The federal government is intervening in the great labor mural crisis of Maine, where snippy Tea Party Gov. Paul LePage ordered a 36-foot mural of the state's labor history removed the state's Department of Labor because a couple of businessmen didn't like it.

The mural's commission, in fact, was paid in large part by a federal government grant. So the U.S. Department of Labor wants its money back if LePage doesn't reinstall it, in addition to a percentage of what it sells for on the open market. That amount "might end up amounting to far more" than the original $60,000 grant for the project, since rich liberals will now all want to buy it.

[Image via AP]