America’s problems – economic and political – are all of a piece.
Here is the text of the talk I gave at the Portland Rotary Club on Friday. Please let us know what you think.
Eliot R. Cutler
The Portland Rotary Club
Holiday Inn By The Bay
Portland, ME February 3, 2012
You were kind enough to invite me to talk with you today about what I’ve been doing for the past year or so, and I am grateful for the opportunity to do that.
Many people mistakenly think of Rotary as a lunch club for businessmen and women, and so they might expect me to talk today about the success of our new company, Maine Seafood Ventures, in exporting lobsters to China. Or the exciting deals that we are developing at MaineAsia, another new business that I have started with three partners up at 4 Milk Street.
Both Maine Seafood Ventures and MaineAsia are making small but meaningful contributions to reversing America’s balance of payments deficit.
More importantly, as far as I am concerned, both of these businesses are creating economic activity, jobs and opportunity right here in Maine by opening up new markets in China for the sale of Maine products and by attracting investment capital from China into the Maine economy.
Later, I would be delighted to answer your questions about all of that and more.
However, I know that Rotary is a service organization, and so I have chosen to speak with you today about the expectations that we should have for public service in America and Maine, how our political process causes us to fall short in meeting those expectations, and the consequences of this failure for our struggling national and state economies.
The only regret that I have about my campaign for governor last year . . . is that we lost. I don’t regret my decision to run, the nature of my candidacy or my absolute refusal to engage in negative campaigning.
If Maine’s challenges that compelled me to become a candidate in 2010 remain unmet by 2014, then I will likely run for governor again.
I came away from our 2010 campaign invigorated and encouraged . . . and with these two firm conclusions:
First, my fundamental optimism about America’s greatness and Maine’s future was fully reinforced. The foundations of greatness are intact in Maine, even as we remain in the grip of this awful recession.
I believe – no I know – that our people and our resources together have the capacity to generate enough economic activity to make Maine, again, not only the state where everyone wants to live, but also the state where everyone can make a living. Maine should be one of the most successful states in a nation full of opportunity, and we will have no one to blame but ourselves if we fail this test.
But my second conclusion was this: in Maine and throughout America, we share nearly universal misgivings that our political process is failing us and that those failings are making it impossible for us to make the important fixes that we know our economy requires.
To put it bluntly, partisanship has led to paralysis, and this paralysis is killing the American dream . . . right here, right now.
We are desperately hungry for political reform, and I believe so strongly in the importance of reform for the future of Maine and America that I have fully immersed myself this year in three big efforts to achieve it:
I have founded OneMaine – a political home for all people – Democrats, Republicans, Greens and unenrolled independents – who are more interested in pragmatic solutions than in political partisanship . . . a place for people who care less about parties and more about common interests and shared purpose.
I am on the board of directors of Americans Elect, a new web-based nominating system that will put a bipartisan presidential and vice presidential ticket on the ballot in all 50 states in 2012 and that will reconnect millions of American people with our political process.
And I am searching for the best way to overcome the Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United case and to protect our political process from the scourge of big money.
Why am I doing this? After all, I pride myself on never having done anything quixotic in my entire life.
Simply put, the time is right for reform. Just about no one is satisfied with our political process, with the performance of the elected officials who emerge from it, or with the consequences of their poor performance for our society and our economy.
There are three good reasons for that.
First, measured by jobs and employment, this recession has been long and deep. Today’s news that the national unemployment rate has declined to 8.3% is certainly good news, but not nearly good enough.
America has 5.6 million fewer jobs than when the recession began over four years ago, and the underemployment rate – the true rate that counts those who have stopped looking for work and part-time workers who want full-time jobs – stands above 15%.
Too few Americans are working, and too many Americans are less capable of working because they lack the education or the skills demanded of them in the new economy.
Productivity is way up since 2000, making American companies more competitive. Average profit margins at major companies are now close to 13%, the highest levels in 50 years, and the stock market is buoyant.
But as machines get smarter and people don’t, American companies are hiring fewer and fewer people. The next time you hear someone tell you that all we need to do to create jobs is to increase corporate profits, clue them in to this fact: Since the “end” of the recession in June of 2009, corporate spending on equipment and software has increased by 26%, but payrolls have been nearly flat.
Second, the economic divide that separates a few of us from most of us has become a wider, deeper and ever more threatening chasm.
It is not “class warfare” to observe that 400 people in the U.S. control more wealth than the poorest 150 million combined . . . or to note that in 2007 those 400 earners earned an average of $340 million each and paid 17% of their income in taxes.
The uncomfortable truth is that more Americans – numbering around 40 million and including about 12.5% of our neighbors here in Maine – live desperate lives of real, grinding poverty than at any time since these statistics were first gathered.
In fact, among all industrialized nations, we have one of the highest percentages of citizens who live in poverty. At the same time, our middle class – historically the most productive in the world and able for decades to support programs that provide assistance for those less fortunate – has been hopelessly squeezed by the technology revolution and the failures of our educational systems and just can’t step up to that plate any more.
We are creating wealth in America. We’re just not sharing much of it.
And third, we have lost trust in our government and faith in each other. Many of those who have the money to do so are literally taking over our political system, alienating more and more Americans from it and discouraging participation in it.
The sheer force of money in politics today is corroding and corrupting politics, capitalism and civil society.
The Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizen’s United case opened the floodgates to billions of dollars in hidden political spending. That case essentially stands for the propositions that corporations are citizens with First Amendment rights and that the protection of our political system from corruption and distortion is not a sufficient reason to regulate and contain the exercise of those rights.
As a result, outside, non-candidate and non-party spending in political campaigns has increased 338% since 2006. More of that spending now comes from undisclosed donors than comes from those who identify themselves, and you can safely bet that most of it pays for vicious negative advertising that contributes nothing – absolutely nothing – to the sort of civic dialogue that the world’s longest-lasting democracy has a right to expect.
It is no wonder that increasing numbers of Americans have thrown up their hands and have walked away from politics. There has never been less trust and participation in the political process than we see today.
Meanwhile, our once great political parties have become increasingly irrelevant to most people and may be nearing the ends of their lives.
Once vigorous, broad and inclusive, the Democratic and Republican Parties have shrunk and narrowed . . . migrating further to the right and left sides of our political spectrum.
As they have drifted away from the center, the two parties have defined themselves into silos, trapped by funding sources and narrowed ideologies that keep them from bridging the differences between them. How else can we explain the incredible paralysis that has so far prevented the President and the Congress from solving the budget mess.
Reacting to this spectacle, the American people have jumped ship.
Fewer and fewer Americans call themselves Republicans or Democrats these days. As recently as 2008, 40% of registered voters identified themselves as Democrats; that share has fallen to 30% in 2011. In 2008, 29% called themselves Republicans, but that number has dwindled to 22% in just these last three years.
And even fewer people are sufficiently motivated to vote in their party primaries. The percentage of the voting age population who vote in Democratic primaries, for example, collapsed to 8% in 2010 from 21% in 1966.
These parties are remnants of another time. Yet, the Democratic and Republican parties continue to exercise political authority far out of proportion to the rapidly declining allegiance they command from the electorate.
In primaries and caucuses more and more dominated by big money and narrow interests, and in which fewer and fewer of us choose to participate, Democrats and Republicans still nominate the so-called “major candidates” from whom we choose in our fall general elections.
Our political system is stuck in a time warp, increasingly unresponsive to the needs of a society that has been transformed socially, culturally and economically during the last several decades.
The consequences of our obsolete electoral process are downright ugly.
84% of the American people think the Congress is doing a lousy job, while only 9% approve of its performance. This is its worst rating ever. Here’s how bad that number is:
Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan strongman, has a approval rating in America than our own Congress. Richard Nixon during Watergate had a 24% approval rating. Even lawyers today have a 29% approval rating. And the IRS is at 40%.
Only 10% of the American people believe that they can trust the federal government, again the lowest level of confidence ever recorded.
America’s problems – economic and political – are all of a piece.
A sharply divided and notably uncivil Congress has failed to enact sound and sensible national policies.
These policy failures have led to a crushing debt burden, a longer-lasting recession than any we have experienced since the Great Depression and deepening divides.
And these deepened divides reinforce and perpetuate the very brand of politics that has brought Congress to a standstill and the rest of us to our knees.
These are our problems to solve. So, where do we start?
Let’s start with what we should expect from our political system and from our elected leaders and what should be the foundations of our policies.
Our political system should engage us and encourage us by its openness to participate in it.
Our political nominating processes should give us broad and good choices – choices that appeal not only to the few of us who stand on the left and right ends of the political spectrum, but also to most of us who occupy the center.
And all of our political processes – nominating, electing and legislating – should be insulated against the corrosion and corruption bred by uncontrolled and unregulated political money.
What about our leaders?
We should expect our elected leaders to demonstrate the ability and the intention to draw from us the best that is in each of us, to unite us, and to engender trust among us.
We should expect our elected leaders to have a clear understanding of the world in which we live and compete and the ability and the grace to represent us well in that world.
And we should expect – nay, demand – that our leaders form sound and strategic judgments about the course to greatness that Maine should pursue, they craft together with their peers pragmatic, fair and sensible policies that will take us there, and that they exhibit a steadfast and determined resolve to keep petty and partisan politics from knocking us off that course.
With those expectations in mind, what should be the guideposts for the policies that we pursue to secure Maine’s future? I suggest that we start with three propositions which we will not compromise:
First, let us commit that all of us in Maine will be bound together by a bond of common purpose to make Maine great again. We will understand that we are all in this together – the 1% and the 99%; Aroostook and Cumberland; Independents, Democrats and Republicans.
If the people of any state in America ought to know and understand interdependence, it is the 1.3 million of us who live in the State of Maine.
We of all people should understand why it is important to be rational and pragmatic when making decisions that affect each others’ lives.
We of all people should understand the importance of the words we use – that health care however it is delivered, for example, is not welfare.
We of all people should understand that we do ourselves a disservice when we choose to set political standards for important public policies and to conduct our conversations about those policies in political rather than pragmatic and rational terms.
Second, let us commit that Maine’s future will be a shared enterprise, where burdens, obligations and rewards are fairly shared – not in the manner of a redistributive socialist or communist doctrine, but rather measured by equal and open opportunity and by a common ambition to take advantage of it.
The bedrock values of fairness and opportunity seem lately to have vanished from the lexicon of our elected leaders in Maine. We are losing what strengthened us in our past – our sense of shared enterprise and mutual obligation. And we find ourselves with no compelling and shared vision of Maine’s future.
When we think and talk about Maine’s future, we should all understand and agree that the future doesn’t come to an end on February 1, or at the end of the fiscal year, or at the end of this governor’s term or even at the conclusion of the next governor’s term.
When we think and talk about Maine’s health care, energy and budget policies, we should understand and agree that they need to be fair and equitable and that they need to strengthen Maine’s future as a place to live and to do business.
With respect to any proposal for spending or for a tax break, we should answer these three questions in this order: What are our needs? How can we meet those needs in the most cost-effective way? And what is the fairest and best way to pay for it?
And third, let us commit that the mutual trust that flows from the knowledge that our purpose is common and that our enterprise is shared will not be shaken. It will be foxhole trust.
When he returned to Gettysburg in 1888 to dedicate the Maine Monuments on the Civil War battlefield where he led the defense of Little Roundtop, General Joshua Chamberlain declared that “Our strongest safeguard is in personal participation in the direction and destiny of the Nation. “
Abraham Lincoln had spoken in nearly the same place 25 years earlier about a “government of the people, by the people and for the people.”
The martyred president, General Chamberlain said, meant by those words “a people . . . guided ever by great commanding convictions, and pressing forward as one for the goal of a common good.”
To all of you – most of you – who harbor hope for our future, who believe as I do that the best days for Maine and America lie ahead, I ask you to join us in these reform efforts to rebuild our economy and restore our democracy.
10 Responses to America’s problems – economic and political – are all of a piece.
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This is an excellent speech and I agree with most of it. Some how we need to give hope to all people so that they will become participants in the process to make our government both of Maine and the nation more responsive to the needs of this country and free of corruption.
I am a Democrat but I am losing faith in the ability of that or any party to make significant changes. I believe that just about every person in elected office in Washington at least is owned by the corporations that would ruin this country’s economy and destroy the middle class and ignore the poor. The so-called “safety net” is not present and is failing too many people.
I am also concerned by the groups No Labels and Americans Elect. It isn’t that I am opposed to their missions but in order to be effective there has to be a strong message that really excites people and calls them to action and I don’t see that happening at this point in time. My concern is that in the coming election they could take votes away from perhaps the only person who might stand a chance to begin to turn things around for the better.
One crime is that so much money is being poured into this campaign that it truly disgusts me especially when I think how much good that money could do if put in what I think are the right places.
I applaud your efforts in creating jobs and seeing a future for Maine and the nation. I supported you in the last election and think we would be in a very different place had you won. I am very fearful of what the present governor will do to the state’s people and the economy. I wish there was a way to engage the people especially those of us who care so deeply.
I write letters, sign petitions, contribute what money I can but there is no one who is listening. While many do not support the Occupy movement, their voices have changed some things and I believe we need more people to add their voices and we will not effect change unless we, collectively and loudly raise our voices.
I am sorry for the length of this comment but maybe you can give hope to the hopeless.
Priscilla Payne
Windham, Maine
This commincation is the most level headed and sensible approach to address Maine’s opportunities. I hope that everyone in Maine reads this and that they begin to follow the message of working together to acheive a positive future for MAINE.
There is not a single word in your speech that my wife and I don’t agree with 100 percent. Run for governor 3 years from now!
I’m hopeful that OneMaine will continue to grow. As far as I can see the only way we can ever fix the political system in this country is to start “from the bottom up”. We have to set up a process to feed moderate candidates into the system, candidates who are honestly interested in addressing the country’s problems and not just interested in a career in politics.
That said, I hope we’ll see a few more specifics on OneMaine’s positions on the issues. For example, I believe that employees, with certain exceptions, ought to have the right to organize and form unions. I also believe that this country has to reduce immigration, both legal and illegal, to preserve jobs for Americans. These are just two examples of issues that are very important to me, and I’d like to know if, and how, OneMaine would address them.
And would OneMaine promote the idea of “compromise” and “interest-based problem solving”? People may disagree, but they ought to be able to attack problems rather than each other.
I was feeling so negative and wanted to fight the money machine (the MHPC and Freedomworks.) I saw the website they have made. They are comparing Maine and NH. A person trying to get Mainecare video. The numbers for Maine are bad and because the website is an outside influence of big corporations. Today I gor up and did not want to comment against the cuts. I saw an articel about the Surry school . The students gained national recognition because effort they made. in the school year. Instead of pounding down the schools we have, we should recognise these efforts more. I am against big money influencing the legislature. Maine is not NH. The resources for recovery can be found here. I am energised by a new thought. The big money can be fought by words.
Eliot, Visionary!! Compelling!! Who could diasgree? In recent weeks I have been deeply involved in three much in the news legislative issues, the Regulatory Takings Bill ( LD1810) the LURC Reform Bill ( LD1789) and the Conoco Phillips 22 million gallon LPG tankin tiny sceic Searsport and associated complete deregulation of LPG by Maine that paves the way for that.I turned to each of these issues thinking, speaking and writing from these values and I can only say it has been tough sledding. Making that shift as individuals is key, of course and it radically changes how we view any issue and brings clarity to our seeing and understanding . Participating actively in these three very controversial issues ( all of which are about big corporations taking over our state legislature) tells me how far we have to go. It is not just political parties that are hardened into polarities and dualitsic thinking , it is also the interest groups and advocacy groups. And underneath all that is “we the people” so deeply estranged and disnefranchised from civic engagement that when we come out to testify its more like a circular firing squad than a collaborative awakening and engagement. I believe deeply in the “common wisdom”. That emerges when there is opportunity to gather in one tent at one camp fire with all our diversity and conflicts of interest. I wonder if that is part of your vision for One Maine..literally creating conversation that seeks the common wisdom on the most important issues facing MaIne, our nation today.One Maine One Tent Conversations.
This is really excellent. I agree with all of it. Hope you run for governor in 2014. If you decide to run for the Snowe seat, I’ll certainly support you, but you’d have a lot more fun – and could be a lot more effective – as governor.
Whatever you decide, I am firmly in your corner. Please let me know if I can help.
I had to stop reading after this sentence: “To put it bluntly, partisanship has led to paralysis, and this paralysis is killing the American dream . . . right here, right now.”
Paralysis, to me, would mean that Congress was doing nothing when in reality they are doing way too much while spending way too much. Too much government, particularly on the federal level, is killing the American dream. Term limits are the number one thing needed to get career politicians out of government and get more citizen legislators in.
The second most important thing we can do is to bring back individual responsibility. People have to understand that it is not government’s role to fix problems for you. It’s role is to provide a defense against foreign and domestic enemies, uphold the rule of law, and protect your natural born rights.
BTW, partisanship has always existed. You should take a look at some of the rhetoric that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson sent each other’s way.
Scott: How can you say they are doing way too much? What are you talking about? You show a sad lack of awareness of the goings-on in D.C.
The lobbyists buy the attention and votes of the congress and the needs of the republic and the people are ignored.
It is not the gov’t's responsibility to ‘fix problems’? Who do you think will fix the highways, schools, and other crumbling pieces of the infrastructure? You? Me?
There will always be a small percentage of the population which needs the help a central government can provide and it is the duty of all of us to help when help is needed.
Yes, partisianship has always existed, but not the viscious us vs them sort that would de-rail everything rather than compromise, like we have now.
I voted for you once, Eliot. I’ll gladly do it again.
I cannot believe so many are buying into Cutlers class warfare/redistribution of wealth sermon. This is smoke and mirrors that progressives like Cutler uses to promote his liberal agenda.