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Maine Mayor Robert Macdonald Wants Website to Post Names of Welfare Recipients(NEWSER) – "The days of being quiet are gone," Robert Macdonald writes in a column in the Twin City Times. And what does the Republican mayor of Lewiston, Maine, want to break the silence on? People on welfare are "gaming the system," he tells the Portland Press Herald, spurring him to call for a bill that would see the launch of a website with the "names, addresses, length of time on assistance, and benefits" for "every individual on the dole. … The public has a right to know how its money is being spent." Macdonald—an ex-cop who had no prior political experience before he took office in 2011, the paper notes—also wants to limit welfare benefits in Maine to 60 months over a person's lifetime and to prohibit extra benefits for kids born after a person is accepted into the welfare program.
At fault for this "victimized, protected class" are "liberal, progressive legislators and their social-service allies," Macdonald writes in his column. It appears Macdonald's experience has influenced his perspective. "Go into a grocery store. They flaunt it," he tells the Press Herald. "I'm not sorry. I hope this makes people think twice about applying for welfare." Macdonald also hopes the website might spur neighbors to "make a call" and rat out those taking advantage of the program.
And before anyone a cow has. Maine already does this for Pensioners.
Search: State worker pensions - The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram