Your note that, “Another View is a Maine Press Association award-winning column written by an individual who is a member of a group of concerned citizens who meet to discuss issues of public interest,” is murky at best. Perhaps, “Another View is conservative opinion presented as fact by an unnamed group of some sort” would be more accurate. “Concerned citizen” Jan Dolcater makes the bizarre claims that “Today we mark our success in how many people depend on government,” that the “dependency culture has given rise to … single-parent families,” and goes on to blithely label natural gas fracking as “safe,” among other dubious (at best) statements. (What “award,” exactly, did this piece of creative writing win, and where did it first appear in order to win said “award?” Who is this “group of concerned citizens?”)

The author also suggests we raise the age of Social Security and Medicare recipients to 67 and 70 (early retirement from 62 to 65), indicating that the writer is one of those right wing thinkers who blames retirees (and likely the disadvantaged, immigrants and unions) for our economic woes. Nevermind the Wall Street banks and bloated, fat cat CEOs who have torn this country’s economic fabric apart. (Does the writer know any 70-year-old roofers, lobstermen, housekeepers or personal care assistants? One wonders.)

“Another View” has more often than not struck this reader as fairly extreme conservative propaganda, and no matter how you describe it or who is behind it, I will be looking for well-informed, thoughtful commentary elsewhere on your editorial page, and encourage other readers to do the same.

Lorry Fleming
Bath