James Myall
@jamesxmyall
Maine-based economic policy analyst. British-American, recovering historian. Posts are my own views, not my organization's.
Conservatives are trying to convince people that the problem is too many people having health care. Unsurprisingly, this is completely backwards. Thanks to Medicaid Expansion, Maine hospitals went from providing $234 million in charity care in 2018 to $154 million in 2024. #mepolitics
Maine Senate candidate forum 7/21 in Bangor #mepolitics Hosted by @mecep.bsky.social, @maineimmigrants.bsky.social, Planned Parenthood Northern New England, Maine Youth Power, Families Over Billionaires - all independent, nonpartisan groups Register here form.jotform.com/261965897540...
ICE has learned its lesson - by Susan Collins. h/t @nytpitchbot.bsky.social
I am shocked - shocked! - to discover ICE weren't wearing the body cameras Susan Collins gave them $38 billion for.
Bobby Charles has a new video talking about how Portland was thriving “when he was growing up.” I dug into the crime stats, and in 1976 (when Bobby was 16) Portland’s crime rate was about 3x what it is today. Here’s a snippet from the Portland Press Herald, May 11, 1977 #mepolitics
It does compare Collins and King on earmarks, but I think it could have been more explicit in pointing out that Collins' $1.5 billion figure exaggerates her influence.
Susan Collins seems to think Mainers’ economic struggles can be fixed if we just renovate enough fire stations. Meanwhile, she’s doing nothing to stop Mainers losing food and health care #mepolitics www.pressherald.com/2026/06/22/s...
The first Father’s Day with paid family leave in Maine! One of the great things about PFML is that it encourages men to share caregiving responsibilities, instead of leaving the job to women. Image from Maine Dept of Labor. More info: www.maine.gov/paidleave/
“Where is the power of slavery now on the Rio Grande? On its beautiful and fertile banks stands a long line of stalwart negroes, with arms in their hands and patriotic fire gleaming from their eyes.” Portland Daily Press, June 24, 1865 Happy #Juneteenth
Meanwhile across the Atlantic, they had a more exciting vote count today. Not one person in Augusta with a trash can on their heads!
This data came out in January from the Census Bureau, but here's a BDN story citing "SEO Backlinks" for it. Yet I can't actually find a website by that name. It's all a bit odd. #mepolitics www.bangordailynews.com/2026/06/16/b...
Who on the BDN team thought it was a good idea to use half a dozen shades of blue for the color scheme here? #mepolitics
“No one else is talking about this issue” that I’m definitely not making up to rile up my voters #mepolitics
An under-reported finding from today's Pan-Atlantic poll in Maine: Half of Mainers want to expand MaineCare further, and only 17% want to cut it (as the Republicans for Governor seem set on doing) #mepolitics
Once again, this has things completely backwards. Taxing the rich is the only way to make things truly more affordable for the poorest Mainers #mepolitics
Did not expect something I worked on to be cited in Ok! Magazine… #mepolitics okmagazine.com/p/jd-vance-c...
I don't understand how to reconcile this statement on CBD's website (left) and the owner's testimony to the city council in 2024 (right) www.pressherald.com/2024/08/19/p...
As one piece of evidence, here's the total annual gas sales in Maine. About 1/3 of this comes from tourists and is relatively discretionary. Yet there is virtually no difference between 2019, when it was just over $2 a gallon and 2022, when it was $3.50-$4.00
Without commenting on most of this article, I do wish we could have campaign for US Senate that's not about who can do the best job raiding the federal treasury for pet projects back home. It's a bad way to govern, people! #mepolitics mainemorningstar.com/2026/05/11/w...
Happy Mother’s Day! Finally moms (and other caregivers) in Maine don’t have to choose between their loved ones and making ends meet. More info: Maine.gov/paidleave
Having the mayor of Lewiston say they should delay using new property valuations because they've already delayed their revaluation 38 years (!) feels pretty bad. It perpetuates people's fears that revaluations are "bad" and delays adjustments that are designed to bring fairness #mepolitics
Collins' statement here is in tension with itself. Surely a reason for state regulation of data centers is that Mainers operate on a connected grid? If a project in Kittery sucks up huge amounts of power, doesn't it also raise rates in Bangor? #mepolitics www.bangordailynews.com/2026/04/27/p...
Maybe I’m just too naive but I can’t get over the brazen level of partisanship here. Calling yourself an “investigative journalist” at a “non-partisan” nonprofit org and cutting a campaign ad endorsing Paul LePage #mepolitics Facebook link to vid: www.facebook.com/share/v/1DjY...
This is one of the most exhausting and destructive forms of political discourse. No one is taking anything. This law is 5 years old. Instead of making appliances that dont poison you, companies would rather scare you into blaming politicians. And Republicans are playing along #mepolitics
Canadian boycott of Maine update - in March, there were 53,000 fewer crossings into Maine from Canada than there had been 2 years earlier. That's a 24% drop. It takes the total decline in crossings since Trump took office to 945,000 #mepolitics