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<p>AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — More than 9,000 Maine residents have been removed from the state's food stamp program since Republican Gov. Paul LePage's administration began enforcing work and volunteer requirements late last year, officials said.</p> <p>The number of people that have been dropped from the program has exceeded even the administration's expectations.</p>

I have always said Maine’s safety net should help our most needy citizens. These vulnerable Mainers include the elderly, children, disabled and mentally ill. Hello. This is Governor Paul LePage. Illegal aliens who choose to live in Maine are not our most vulnerable citizens. We need to take care of Mainers first. I think most Mainers would agree. During my first few days in office in 2011, I issued an Executive Order to repeal Maine’s status as a sanctuary state. In 2004 Democratic leadership banned state officials from asking people about their legal status when they requested benefits. My order...

Two of the country’s most powerful and politically influential labor unions are backing President Obama in the recent court challenge to his 2014 executive action on illegal immigration, saying they support the president’s effort because "undocumented workers" need more workplace protection and their participation helps the U.S. economy. The AFL-CIO and the National Education Association on Monday each filed so-called amicus briefs in a federal appeals court case in which Texas and 26 other states are challenges the president’s 2014 memorandum on illegal immigration. The memorandum essentially expands work authorization and delayed-deportation programs for illegal immigrants. And it provides similar...

Maine Governor Paul LePage on Monday revived legislation to crack down on welfare fraud, making good on a 2014 campaign promise to tighten restrictions on the state's public assistance programs and help speed the transition from "welfare to work." LePage's bill would require applicants for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to apply for three jobs before receiving state aid, while prohibiting use of electronic benefit cards to purchase tobacco, liquor, tattoos, lottery tickets or to pay for bail.

Maine finally took a bold step forward in welfare reform and it’s paying huge dividends. Last year Maine passed a measure that would require recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, otherwise known as SNAP, to complete a certain number of work, volunteer, or job-training hours before being eligible for assistance. Main Governor Paul LaPage passed the measure last year and the resulting drop in food-stamp enrollees has been dramatic. At the close of 2014 approximately 12,000 individuals were enrolled in the state assistance program. Keep in mind that these individuals are adults who aren’t disabled and who don’t have...

12,000 non-disabled adults were in Maine’s SNAP program before Jan. 1 - a number that dropped to 2,680 by the end of March. More than 9,000 Maine residents have been removed from the state's food stamp program since Republican Gov. Paul LePage's administration began enforcing work and volunteer requirements. The new rules prevent adults who are not disabled and do not have dependents from receiving food stamps for more than three months - unless they work at least 20 hours a week, participate in a work-training program or meet volunteering requirements. DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew said the goal of the...

Two days after posting a controversial open letter to President Barack Obama, written by “An American Citizen,” on his personal Facebook page, a lacrosse coach said he was forced to resign by school officials at Fryeburg Academy in Fryeburg, Maine. Scott Lees, who was the head coach of the boys lacrosse team for four years, said he shared the open letter because he thought it was “interesting.” The letter asks a series of questions about Muslims and their contributions to America. The author eventually suggests that Muslims do not do “anything that contributes positively to the American way of life.”...

If Brakey’s bill passes and is signed into law, Maine would join Alaska, Arizona, Kansas, Vermont, and Wyoming in abolishing concealed carry permit requirements in their states. They would also join Montana, which only requires a concealed carry permit inside city limits.

Republican presidential hopefuls are united in blasting President Obama for his chaotic enforcement of marijuana laws, but the unity quickly breaks down when they are asked how they would handle things if they were in the White House. Some have sent mixed signals, saying state decisions should be respected while questioning how Mr. Obama has respected those decisions. Others have refused to say how they would wield the federal bureaucracy against marijuana. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is one of the few potential candidates to take a firm stance, saying he would insist on following federal statutes that outlaw the drug....

Anger toward those living below the poverty line seems to only be increasing. Maine and Missouri have proposed bills limiting residents’ food choices if they use SNAP. Missouri House Bill 813 would bar the state’s 930,000 food stamp recipients from using their benefits to buy cookies, chips, soda, energy drinks, steak and seafood. (The legislature also implemented mandatory drug testing for TANF applicants in 2011.) If the bill becomes law, a Missourian can’t buy a can of tuna with an EBT card. Tortilla chips to go with salsa? Nope. Flank steak — tough, stringy and the only cut of beef...

SACO, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage’s budget presentation at Thornton Academy in Saco came to an abrupt end when former Democratic state Rep. Joanne T. Twomey of Biddeford confronted the governor, according to multiple social media reports. According to social media reports, Twomey “threw a jar of Vaseline” toward the governor. Twomey reportedly was escorted from the meeting by security. A CBS 13 video shows Twomey throwing something on the stage, which did not strike LePage, as she was escorted from the building. The item was quickly retrieved by what appeared to be security personnel. In an Instagram video posted...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) said it is listing the northern long-eared bat as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, securing certain regulatory protections for the mammal and triggering charges of government overreach from some agricultural groups and politicians. ... The bat's range stretches from Maine to North Carolina on the Atlantic Coast, westward to eastern Oklahoma and north through the Dakotas, reaching into eastern Montana and Wyoming. In all, it covers 37 states, the District of Columbia and 13 Canadian provinces. In October 2013, the FWS proposed listing the bat as “endangered,” meaning on the...

Maine's Governor was quickly escorted off stage at a forum in Saco, Maine, after a former Mayor and ex-Democrat legislator threw a large bottle of petroleum jelly at Lepage. The Governor's Security staff immediately escorted the perp out of the auditorium.

Bangor Daily News Snapchat leads Somerset County sheriff’s deputies to wanted man By Ryan McLaughlin, BDN Staff Posted March 23, 2015, at 12:26 p.m. FAIRFIELD, Maine — A man Somerset County sheriff’s deputies had been seeking in connection with a January burglary at remote sporting camp made it easy for police to arrest him on Sunday after he posted his hiding location on a social networking app. Christopher Wallace, 24, had apparently used Snapchat to post that he was at a Fairfield residence, which prompted the public to contact the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office, according to a posting on the...

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says President Barack Obama’s Attorney General nominee, Loretta Lynch, is unfit to be the nation’s top lawyer because of her support for executive amnesty and other positions she’s taken, the governor’s spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski tells Breitbart News.“Given Loretta Lynch’s failure to commit to protect Americans from the president’s lawless executive overreach, that even he said nearly two dozen times, she is not fit to serve as the nation’s Attorney General,” Kukowski said in an email.Walker is in New Hampshire,the first in the nation primary state,on Friday, meeting with—among other—former Sen. Scott Brown(R-MA)—who narrowly lost to Sen....

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday praised the Republican senators who declined to sign a controversial open letter to Iran. "I'm heartened ... that a few Republicans, seven to be exact, didn't sign the letter. That's nice. Seven out of 54, certainly seven better than nothing," Reid said from the Senate floor. The open letter, signed by 47 Senate Republicans, states that any deal reached on Iran's nuclear program could be overturned “with the stroke of a pen” after President Obama leaves the White House in 2017. Republican Sens. Bob Corker (Tenn.), Susan Collins (Maine), Jeff Flake (Ariz.),...

Signers include former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Sens. Susan Collins and Mark Kirk and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie BakerMore than 300 veteran Republican lawmakers, operatives and consultants have filed a friend of the court brief at the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage late Thursday. The amicus brief, organized by former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, was filed for the four same-sex marriage cases the Court will hear on April 28 that could legalize the unions nationwide. In 2013, Mehlman marshaled a similar effort for the case that overturned California’s Proposition 8, which had banned same-sex marriage...

Currently, 61 members of Congress have confirmed they will not attend the speech. Arizona Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) California Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA) Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) — “I am disappointed Speaker Boehner chose to irresponsibly interject politics into what has long been a strong and bipartisan relationship between the United States and Israel. As President Obama has noted, it is inappropriate for a Head of State to address Congress just two weeks ahead of their election. I agree that Congress should not be used as a prop in Israeli election campaigns,...

The Dem Congressmen Boycotting Netanyahu are the Same Old Hamas SupportersPosted By Daniel Greenfield On February 26, 2015 @ 6:02 pm In The Point | 12 Comments There are a lot of stories about the Dem members of Congress boycotting Netanyahu’s speech. But most of the names on the list are longtime opponents of the Jewish State.The boycott lists consists of two groups. Congressional Black Caucus members who are offended on Obama’s behalf and can smell racism anywhere.The other consists of opponents of Israel.It’s instructive to compare the list of boycotters to the 54 members of Congress who signed...

A full list of the Democrats who have confirmed they're missing the speech follows: SENATE - 4 members Sen. Tim Kaine (Va.) Sen. Patrick Leahy (Vt.) Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Sen. Brian Schatz (Hawaii) HOUSE - 26 members Rep. Earl Blumenauer (Ore.) Rep. G.K. Butterfield (N.C.) Rep. Andre Carson (Ind.) Rep. James Clyburn (S.C.) Rep. Steve Cohen (Tenn.) Rep. Peter DeFazio (Ore.) Rep. Diana DeGette (Colo.) Rep. Donna Edwards (Md.) Rep. Keith Ellison (Minn.) Rep. Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.) Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (Ill.) Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.) Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (Texas) Rep. Barbara Lee (Calif.) Rep. John Lewis (Ga.)...