Maine mayor wants to publicize names and addresses of welfare recipients
Republican Mayor Robert Macdonald called welfare recipients a “victimized, protected class.’’
When a politician says its a time for “a major overhaul of the many laws and policies dealing with confidentiality,’’ it sounds like the kind of revolution privacy advocates have been waiting for—especially in light of recent publicdatasnags.
But the Mayor of Lewiston, Maine doesn’t want to better protect residents’ personal data.
Republican Mayor Robert Macdonald thinks the public has a right to know who’s on welfare.
Macdonald wrote in a piece for the Lewiston paper Twin City Times:
In Maine there is a website that lists the pension amounts received by everyone who is issued a monthly check by the State of Maine. No privacy here because this is being paid out by the State; accordingly, taxpayers have a right to know.
Yet other recipients of state revenues are shielded. Yes, I am referring to those known as welfare recipients. Why are they treated differently than pensioners? (A rhetorical question).
The answer: our liberal, progressive legislators and their social-service allies have made them a victimized, protected class. It’s none of your business how much of your money they get and spend. Who are you to question it? Just shut up and pay!
Well, the days of being quiet are gone. We will be submitting a bill to the next legislative session asking that a website be created containing the names, addresses, length of time on assistance and the benefits being collected by every individual on the dole. After all, the public has a right to know how its money is being spent.
Macdonald is up for reelection in November. He can’t submit a state bill himself, The Washington Post reported, so he needs a state lawmaker to back the bill in legislature.
After a Democratic representative questioned the legality of Macdonald’s proposal, Macdonald said to Bangor Daily News that the website wouldn’t intend to embarrass people, because welfare recipients already “flaunt it in public.’’
Lewiston, with about 36,000 residents, has been the center of controversy before. Protests broke out after Macdonald said that immigrants (Lewiston is a popular area for Somali refugees) should “leave [their] culture at the door.’’
h/t Gawker
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