I was glad to read that Congress is attempting to improve its atrocious public approval ratings. Tightening up insider trading rules will help.

The real source of the disapproval goes deeper than that, however. People recognize that members of Congress no longer reflect the views of their constituents. Instead, the votes they cast are based on the views of the big corporations that pay for their re-election campaigns.

The situation was made even worse by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which gave corporations the same rights as people to spend unlimited sums of money to influence elections. The current Republican primary battle offers clear evidence of how badly that distorts the election process.

We desperately need campaign finance reform on the national level to separate money from politics. The bipartisan Fair Elections Now Act would create a system for congressional candidates based on Maine’s Clean Elections process. Even our own Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins declined to co-sponsor that, however, and no other legislative solutions are on the horizon.

We need the Supreme Court to change its approach to campaign spending, or else a Constitutional Convention to adjust the wording of the First Amendment.

It is time for all of us to advocate for campaign finance reform at the national level. We cannot allow our country to be governed any longer by “the best Congress that money can buy.”

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Cushman D. Anthony

Falmouth

Readers take exception to Republican viewpoints

It’s time to take the blinders off!

For 100 years the Republican Party has been selling us a bill of goods with only their interests at heart. The current Republican big lie is: Government is the problem, not the solution. This may come as a shock, but Reagan was wrong and we are now paying the penalty.

Economics 101: Broadly, the economy is made up of three parts: C-I-G.

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C: Consumers – In the end, all economic activity depends on its ability to meet consumer demands.

I: Investment – The factors that enable the country to produce the goods demanded by consumers. This includes investment in financial resources, physical resources and human resources required to be a productive and successful economy.

G: Government – The duly elected institutions that set the framework so that the economy can function to enable both C and I to be their most productive. We are a free enterprise economy, not a laissez-faire economy. It is the government’s responsibility to ensure that this be true.

By way of definition:

Laissez-faire: a term used to describe a policy of allowing events to take their own course. The government generally should not intervene in the marketplace.

It refers to various economic philosophies and political philosophies designed to minimize or eliminate government intervention in most or all aspects of society. It is the Republican mantra, although they disguise it by incorrectly calling it free enterprise.

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Free enterprise (capitalism): Freedom of private business to organize and operate for profit in a competitive system without interference by government beyond regulations necessary to protect the public interest and keep the national economy in balance. I am a firm believer in free enterprise.

Barbara Lee Chertok

Cape Neddick

There are many myths attributed to the presidency of Ronald Reagan. One is that he was opposed to higher taxes on high-income earners. In 1986, after instituting a change in the tax codes where he RAISED the capital gains taxes on high-income earners to match the percentage paid by wage earners, at 28 percent, he was quoted as saying, “Millionaires should not be paying less of their income percentage in taxes than a bus driver.” Note there was no crashing of business capitalization during the Reagan era.

Amazing how similar President Reagan’s tax policy was to that of President Obama. The typical wage earner in America pays 32 to 36 percent in taxes; the average rate on people who derive their income from investments – Mitt Romney, for one – is 15 percent. Mr. Romney pays 13.9 percent on his income, nearly all of which is derived from investments. Much of his income was and is in tax shelters in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland.

So instead of hating President Obama for the color of his skin and his “funny name,” perhaps folks should actually pay attention to his policies versus the GOP!

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George Harlan

Old Orchard Beach

To fix health care, treat it like any other good, service

I wish to recognize Martin Jones for his Another View editorial about single-payer health care in the Feb. 6 newspaper. Mr. Jones gets it.

I would add that tort reform is also necessary to correct the health care mess. If consumers purchase health care as they purchase any other product or service, prices will fall. Insurance should be available for major illness or accident, not every little sniffle, cough or condoms.

By getting the government and major insurance out of the purchase decision, fee for service will bring back competition and an intelligent consumer. Also, by removing the requirement for never-ending paperwork, doctor’s offices will be staffed by medical professionals, not clerks whose job is to fill out forms for the government or insurance company. Tort reform will remove the unnecessary tests that doctor’s do, despite the costs, to be sure they are not sued over some technicality for the benefit of an attorney.

Yes, health care is repairable, all we need to do is treat it like any product or service, get the government out of the way and watch the American people show how it’s done.

Paul Anderson

Saco


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