I personally applaud Gov. LePage for his work to reduce the welfare fraud that occurs here in Maine. He worked with the new Legislature to correct some of the flaws in our welfare system.

There is more work to be done. Those who have been convicted for drugs should be tested to see if they still use before getting welfare. There are lots of people in the United States who are on the dole, but there is no justification in letting them come to Maine and jump on our welfare from the get-go. There should a 5-year limit on welfare.

Those are some of the items that the governor has attempted to fix and they were long overdue. I sincerely thank him for his efforts to make those on welfare the honest needy. In these tough times it is hard enough for those of us with jobs to make ends meet without having to cough up money for those who are too lazy and unwilling to work.

Maine people used to be hard-nosed, thrifty Yankees unwilling to be on the dole, but our nanny state has trained them to accept these handouts as if they were entitled.

It is obvious they are not so entitled, and we finally have governor who recognizes that and is trying to fix it. God bless you, Gov. LePage.

George A. Fogg

North Yarmouth

I read with interest your recent article titled “Governor takes town hall meeting to Rockport” (June 18), particularly given that some of the comments attributed to the governor have elicited little outrage.

I suppose, given the stratospheric imbecility of some of his rhetorical train wrecks, these do make the greatest-hits list; however, I fear they are even more indicative of the governor’s underlying attitudes, the essential truth that motivates the man behind the curtain of bullying, bluster and blather.

When a member of the audience pressed him on welfare benefits for legal non-citizens by informing him that these immigrants are here legally, LePage was quoted as saying “I will feed Maine people before I feed foreigners.”

Foreigners. Not fellow members of our community, not part of the fabric of our great state, but foreigners not worthy of consideration (or sustenance).

No doubt this embodies some of the core values of LePage’s constituency, those white, mostly rural, predominantly male voters who pine for the black-and-white television values of Father Knows Best, that ersatz and, if you’ll forgive the phrase, white-washed version of history where the white male was the source of wisdom and authority, the wife wore pearls to cook the roast and vacuum the den and those few people of color were there for their step-and-fetch-it hilarity.

Not a world that ever really existed, and certainly not one that anyone wishes to fabricate on the backs of others in our community. And absolutely not the world that our rapidly changing nation is in the process of becoming.

Sorry, governor, but 61 percent is only the beginning.

Jeffery Logan

Portland

Congratulations to Gov. Le-Page for cutting spending as he promised. Keep up the good work.

Mary Bird

North Yarmouth

When I first met Paul LePage, I asked him the question: “How can you get the opposition to compromise and hear our point of view when we are so far apart?”

His answer: “Leadership.”

Gov. LePage has given us just that. His budget was an attempt to give us back our state and reduce the overreach of government. We have had a lack of leadership and dare I say a blatant disregard for our economic security.

Well, the hen has come home to roost or shall I say the golden goose has died. According to our state’s treasurer, “We are broke.” The last 30 years of easy solutions are gone and now it’s time to be grown-ups and do the hard work that has been postponed.

The teachers’ unions and MSEA have and will continue to plead poverty, ignoring the rest of the population who either have lost their jobs or perhaps are losing their property to higher taxes and expenses.

In order to preserve the pensions of these folks something needed to be done and it has just been passed. The corruption was noted in the first days by the Turnpike Authority using gift cards to the tune of $156,000 and we still don’t know where those dollars went.

The one party ruled over all of us for 40 years, putting in massive spending which we couldn’t afford, instituting environmental regulations that caused our energy prices to escalate, and lowering our standard of living.

I for one saw my taxes increase 25 percent each year. Cries of foul play will be leveled against Paul LePage, but he isn’t the culprit — he’s the solution.

Beverly Cowan

Rockland

As a snowbird, I am writing to assure Gerald Caruso (letter, June 1), who said only Maine papers cared about covering our governor, that an article about Gov. LePage’s “remarks” was published in Florida, in the St. Petersburg Times. I read it there.

Ann Palmer

South Portland

Gov. LePage is a man of his word.

On the campaign trail, Mr. LePage indicated that after educating himself, he understood that “wind” was a poor choice for our economy, our environment, for Mainers’ health, and for our unique “quality of place” — the very quality which drives Maine’s tourist industry.

On June 18, The Portland Press Herald published a news article about the governor’s visit to Rockport — a town which recently adopted a comprehensive, common-sense wind ordinance.

The article contained this: “LePage continued to criticize the state’s wind power industry ‘They are doing an awful lot of damage to our quality of life, our mountains,’ he said. ‘I don’t think it’s going to lower the cost of energy. I think in 10 years we’re going to be like Sweden and Denmark and we’re going to be swearing at ourselves.’ “

Mr. LePage is correct. “Wind” will not lower the cost of energy. The Maine Power Reliability Project, a huge high-voltage transmission upgrade which will cut a 400-plus-mile swath through 75 Maine towns, is being built in order to deliver wind energy to the NE grid, to be used by the high-demand areas to our south.

Every CMP ratepayer will contribute to the cost of this $1.4 billion project, even though Maine already produces more electricity than we consume.

Iberdrola Renewables, a subsidiary of the parent company of CMP, wants to install wind facilities on Maine’s mountains, even though the law states that a company cannot both generate and transmit electricity.

While Mainers are struggling to make ends meet, this news emerged about Ignacio Galan, Iberdrola’s CEO: “The Spanish chairman of Scottish Power had his pay package doubled to 10.5 million pounds “

That’s $16.8 million — while our electric rates increase.

I welcome the governor’s involvement in this very important topic. And I appreciate a man of his word.

Karen Bessey Pease

Lexington Township

Your story June 22 about repealing same-day voter registration was accurate but the sub-head citing “voter fraud” as a reason for it was totally wrong.

Is it really voter fraud that Gov. LePage and Republicans in the Legislature are fighting? Or rather is it part of a 16-state effort by Republican leaders to make it harder for minorities, the poor and young people to vote?

I think it’s the latter, and I bet so do the members of the various civic groups that are challenging the law.

Fred Rotondaro

Southport