Enough reading about the 62 percent and seeing the libelous and obscene Voice of the People letters about our governor.

In 1994, Gov. King won with 35.4 percent of the votes. In 1992, President Clinton won with 43 percent. I don’t remember much discussion about winning with fewer than 50 percent of the votes back then.

Additional Photos

One reader says Gov. LePage, right, “is showing leadership of the highest order,” while another decries the governor’s “‘wild West’ tactics.” 2012 File Photo/The Associated Press

Any election that has three or more capable candidates competing for office may not see anyone get 50 percent of the votes. If you need that, then stick to the two major parties and run in one of the primaries to get on the ballot.

So, for the 62 percent who didn’t vote for this governor, get over it. Many of us are tired of hearing it.

We also see it as refreshing to have a governor who can add and subtract and understands that this state cannot continue to spend money at an accelerating rate without having the means to pay for it. Hard choices have to be made.

It is tiring to see this paper’s continued attacks on the governor for his efforts to restore some fiscal sanity to the state. It’s also disturbing seeing the letters that are libelous and obscene toward Gov. LePage, even though it is the paper’s stated policy that they will not be printed.

Reference the letter Jan. 7 commending The Press Herald for “its continued coverage of the LePage administration’s deplorable conduct.”

The writer of this particular letter went on to say, “We need a state leader with more inherent intelligence and ability rather than the bloated bully that we have sitting like a fat, feral cat, licking his curds and whey up in Augusta.” If you think that’s not libelous and obscene, get out Webster.

Enough of the attacks. Let’s give this man a chance.

Dick Johnson

Buxton

The three letters to the editor that prompted my response are those from Judith Abbott, Bob Chaplin and Maxine Austin (“Governor not seeing big picture,” Jan. 29).

Their point is similar: dissatisfaction with the top dog of our state by default, namely, Gov. Paul LePage! Since his removal of the mural from the state office, right up to the “I will close the schools,” period, I, and obviously many others have watched his “wild West” tactics, buffoonery and blind incompetency with shock.

His proposal to cut MaineCare during this period of increasing unemployment and severe economic hardship is, as Bob Chaplin put it, “not in the best interest, and is an inhumane action directed at our citizens in most need.”

Surely someone could suggest looking into the graft and theft going on in municipal departments, such as the highway department, or maybe seeking out state funds that have been awarded to family members and cronies, now holding jobs with the state. These are the leaks in the dikes that must be sealed, not the few who take advantage of MaineCare!

Yes, Judith Abbott, LePage is a bully, and I also seriously question his competence! Seriously — cutting the Fund for a Healthy Maine, closing homeless shelters and food pantries, and trimming help for the mentally ill?

Cut the fat, cut the pork, cut the rewards to cronies, cut the underhanded contracts to large corporations, which have lobbyists in place, but don’t pick on the old, the very young, the disabled and the poor, who have no lobbyists!

We must stand up and be angry.

Pat Frost

West Kennebunk

If I hired someone to build a house and I did not like the way they were framing it, why would I wait until completion before rejecting it? Yet this is exactly what some legislators are complaining about.

The governor is showing leadership of the highest order. When I voted for Paul LePage, I knew I wasn’t voting for a diplomat, an orator or the most popular kid at the playground. I was voting for an in-your-face, tell-it-like-it-is taskmaster, with strong ideals and the will to get the dirty work done.

Is he ruffling feathers on both sides of the aisle? You bet. Is he worried about re-election? I don’t think so.

A politician in power and not worried about re-election is a force to be reckoned with. I fully appreciate that Paul LePage is tired of the status quo time-tested Band-Aid approach so disastrously applied by decades of Democratic leadership.

We Mainers have a chance to turn the tide of economic stagnation that plagued our state long before the national economy slumped. Getting our debts in order, plugging the revenue leaks, lowering tax burdens, decreasing micromanaging duplicative state bureaucracy and eliminating the bonding of items that should be part of day-to-day government operational expenses are within reach.

Contrary to what the talking (and writing) heads say, the environment will not be raped, little old ladies will not be arbitrarily thrown out on the streets, the fire department will still come, our kids will get educated, those truly destitute will get what they need and we will all be the better for it.

Kurt Christiansen

Windham

Regarding the Jan. 27 article, “State cuts would hit Portland extra hard”: Having worked in one of Portland’s leading social services agencies and hearing first-hand of our neighbors’ economic and medical hardships, I am concerned about our state’s most vulnerable populations if Gov. LePage’s MaineCare cuts were to pass.

A devastating 65,000 Mainers would lose their health care coverage. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Maine already ranks second in the nation for having the most food insecurity (the “hungriest” people per capita). Where unemployment still pervades and the elderly must decide whether to heat their homes or pay for medications, these cuts will, in fact, hit most Mainers extra hard.

Echoing Mayor Michael Brennan’s main points, the cuts would disproportionately affect certain populations, including adults and elders with disabilities.

Threats to the Health Care for the Homeless Clinic and the Portland Community Health Center would cause an overwhelming influx for our city’s hospitals and emergency rooms. These dire cuts would cost the state more in resources and damages in the long run, even if the immediate budget were to appear “balanced” to some.

I urge others with similar concerns to make their voices heard by contacting their local legislators in opposition to these cuts. You can find them by visiting www.maine.gov. Another resource is Maine Equal Justice Partners at www.mejp.org.

I feel proud to live in a socially responsible state with a commitment to protect its citizens and provide its less privileged neighbors with their basic rights. Turning our backs on them now, without a follow-up plan to ensure their well-being, would not only be a political setback, but a moral disgrace for Maine. We can do better.

Kayla Crouch

Portland

During his campaign for governor, Paul LePage boasted that he would tell President Obama to “go to hell.” At the time, I didn’t understand why he would want to utter those words — now, I know how frustration with a leader can cause a person to consider this.

After listening to Gov. LePage’s recent State of the State address, when he said of our state’s education system that “students must come first,” I resolved to continue to help raise funds for Cape Elizabeth High School’s Mock Trial Team trip to its national competition in New Mexico.

However, Maine has released preliminary figures for school aid over the next two years, using a funding formula that cuts funds to the Cape Elizabeth school system.

How is that possible? For many years, CEHS, by every measure used, has achieved the most academic success of any public high school in Maine.

Shouldn’t the academic achievement of a student body be figured into the funding formula? Success = financial reward. Perhaps CEHS might consider becoming a charter school and charge tuition — make a profit and tell Gov LePage to “go to hell.”

David Ezhaya,

president, Friends of Mock Trial

Windham

Responding to Gov. LePage’s push to make massive spending cuts in Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services, I want to know what promises he is fulfilling to which people who made contributions to his campaign. Where is The Portland Press Herald’s investigative reporting?

As for all Maine legislators who continue buying into LePage’s garbage, forcing this state to ignore its obligations and promises to Maine’s most vulnerable people, recognize that with each never-ending budget cut you ignore or approve, you are enabling the criminal abuse, neglect and loss of life that happens to these people.

LePage pretends he is doing what he’s doing for the good of the state. His hidden agenda, answering to the people who made sure he was put in office, is yet to be revealed! Who on the Press Herald staff is going to do that?

Patricia Nelson

North Yarmouth

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