I viewed with relief Republican lawmakers’ rejection of Gov. LePage’s callous proposal to balance the Department of Health and Human Services budget by cutting funds for homes for the elderly, the mentally ill and those with substance abuse problems

Immediately following the rejection, Gov. LePage’s spokesperson, Adrienne Bennett, released a statement saying, “The governor has been willing to work with lawmakers to find a way to keep the homes open.”

The governor claimed credit for “exposing the problem” and declared he had a compromise solution but was prevented from offering it because “his hands were tied.”

Once again, these unconvincing efforts at damage control will only find credence with the governor’s minority hard-core supporters who still believe he can do no wrong.

The majority of the citizens of Maine are very fortunate to have lawmakers who feel otherwise.

Phyllis Kamin

Cumberland

Gov. LePage is rightly focused on reducing costs to businesses. Energy costs in a cold state like Maine are indeed high. However, there seems to be too much emphasis on the cost of electricity, when the data show that Maine’s electricity rates are actually among the lowest in the region.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s website shows that one needs to travel all the way to Pennsylvania to find cheaper electricity than Maine has.

A focus on reducing overall energy use and on developing alternatives to volatile and expensive fossil energy is far more appropriate for Maine.

Maine’s wind resource is already attractive to wind developers. The policies on our books are helpful in getting projects approved. Yet, we can go further to welcome these new sources of clean electricity that can only stabilize or reduce electricity prices.

Why will wind turbines never increase the cost of electricity? Because zero fuel cost generation does not set the price of electricity, it takes the cost set by the highest bidder — generally natural gas in New England.

This is why the PUC recently determined that long-term contracts for wind power are in the best interest of ratepayers.

If the governor looks at the facts again, I think he will see that the energy, jobs and investment produced by wind power and other renewables are good for Maine’s economy.

Bob Burdick

Wilton

LePage’s cost-cutting is the right thing for Maine

Mary Nelson of Portland wonders where Gov. LePage’s supporters are after his plurality win a year ago (Voice of the People, “Gov. LePage gets some support from readers,” Jan. 9).

I support what the governor is trying to do for Maine. The same that all our elected officials should be doing for the United States of America — figuring out ways to cut government spending. Kudos to Gov. LePage!

Barbara Britten

Shapleigh

Reader calls Collins hypocritical, insincere

Sen. Susan Collins’ indignant reaction to President Obama’s “recess appointment” of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau is, even for her, transparently hypocritical and insincere.

In the Jan. 5 Portland Press Herald, Maine’s appalled junior senator described herself as “deeply troubled” by the president’s action.

In a statement, Collins said, “Quite simply, the president should not be circumventing the Senate, and instead he should work to address the serious concerns that many have with the structural flaws of this agency, the most important of which is the lack of budget accountability.”

How things change. While chairing the Senate’s Homeland Security Committee from 2003 to 2007, Collins had a much more casual attitude about vigilance over taxpayer monies.

Her refusal to tighten oversight on expenditures made her a virtual ATM for the previous administration’s poorly planned, obscenely expensive and ultimately tragic incursion into Iraq. Perhaps the presence of a Democrat in the White House has helped her become reborn as a dogged protector of the U.S. Treasury.

It seems she’s also changed her philosophy on recess appointments, because there’s no record of her having expressed displeasure over any of the 171 such designations made by Mr. Obama’s immediate predecessor. (Note: As of this writing, Mr. Obama has made 32 such appointments.)

Like most elected officials who’ve been in Washington too long, Sen. Collins consistently does what’s politically expedient, which these days means obediently parroting the Republican party line, even when it’s clearly sanctimonious and nonsensical.

No rational person would accuse Sen. Collins of not caring about her constituents, but her posturing, grandstanding behavior makes it plain that her primary concern, as is the case with most self-interested career politicians, is maintaining her position(s) of power and influence.

Andrew D. Young

Cumberland

Visually impaired Mainers need state-funded help 

Here is something easy we can all do to support our family members and neighbors with vision loss or blindness. Support L.D. 765, a bill to be debated Wednesday in Augusta.

This bill requests that Maine’s Bureau of Rehabilitation Services fill positions currently unfilled due to state hiring freezes or documented shortages. Some of these positions include vision rehabilitation therapists and teachers of the visually impaired.

As a result of these shortages, Mainers with vision loss, from kids to elders, are waiting longer for services and experiencing greater limitations in the scope of services available.

This limits the training in daily living and employment skills. This impacts their ability to maintain independence at home, in the community and on the job. This also costs all of us money!

According to a Genworth survey, the average annual cost of assisted living care in Maine is $55,000. How much Medicaid funding is used to support Mainers who might maintain their independence at home with more timely vision rehab services? How many more Mainers who are blind or visually impaired might be employed with increased access to these rehabilitation professionals?

These professional services are provided statewide through the Department of Labor and are not paid for through MaineCare, Medicare or private health insurance.

Call your local representative and senator before Wednesday. 

Steven Kelley,

certified vision rehabilitation therapist

Kennebunk

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