the Democrats want to pour in another $75 million a year. They are determined to keep pumping tax money into the program whether it is working or not.

 

I was not in the Legislature in 2003, when Dirigo passed, but legislators were assured that no taxes would be needed to sustain it. They also were told there would be no adverse impact on the state’s finances. But it was recently revealed that the state controller has quietly taken $20 million from Maine’s cash accounts to prop up Dirigo for a while longer. The Dirigo bureaucrats desperately want this new tax, and you can understand why. Their outrageous, six-figure incomes depend on it.

 

One of the major mistruths that Democrats are spreading around the state is that a repeal of this new tax would kill Dirigo and throw 11,000 people out of health insurance. That is flatly not true. If voters repeal the tax, Dirigo would continue with the same funding source it has used all along. This is the so-called Savings Offset Payment, a tax imposed on the few health insurance companies still operating in Maine. By maintaining that system, Dirgo’s funding would actually increase by about $10 million next year.

 

The way this Dirigo tax was created is another disturbing part of the story. Under the normal procedures of the Legislature, any bill – especially a tax increase – would be thoroughly thrashed out well in advance of a vote. There would be public hearings in committee, coverage in the media and debate among legislators.

 

What we saw instead was naked political arrogance from a party that has controlled the Maine House for 34 straight years. The bill to raise taxes was sponsored by Rep. Hannah Pingree, and the Democrats sprung it in the final hours of the legislative session, leaving no time to react. There were no public hearings and no public input. Then they rammed it through on a party line vote under the cover of darkness and scurried out of Augusta before the citizens knew what had happened.

 

The people of Maine deserve better from elected officials. The behavior of the majority party in this case was undemocratic and indefensible. They used the tactics of a bully. No one was surprised when a group called Fed Up With Taxes quickly appeared on the scene. In less than 60 days, they were able to get more than 90,000 Mainers to sign petitions to repeal the tax. Augusta’s legislative elites were stunned.

 

The tax will hit Mainers for $75 million a year by raising taxes on beer and wine to the highest levels in all of New England. It also will impose sharp taxes on soft drinks, sports drink, juice drinks, club soda, teas, flavored water and almost everything you drink except milk.

 

Augusta’s big tax and spenders are saying that it’s just a few more pennies for a soft drink. They conveniently forget to mention that the biggest chunk of the $75 million comes from a brand new tax on health care services. And this one is not pennies. You will pay that tax in the form of higher health insurance rates – another $210 a year for a family policy. And as you know, Mainers already pay the second-highest insurance costs in the nation, thanks to the majority party’s refusal to make common-sense reforms.

 

This tax is a bad deal for the citizens of Maine on all levels. Make no mistake – this people’s veto this is a popular revolt against Augusta’s Democratic Party elites, and it is high time that the taxpayers of Maine stood their ground.

 

State Rep. Rich Cebra (R-Naples), a second-term legislator, serves on the Transportation Committee

 

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This year, August isn’t shaping up to be quite as much fun as it usually is.

 

For most of the summer, unleaded gas has cost more than $4 per gallon. And although that’s come down a bit, it’s too late for many potential travelers. They decided to stay closer to home this summer, denying Maine many of the tourists we depend on. We won’t know for several months how bad the economic damage was, but it seems likely some businesses will end up closing their doors.

 

At least part of the blame for this year’s high gas prices lies with our political leaders in Washington. For decades, politicians have prevented American companies from exploring for oil off our coasts and in remote regions of Alaska. At least 85 percent of our coastal waters are off-limits for drilling, while billions of barrels wait to be tapped in a tiny area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

 

Putting this fuel out of reach may have made sense years ago, when the first President Bush issued an executive order against drilling and Congress backed him up. Gas then was pretty cheap, and with our booming economy we could afford to keep our reserves locked away for a rainy day.

 

But these days, gas prices are soaring. International supplies are tight, and India and China are swallowing ever-more of the oil we used to buy. As the law of supply and demand says, when supply is limited, prices will go up. Now it’s time to harvest more of our domestic reserves and increase supplies.

 

Yet even as August began, Congress abruptly adjourned without taking up a bill that would have allowed for greater oil exploration off our nations coasts. In July, President Bush finally lifted the executive order against drilling. That was a step in the right direction, but lawmakers need to do their part, too.

 

 Opinion polls show 85 percent of Republicans, 76 percent of Democrats, and 83 percent of independents favor tapping more of our domestic energy sources. It would be nearly impossible to get that sort of consensus on any other political issue.

 

In recent decades, American oil companies – which pioneered deep sea drilling – have perfected their art. Rigs exist throughout the Gulf of Mexico, and no oil spills there. Other countries also tap undersea oil. Great Britain relies on its North Sea fields, and Norway extracts 1.6 billion barrels of oil a year offshore, right next to a nature preserve.

 

With our strict environmental protection laws and the fear of potential lawsuits hanging over their heads, American oil companies would work carefully and efficiently to produce more domestic oil without damaging our planet.

 

Finally, generating more oil here at home would make us less reliant on foreign sources.

 

These days, most of the oil-producing countries are less than friendly to the U.S.

 

Venezuela comes to mind, with Hugo Chavez raving against supposed American imperialism even as he banks billions of our dollars. The Saudis too, have a history of opposing American interests. Yet our president recently flew to the Arabian peninsula to as much as beg the Saudis to sell us even more oil. This makes no sense when we could be bringing our own domestic reserves into play.

 

As Maine residents we understand the importance of a healthy ocean. We don’t want oily beaches or polluted waters. But we do need oil, and we need it now.

 

We can have both: A clean environment and offshore oil rigs if our lawmakers will get out of the way and allow it to happen. But they need to act now before Mainers suffer another lost summer.   

 

 

 

Representative Rich Cebra posts “Very Strong” Economic Record

 

Augusta- In the last week of July, The Maine Economic Research Institute posted it’s MERI Roll Call, the annual evaluation of the voting records of the Maine State Legislature and Senate on key economic development votes. Representative Rich Cebra of Naples posted a 90% rating, the fourth year in a row he scored a 90% or better in the rating. A rating of 75% or better indicates a legislator who champions economic and business legislation favored by free market and free enterprise advocates.  

“Many legislators and candidates will try and tell you that they are pro-economic development and pro-jobs, the MERI rating proves whether they really are or not.” Said Rep Cebra at a recent press conference in Augusta “My 90% MERI rating shows that I not only talk the talk on Jobs and the Economy, I walk the walk and consistently vote in the best interest of the hard working people of Maine and for a stronger Maine economy.”

The Maine Economic Research Institute Board of Directors and Advisory Committee are made up of business owners and senior managers from a broad cross section of Maine’s business sector. They are also a cross section of the political spectrum and are non-partisan as well.

“Being a pro economy legislator means that I have consistently supported those issues that Maine business leaders have identified as critical to our ability to create economic opportunity for Maine Citizens. That means jobs and a higher standard of living for all our residents.” Said Rich Cebra “Maine’s brightest days are ahead but we need more economy friendly legislators and senators so we can implement the common sense reforms that we need at the state level to lower our tax burden, fix our Health Insurance cost crisis and get State government off business back so we can unleash Maine’s economy and prosper. Many of the important issues we face as a state are linked by their pro or anti-economy effects”

For more information on the Maine Economic Research Institute and a complete explanation of their rating system can be found on their web site: www.fixmaine.com