Maine's Tea Party Governor Paul LePage (R) has doubled down on his lie that Stephen King left Maine to avoid paying income tax; King is a proud taxpayer who views "taxes as a way of paying back the state that has given us so much."
LePage's radio address included his plan to eliminate state income tax, in which he cited King: "Remember who introduced the income tax here in Maine. Well, today former Governor Ken Curtis lives in Florida where there is zero income tax. Stephen King and Roxanne Quimby have moved away, as well." King publicly decried this, saying the governor was "full of the stuff that makes the grass grow green" and calling for an apology.
The governor refuses to apologize, and has instead made a bunch of fine-parsed statements to justify giving a materially false impression about King's tax status and his views on the subject. He invited King to seek a remedy by making him "the villain of your next book;" and promising not to seek royalties should King take him up on the offer.
“We see our taxes as a way of paying back the state that has given us so much. State taxes pay for state services,” King stated. “There’s just no way around it. Governor LePage needs to remember there ain’t no free lunch.”
The Portland Press Herald reported that on Wednesday, LePage denied accusing King of not paying taxes. His staffers removed the remark from the transcript of his original remarks.
“I never said Stephen King did not pay income taxes,” LePage insisted. “What I said was, Stephen King’s not in Maine right now. That’s what I said. How the papers report it, I don’t know.”
King released another statement on Thursday accusing LePage of “gilding the lily and playing with semantics,” and calling for an end to the feud.
“He still owes me an apology, but I don’t expect to collect on that IOU,” King said. “I repeat: he’s not man enough to admit he made a mistake (best case scenario) or knowingly misrepresented the facts (worst case). Now let’s let this rest.”
Stephen King hammers Maine governor for doubling down: ‘He’s not man enough to admit he made a mistake’ [Arturo Garcia/Raw Story]
(Image: Stephen King, Comicon, Pinguino, CC-BY)
