I want to thank Bill Nemitz for bringing to light Linda Bean’s extreme right-wing views and agenda (“Linda Bean evokes Hitler in rant on Obama,” Oct. 26).

This great country allows individuals to express their opinions, however extreme and vile. In this country, consumers can also express their contempt for such extreme and vile views by choosing where to spend their hard-earned money.

I would urge Mainers and those from away who find her views distressing and painful to boycott Linda Bean’s Perfect Maine (ironic “Perfect Maine”).

Linda Bean has also soiled the prominent Bean family name. I hope that this is not what Maine is becoming; then again, Paul LePage is governor.

Dave Jones

Yarmouth 

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Obama ignores deficit; Romney will rein it in 

After I intently watched all four presidential and vice-presidential debates, the choice for the election has become starkly clear.

We live in an uncertain time. Terrorist attacks, financial meltdowns and large-scale disasters caused by weather all require collective resources to ensure national stability.

We must ensure our nation is on sound financial footing. How can we react to events when we are strapped by more than $16 trillion in national debt?

President Obama has not displayed a sense of urgency in getting the debt under control. His idea of taxing the rich to solve our problems will not work. Even if the rich were taxed at 100 percent, it would only be enough to run the government for a few short months.

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are serious about putting us on the right course. Their ideas of making the tax code simple and cutting wasteful spending (like Solyndra) will begin the long process of balancing our budget. The clear choice is Romney/Ryan.

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Keith Pulsifer

Yarmouth 

Volk too far to the right to represent Scarborough 

Amy Volk is too extreme for Scarborough.

In a town that takes great pride in its school system, Volk proposed legislation that would pay parents (out of tight school budgets) to send their children to religious schools.

She sponsored far right-wing, American Legislative Exchange Council-inspired legislation to create virtual charter schools (funded from already stressed school budgets). Volk tried to personally benefit from her own legislation. Virtual charter schools have proven to be profitable to the owners, not the students.

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Volk is anti-woman and anti-choice, proposing legislation that would have created “personhood” for a fetus.

Amy Volk has voted in support of the extreme right-wing tea party administration of Gov. Paul LePage 92 percent of the time. This is an appalling record. We cannot stand by and let Volk and LePage ruin Scarborough.

Paul Aranson will return Augusta to real Maine values. I’ve already voted for Aranson. I hope you will, too!

Matthew L. Powell

Scarborough

Transportation, water bonds key to prosperity 

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The Maine Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers urges Maine residents to please vote “yes” on Questions 4 and 5.

In 2008, the Maine Section ASCE released a report card grading the condition of Maine’s infrastructure. In that report, Maine’s infrastructure received grades from a high of B-minus for airports to lows of D-plus for municipal wastewater and bridges and D for roads.

Significant investment is needed to keep our roads safe, to make our ports competitive, to improve our railroads and to keep costs low for Maine businesses. There are two questions on the upcoming ballot that will help Mainers fill this investment gap and move our state closer to building a solid foundation for our economic future.

Efforts to keep our transportation systems in good repair will fall even further behind if Maine voters do not pass Question 4 on Nov. 6. Most importantly, this investment will leverage matching funds that will grow the investment to about $157.1 million. This represents about 10 percent of the funding gap needed for transportation improvements over the next 10 years.

Passage of Question 4 will provide needed funding for roads, rail, ports, transit and aviation, as well as improvements to safety and mobility for Maine families.

Passage of Question 5 will permit the state to borrow $7.9 million to help fund much-needed water and wastewater projects. If Question 5 does not pass, there will be increased pressure on water and sewer districts to increase rates.

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Passage of Question 5 will also leverage almost $40 million in federal matching grants. This represents about 5 percent of the needed funding over the next 10 years.

Both bonds will bring jobs and encourage economic investment in our state. Infrastructure investment is the foundation by which our economy works.

William C. Haskell

president, Maine Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers

Gray 

With Courtney in Congress, Main Street will have voice 

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I strongly encourage you to vote for Jon Courtney for Congress in District 1.

He and his staff are running a campaign with integrity, honesty and common sense, not being influenced by big money, extreme ideology and loud opposing viewpoints.

By talking directly to voters, he has pursued a goal of listening to individuals and small-business owners, collecting ideas and suggestions. He is a small-business owner himself, and I am confident that he will consistently represent the concerns of this constituency with the common sense of “Main Street.”

His positive record as state Senate majority leader testifies to his nonpartisan leadership experience and genuine commitment to be part of the solution for Maine.

I believe that more money will not solve the problems in Washington. And to Chellie Pingree — you can’t buy our votes.

Kerry L. Herrick

Windham

 


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