RepRichCebra's Blog

To the Editor,

 

First, I want to say how proud I am to be living in a country where we can stand up and exercise our First Amendment rights. I believe in defending everyone's First Amendment rights. Stop and think about what that really means. To me, it means defending that right for not only those who agree with your political philosophy, but spending a lifetime fighting for that right for the person who is your complete political opposite. 

 

That to me is the true meaning of our freedom of speech. The Bridgton News follows in that noble tradition. It faithfully publishes all sides of a debate, without editing out comments that might be provocative. Of the 50 plus articles I have written and the Bridgton News has published in the last five years, they have not edited out a single line of my writing, and I say bully for them!!

 

There has been a lot of back and forth on the health care issue in the last two months in the Bridgton News . I have written a couple of articles and a letter to the editor on the subject. It's been said that my articles have been too personal. There is not a single statistic or item that I have cited that isn't independently verifiable. I never pull numbers out of thin air – never have, never will.

 

I may have called others in the political arena to task for their lack of leadership or serious lack of judgment. These are clearly my opinions, based as someone who has seen behind the curtain and is just calling it as I see it. For some to suggest that I somehow forfeit my right to call others in government accountable, (what someone called "libelous") because I myself have been elected, is preposterous.

 

I challenge anyone to refute my pack of truths with their own verifiable facts (and not deflections by dragging up Halliburton or some other old standby). Deflection away from an issue seems to be the order of the day both in Augusta and Washington.  I believe in looking at the facts. If some want to describe looking at the facts as "having on right wing blinders,” then so be it.

 

There’s one other point I would like to make. I take pride in not acting like a "politician," mainly because I am not one and hope to never be one. Sure, I've been elected to office and go to Augusta. But I do it with the sole purpose of representing the 101st district in the House of Representatives to the best of my ability. I try and do whatever I can for everyone in my district, whenever I can. When it comes to a political philosophy I have done exactly what I have always said I was going to do based on these five principles.

1. Fiscal Restraint. Nothing should be expected of government that is not expected of the citizens it serves. That means no outrageous deficits or spending schemes that stick our children and grandchildren with the bill.

 

2. Fair Taxation. Americans are not undertaxed and I shall continue to strive to be the taxpayer’s friend. Government’s focus must be on stretching every single tax dollar instead of viewing family budgets as a never ending well of money.

 

3. Opportunity. America has always been a forward-looking, optimistic land where all things are possible. Our nation was built by entrepreneurs and we must continue to cut red tape in order to nurture an environment that rewards innovation.

4. Individual Liberty. Government programs must be focused on giving more choices to individuals. This is our government, paid for with our money. Government should work for us and not the other way around.

5. Limited Constitutional Government. Our proposals must focus on making the private sector work better for people, not replacing it with government bureaucracies. Big bureaucratic government is the enemy of our liberties. 

 

That's who I am and try to be every day. If you don't like it you always have the choice to vote for whomever you think represents you better. That's the beauty of our system of government.

 

You can also write a Letter to the Editor and get involved. I've been bemoaning public apathy for years. It is rampant in our society and it's good to see the current healthy debate on one of the most important issues of our time. Get involved in the discussion. The issues now boiling over are critical to your future and the future of our kids.

 

All the best,

 

Rich Cebra

originally ran 8/20/09

GOP favors sensible, affordable health care reform

 

By Rep. Rich Cebra

 

As the health care debate rages at full blast, one of the fallacies being put forward by liberals is that Republicans would like to see the current health care system left alone. They know that’s not true, but they have seized on this falsehood to discredit the GOP and push forward the so-called Obamacare. The fact is that Republicans favor sensible and affordable health care reform that does not break the bank or herd citizens into a big, government-run plan.

 

Democrats repeatedly say that the health care system is broken, but what’s really broken is people’s trust in government. No thoughtful citizen would even consider turning over one-sixth of our economy to the likes of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid or the faceless bureaucrats and “czars” that this president would put in charge of health care.

 

According to national surveys, about 85 percent of Americans are happy with our health care system. Even the uninsured are guaranteed “free” care at hospitals. But no system is perfect, and nobody disputes that our current health care spending trajectory is unsustainable. We need a system that allows everyone access to affordable health care coverage and rolls back skyrocketing costs.

 

Some of the major reasons for the out-of-control costs are overuse, misuse, waste and fraud. During the current debate, we have learned that Medicare fraud is estimated at $60 billion a year. The chief counsel to the federal Health and Human Services inspector general went so far as to say that “building a Medicare fraud scam is far safer than dealing crack or dealing in stolen cars, and it’s far more lucrative.”

 

Another big cost driver is defensive medicine. Physicians fearing medical malpractice charges prescribe extra tests, procedures and pharmaceuticals to protect themselves from frivolous lawsuits and overzealous lawyers. Those additional costs may do nothing to improve medical outcomes, but they add hundreds of billions of dollars to national health expenditures. Malpractice insurance premiums, moreover, are incorporated into fee structures.

 

This is a ripe area for huge savings. When Ohio passed its malpractice reform, their health insurance premium rates dropped 16 percent in the first two years. When Texas adopted their legal reform, 14,500 new physicians flocked to the Lone Star State. California caps malpractice punitive damages at $250,000. Fair and just civil law reform reduces insurance costs and spurs creative ideas in health care. That’s why the plan advanced by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives includes tort reform. Trial lawyers won’t like it, because people like former Sen. John Edwards have gotten filthy rich suing hospitals and doctors. But we all pay the cost, and we can no longer afford outrageous awards.

 

It is very important nationally that we put into place laws that prohibit health insurers from refusing or denying coverage. There must also be a provision allowing people to purchase their health insurance anywhere in the country. Currently, the closed market system has kept competition out and prices high. There are some 1,300 health insurance companies in the United States. With a national marketplace, you select a plan that fits your budget and your needs. If we can buy car insurance and life insurance from companies located anywhere in America, why can’t we shop nationally for the best health insurance plan?

 

In the Maine Legislature, Republicans recently proposed giving residents the ability to buy insurance policies from companies throughout New England. On a mostly party-line vote of 82-63, the Democrats killed the bill. That kind of political intransigence needs to stop if we are to restore rationality to health care finances.

 

To lower the cost of health care, the Republican plan also:

 

*Brings greater fairness to the tax code by extending tax savings to those who currently do not have employer-provided insurance but purchase insurance on their own. This provision would provide an “above the line” deduction that is equal to the cost of insurance for an individual or family. It’s time to level the playing field with tax fairness.

 

*Recognizes that many Americans who have not hit retirement age but may be changing jobs or have lost a job often face higher health care costs. To help those aged 55 to 64 (when Medicare kicks in), the plan increases support for pre- and early-retirees with low and modest incomes.

 

*Recognizes that one of the largest obstacles for many small businesses when it comes to retaining employees or creating jobs is the cost of health insurance. The plan allows states, small businesses, associations and other organizations to band together and offer insurance at lower costs.

 

*Provides Medicare and Medicaid with additional authority and resources to stop the rampant waste, fraud and abuse that cost taxpayers billions of dollars annually.

 

*Creates incentives to save now for future and long-term health care needs by improving health savings accounts and flexible spending arrangements as well as creating new tax benefits to offset the cost of long-term care premiums.

 

*Gives financial help to caregivers who provide in-home care for a loved one.

 

*Helps employers offer insurance to their workers by reducing administrative costs through a new small business tax credit.

 

*Provides flexibility to Medicaid and SCHIP beneficiaries (State Childrens’ Health Insurance Program) by allowing them to apply the value of their benefit to a health plan that better meets their needs than the one-size-fits-all government program.

 

*Recognizes that not all high school and college graduates are able to find a job that offers health coverage immediately after graduation. By allowing dependents to remain on their parents’ policies up to age 25, the number of uninsured Americans could be reduced by seven million.

 

*Gives patients access to health care information so they can identify and select providers who deliver high-quality care at a lower cost.

 

*Encourages home care and independence for patients rather than forcing individuals into institutionalized settings.

 

The Republican plan in Congress includes dozens of other provisions. Space constraints prevent listing them all. The bottom line is that the GOP plan would lower health care costs, expand insurance coverage and accessibility and promote healthy living and quality care. It would cost some money, but just a tiny fraction of the $1.6 trillion cost of the Democrats’ plan to take over the U.S. health care system. And it would preserve our freedom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Letter to the Editor

 

The Bridgton News

August 11, 2009

 

 

Dear Editor,

 

 

Your August 6th edition included a letter to the editor by a Mr. Stan Cohen. I don’t know Mr. Cohen, but he launched a nasty attack on my recent column in opposition to the massive health care bill currently before Congress. I feel compelled to reply, because Mr. Cohen asserted that I didn’t even write the column. I can assure him that I wrote and researched the article, just as I have authored more than 50 other columns and letters in the Bridgton News in the last 5+ years. I am currently researching and writing an article about a responsible alternative plan that would control health care costs without destroying our free enterprise system or expand the size of the huge federal government bureaucracy.

He also states that I wrote the column “to discredit Rep. Chellie Pingree", our district’s representative in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington. I operate on the premise that you give credit where credit is due; and you give discredit when that is deserved. Rep. Pingree has ill-served our residents by pledging to vote for the 1,000-page House health “reform” bill, even though she admitted she hadn't’t read it. There’s a lot of mischief in a 1,000-page bill written by the likes of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – of that you can be sure. Rather than reserve her judgment until she fully understood the bill, Rep. Pingree has decided to “shoot from the hip” on legislation that will affect 16 percent of our national economy while radically transforming our health care system into something unrecognizable.

 

We do not need people in Congress who blindly follow Pelosi and her ilk. We need people who can exercise good, independent judgment. Rep. Pingree has demonstrated that the Democratic bosses in Washington matter more to her than her own constituents. She won’t even schedule a town hall meeting on the health care bill, perhaps because she knows she can’t defend it against informed citizens. So did I try to discredit Rep. Pingree? Absolutely. I would also discredit the Democratic officials who have attacked the folks, concerned citizens like you and me, who are protesting this government takeover of our health care system. They have called them “angry mobs” and “Nazis” and “un-American.” One Democratic congressman even compared them to the Ku Klux Klan. Now we have the spectacle of union goons beating up people who dare protest against this bill.

 

Mr. Cohen needs to understand the anger building in this country is real. The American people fear an arrogant government that passes horrible legislation and spends our nation into the poorhouse. Make no mistake; President Obama and his minions fully intend to herd the American people into a gigantic, nationalized health program. He has said so. So has Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts. They are now lying through their teeth because they know that the country has turned against their plan. We’re on to them, and they can’t stand that. It is no wonder Obama and Pelosi tried to jam this through quickly before the August Congressional recess. They knew that once the American people had the facts, they would completely reject this socialist scheme. The government in Washington has already virtually bankrupted Medicare, Medicaid and, soon, Social Security. We won’t stand by idly while they destroy the world’s best health care system.

Rep. Rich Cebra

 

Naples

 

 

 

originally ran 7/30/09

Government takeover of health care must be stopped

 

 

By Rep. Rich Cebra

 

 

 

The health care horror that President Barack Obama and his minions are trying to cram through Congress must be stopped. This $1.6 trillion monstrosity would end private insurance, throw millions of people out of work and force most Americans into a gigantic nationalized health care program run by government bureaucrats. The mind-blowing cost, coming on top of a $12 trillion national debt, will push the nation closer to bankruptcy.

I’m going to describe some of the provisions of this bill, and I want to you to keep in mind that the Democratic congresswoman from our district, U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree, stands behind this plan 100 percent. We can’t be sure she has read all 1,017 pages of the House bill. President Obama himself admits he’s not familiar with the details, even as he barnstorms frantically for its passage. But even sight unseen, Rep. Pingress is gung-BLEEP to inflict this ruinous legislation on our nation. It does not seem to matter to her that the American people have turned against the thing. Her mind is made up.

 

Let’s begin with illegal aliens. Nobody knows how many are here, but 15 million is a conservative estimate. Under the bill, all non-U.S. citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free health care services. Taxpayers will foot the bill. Like everyone else, illegals will be issued a National ID Healthcard.

 

If you think our border crisis is bad now, just wait. We can expect an outright stampede into our country from throughout the Third World . If we have 15 million illegals now, we could have 50 million before long. President Obama is an open borders guy; his amnesty bill for illegal aliens is in the pipeline. If our country extends free health care to all illegals who can get here, the $1.6 trillion cost will explode wildly.

 

And get this. Any individual who doesn’t have acceptable health insurance (according to the government) will be taxed 2.5 percent of their income. Any employer who doesn’t offer insurance will pay a fine of 8 percent of payroll. What’s more, employers must provide health insurance for part-time employees and their families. But non-resident aliens (illegals) will be exempt from all such penalties and taxes. Rep. Pingree apparently supports that.

 

Here’s another gem. The federal government will have direct, real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer. Anonymous bureaucrats will be able to tap into your checking account or savings account whenever they want.

 

Meanwhile, taxpayers will subsidize all union retiree and community organizer health plans. Obama, of course, comes out of the community organizer world of ACORN, which reportedly received billions of dollars from the stimulus program. Even though ACORN is under criminal investigation in more that 12 states for massive voter fraud, the House bill stipulates that the government will pay ACORN and Americorps to sign up individuals for government-run health care. In many respects, this plan is a reparations program that would span generations.

 

Abortion on demand will be covered and paid for by taxpayers, many of whom regard abortion as murder. Tough luck. The president is most pro-abortion chief executive in history, and this is what he wants.

 

All private health care plans must conform to government rules to participate in something called the Health Care Exchange. The rules include guaranteed issue and community rating, the same mandates that have destroyed Maine’s insurance market. But all private health care plans must participate in the Health Care Exchange. In short, there will be total government control of private plans, and the obvious goal is to make them so expensive that that they won’t be able to compete with the taxpayer-subsidized public option. Employers will dump employees wholesale into the government plan. Hundreds of thousands of insurance workers, maybe even millions, will be thrown out of work. Evidently, that outcome appeals to Rep. Pingree.

 

The plan admits that health care will be rationed. A government committee will decide what treatments and benefits you get, and there is no right of appeal. Older citizens – the ones who have paid taxes for decades – are especially vulnerable to denial of care. The bill will reduce physician services for Medicaid, disproportionately affecting seniors and the poor. At the same time, the government will have the authority to disqualify Medicare Advantage plans. Cancer patients and people needing hip replacements and the like will very likely be denied care if the federal bureaucrats think they are too old. The emphasis is on cost reduction, not quality care.

 

But don’t worry; the government will mandate a program that orders end-of-life counseling. Basically, government will dictate how your life ends. This is one step away from euthanasia. Rep. Pingree supports this. Why else would she vote for it?

 

Doctors will see their incomes drop dramatically. The government will set a value on their time and second-guess their judgments. They will be prohibited from owning or investing in health care companies. Doctors who treat a patient during an initial hospital admission that results in a readmission will face financial penalties. The government will set a minority quota system for admission to medical school, assuring that affirmative action physicians will proliferate. Hospitals will be stressed to the breaking point by sharply reduced government reimbursements for Medicare, Medicaid and the public option.

 

There are many other appalling features of this plan that I’ll explain in another column. There are ways to improve health insurance, but a total government takeover isn’t the answer. It would destroy the best health care system in the world. No matter what happens, Rep. Pingree will be unaffected. She voted to make sure that Congress is exempt from this atrocity.

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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.

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.

 

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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.