FARMINGTON, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage used his first town hall meeting since the end of the legislative session to attack the majority of lawmakers as either power hungry or lazy and the media as liars.
"You want to read the daily newspapers in the state of Maine? You get what you get," he says. "They're so bad that I don't even trust the obituaries."
He also outlined four familiar priorities for the next three years: tax and welfare reform, lower energy costs and lower interest rates for student loans.
Repeatedly expressing frustration about not being able to pass key policies he favors, such as reducing the state income tax, the governor asked a mostly supportive crowd of about 100 people to do one thing for him when they go to the polls in 2016.
"Please, elect people that are fiscally responsible, with a little bit of common sense, that won't use ideology to stop progress," he says.
LePage played down his role in holding up voter-approved bonds for conservation projects under the Land for Maine's Future Program and he also denied telling MPBN in an interview earlier this week that he would withhold nominations to boards and commissions until January.
