IF HE WERE SHAMING PEOPLE FOR NOT RECYCLING, PROGRESSIVES WOULD APPROVE: This mayor wants to publicize who’s on welfare and where they live.

If you receive government assistance in the state of Maine, Lewiston Mayor Robert Macdonald thinks the public has a right to know about it.

In a Thursday column for the Twin City Times, Macdonald said a bill will be submitted during Maine’s next legislative session “asking that a Web site be created containing the names, addresses, length of time on assistance and the benefits being collected by every individual on the dole.”

He added: “After all, the public has a right to know how its money is being spent.”

Proposals to target welfare recipients and reform assistance programs have become lightning rods for broader discussions on how the poor are treated and how taxpayer dollars are used.

Kansas lawmakers received both national criticism and praise this summer after approving a law limiting how people in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program can use their benefits. And at least 13 states have some sort of drug testing laws for public public assistance applicants or recipients.

I mean, it’s not like the Left is opposed to shaming in general.