In the recent State of the Union address, President Obama reaffirmed his support for comprehensive immigration reform. This, of course, is political code for mass amnesty for millions of individuals who violate the laws of the United States.

As an active-duty sailor, I am concerned, and frankly angered, by such a divisive proposal. The men and women of the United States armed forces swear an oath to uphold the law of this republic. If we violate a law, no matter how legally minor it may be, we will be held accountable and punished to the fullest extent of the law.

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The president’s State of the Union proposal for comprehensive immigration reform “would immediately add millions of new competitors to our overburdened labor pool,” a reader says. The Associated Press

I am not serving so that millions of people can be given a pass to break the trust and social contract of the American nation. It is an insult to us and all those who wore the uniform before us.

Second, granting amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants would cause devastation to the already battered American working class. Thirteen million Americans are out of work, and millions more barely make ends meet. And what’s more, countless jobless citizens have simply ceased looking for gainful employment.

Amnesty would immediately add millions of new competitors to our overburdened labor pool; more people will compete for far fewer jobs. The president’s strategy on this controversial subject would drastically lengthen our mass unemployment crisis by several years.

Put American workers first, President Obama. Your prestigious office and powers should be utilized for the betterment of the American worker and your fellow citizens. Please, sir, uphold your oath.

Ben Holmes

Pittston

Again, Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe rely on the tired Republican response that the president’s call for bipartisanship in his State of the Union speech was all rhetoric.

Ladies, as we all know it takes two to tango. It is way past the time to do nothing but stand on the sidelines and carp; how about getting behind the wheel and pushing for a change? And take the tea party with you.

This country needs it.

Dick Given

Falmouth

Governor’s policies won’t stop state’s brain drain

In reply to the governor’s State of the State speech, I’d like to make some observations.

My wife and I, professionals with multiple college degrees, are planning to leave Maine. A Maine native, my wife will be leaving behind a 223-year family history on this property.

College-educated Maine friends and families also see no adequate jobs here, and after 40 years in another state, have no plans to return to Maine, nor do their adult children see any opportunities here.

Our own adult college-educated children don’t want to work in Maine. My brother in law and sister in law are also planning to leave. Put in perspective, these families with multiple college degrees are either leaving or avoiding Maine for business-related reasons.

This is a classic brain drain. The very people who the governor wants to keep here are leaving. We’re professionals and we can’t earn a living here; not big-money-get-rich-in-five-years jobs, just pay-the-bills jobs. They aren’t here.

Before someone says we’re greedy or are whining about not being near the top of the economic scale, read this: Before my layoff I was earning more than $55,000 a year, but after taxes and health care coverage, I took home about $26,000 annually. My income ceased, but these expenses increased.

Maine’s economic recovery will stall and flounder as long as those who have the education to move it along keep leaving. The consequences of the governor’s cuts in taxes and programs can’t be viewed in a vacuum. Those cuts didn’t make those expenses “vanish,” they simply shifted them to property tax bills.

So, jobs aren’t here, and we’re all running through our retirement to pay increasing taxes while the governor dismantles the safety net we thought was going to be there for us in our “home state.”

Ross A. Doerr

Augusta

Paper takes cheap shots in Cheverus-related coverage

I recently picked up the morning paper and was greeted by a front-page headline, “Cheverus grad is arrested in record fraud” (Jan. 20). Following the remainder of the story to the back section, the headline there was one word: “Cheverus.”

The editor went out of the way to make Cheverus the lead on the story.

Five days later, I picked up the paper and was greeted by a front-page headline, “Two from Maine given chance to taste Oscar glory.”

It turns out that buried at the very end of the article was a note that one of the Oscar nominees in the story “graduated from Cheverus” – no headline, just an obscure reference.

A lot has been made recently of double standards in the media. There are double standards, and then there are cheap shots. The Press Herald managed to achieve both in a matter of a few days.

It seems that the newspaper’s journalistic standards are going the way of its circulation. Perhaps if the new owners of the paper clean up the former, they may see an increase in the latter.

Justin Ward

Gray

Dill takes advantage of public election funds

State Sen. Cynthia Dill persists in abusing Maine taxpayers. She avails herself of about 50,000 dollars of our money through the Maine Clean Elections fund, and brags about her purchase of a laptop computer with that money.

Now Sen. Dill squirms to defend paying herself several thousand dollars for writing a self-promotional political blog. The “leadership” political action committee is another loophole around the increasingly discredited Maine Clean Elections system.

We cannot afford these arrogant abuses.

Gary Moore

Cumberland Center

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