Capitol and work from The Blaine House due to what he called efforts by majority Democrats in the Legislature to censor his speech. This included the refusal of the Appropriations Committee to allow him to address them on May 19, and later being asked to obtain permission from the Legislative Council to have a TV outside of his office displaying the number of days since his budget was proposed. Senate President Justin Alfond criticized LePage's announcement by saying such behavior was "embarrassing and not helpful to getting things done for the people of Maine." On June 20, 2013, after speaking at a rally opposed to the bipartisan biennial budget proposal voted out of the Legislature, LePage responded to criticism from Democratic Assistant Majority Leader Senator Troy Dale Jackson that LePage was "delusional" to say Democratic leaders were unwilling to negotiate with him. LePage stated that Jackson "claims to be for the people but he's the first one to give it to the people without providing Vaseline." He further stated people like Jackson, a logger by trade, "ought to go back into the woods and cut trees and let someone with a brain come down here and do some good work," along with other negative personal remarks. The remark about Vaseline was heavily criticized by public figures on all sides, including Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves, who called the comment "obscene" and criticized its being on the evening news when children could hear it. LePage is known for his dislike of Maine newspapers, once telling students at a school that "Reading newspapers in the state of Maine is like paying somebody to tell you lies." While telling the editorial board of The Portsmouth Herald he did not want their endorsement for reelection, he said that newspapers were against him and "It's futile. There's a bias in the press I can't change." After a three-part report published by the Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal, and Morning Sentinel which alleged his Department of Environmental Protection commissioner was favoring former clients, he ordered his administration to not grant interviews to reporters of those newspapers or cooperate with their information requests. The order did not seem to extend to all state agencies, as the Department of Public Safety's spokesman said he had been given no such instructions. Nine days after the U.S. federal government shutdown on October 1, 2013, LePage declared a civil emergency in