# Ep. 180: Inside Maine’s Broken Budget with Rep. Jack Ducharme – Spending Explosion, Planned Parenthood Funding & MaineCare Truths Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/muddy-waters-7079451/ep-180-inside-maine-s-broken-budget-with-rep-jack-ducharme-spending-explosion-planned-parenthood-funding-mainecare-truths Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/muddy-waters-7079451/ep-180-inside-maine-s-broken-budget-with-rep-jack-ducharme-spending-explosion-planned-parenthood-funding-mainecare-truths.md Podcast: [Muddy Waters](https://stenobird.com/podcast/muddy-waters-7079451) Published: 2026-05-28T01:22:10+00:00 Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/charles-ellis9/episodes/Ep--180-Inside-Maines-Broken-Budget-with-Rep--Jack-Ducharme--Spending-Explosion--Planned-Parenthood-Funding--MaineCare-Truths-e3jupjk Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/1039add24/podcast/play/120595508/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-4-27%2F424961061-44100-2-04b387ce47a08.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/muddy-waters-7079451/episodes/ep-180-inside-maine-s-broken-budget-with-rep-jack-ducharme-spending-explosion-planned-parenthood-funding-mainecare-truths Duration seconds: 5809 ## Resource Rep. Jack Ducharme joins the Muddy Waters Podcast to pull back the curtain on the Maine Appropriations Committee and the dramatic growth of state spending under one-party Democrat rule.From billion-dollar supplementals and hidden shortfalls to controversial ongoing funding for Planned Parenthood and the challenges of MaineCare, this episode gives listeners a rare insider’s view of how the state budget actually gets made — and why Republicans often feel powerless to stop the expansion.Rep. Ducharme also discusses transparency efforts, small legislative wins, and what needs to change for Maine to get its fiscal house in order.A must-listen for every Maine taxpayer and voter heading into 2026.Muddy Waters Podcast – Helping Mainers understand what’s really happening in our state. New episodes drop regularly. Subscribe and never miss one. ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/muddy-waters-7079451/episodes/ep-180-inside-maine-s-broken-budget-with-rep-jack-ducharme-spending-explosion-planned-parenthood-funding-mainecare-truths/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/muddy-waters-7079451/ep-180-inside-maine-s-broken-budget-with-rep-jack-ducharme-spending-explosion-planned-parenthood-funding-mainecare-truths.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.