“The war in Iraq is over. The war in Afghanistan is moving to a new phase — we’re transitioning to Afghan lead. Over the past decade, nearly 3 million service members have transitioned back to civilian life, and more are joining them every day. . .

“Our veterans are some of the most highly trained, highly educated, highly skilled workers that we’ve got. These are Americans that every business should be competing to attract. These are the Americans we want to keep serving here at home as we rebuild this country. So we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that when our troops come home, they come home to new jobs and new opportunities and new ways to serve their country.

“Now, this has been a top priority of mine since I came into office. Already, we’ve helped 600,000 veterans and their family members go back to school on the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill. We’ve hired over 120,000 veterans to serve in the federal government. We’ve made it easier for veterans to access all sorts of employment services. We’ve set up online tools to connect veterans with job openings that match their skills.

“Michelle and Jill Biden have worked with the private sector, with businesses, to secure a pledge of 135,000 jobs for veterans and their families. And with the support of Democrats and Republicans, we’ve put in place two new tax credits for companies that hire veterans. . .

In my State of the Union address, I proposed a new initiative, called the Veterans Jobs Corps, to put veterans back to work protecting and rebuilding America. And today, we’re laying out the details of this proposal. . .

Over the past few years, tight budgets have forced a lot of states, a lot of local communities to lay off a lot of first responders . . . Over the past three years, my administration has made it possible for states to keep thousands of first responders on the job. But today, we’re announcing that communities who make it a priority to recruit veterans will be among the first in line when it comes to getting help from the federal government. . .

So we want to prioritize veterans and we want to help states and local communities hire veterans to firehouses and police stations all across the country.

The second thing we want to do is to connect up to 20,000 veterans with jobs that involve rebuilding local communities or national parks. . . They’ve already risked their lives defending America. They should have the opportunity to rebuild America. We’ve got roads and bridges in and around our national parks in need of repair. Let’s fix them.

Of course, Congress needs to fund these projects. Congress should take the money that we’re no longer spending on war, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the rest to do some nation-building here at home, to improve the quality of life right here in the United States of America — (applause) — and put our veterans to work . . .

And for veterans who want to do something else — maybe put their leadership skills to use starting a small business — we’re going to start offering entrepreneurial training to our veterans. We want service members prepared for battle — and for professional success when they come home. . .

We should remember from our veterans that no matter what the circumstances, those men and women in uniform — a lot like the firefighters in this fire station — work together. Act as a team. Finish the job. That’s what we’ve got to do when it comes to our nation’s recovery. . .

This is a nation that exists because generations of Americans worked together to build it. This is a nation where, out of many, we come together as one. Those are the values that every veteran understands. Those are values that this fire station understands. We’ve got to make sure that we return to those values. And if we do, then I guarantee you we’ll remind everybody around the world just why it is the United States is the greatest country on Earth.

• 86 percent see regulations as necessary part of a modern economy
• 78 percent of small businesses say regulations needed to protect small businesses from unfair competition, level playing field with big business

Small business owners see government standards as an important tool to level the playing field with big business. The report, based on a national survey of 500 small business owners, was released today by the American Sustainable Business Council, Main Street Alliance and Small Business Majority.

“Despite the heated rhetoric, regulations simply aren’t small businesses’ top concern,” said John Arensmeyer, founder and CEO of Small Business Majority. “Small businesses can be the jobs engine we need to jumpstart the economy, but not if legislators are focusing on something that isn’t their top problem. Policymakers should listen to what real small businesses are saying and act accordingly.”

“With football at the top of everyone’s mind, if we played the game with no rules the Super Bowl winner would come down to which team was bigger or willing to play dirtier,” said Frank Knapp, Jr., Vice Chair of the American Sustainable Business Council and president and CEO of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce. “Well, regulations are the rules of the game we call private sector competition. An overwhelming percent of small business owners agree that without fair regulations creating a level playing field, small businesses won’t be able to compete against big businesses. From our perspective, the effort to kill regulations is big businesses’ way of rigging the game in their favor.”

Key findings from the survey include:
• Small business owners see their top problem as weak customer demand, not regulations: 34 percent cited weak customer demand as the most important problem for their business, while only 14 percent named government regulations.
• On the question of what would do the most to create jobs, cutting regulations came in low on the list: the top response was eliminating incentives to move jobs overseas at 24 percent; reducing regulation was fifth at 10 percent.
• Small business owners see an important role for standards and safeguards: 78 percent believe some standards are important to protect small businesses from unfair competition, and 76 percent believe regulations on the books should be enforced.
• Small business owners see regulations as necessary for a modern economy: 93 percent agree their business can live with some regulation if it is fair, manageable and reasonable.
• Small business owners express strong support for specific rules and standards: 78 percent support rules to prevent health insurance companies from increasing rates excessively, 84 percent support food safety standards, 80 percent support product safety standards and 80 percent support disclosure and regulation of toxic materials.
• Small business owners support clean energy policies: 79 percent support ensuring clean air and water, and 61 percent support moving the country towards energy efficiency and clean energy.
• Small businesses believe in streamlining government processes: 73 percent of respondents believe we should allow for one-stop electronic filing of government paperwork.

For more information on these poll findings, visit:

http://www.asbcouncil.org/poll_regulations.html

http://mainstreetalliance.org/5511/poll-regs-economy/

http://smallbusinessmajority.org/small-business-research/downloads/020112_Regulations_Poll_Report.pdf

Poll results reported in this statement represent findings from an Internet survey of 500 small business owners nationwide, commissioned by the American Sustainable Business Council, Main Street Alliance and Small Business Majority, and conducted by Lake Research Partners. The survey was conducted between December 8, 2011, and January 4, 2012. It has a margin of error of +/- 4.4%.

Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland and U.S. Senator Mark Begich of Alaska, Honorary Chairs of the NewDEAL, recognized Cote for his efforts to grow progress by making clean energy more affordable for Maine’s homes and businesses. Cote joins House Minority Leader Emily Cain as the second NewDEAL Leader from Maine.
 
“Senator Begich and I have joined the NewDEAL because we believe we need to look for fresh ideas not just from the top down in Washington, but also from the bottom up, where innovative leaders like Adam Cote are developing and testing their ideas out on the ground,” said Governor O’Malley, Honorary Co-Chair of the NewDEAL.
 
“In communities throughout the country, rising state and local leaders such as Adam Cote are proving that you can be both pro-growth and progressive. The NewDEAL is designed to foster these types of ideas and these types of leaders,” said Senator Begich, Honorary Co-Chair of the NewDEAL.

“I am proud to be recognized by the NewDEAL for my work to make clean heating affordable for all Mainers and help our country move toward energy independence,” said Cote.
 

“I am very excited to make this announcement,” stated City Manager Rees. “After a rigorous and competitive search, I am confident that we have found the right person for the position. Mike’s commitment to public service, the police department and the community is unparalleled. He knows and loves this city, and the community will be well served by the Police Department being under his leadership.”

Sauschuck has been with the Portland Police Department for fifteen years. After graduating from high school, Sauschuck joined the Marines where he was sent to Camp Pendleton, San Mateo, California. During his five year tenure, he served as a Corporal then Sergeant within the Marine Security Guard in San Salvador, El Salvador and Moscow, Russia. After four years as a reserve police officer with the Old Orchard Beach Police Department, Sauschuck joined the Portland Police Department where he worked in a variety of specialties including the crisis intervention team, special reaction team and as a field training officer. In March 2011, Sauschuck was selected as the department’s Assistant Chief, where he served as Chief James Craig’s second in command and directly oversaw criminal investigations, uniformed operations and emergency communications.

Upon Chief Craig’s departure in August, Sauschuck led the Police Department as Acting Police Chief during which he oversaw a department of more than two hundred employees and an annual budget of $13.4 million. Over the past five months, Sauschuck has worked both internally to advance progressive policies designed to help the department respond to the needs of the city as well as externally to build open and trusting relationships with various community groups and leaders.

“I am incredibly honored to have been selected to serve as the City of Portland’s Police Chief,” stated Sauschuck. “For fifteen years, I have had the privilege to work with an outstanding Police Department and I am very excited to have the opportunity to not only build upon our prior successes but further expand upon and create programs that will improve the safety and quality of life for the people of Portland.”

Over the past decade, Sauschuck has received a number of awards for his commitment to the department and the community including the Sgt. Michael J. Wallace Award, the Enrique Camarena Memorial Award from the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Heroes with a Heart Award. Sauschuck earned his Bachelors of Arts in Criminology from the University of Maine in 1998 and completed a Command Training Series for police executives at Rogers Williams University in 2010. He is married to fellow Portland Police Detective, Mary Sauschuck.

“I congratulate both Chief Sauschuck and City Manager Rees on the outcome of this search,” stated City of Portland Mayor Michael Brennan. “Portland will undoubtedly benefit from Mike’s leadership. He understands the city and has built trusting and open relationships not just with his fellow officers and City Hall but with the community as a whole.”

Today’s announcement marks the end of a five-month search for a new Police Chief. A nationwide search effort was initiated last fall. More than eighty candidates applied for the position and after an initial vetting process, five candidates were invited for a round of interviews with two panels comprised of city staff, union representatives, Police Department staff, members of community organizations and local business leaders. Following the interviews, the candidates participated in a day-long assessment organized by Massachusetts company, Badgequest. The Assessment included a variety of exercises designed to test and assess the candidates ability to lead the city’s Police Department. Select candidates were then invited back to the city for a final interview with City Manager Rees, during which, Rees selected Sauschuck for the top post.

“I believe this is the appropriate step for him to take, as we Republicans insist our members maintain the highest ethical standards possible,” said Rep. Nutting.

“I’m relieved to see that Rep. Burns finally resigned his seat after months of controversy around his abuse of Clean Elections funds,” said Cain. “No lawmaker – Republican or Democrat – is above the law. We must be held to higher standard and should not tolerate the abuse of taxpayer dollars.”

In December, the Maine Ethics Commission found that Burns committed seven violations of the state law that governs the use of Clean Election Act money. The violations include transferring public campaign money into his personal bank account, using the money for personal expenses and giving false documents to investigators.

The matter was referred to the Attorney General for a criminal investigation following the Ethics Commission ruling. The Attorney General’s Office began its investigation late in December after the state ethics commission found Burns violated multiple campaign finance laws while running for state representative. Earlier in January, Burns resigned from his seat on the Alfred Board of Selectmen.

Democrats have been calling for his resignation for weeks, while Republican leaders have said they wanted to wait for the completion of the criminal investigation.

“Going for the 2012 ballot was always a race against the clock. Despite the incredible enthusiasm from the public and from hundreds of campaign volunteers, the clock was just a little too fast for us to hit the deadline for the 2012 ballot,” said David Farmer, spokesperson for Maine Citizens for Clean Energy.

The Coalition averaged about 3,000 signatures a week, beginning in November, and collected 28,000 on Election Day alone. Signature gathering efforts will continue.

“This is a powerful demonstration of public support for the clean energy policies in this initiative that would reduce energy costs over time and help curb our dependence on imported foreign fuels,” said Farmer. “As today’s deadline approached, we concluded that we didn’t have enough of a margin to be confident about qualifying for 2012. One more week likely would have been enough. We’re that close.”

The initiative would increase the amount of new renewable electricity sold in Maine from 10% to 20% and ensured that electric utilities invest in all cost-effective energy efficiency to reduce costs for consumers. Numerous studies completed in recent weeks indicated that the initiative would create thousands of jobs, reduce energy costs and decrease Maine’s dependence on imported fossil fuels.

Today is the deadline for signatures to be submitted for an initiative to be on the November 2012 ballot. To appear on the ballot, the group needs to have at least 57,277 signatures verified by the Secretary of State’s Office.

“The people of Maine clearly are speaking out in favor of a clean energy future for Maine. Everyone understands that the status quo is unsustainable and harms our economy,” said Farmer. “The last three months have shown that Maine people want policies that increase Maine’s energy independence by spurring investment in low-cost energy efficiency and clean, made-in-Maine renewables.”

Article V, Pt. 3, § 3 reads as follows: “The Treasurer shall not, during the Treasurer’s continuance in office, engage in any business of trade or commerce, or as a broker, nor as an agent or factor for any merchant or trader.”

“If the Treasurer is in violation of his Constitutional duties, the Attorney General should be objective and forthright,” said Dion. “The Constitution is clear. We have every reason to expect an opinion that is consistent with that provided to other Treasurers by the Attorney General’s Office.”

A 1978 legal opinion from then Deputy Attorney General Donald Alexander stated that this kind of activity is a violation of the Maine Constitution.

Dion sent his initial request for an opinion to the Attorney General on Jan. 17. As of Jan. 29, he has not received a response or an indication of when the people of Maine may have a ruling on the matter.

In the two letters requesting a formal opinion from the Attorney General, Dion cited a report from the Bangor Daily News from Dec. 9, 2011, which said the Treasurer, acting as an agent of Popham Beach Club, applied for and was granted a permit to allow year-round catering functions at the beach club. Poliquin represented the beach club at the meeting of the Phippsburg Planning Board, which granted the permit.

Poliquin has refused to make public comments on the inquiry into his business activity and its potential violation of the Constitution.

“The Treasurer’s silence speaks volumes,” said Dion. “He’s not the type to shy away from a camera, so it’s telling that he has dodged the press on this issue at every turn.”

The Treasurer’s business ownership and involvement at the Popham Beach Club have not been listed on his legally required Financial Disclosure form.  The Maine Democratic Party filed an Ethics Complaint against the Treasurer for the omission.