Impeach Governor LePage!
- by: Arn Pearson
- recipient: Maine House of Representatives
Maine's Republican Governor Paul LePage has violated the First Amendment by threatening to cut state funding already approved for the Good Will-Hinckley charter school unless it fired Democratic House Speaker, Mark Eves, from his new job as school President. As a result, the school has rescinded its job offer to Eves rather than face a loss of public and matching private funding.
This latest abuse of state power by Gov. LePage comes on the heels of many others. The governor has held land conservation bonds hostage, even though they were approved by the voters. And he has indulged in vetoing every bill sponsored by a Democrat regardless of merit as punishment for not getting his way on repealing the state income tax.
Now in his second term, Gov. LePage is acting like a mad king. Maine has no recall provision, but the state constitution does provide for impeachment. Gov. LePage's abuses of power and the office of the governor are impeachable offenses.
Under the Maine Constitution, only the House of Representatives can initiate impeachment. Please sign this petition to call on the House leadership and your representative to begin impeachment proceedings immediately.
This is not partisan. Maine is the home of Margaret Chase Smith - the Republican Senator who stood up to blacklisting during the McCarthy era. We deserve better!
Dear Representative,
Governor Paul LePage has violated the First Amendment by using the power of his office to exact political retaliation against House Speaker Mark Eves. The governor's threat to cut $500,000 in already-approved state funding for the Good Will-Hinckley charter school unless it fired the Speaker from his new job as school President has resulted in Eve's loss of employment and livelihood for his family.
This latest abuse of state power by Gov. LePage comes on the heels of many others. The governor has held land conservation bonds hostage, even though they were approved by the voters. And he has indulged in indiscriminate vetoes as political retaliation for not getting his way on repealing the state income tax, tying up the Legislature in endless veto override votes and wasting taxpayer money.
Maine has no recall provision, but the state constitution does provide for impeachment. Gov. LePage's abuses of power and the office of the governor are clearly impeachable offenses.
This is not a partisan issue. It was Maine's Republican Senator Margaret Chase Smith who spoke out so eloquently against government blacklisting in 1950, saying "The exercise of [First Amendment] rights should not cost one American citizen his reputation or his right to a livelihood."
Under the Maine Constitution, only the House of Representatives can initiate impeachment. We the undersigned hereby petition you to begin bipartisan impeachment proceedings immediately. Maine deserves better!
Today is a day of action across Maine to let the Legislature know that we're serious about wanting them to pursue impeachment proceedings against Governor LePage.
Please take 2 minutes today to call the Legislature's switchboard and leave your State Rep. and Senator a message. The Senate Hotline (it's open 24 hours that day) is 1-800-423-6900 and the House Hotline is 1-800-423-2900.
Arn
By signing, you accept Care2's Terms of Service.
You can unsub at any time here.
Having problems signing this? Let us know.