Collins is a dishonest public servant

I wholeheartedly agree with David Treadwell’s Feb. 21 column regarding Susan Collins and that her wishy-washy stand on so many issues does nothing to help her constituents. Does anyone really believe that she would have voted against RFK Jr. or Pete Hegseth if she didn’t already know they would garner enough votes without hers? Does anyone believe that she voted for Supreme Court justices thinking they would not overturn a woman’s right to choose when she knew full well what their backgrounds and associations were prior to their nominations? She is not, I repeat, NOT a centrist, though she has spent many years cultivating that claim. She is dishonest with her constituents and maybe even with herself. We need someone who’s honest and has integrity and who listens to their constituents in that Senate seat. We need someone who is not afraid to hold town hall meetings on a regular basis, not someone who has not held one in 17 years. It’s not, and never has been, Susan Collins. It’s way past time for her to go.

Gwendolyn Thomas,
Bowdoin

Legislators should support solar owners

I write in opposition to three bills under consideration in Augusta that would eliminate the net energy billing program for solar owners, a program that makes solar more affordable, because it compensates the panels’ owners for electricity they don’t need, which goes out to the grid​ for others to use.

This reduc​es the payback time needed to cover the purchase price of their systems. It’s a financial boost to those for whom a solar system is a heavy lift, and those who otherwise might not invest in clean energy. The net energy billing program has helped Maine transition away from dirty fossil fuels that pollute and should be continued.

My small ​Bath church, The Neighborhood UCC, embarked on a fundraising effort to do solar on our south-facing roof, but over several years, we were only able to come up with one-third of the cost for the $23,000 system. It was going to take years more to raise the rest of the cash we needed.

But we knew that the panels would significantly reduce our electricity bills thanks to the net energy billing program, and so we borrowed the balance required to move forward. Even without the 30% tax credit we can’t qualify for as a nonprofit, solar made good sense due to net energy billing. We will own our panels free and clear in only five years from our installation date.

A ​state that fails to see the handwriting on the wall about the climate change impacts to come​ and fails to reduce its fossil fuel emissions is just shooting itself in the foot. As the cost of climate damage increase​s, it will become ever more clear that ​​encouraging more solar makes sense. Net energy bill does this. It’s good policy. Please tell your legislators to reject these shortsighted bills, which amount to pulling the rug out from under ordinary people desiring to do something good for their communities and the climate.

Sam Saltonstall,
Brunswick

The global impact of USAID

In Maine, we know that strength is built through unity, and unity begins with compassion. The dismantling of USAID (United States Agency for International Development) threatens this core value. USAID has long been a lifeline to the world’s most vulnerable, providing vaccines, maternal health care and humanitarian aid that saves lives daily. In 2024 alone, USAID dedicated $9.7 billion to global health, including life-saving vaccines for children and combating pandemics that threaten all of us. The agency has directly helped eradicate smallpox, reduced malaria and continues to stem the spread of diseases like HIV/AIDS, leaving a legacy of global health and prosperity. Sen. Susan Collins has always understood the power of USAID, particularly its impact on maternal and child health. She has championed its programs, recognizing their importance not only to our global standing but to the stability of nations worldwide. I urge Sen. Collins to stand firm, as she has before, in her commitment to supporting USAID and its mission. The children, the mothers, the families depend on our continued leadership. Let’s not turn our back on the world’s most vulnerable.

EJ Dupont,
Wiscasset

U.S. democracy has turned into kakistocracy

In his 1983 preface to the reprinting of George Orwell’s “1984,” Walter Cronkite wrote that the author was not attempting prophesy but a “warning about the future of human freedom in a world where political organization and technology can manufacture power in dimensions that would have stunned earlier ages.” Color me stunned.

Trump’s political organization exploited the working class’s antigovernment sentiments with a mixture of nativism, anti-science disinformation and the 2025 Project’s conservative agenda to put Big Brother in power. His campaign hid the bottom line: the well-off would be well taken care of and the working class would lose jobs, health care and services.

The role of “disruptor” is one embraced by Trump. If one wishes to replace an existing structure, demolition of the old one is an approach. When the dust settles, however, a new, improved functioning entity does not magically appear — only rubble. Knowledgeable architects are needed to produce a plan and they do it long before the TNT. While the 2025 Project has goals, the effectors to achieve them are unqualified: RFK Jr., Hegseth and Musk are examples.

RFK Jr doesn’t understand science. With his anti-vax views, it was insanity to put him in charge of “improving the health, safety and well-being of America.”

Hegseth’s appointment to head Defense has given Trump an unqualified Cabinet member whom he will easily dominate. No more principled counsel about appropriate use of the military is likely.

An unelected Musk is wielding largely unsupervised power to cut budgets and government jobs. He is blindly applying generic business practices to “businesses” he doesn’t understand. His methods have weakened supervision of our nuclear waste and airline safety, as well as interfered with preparation for the next (expected/unexpected) pandemic.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you government by the unqualified: a kakistocracy!

It is past time for the Republicans in Congress to develop spines. Fear of a future Big Brother–funded primary challenge cuts no ice with me if you are not fulfilling your oath to defend the Constitution today.

Steven Zimmerman,
Topsham