David Bowles Quotations

The popularity in keeping and breeding birds is rising rapidly in the UK and we are one of the main players in the bird trade in Europe,

Given the fact that Maine has raised its minimum wage each year for the last five years, that our minimum wage is currently $1.35 above the federal minimum wage and that Maine experienced a net loss of 600 jobs in 2005, one would wonder how it could possibly be true that raising the minimum wage again is going to improve our economy.

We think action needs to be taken now to address these high gasoline and fuel costs,

The fact of the matter is we're going to sit down with the speaker and negotiate a more equitable arrangement, and I think the speaker will be amenable to some accommodation.

We think that it goes a long ways toward bringing a greater element of fairness into the committee process.

This new information paints a disturbing picture of our economic landscape. The governor said in his State of the State address that more people are working than ever before. We now see that is not the case. And what is striking is that job growth is so strong in many other states.

We went into these budget negotiations with a few major goals. Foremost, we wanted to avoid borrowing any money, given the state?s large existing debt load. We also wanted to provide money for roads, because obviously they need work. And we wanted to begin paying off the hospital debt. This budget meets all those objectives.

These and other bills are all pretty substantial, and every time we get ready to debate, somebody wants to table it because they want to add an amendment or make a change.

As long as he's not going to go meet with President Chavez personally, I'm very comfortable with the arrangement.

It is truly astonishing that the governor is trying to put the state into the insurance business.

It's been more apparent to me in recent weeks. Every time a member is missing who wants to provide input on a bill, we try to accommodate that. But it's become too routine and too easy for a member to say they won't be here the next day and therefore want a bill held.

I'm getting increasingly alarmed at how much we still have to do, given the few days that are left to do it. I've mentioned my concerns to the speaker, and he certainly shares those concerns.