That's a dumbass way to think about things.

Link for those who need help getting over a paywall

> The Legislature – the 186 individuals we have sent to Augusta to do a job – is powerless to amend the language written by the advocates.

This is blatantly untrue, as demonstrated by the legalization of recreational cannabis. The legislature treated the referendum as a mere suggestion, and crafted their own laws around the issue from scratch. In theory, BDN may be correct, but precedent tells us they are not.

> Employees would explicitly have the right to strike and the government entity would not be able to hire new long-term employees during a strike. Can you imagine if there was a strike ongoing last week during the windstorm? And no new crews could join the company?

Great to know that BDN is against collective bargaining and in favor of scabbing.

Why is it that all of our local news media is aligned against the working class? I’m sick of hearing only the business-owner side of every issue.

I understand that democracy, as practiced best in Maine through our remarkable citizens initiative process, can often be inconvenient for an entrenched class of economic elites. Let us all tilt our ear so that we may hear the lament of the world’s smallest violin.

The essay is the opinion of the author and not the BDN editorial page. The author's bio is at the bottom of the essay.

Lol this author is just a LePage stooge. There's almost a 100% chance Avangrid is paying him, which of course is not disclosed

The author is a former LePage stooge, and in fairness to the BDN, it is labeled an opinion piece.

That said, they often publish and promote low-effort conservative drivel like this - they're trying to turn their entire brand into whitewashing the raving lunatics of the Maine GOP.

The authors bio and BDN’s disclaimer both seem to indicate that the author is employed by BDN as an opinion columnist.

Then you'll be happy to know that the referendum put forward by Our Power was actually written in and passed by the legislature last year before it was vetoed by the Governor.

Did you read the article?

I read the article. That the author was a LePage stooge is confirmed by his biography. Whether Avangrid is paying him (or paying the BDN) is not something we are in a position to know, but it seems plausible based on the content of the article.

It didn't really seem biased in either direction to me.

lol

Oh good point, you've convinced me and made me see the error of my ways!

Corporate psyop

To any who do click the link in the main post: it is an opinion piece.

My opinion on this opinion is that it’s hilariously bad.

Do your own opinions as you will.

Interesting. It seemed very pointed to me.

"my side loses referendums, while evil lefty gremlins like Ethan Strimling win them, so all referendums are bad" is the entirety of the argument.

I love that maine people take such an initiative in directing the state. It was the first state to legalize marriage for all people through referendum and it stopped letting people be prosecuted on a state level for simple possession of marijuana via referendum too.