Cross-posted from
The Last Days of Paul LePage
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One drawback in Maine to having a Governor whose entire background is in business and who repeatedly promises to bring business sense to government is that outlook is not always in the best interests of all people. Government does not exist to make a profit or outsource for profit but it is supposed to undertake the non-profitable work to help prevent or mitigate that which may costs lives and decent livelihoods. It has a responsibility to serve the "general welfare."
Paul LePage's first instinct is always about costs and profits in a business sense only. Recently he has been talking about selling student loans to workers' employers in part because "I think we can make it sort of a very profitable operation."
Setting aside the creepy overtones of indentured servitude, this first instinct of Paul LePage is a bad one because this is clearly an area that a "very profitable operation" has no place in either serving those receiving the service or the greater common good. Maine people will profit in the non-financial sense of the word by replacing him with Mike Michaud.