from the AP, via Seacoast Online:

Several small business owners formally launched a referendum challenge aimed at repealing new taxes on sodas, beer and wine adopted with a goal of bolstering funding for Maine's Dirigo Health program.

The Fed Up With Taxes coalition says the tax increases were approved without any public hearing in the final days of the legislative session.

Here's the latest from Tony Payne at the Alliance for Maine's Future:

First they "cut" $200 million then they raised beverage taxes and increased fees on vehicle registrations by $215 million!

After all the hand wringing and posturing, a majority of legislators actually raised more taxes and fees than they cut. The Alliance for Maine's Future had asked legislators not to raise taxes and fees, use accounting gimmicks or shift unfunded mandates onto other levels of government. However, a majority ignored the request and added to the cost of living in Maine.

Warner Todd Huston has a story at Publius' Forum about CNN's Rick Sanchez berating college students at Penn State for not agreeing with his liberal perspective:

On Monday morning, April 21st, CNN aired “America Votes 2008” with Rick Sanchez, (11:30 AM CT) a segment that featured reporter Sanchez visiting Penn State University to talk to some of the students about the upcoming Pennsylvania Democratic Primary. In the aftermath of CNN’s visit, some of the students involved in the taping are alleging that Sanchez was so virulently skewed to the left that he berated and bullied students who held a differing point of view. It was reportedly so bad that CNN crewmembers even apologized to several students for Sanchez’ incivility.

An art project at the University of Maine in Farmington has resulted in an online uproar. An art student decided to cover the floor of the Student Center in American flags, and when outraged students and veterans showed up to pick the flags up, the University called the cops.

This kind of crap is happening all
over college campuses, but this time a student named Alex Willette was on the spot with a camera. His YouTube video and pictures of the confrontation have found their way all over the country, and the outrageous behavior of UMF faculty is now the subject of scorn from Maine to Montana. Willette's diligence with his camera work, and his subsequent posting of it on the Maine College Republican blog and AsMaineGoes is a great example of how potent the world of new media has become. It's going to be a rough day for the UMF switchboard I'm afraid...

The Maine GOP sent out this press release today, detailing the fact that Susan Collins continues to hold a strong lead in fundraising, cash-on-hand, and poll numbers.:

Some interesting numbers on the Maine Senate Race

Financial Reports released today show that:

1.Senator Collins beat Congressman Allen for the 5th consecutive quarter; and

2.The Collins campaign has $1.8 million more cash-on-hand than the Allen campaign.

The Polls:

Our good friends at Blue Collar Muse in Tennessee are working on an interesting story about the battle over a convicted felon's teaching credentials:

Lynn Lang and Milton Kirk were football coaches in Memphis, TN. An outstanding player of theirs was being recruited by top flight NCAA programs around the country. In 1999 and 2000 Lang received $150,000 in cash from Logan Young, a University of Alabama booster, to steer him to Alabama. Milton Kirk was to get a cut. When he didn’t he blew the whistle on Lang.

Milton Kirk pled guilty; was permanently banned from coaching and suspended from teaching for three years. He is currently teaching again.

The most recent poll on the Maine Senate race shows Senator Collins extending her lead to 23 points from the last published poll in November, which showed her ahead of Tom Allen 54-34. The poll also shows Collins with a lead among Union and non-Union households. From Roll Call:

Business Coalition Polls 3 Senate Battlegrounds

In releasing polling Tuesday that sought to bolster its argument that Americans oppose “card-check” legislation for unionized workers, the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace also released polls on three of the most hotly contested Senate races of the cycle.

In Colorado, the Republican polling firm McLaughlin & Associates found Rep. Mark Udall (D) leading former Rep. Bob Schaffer (R), 44 percent to 32 percent. The survey of 400 likely general election voters taken March 6-9 had a 4.9-point margin of error.

In Maine, Sen. Susan Collins (R) had a solid lead over Rep. Tom Allen (D), 54 percent to 31 percent. The poll of 400 likely voters March 6-9 had a 4.9-point error margin.

In Minnesota, Sen. Norm Coleman (R) had a 46 percent to 40 percent lead over comedian Al Franken (D) in the McLaughlin poll. The pollster interviewed 500 likely voters March 6-9. The poll had a 4.5-point error margin.

The poll found in all three states that non-union households were far more likely to support the Republican candidates, and also suggested that voters are less likely to support candidates who favor a card-check process for union membership, a provision favored by unions and many Democratic leaders.

— Josh Kurtz

(cross posted at RedState)

Latest from Tony Payne at the Alliance for Maine's Future:

Idling fines up to $500; Queen of taxes; New state employees top list of end-of-session mischief

No Idle Threat:

Only in Maine would you expect drivers of non-passenger vehicles (read:business) to risk fines of $150 to $500 for allowing vehicles to idle for more than 5 minutes. (LD 2056)

Pennsylvania's 10th Congressional District should be an interesting race this year, and the GOP primary is just starting to heat up.

A significant chunk of the right-of-center blogosphere is starting to line up behind Chris Hackett for this seat, and it will be interesting to watch the concentrated effect of the online activism community on this race.

If I were his opponent, I'd be a bit concerned about what's shaping up to be an online cause celebre for conservatives.

Click here to read RedState's endorsement, and here for Politico's overview.

More on Chris Hackett here >>

I've been fortunate to spend this weekend in Chicago at Samsphere, a gathering of right-of-center online activists sponsored by the Sam Adams Alliance.

It's going to take some time to process the weekend, but it's been a fantastic experience to interact with people who have decided that it's not enough to just complain about the Right's perceived deficit in the online zone. These folks are making big things happen, and I'm coming away with a scary set of tools to play with.