Transcript

Troy Jackson · Newsradio WGAN

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For over 2 decades, Inside Maine has delivered sharp political
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insight and in depth discussion with Maine's top decision makers
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on 98.5 FM, AM 560 and wgan.com. We are back on inside Maine.
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It is the final segment. I'm Aaron Chadborn.
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See, Jeremy, time flies when you're having fun.
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It really does. It really does.
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What a phenomenal show. Have I worn you out yet?
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You and I'm I'm still you know, my fingers are moving fast, but
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I guarantee you when I. Get out of here.
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Well, see, here's the thing. And you've been doing a great
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job keeping up and I appreciate that we have such a great team
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here at Inside Main. On a typical show, we have about
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four guests. But this is the time of year
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where everyone is paying attention to politics.
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The primaries are coming up. There's a decision to be made.
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Both parties are putting their candidates out and this is the
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time that we get to talk to them, We get to ask them.
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We've been getting great text on the text line, 879-9426.
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You can still text in your questions.
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And if you missed any of today's interviews or last week's
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reviews, you can go to wgan.com, click podcast and click on
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Inside Main and you'll find them there.
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Now, closing out our show today, we are speaking with one final
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candidate. He is a Democrat, former Senate
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President, former state senator, Democrat and socialist Troy
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Jackson. Troy, welcome back to Inside
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MAIN. Hey Aaron, how you doing?
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I got to tell you, it's such an honor for you to take a break
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from palling around with Bernie Sanders and Graham Plattner to
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find time for us and our audience over here.
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I am deeply appreciate it, Troy. Well, I always got time for you.
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Aaron Wednesday So Bernie's coming back again with you.
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Where are you doing? You what's?
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What's the event you got coming up?
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Over Memorial Day weekend, Sunday in Orono and then Monday
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down in Portland. Wow.
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You know, it's, it's that's got some like big star power now.
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You've been running for a while now.
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Now people are starting to pay attention.
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You've had to go to these different forums and debates and
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spend time with your rivals. As you seek this Democrat
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nomination, what's become clear to you in those sessions about
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how you distinguish yourself from the other candidates and
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what makes you a better choice than them?
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Yeah. Well, I mean, you're, you're
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absolutely right. We've done a lot of these events
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and and what I see and get frustrated about is a lot of
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things that we're talking about are things that I've already
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done or been trying to do in the main legislature.
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And, you know, either childcare, putting money in the housing,
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going after big pharma on prescription drugs.
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I mean, that's something that you remember whenever you were
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working at the legislature. You know, these are all things
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that I've already done or tried to do and, and why we need to do
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more. You know, I just have the record
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that shows that, you know, I've already fought for these things
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and and that's why I'm running for governor because when we
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tried to, you know, enact some of these things, unfortunately,
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the bills got vetoed. Now, you of course experienced
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that both under Governor LePage and under Governor Mills.
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Now, the Legislature is is pretty dysfunctional always.
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And maybe it was designed to be that way.
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But knowing that, you know, you've seen what's happened this
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session with Democrats kind of at odds with each other, with
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Republicans kind of shut out of any decisions.
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How do you breakthrough some of that dysfunction to advance the
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policies you want to advance? Yeah, Well, I mean, you know,
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certainly when I started, you know, people said, well, it's
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more partisan now than it ever has been.
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And now you know, 20 years later, he.
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Said hold my beer. I wish we could.
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Yeah, we could get back to that. But I mean, you know, I used to
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work with, you know, Josh Tardy. I mean, I used to work with, you
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know, when I was chair of the IFW committee, I worked with
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Republicans all the time. And, and you know, I trying to
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be obviously decent and understand what people are going
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through, understand where they're coming from.
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I think is, is the way listening to people more than anything.
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Now it's no doubt that, you know, some of the partisanship,
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you know, I probably have for participated in, but you know, I
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think the biggest thing for me is that I don't believe in
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income tax cuts for wealthy people.
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What I wanted to do always was give property tax relief.
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And, and I think regardless where you come from in the state
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regards what your party is, people can see how property
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taxes are exploding and, and we should be able to work together
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on those things, you know, And so I think if we can just focus
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in on the things that we actually agree on, which there
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are many, I think there's no reason why we can't work
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together. But, you know, focusing on
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things that, you know, neither one of us want or we're 100%
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against on is going to be always a recipe for bickering,
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fighting, stuff like that. You know, I mean, Republicans
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have good ideas and I want to listen to them.
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But you know, we can't just settle on the things that
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there's no way in hell we're going to be able to change.
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Yeah, no, Well, that that's a good point.
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You talk about the tax breaks for for millionaires or
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whatever. What do you say though about,
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you know, the session the governor and the legislature
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decided not to do tax conformity for the no tax on trip tips and
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no tax on overtime pay. Do that think that was a mistake
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this session? Well, I don't know if it was a
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mistake, but I certainly think that there's, there's room to,
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to look at those things and see, you know, if, if it is possible
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to, to help, I mean, or, or, or get those things enacted.
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I mean, I, I don't think Democrats should ever be totally
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opposed to something like that because, you know, in the past
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we've done things that, you know, came from Republican
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leaders and they were good for the people of state of Maine.
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You know, So I, I don't know what the, the losses were as far
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As for general fund, I don't know how it actually would have
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worked for some people. I mean, on, on the overtime,
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stuff like that. From what I understood, it was
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only covered so, so much. And then you're going to have to
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file on it at the end of the year anyway.
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So I'd have to understand the details more, you know, being in
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there, but I don't think there's any reason why anything like
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that shouldn't be discussed and and tried to hammer out.
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Well, it sounded like they didn't want to give up the
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revenue. That's what I heard.
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They didn't want to take the revenue.
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That's how Janet had to kind of propose it.
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And, you know, Sean Moody, who hosts this show as well, it's
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one of the things he's most worked up on.
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He says, you know, any of the things that we should be able to
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agree on, we should agree on that.
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The other thing he wanted me to ask you about, Troy, is Sean's,
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you know, really concerned about the fact that Maine's economy
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showed 0% growth and there's a lot of opposition for, you know,
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tax incentives for R&D investment and for
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manufacturing. I know you've been critical of
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some tax incentives in the past. You've also supported others.
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How do you think about tax incentives for businesses doing
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business in Maine and having employment here in Maine?
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Absolutely. I mean if we can write tax
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incentives for businesses that actually provide the jobs that
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we believe are good for the state of Maine, provide the
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opportunities for, you know, working class people, then I
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have no problem with tax incentives.
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I mean, as you know, I mean, Governor Page worked on the
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index expansion, you know, just a couple years ago, we brought a
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tax incentive to do Mccrum sale processing up in Arista County,
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which actually helped the fail industry a lot.
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But like in that one there, we wrote into that that the
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potatoes had to come from Maine farmers.
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And that's what my argument is about tax incentives is let's
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make sure when we give the tax incentives, that is creating the
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jobs that we want and it's, you know, helping the people in this
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this economy. I mean, I'd love to, you know,
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help out with the hardwood industry right now.
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I'd love to bring a business to Maine, you know, to use some of
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the hardwood. But but I, I'm only going to do
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that if it helps Maine loggers and, and Maine land owners.
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I mean, that's something I feel very strongly about.
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But tax incentives is something I'm willing to do anytime.
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As long as we know that, you know, we're getting benefits to
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the people to stay to Maine. And if those benefits aren't in
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there, then we can claw back to tax itself.
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You're listening to INSIDE Main. I'm your host, Aaron Chadbourne.
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We're speaking with Troy Jackson.
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He's a former Senate President, former state senator, and he's
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candidate for governor running in the Democrat primary right
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now seeking the nomination. Troy, there's a lot of criticism
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of the Mills administration and two of the things that some of
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our listeners are concerned about.
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Our number one, this these allegations of rampant Medicaid
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fraud that's kind of gone UN police uninvestigated and not
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managed well. And 2nd, the proliferation of
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sole source or no bid contracts. What are your reactions?
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Do you think those have been legitimate problems during this
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administration? And how would a Jackson
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administration approach those two things differently?
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Well, Aaron, I mean, I, I definitely, I'll hear that.
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And, and I mean, if there is fraud and, and I'm not saying
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there isn't, I'm sure, I'm sure there's some amount of fraud
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that has to be obviously rooted out.
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Taxpayer money needs to be always guarded.
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And and not only that, I mean, we want to make sure that, you
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know, the money that we're spending is going to priorities
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that actually are helping Maine people, not just people built in
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the state. So, but, you know, unless you're
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in the administration, it's hard to get the information.
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You know, Secretary Dunlap or Auditor Dunlap, I did, I think
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did a great job, but with his report, but it didn't give us,
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you know, all the insurance and outs that actually being in the
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administration would provide. So that is something that if you
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know, when I'm governor, I would will make sure that, you know,
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DHHS is turned upside down and and you know, definitely find
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that if there is, find what there is and make sure that the
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money's going to the things that supposed to be intended for.
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But I also think that on the sole source contracts, I mean,
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that's something that I fought for for years now.
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I mean, I believe in buy American Bill Main.
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I think that our contract should be going to Mainers.
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I think that the they should be, you know, something that you put
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an RFP out and you give preference to Maine businesses.
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I've fought for that for years and I still feel very strongly
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that that's a big way of helping our economy.
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We have things that are going out of the state that there's
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absolutely no reason why Maine businesses can be doing those
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employing Maine people. And it really pisses me off
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that, you know, we haven't been able to get that enacted so that
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we can actually make sure that Maine companies and Maine
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workers get the state dollars that we're spending.
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I just had Rick Benedon and one of the issues that he was
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talking about is something the government oversight looked into
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and something that Senator Bill Diamond, a champion, which was
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reformed to the child protection and child welfare system to
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elevate it and to crack down what we've seen in terms of kids
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that have died either in state custody or when state workers
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have known that there was a plan.
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What do you think can and should be done?
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Because I know that when you were in the Senate, the proposal
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never got forward. Governor Mills has been able to
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work with Democrats in the Legislature to prevent anything
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from happening happening. What do you think can be done
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there? Well, I mean, I, and I know you,
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you probably might have missed this, but I, I actually think we
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did pass that a couple times. I know for a fact we passed that
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one year and bills in the Senate and of course you vetoed it,
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which, you know, was something that was pretty common.
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I, I think that the, you know, this is, there's no tolerance
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here at all. And there shouldn't be, you
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know, when we're taking kids in the state, I mean, that should
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be something that is at highest priority.
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And, and it's been really challenging even to get
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information out of the administration.
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You know, I, I put the members on the government oversight
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committee. I've met with them afterwards
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and things like that. And trying to get information
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sent to them has been a battle from day one.
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So, I mean, for me, you know, Governor Baldacci combined BDS
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and HHS, you know, years ago, 27 years ago, and that was supposed
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to be one of the ways that we were going to fix, you know, the
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whole of problems. I actually think it caused more
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problems. I think that department needs to
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be split up. I think that we have to have it
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off as child welfare because it's just not working and and
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it's not been working for a long time.
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I mean, you know, you this, this goes back and I'm not trying to
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get a blame away from Democrats, but this issue is something that
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we dealt with under LePage too. And, and it's a problem and, and
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people that are holding information back or trying to,
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you know, push it out of the rug are part of the problem.
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And, and you know, that has to change.
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And and that's going to change with when I'm governor because I
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feel very strongly that DHHS needs an overhaul.
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So let's get specific about that because I think like, you know,
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it's really easy to talk about transparency when you're on the
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outside. But then when anyone gets into
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office, whether it's freedom of access or it's, you know,
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transparency on, on welfare spending or these Medicaid
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reimbursements, it's, it's hard to get the information out
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there. What are some of the specific
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steps you think you can take to increase transparency in
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government under a Jackson administration?
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Well, I mean, I mean, I think first and foremost listening to
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people, especially listening to some of the, the people in
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there. I mean, there's, there's people
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in government that have ideas, have beliefs that, you know,
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things are going wrong and they just get shut down because
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that's not the way that it's been working for years.
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And and so I definitely think that, but I also think that a
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big problem is that we've had a top down administration where
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new ideas never came forward because they weren't coming from
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the right people. And I, and I'm not like that.
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I mean, I'm looking forward to working with people to try and
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change all these things. I know, I mean, I say it all the
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time and I have, you know, great confidence in this.
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I have strengths, I have weaknesses and the places I have
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weaknesses, I asked for help and I asked for other people to come
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in and help me on it. And that that's why, you know, I
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feel very good that we will overhaul these agencies and make
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them better for the people to state of Maine, because I'm not
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afraid to do that. I'm not afraid to listen to
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people that have new ideas. And I think you have to and, and
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that's as part of what, you know, I'm hoping to do too, is,
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you know, go around the state, you know, to excuse me, two
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weekends a year. You don't have, you know, myself
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and the commissioners go to another town.
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You don't have, I don't know if you call them here, but at least
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forums. So we started hearing from more
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and more people across the state about the challenges that
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they're facing so that, you know, people don't get caught in
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that bubble in Augusta. That's something I feel like,
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you know, for years now, I've been arguing that affordability
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has been killing people across the state.
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And now it seems like everyone understands it.
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But we could have been working on this for a long time.
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We could have been making changes.
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We could have been helping people.
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And, and, you know, we've been blocked for years because of
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the, the unfortunate echo chamber that's in Augusta.
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So I I think transparency starts with opening up so other people
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have ideas and listening to them.
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So we start off the segment talking about how you're going
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to be with Bernie Sanders and Graham Plattner.
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I want to just ask you briefly about Graham Plattner because
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you guys have been spending a lot of time together.
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Obviously, the things that have come out about the comments he's
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made online in the past, there are many that are troubling.
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He's, you know, apologized for them, talked about how it
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happened during a difficult part in his life.
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But I think, you know, Troy, that when I worked for Governor
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LePage, if myself or if, you know, let's say Rodger Cates or
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Matt Pouliot had had that revealed against them, the
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reaction from people on your side of the aisle would have
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been merciless. We would have been run out of
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public life. We would have been never seen or
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heard from again, whether or not we had PTSD or whether or not we
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apologized. But it seems like the left is
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willing to be more forgiving in this in this context because
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there's some sort of political advantage there for them.
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They they're willing to overlook these things that they wouldn't
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accept from other people because they want to win and they want
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to win and they want to take back the seat.
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How do you kind of rationalize that difference in treatment for
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for this particular guy who again, I'm sure he's feels bad
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about these terrible things that he posted online, but I wouldn't
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be allowed to get away with that.
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So why is it OK for him? Well, I mean, I don't know that.
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I mean, you'd have to be on the left to actually see, but I
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think there's, you know, quite a debate on the left about those
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things. So I don't think it's that
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people are whitewashing or over or anything like that.
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I mean, I think there is a constant discussion about that.
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But I, again, I think that, you know, Graham, you know, made
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statements or whatever that, you know, I, I don't know, you know
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why. I don't know what the life was
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that he was living at the time, but it seems like, you know, for
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the most part, people have been willing to forgive and forget.
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And but, you know, I mean, I think it's going to come down to
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how people act after they're elected.
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I mean, how are they really, they really change that
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perspective. And I think, you know, to be
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honest, I mean, the same problem over on the right.
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I mean, we got a president that's been convicted and it
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seems like a lot of people have, you know, forgotten about that
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too. So I'm not saying that one
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deserves the other or anything like that.
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But it just seems like sometimes people are willing to forgive
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things that you don't have happened in a person's life.
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And and, you know, in this case here, I think people are excited
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that Graham is come out. He's talking about a lot of
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things that people believe in. And, you know, he's apologized
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for the things that he said and some people are taking him at
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his word. In the end, it's going to come
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down to is he going to actually do what he's saying?
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And I guess we're going to have to find that out.
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Well, I've only seen him one time.
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I was at the Dropkick Murphy's concert when he jumped off the
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stage and crowd surfing. So I don't know him as well as
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you do. You spend a lot of time around
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him. You trust the guy, You vouch for
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his character. Well, I mean, yeah, I mean, I
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don't, I don't spend, I mean, we're not lifelong buddies.
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I mean, I don't know everything in in his past.
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What I do know is that so far he's been arguing about the same
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things that, you know, I believe in.
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I think in the end, it's going to come down to actions and and
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I think that that'll that'll prove the, you know, the measure
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of him. But, you know, I, I have had,
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you know, nothing that I have actually witnessed that doesn't
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tell me that he hasn't changes, you know, opinions or, or those
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opinions were product of another time.
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I mean, you know, for the last two years or whatever,
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everything that I've dealt with him, you know, for the most part
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has been on the up and up. All right, we got about a minute
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left. Troy, what's the closing
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argument as people are looking at making their decision?
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Why should they pull the lever for Troy Jackson and where can
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they go to learn more about your campaign?
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Well, it's Jackson from maine.com is you know where all
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our plans stuff like that on is on there.
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But look, I think, you know, the record is, is the record.
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You know, I've been trying to do a lot of things for people
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across the state, not Democrats or Republicans.
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And I'm trying to lower prescription drug costs, trying
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to get more nursing homes, child care, you know, jobs.
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And I've been fighting for the lobster industry, fighting for
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the, the, the forest industry and all these industries, you
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know, doesn't matter what, what the, how hard you are.
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And, and those are things that I've been fighting for.
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And that's what I'm going to be doing as governor.
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Troy Jackson, candidate for governor on the Democrat side.
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Thank you so much for being back with us here on INSIDE Maine.
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Good luck in the final stretch. Thanks a lot, Aaron.
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I appreciate it. Thanks so much for having me on.
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We'll have you again soon. Thanks, Troy.
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And that wraps up our show today here on Inside Main.
20:22
I'm Aaron Chadbourne. It was a doozy, Jeremy.
20:24
We made it through. Yes, it was 7 candidates in
20:26
three hours or less. And if you missed any of the
20:29
segments, the podcast are up. You've been doing a great job.
20:32
Right now, right now I have everybody up except for Troy
20:34
Jackson because that segment is still recording.
20:37
It'll be. Up as soon as it will be a show
20:39
at wgn.com. Click podcast.
20:42
Click inside. The only candidate we didn't get
20:44
to today was Hannah Pingree, who will be on next week with Sean
20:47
Moody when he hosts Inside Maine.
20:49
Hope we have his nice weather next weekend as we did this
20:51
weekend. It's so hard to sit.
20:53
This is beautiful, but it was a really great time.
20:55
I enjoyed doing it. It takes a lot of work to pull
20:57
this off, but I think it's been a really fun show.
20:59
You did a fantastic job with both sides.
21:01
Great time over the last two weeks.
21:03
Thank you to all the candidates, all the people who texted.
21:06
See you next time.