I must admit that I am scared to death with the fact that Mitt Romney is running for president. Wow! Where, oh where, did the “normal” politicians go?

Why, oh why, can’t we have people like Sen. Olympia Snowe running for president? How sad that she is retiring. When she says that there is something wrong with how we are legislating in our country, she means it, with all of her heart. Otherwise, she would have stayed in Washington.

Romney speaks of the “right height of the trees,” and he gets so giddy about the touch screen at the Wawa convenience store. Where in the heck has he been all of this time? Most probably with his “car elevators” in California and, I might say, with all the amenities he is used to. No wonder our country is in trouble.

Why, oh why, don’t we listen to people like Olympia Snowe? The last time I voted for a Republican was for George H.W. Bush. From then on, the Republicans just can’t get it together. If one is honest and understanding, they would question people like Sen. Mitch McConnell, who absolutely has no common sense.

What the Republicans must understand is that their party has only one goal in mind and that is to make sure Barack Obama must not be re-elected. How in the world does that kind of thinking help our country? Especially, when we are having so many problems with our economy.

And to top it all off — don’t our lawmakers look really silly spending all of their time going after Attorney General Eric Holder? If this type of legislating continues, our country is really in trouble. Either we move on in our country or we will fail. We must get together and solve the problems at hand. God bless our country.

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J. Robert Chasser

Wells

Saving GM costs taxpayers billions and China gets jobs

The president and many of our politicians continue to tell us how successful they have been saving General Motors. They spent 80 billion of our tax dollars (much of it remains to be repaid) and continue the drumbeat of “I saved the auto industry” by spending our tax money to prop up the failing GM.

I recently watched a YouTube video of the CEO of General Motors speaking in China. The GM boss told the Chinese how 70 percent of GM cars are now made outside of America, how he is moving research and development from Detroit to China, and how he considers the 11 joint ventures with China to be “GM’s 11 keys to success.”

So, President Obama and Congress took 80 billion tax dollars and gave them to GM (and Chrysler — which is now an Italian company). And now GM is showing its thanks to us by moving jobs to China as fast as it can. Seeing another great American company transformed into a Chinese company makes me ill.

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Seeing our politicians waste our tax money has become commonplace and expected. But it is up to all of us voters to remember that President Obama and our Congress took our tax money and spent it on GM with the promise of jobs in America. Now we see the jobs are being created and sent to China via GM and our tax money. American tax money creating jobs in China.

I encourage you to go to YouTube and see the video of GM CEO Daniel Akerson speaking in China and stabbing America in the back.

I am doing my best to buy American. I hope you are, too. I will vote in November against our current Washington politicians. I hope you will, too!

James Waterhouse

Dayton

Blaming wastes time while kids fall behind in reading

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Ron Bancroft’s latest op-ed column, “Reasons for lack of educational progress hard to pinpoint” (June 14) was so disappointing.

Rather than focusing on scientific data and a wealth of information on how to move Maine’s children forward in a constructive way, he dredged up the “same old, same old” cycle of blame: Children are lazy and distracted, technology is distracting, parents aren’t sufficiently involved, teachers aren’t doing enough, the government isn’t doing the right things.

With this worn-out thinking, all the stakeholders can go around and around in a pointless circle, futilely blaming one another and getting nowhere. This loop is particularly maddening where members of Maine’s education community have reached out to Mr. Bancroft to share constructive, scientifically based data and recommendations on how to improve student achievement.

At the core, Maine is in desperate need of a major overhaul in how teachers are trained to teach reading. Until we avail ourselves of appropriate methodology for teaching all children in Maine how to read, they will lag behind and be cheated of their potentials.

Ignoring the science of reading instruction and encouraging generalized blame does nothing to move us forward. Visit www.readingmatterstomaine.org to learn more.

Julie Boesky

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Reading tutor/adviser to ReadingMattersToMaine

Portland

Western Prom group acted apart on plan for ex-church

After a neighborhood meeting attended by 120 people, failed attempts to engage the new Williston-West owner in compromise discussions and receipt of many emails and phone calls, the board of the Western Promenade Neighborhood Association decided to oppose the conditional rezoning of the property.

To correct your otherwise balanced and accurate reporting of the City Council action on this matter (“Portland councilors OK controversial church rezoning,” June 19), the WPNA did not collect the signatures of 137 people in opposition. In fact, the signatures, all from residents of the neighborhood, were gathered by immediate abutters, those most directly affected by the proposed office and performance space uses. The WPNA board took the petition into consideration in determining its position on the proposal.

I would also like to clarify that my remarks to the council, quoted in your article, were made by me personally, as a neighbor one block away from the property, and not in my role as WPNA president. I am personally disappointed in the council’s vote, but I now look forward, with the expectation that Frank Monsour will do what he has represented and not take advantage of loopholes in the agreement that was approved.

Anne B. Pringle

president, Western Promenade Neighborhood Association


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