Maine Policy Institute

Graham Platner — the gift that keeps on giving!

In a viral clip from a recent podcast episode of "It's Open with Ilana Glazer," U.S. Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez predictably opined that, "You can’t earn a billion dollars. You just can’t earn that. You can get market power. You can break rules. You can do all sorts of things. You can abuse labor laws. You can pay people less than what they’re worth. But you can’t earn that.”

If you think this is a painfully daft take, you are correct.

Under this view, great wealth is treated less as evidence of value creation and more as evidence of exploitation. If someone becomes extraordinarily successful, the assumption is that they did not earn it, and because they did not earn it, that money should be reclaimed for the good of “society.”

That view gets it exactly backward.

Read the full article by MPI Policy Analyst Montana Towers here:
https://mainepolicy.org/billionaires-are-not-the-problem/

Vance had some very complimentary things to say about The Maine Wire - a project of Maine Policy Institute - with Editor-in-Chief Steve Robinson and reporters Jon Fetherston and Seamus Othot all receiving recognition as Vance discussed MaineCare fraud, Medicaid abuse and government accountability.

We talk about the visit, the issue of fraud, and review the state of play in Maine’s gubernatorial race. Plus - the Bangor couple from Texas who came to Maine to escape climate change, only to discover people sleeping on their porch and leaving f***s behind.

Listen to the full episode here:
https://mainepolicy.substack.com/p/vance-in-bangor