Conrad Welzel, who apparently went from turnpike toll taker to lobbyist in the same year (a meteoric rise), introduced Alan Caron, independent gubernatorial candidate. Conrad first met Alan when Alan led the opposition to the widening of the Turnpike. Of course, when I heard that I immediately stopped listening. I would hope Mr. Caron would now concede that widening the turnpike was a good thing, but who knows?
Alan Caron is an interesting individual whose self-funded campaign frankly has no chance, but that does not mean he does not have good ideas. He believes that people who disagree should still be respectful to one another and it is hard to argue with that though I think anyone who suggests that is an idiot.
Alan said his campaigning has given him a Phd in all that is Maine as he has traveled the state. He feels that opponents need to listen to each other and have affection for one another. I believe that is the same philosophy followed by Mike Tyson. Actually, we can learn a great deal from our opponents, and we can like each other even if we disagree on substantive points. The is truly a cornerstone of the legal profession. So far Mr. Caron seems like a good guy.
He grew up in Waterville in a poor family with many challenges. He dropped out of high school. He developed two successful businesses and has done a lot of volunteering in his life. He feels the best way to build our economy is not to focus on the past and hope that the mills and farms will come back. Instead, we need to look to the future and build our economy from the bottom up. He feels we need to plan for sustainable prosperity. We need to grow new jobs and not try to steal jobs from other states. He cited LL Bean, Poland Spring, Stonewall Kitchen and Toms of Maine as examples of companies that have grown jobs. But he feels that the biggest job creators in Maine are the small businesses who need the incentives to create more jobs. Don’t give tax breaks and low interest loans to big businesses and hope that they create jobs, tie the incentives to job creation.
Mr. Caron mentioned that 35 years ago a bunch of people moved to Maine hoping to become organic farmers. Some succeeded and some didn’t, but they collaborated and formed the Maine Organic Farmers and Growers which is one of the more powerful groups in this state. It started the Common Ground Fair. Those organic farmers put Maine on the map for growing quality products which attracted national chefs to Maine. Those chefs started Maine’s restaurant boom which has made Maine a foody destination. That foody component of our economy has spawned 80 microbreweries. This growth came from the bottom up.
Mr. Caron described himself as an incurable optimist who has the courage to promote new ideas. He observed that the partisan system is broken because it focuses more on each party blocking the other as opposed to trying to get things done. All of that is why he ran as an independent.
While it is clear that Mr. Caron has no chance of being elected governor, we can only hope that his opponents do take the time to listen to him and learn from him because he has some great ideas which deserve our attention.
My Plan for Sustainable Prosperity
Below is the outline to my Sustainable Economy Plan for Maine.
GROW A NEW ECONOMY FROM THE BOTTOM UP
PUT THE FULL RESOURCES OF GOVERNMENT BEHIND GROWING JOBS RATHER THAN ATTRACTING THEM
Focus on innovators, entrepreneurs and risk-takers.
Make smaller-scale manufacturing and exports a high priority.
Build a ‘seed-to-success’ system to nurture and accelerate small business growth.
Award no tax breaks to companies that do not create or sustain good jobs.
FIX OUR ELECTIONS
CREATE AN OPEN PRIMARY IN JUNE
Allow all candidates and all voters to participate in one primary election, with the top two candidates going to the November election.
BUILD A TWENTY FIRST CENTURY GOVERNMENT
SHRINK STATE GOVERNMENT BY TEN PERCENT
Flatten state management layers, introduce new technology and increase efficiency
Reduce the size of the legislature to 100 members and restrict the number of bills that any member can submit to the number of years they have served.
FOCUS ON SCHOOLS THAT WORK
BRING PRACTICAL EDUCATION BACK INTO ALL SCHOOLS
Increase the state’s share of education funding to 55%, with all new dollars going into the classroom.
Expand early childhood education.
EXPAND ACCESS TO COLLEGES AND TECH TRAINING
ESTABLISH A TWO-YEAR FREE HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAM
Support forgivable loans that will be reduced for every year that a students stays and works in Maine
MAKE HEALTH CARE MORE AFFORDABLE AND AVAILABLE
PUSH FOR MORE TRANSPARENCY IN HEALTH CARE PRICING
Reward consumers who save money
Expand Medicare and Medicaid
COMMIT TO ENERGY INDEPENDENCE IN THIRTY YEARS
REDUCE THE FIVE BILLION DOLLARS WE EXPORT EACH YEAR TO OIL AND GAS COMPANIES
Focus on solar and offshore wind
Decentralize energy production
Reinvest the savings in job creation, education and health care
BUILD TOMORROW’S INFRASTRUCTURE
SUPPORT A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLAR BOND FOR BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT NEXT YEAR AND AGAIN IN FIVE YEARS
MAKE MAINE A WELCOMING STATE
CREATE A WELCOME CENTER FOR EVERYONE WHO COMES TO MAINE, FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY AND THE WORLD
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