http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/maines-incoming-teabagger-gov-gives-oDecember 28, 2010 12:00 PM
Maine's Incoming Teabagger Gov Gives Own Daughter A $41K Job
By Susie Madrak
It's a golden era in government! No more wasteful spending or cronyism! It's a brave new day, where integrity rules every single thing the new Tea Party politicians do: By the way, this same daughter, Lauren LePage, went to school in Florida, where she paid in-state tuition --because LePage’s wife violated tax laws by claiming residency in both Maine and Florida. (She was eventually ordered to pay back taxes).
In other words, business as usual. Teabaggers, you were suckered:
With the strong backing of the tea party movement, Maine Gov.-elect Paul LePage (R) rode a wave of discontent overbull semen taxes to a surprising victory last month, telling President Obama to “go to to hell” and warning a reporter that he would punch him in the face. On the campaign trail, LePage raged against a what he considered a corrupt state government and “pledged to surround himself with ‘the best and the brightest’ and to avoid political cronyism.”
But on Thursday, LePage announced that he had hired his own 22-year-old daughter for a position in the “upper echelon of his administration,” with a salary of $41,000, the Bangor Daily News reports.
According to the current administration, the average entry level salary is $30,000.” Indeed, the minimum starting salary for a certified teachers in Maine is only $30,000, and that requires extra study. Meanwhile, the entry-level salary for a Maine State Police officer is just $36,000 after graduation from the police academy.
And as Maine progressive blog Dirigo Blue points out, LePage’s daughter will also be moving into the governor’s mansion with her father. With taxpayers footing the bill for her rent, utilities, food, and other expenses, “Not only will Lauren be earning $41,000 in direct income, but she’ll be making another $12,000 or more indirectly.”
Maine Democrats Executive Director Mary Erin Casale called the hiring a “brazen display of political nepotism,” but LePage aides said the position is “entry-level and iscommensurate with her experience, work history and education.”