A real CEO wouldn’t run the state of Maine this way

March 9
Michael Cuzzi: A real CEO wouldn’t run the state of Maine this way
Gov. LePage’s erratic and emotional leadership deters business investment and growth.


Let’s just say it plainly: Gov. LePage is a dreadful businessman.

Sure, his administration and campaign continually pronounce that the governor is a “turnaround specialist” and CEO-style leader. But despite the political rhetoric and the business suit, the emperor has no clothes.

Last Tuesday, the governor held a news conference blasting the Legislature’s overwhelmingly bipartisan vote to use $21 million from the state’s so-called rainy day fund to restore almost $40 million in revenue sharing to local cities and towns. He called the move “irresponsible” and “shortsighted.”

But what’s shortsighted is the governor’s memory. In 2011, LePage and the then-Republican-led Legislature withdrew $27 million from the rainy day fund because they were desperate to balance a budget blown wide open by $400 million in unfunded tax cuts.

http://www.pressherald.com/opinion/Michael_Cuzzi__A_real_CEO_wouldn_t_run_the_state_of_Maine_this_way_.html