As a Republican, I must say right now the party is leaderless. All those who stood a real chance of beating Obama will never run again.

The brand has changed since Ronald Reagan and has all but ousted those who disagree with the new planks. I cannot side with Rep. Michele Bachmann who used “praying the gay away” as more of preying on Medicare and its respective taxing branches in loopholes.

Then along comes Mitt Romney proclaiming that giant corporations are people too. What Mitt forgets is that the people who work for the corporations are the people and that they are led by the board of directors who dictate the employees’ worth.

So why are corporations people too when those along the higher class decide the relative worth of an employee? Could we not tax corporations fairly or is that a dirty little word in the Republican trade?

It seems as though the investors are more important than the employees and the companies are more important then even the United States itself. So, who do we side with? Ron Paul or other third-party candidates? It seems more of a fringe movement on face value.

I have no problem with saying that I honestly continue to side with President Obama. In the face of Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell wanting to cut social services, including veterans, retirees and those with disabilities such as myself, the impact is that the Standard & Poor’s downgrade is merely a tool for the Republican agenda. This is not my Republican Party, nor is it my brand.

My advice to those who want change: vote Democrat or watch Boehner reduce veterans’ benefits.

Joseph Ziehm

Lewiston

 

America is being conned. The federal government has recklessly spent our country into massive debt and is incessantly calling upon us to bail them out.

President Obama constantly uses the euphemism “balanced approach” to promote his justification to raise our taxes. Imagine that, he overspends and then asks us to pay.

Think of the response you would get from your employer if you outspent your income and then went to him for a raise to cover those expenses. You would be laughed right out of his office. We should likewise laugh the spend-and-tax politicians right out of their offices.

America is being scammed. Our president communicates the merits of his policy of “redistribution of wealth” by saying, “It’s only fair.”

Now, imagine yourself in a grocery store checkout line with groceries that come to $10. You hand the checkout clerk a $20 bill, but when your change is returned, that clerk hands the money to the person behind you, saying, “He needs this money more than you do.” That’s precisely what President Obama wants to do when he “redistributes the wealth.”

America is being manipulated. President Obama has proclaimed he is going to “fundamentally transform America.” He is accomplishing that by taking money and power from the people and placing it in the hands of the government. When the fruit of our labor is confiscated by the government, we become slaves to that government.

In a recent speech President Obama compared himself to Martin Luther King. Not even close.

Dr. King’s goal was to set people free. It’s becoming apparent that President Obama’s goal is to enslave.

Jim Mansfield

Bridgton

Welfare ‘sting’ at DHHS was political dirty trick

 

Moral Mainers who are for integrity and honesty in our political discourse must condemn the dirty tricks used by Maine Heritage Policy Center and Americans For Prosperity of Maine.

One of the Ten Commandments is, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Convicted criminal James O’Keefe went into a state office and presented false witness to our employee.

Trying to entrap a state employee is a dirty trick. I watched the video, where the clerk told the criminal O’Keefe the rules, she did not tell him to cheat or lie.

DHHS workers are not police and they should not police people who come to them for help.

Shameful attacks by these outside extremist groups on the hard working people and state employees of Maine must stop.

The Republicans are breaking faith with the people when they bring in outside agitators to lie about our government. I insist all our moral leaders condemn these groups and their lies. There is no room in Maine politics for dirty tricks.

I urge every decent voter to show these people the door, with your dollars and your votes.

Do not support the businesses and organizations that pay for lies and dirty tricks.

And do not vote for the politicians that encourage this type of behavior. Call our state lawmakers and tell them dirty tricks do not get your vote.

Claire Adams

Appleton

 

I am appalled by the deceitful video by someone misrepresenting himself as an applicant for MaineCare while trying to ensnare an employee into saying anything he can use to further his agenda of proving fraud in MaineCare.

According to The Press Herald, this surreptitious activity is propagated by a man who, in January 2010, was arrested, convicted, fined and placed on probation for entering U.S. property under false pretenses. This is the person who sets himself up as the arm of justice.

I watched the entire 47-minute video, which shows no fraud on the part of the worker. The worker asked relevant questions and sought the assistance of an experienced staff when she needed help.The imposter was advised that he was not now eligible, that he could apply, but would have to verify sources of his income and provide proof of his immigration status. He left without any benefits.

What the video did show was someone attempting to ensnare staff to do or say anything he could misconstrue to further his agenda. He failed to entrap the staff but he is running around as if he has discovered gold in his backyard. There is no place for this muckraking in Maine.

Equally disturbing is DHHS management’s weak and defensive response to the baseless allegation that MaineCare is fraud ridden and to the failed attempt to entrap an employee.

No quality control data are presented to refute this allegation. The Press Herald quotes officials as saying the video “provides a catalyst for action.” No specifics are given about what action is being referred to, but obviously it is not a catalyst for supporting an employee who has been wrongly maligned or for setting the record straight by providing accurate information on program operations.

Barbara Feltes

Portland