A message from Maine GOP Chair Mark Ellis:
A Petition to the Statehouse from Maine's Hard Working Families and Businesses

Don't add to our burden! Don't break our backs!
When the halls of the state capitol cleared this week after the "Maine Can Do Better" rally, it was quiet and the remnants of streamers, flyers, and placards were not the only things left behind. The hundreds of people representing special interest groups also left behind the impression that their voices are the only ones that exist and matter.

Where were you?

Now, that's a rhetorical question; I know where you were!

You were probably working one of your two jobs or resting between shifts. Or you might have been commuting 30 miles or more to work or racing to pick up the kids at school to get them to their hockey game or dance lesson.

You might have been sitting with your elderly mom and dad making a list of things they needed at the grocery store or sitting with your troubled teen who just had a very bad day.

You might have been trying to find someone to cover the shift of an employee with two sick children at home or you had your nose in a spreadsheet trying to figure out how you are going to make the next payroll.

You might have been standing at your door in shock over your heating oil bill. Or you were leaning against your vehicle watching the dollars rack up on the gas pump faster than it ever has in your lifetime.

Whatever you were doing, you were busy and you probably weren't aware of the rally. You probably weren't aware that hundreds of people with a stake in the state's overspending were in the statehouse trying to convince legislators that the only way to solve the $200 million budget shortfall is by raising your taxes.
Will your voice be heard?

I know that you cannot afford to take time off from your job and family to attend a rally at the statehouse. It's just too much to ask of you. But I know you care and I also know that you want to be heard - you deserve to be heard!

Please take a moment and sign the online petition that will send a message to our legislators that you and your family cannot afford to pay new or increased taxes and fees.

"We, the undersigned, petition the Maine Legislature to solve the $200 million budget crisis through reasonable and responsible cuts in state spending - NOT by increasing taxes or by instituting new taxes or fees.

Furthermore, we petition the Maine Legislature to begin the difficult work of reducing the tax burden on Maine's working families and businesses by reforming state government so that it is accountable, affordable, and sustainable in the long term."

Our goal is to deliver the petition to leaders in the Maine Legislature the morning of March 18th (this coming Tuesday).
TIME IS RUNNING OUT!

SIGN THE PETITION NOW

And

FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO LIKE-MINDED FRIENDS AND FAMILY

Sincerely,
State Chairman
Maine Republican Party