International trade is a two-way street. We have imports and exports. We must sell exports in order to buy imports. When we cannot, we have trade deficits. Those nations that have high tariffs and only export goods are practicing mercantilism, getting rich on our trade deficits. This is what the 18th-century French economist Jean-Baptiste Say […]

The recent storm and resultant power outages are evidence that the current utility policies of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine are grossly deficient in that they do not require that utility electrical lines be placed underground. There is absolutely no excuse for sagging power lines to cause the closure of Interstate 95, an essential and […]

I am writing to comment on MaineGeneral Medical Center’s recent decision to downsize its Diabetes and Nutrition Care Center because reimbursement rates are too low. Diabetes is a major health problem, the seventh leading cause of death in our country, and a disease (like many other chronic illlnesses) whose outcomes can be improved by early […]

The president is again demonstrating that he only cares for the wealthy 1 percent millionaires in this country, like himself, and not for the rest of us. Look at his proposed 2019 federal budget. His discretionary spending plan calls for 61 percent of our tax money to go to the military, to protect big corporations […]

Re: “Exorbitant power bills aren’t just a Maine thing” (March 11): I note that an important question is not being asked: How well insulated were the houses of homeowners who received those exorbitant bills? And what extra steps were taken to conserve electricity? The day after a February blizzard, my family moved into a 65-year-old […]

I would like to comment on a statement made in the March 11 front-page article about the new state unemployment claims system. Morning Sentinel Staff Writer Colin Ellis reported that “high-ranking officials … (were) espousing an attitude that unemployment insurance is ‘welfare.’ ” I was an owner of a small, family-run business for 30 years and […]

We do a serious injustice to the victims of public shootings when we refuse to look deeply at the actual causes behind them. The anti- and pro-gun debate that has exploded is so typical of the partisan, surface-level thinking that permeates all of our media. It’s been weeks, but as far as the conversation has […]