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Eliot Cutler on Government Reform
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North Carolina retooled strategically: Maine should do same
North Carolina became a poster child for economic transformation, and Research Triangle Park remains an oft-cited example of big-picture economic development thinking that works, [since its] leaders a half-century ago said, "This thing is broken, and we
have to fix it." N.C. is not a paradigm for Maine. Nonetheless, there are two important aspects of the N.C. that deserve our attention.- The same industries that left Maine later left N.C.; N.C. consciously and strategically retooled, but we still
haven't.
- The N.C. experience illustrates how elected officials can inspire and lead the kind of long-range thinking and investment that harnesses business, labor, academia and government to accomplish change.
Leaders in N.C. saw the writing on the
wall. Yet even as the country and Maine in recent years have confronted exceptional economic challenges not seen since the Great Depression, since 2002 there has been no articulation at the state level of an economic development strategy.
Source: A State of Opportunity, by Eliot Cutler, p. 28-29
, Dec 31, 2013
Office of The Grim Repealer: remove outdated regulations
Maine has thousands of rules promulgated over many decades. Taken together they are complicated, conŞfusing, and--due to the law of unintended consequences--often counterproductive. Many of these regulations were drafted to serve a narrow purpose that no
longer exists, and many have been rendered out of date by changes in the world around us.Maine's governor could establish a small, one or two-person Office of Regulatory ReŞview and Repeal (ORRR). The head of the ORRR--(call her or him
The Grim Repealer)--would report directly to the governor and would have two principal responsibiliŞties: first, review Maine rules and regulations to identify those that are unnecessary, or counterproductive--or just don't work the way they should; and
second, review rules and regulations that agencies and departments propose, before they take effect, to ensure that they will accomplish their purposes in the most efficient and least costly and disruptive ways.
Source: A State of Opportunity, by Eliot Cutler, p. 66-67
, Dec 31, 2013
Citizens United opened floodgates to corrupt politics
The way we finance politics today has made both political parties smaller, narrower and more highly partisan, leading our legislature to behave like a parliament, where members ALWAYS vote the party line and where compromise is a dirty word. Even "real
solutions to big problems" that were endorsed by voters after vigorous campaigns become impossible to implement. It didn't used to be that way in way in Maine, and it doesn't need to be any longer.The Supreme Court decision in the "Citizens United"
case opened the floodgates to excessive amounts of money in politics, and its most deeply dangerous impact has not been the anonymity and negativity of campaign attack ads, nor even the diminished and increasingly uncivil daily political dialogue, but
rather what it has done to our political parties & our legislative bodies.
Corporations, unions and incredibly wealthy individuals have found that their money can wield enormous, unregulated and anonymous influence in the post-Citizens United world.
Source: A State of Opportunity, by Eliot Cutler, p. 89-90
, Dec 31, 2013
Oppose all efforts to restrict access to the ballot box
Q: Will you oppose any obstacle to voting and support promotion of greater voter participation? A: I oppose all efforts to restrict access to the ballot box, and have been appalled to see the changes taking place across the country, moving us away
from increased citizen participation in our democracy. I also believe that greater voter participation is achieved by providing voters with a political process that belongs to all of us, not just the two political parties. Our electoral process should
give us broad and good choices among candidates--choices that appeal not only to the few of us who stand on the left and right ends of the spectrum, but also to most of us who occupy the center. Voters can have the kind of choices that they want and
deserve, and consensus at the end of the electoral process, if we have run-offs, open primaries, or ranked choice voting. Fewer and fewer Americans identify themselves as a Republic or Democrat these days and fewer people vote in party primaries.
Source: AFL-CIO Questionnaire on 2014 Maine Gubernatorial race
, Oct 16, 2013
Page last updated: Jul 12, 2017