Race to the Finish
By David Farmer
There are five people running for governor of Maine. All of them are serious, four of them are legitimate contenders....
There are five people running for governor of Maine. All of them are serious, four of them are legitimate contenders. |
Green Independent Pat LaMarche, who ran for governor in 1998 and was the Green vice presidential nominee in 2004, is concentrating on One Big Idea — universal health care — which she says can boost the economy, lower property taxes and improve health care....
LaMarche is pushing for Maine to adopt universal health care, an idea that's supported by polling but fails to gain traction politically. It's not LaMarche's only issue, but it is the backbone of her campaign.
"There are preconceived notions that you really can only overcome face to face," LaMarche said. "There are smaller, poorer countries that do it. Maine could do it. We've tried absolutely everything else.
"Our health care is the most costly, the least compassionate, and we're dying," LaMarche said. "When a person is walking around with a lump they can't get checked out, that's a day of misery, one day after another. There's no compassion in that."
According to LaMarche, the governor is the one celebrity who can travel around the state and make things happen.
"Health care may not be the whole problem, but it's a massive problem, which is why every other developed nation has it," LaMarche said.
"It takes a lot more courage to be an elderly woman who cuts her pills in half so she can afford food and heat than it does to get a health-care plan through," LaMarche said. "If only we had half the courage of the people who are living under our broken system."
LaMarche says her plan would require a new payroll tax, but it would reduce costs for health care, workers compensation, property taxes and excise taxes. In addition, it would be a major draw to companies looking for relief from the health-care crunch.
"If nothing else, on a lot of issues she has clarity," said Karl G. Trautman, the chair of the department of social sciences at Central Maine Community College. "That will scare a lot of people."
