I entirely agree with Rebecca Krier’s comments regarding college costs (Another View, “Real college debt crisis problem is the price, not the loan rates,” May 12).

My wife and I are helping with the college costs for two grandchildren, so we have first-hand knowledge of obscenely high college costs.

We taxpayers and college alumni have allowed colleges to expand their bureaucracies, athletic programs, building programs, and salaries and benefits without regard for whether it is justified. An example of this lack of fiscal responsibility is the recent news regarding the salary increases given to administrators at the University of Southern Maine.

The parents of college kids today grew up with what I call a “credit card” mentality where the cost of things is not significant, because payment is off in the future. So we all have sold our kids a bill of goods by encouraging them to rack up an overwhelming debt to acquire that all-important diploma.

We grandparents who are old enough to remember the Great Depression learned from our parents that if you can’t afford something, you do without. Now students just take out another college loan — the equivalent of a credit card with no ceiling.

Graduates today with a liberal arts degree and an enormous college loan debt are going to find it difficult if not impossible to pay it off. Our politicians, desperate to stay in office (by doling out largesse), are beginning to make noises that sound suspiciously like the next big bailout plan — to save these graduates from disaster.

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So hats off to Krier for highlighting a broken system. Hopefully, her generation will be up to the task of repairing it.

Allen J. Bingham

Scarborough

There’s enough to aid poor; now we just need to share

On May 4, Dr. Linda Sanborn, a retired physician from Gorham who now serves as a representative in the Maine Legislature, published a brave op-ed in this paper, asking that the Legislature restore MaineCare for the immigrants who lost it last year (Maine Voices, “MaineCare cuts will end up costing state far more down the road”).

She deserves much credit for this, as she was warned that some people might use this against her in the upcoming election. She went ahead and placed the op-ed anyway because she really cares about this issue — more than she cares about saying only what is politically popular.

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What I want to know is: Since when has doing the right thing, standing up for the good of us all, and what you really believe in, become “politically wrong” in a great state like Maine?

I am a business owner and a registered nurse who used to deliver babies with Sanborn. Her patients all respected and loved her. We need many more legislators like Sanborn, who have brains, heart and courage. She has the brains and heart to know what is the right thing to do, and the courage to do it.

The truth is, there is more than enough money, as long as we share properly. From my 35 years experience teaching young children, I know we don’t come out of the womb sharing.

We need to be made to share with fair, non-discriminatory rules for children and laws for grown-ups. This means no special privileges or exemptions from sharing fairly for the wealthy!

We can all do our part to change things for the better for everyone, if each of us acts upon the warning plea of Dr. Seuss’ character, the Lorax: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

Melanie Collins, R.N.

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Falmouth

In Senate, Poliquin won’t delay tough fiscal decisions

Bruce Poliquin has the audacity Maine needs in Washington.

As our state treasurer, Poliquin has demonstrated an affinity for taking on the establishment. He shed $1.7 billion worth of debt from the formerly untouchable state pension system.

He substantiated his financial adeptness by supporting competitive bond sales, saving millions of dollars for Maine taxpayers.

And he also exposed the financial incompetence of the Maine State Housing Authority in the construction of low-income, tax-funded housing.

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A straight shooter, Poliquin doesn’t try to appease those with political clout; he does what is right for Mainers.

The U.S. Senate consists of mainly career politicians only concerned with future elections. And as these senators straddled the line of what is politically expedient, our national debt surpassed the size of the U.S. economy.

We need a senator who isn’t afraid of making tough decisions. We need a strong and affirmative voice for fiscal responsibility. We need Bruce Poliquin.

On June 12, please join me in voting for Bruce Poliquin, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate.

Reid Douty

Cape Elizabeth

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Count on Dill to advocate for all Mainers’ freedoms

In the heat of her campaign, state Sen. Cynthia Dill is still strong in her efforts to give Maine citizens the freedoms they deserve.

As a member of the Cape Elizabeth class of 2012 and a young woman raised by a Christian family, I’ve never come across a suitable argument against same-sex marriage.

I was a member of my high school speech team, where we practiced using facts as supporting evidence to make our points. The only “fact” I’ve heard for this argument is that there is a quote in the Old Testament’s Book of Leviticus claiming that homosexuality is an abomination.

Dill has recognized the lack of “facts” in her fight for civil rights for all Mainers, which encouraged me to volunteer with her campaign. Dill is a woman whom I can look up to and learn from as an 18-year-old girl, new to the rights of being an adult.

Her website’s Issues section says, “Mainers are fair-minded people who live and let live,” which shows that she has faith in us and trusts that we can make our own decisions.

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I can legally marry the 50-year-old ex-convict down the street on a whim, but the happy couple with a stable economic foundation and tight-knit family relationships is being denied the same rights purely because of their sexual orientation.

In her campaign for U.S. Senate, Cynthia Dill is fighting for me, for you, for your family and loved ones, and for our freedom.

Lane Parrish

Cape Elizabeth


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