Vote Biden
I recently read that 10,000 Americans turn 65 every day. All but the very richest among us rely on Social Security to pay our bills and get by in retirement. Those Social Security checks that arrive every month without fail are an earned benefit, one that we paid for out of our paychecks over a lifetime of work. Social Security benefits are modest, but together with Medicare, they are the lifeline we seniors rely on, whether times are good or in a global pandemic.
For retirees, the choice for president is crystal clear. Joe Biden has a decades-long career working to protect Social Security and strengthen Medicare. As a U.S. senator, he opposed privatization and fought attempts to cut health benefits. As president, his plan calls for expanding Social Security benefits, improving cost-of-living adjustments and strengthening long-term care and prescription drug coverage under Medicare.
In contrast, Donald Trump is full of big talk, but his policy ideas are impulsive and dangerous. In August, Trump issued an executive order to cut Social Security payroll contributions with absolutely no guarantee to repay the system. Then he promised, if he gets re-elected, to make the payroll tax holiday permanent — policy that experts say could bankrupt the system in just a few years.
As senior citizens, we know that we need to vote safely this year. We should also vote wisely for Joe Biden for President.
Ellen Glew,
Harpswell
Stunned by outrageous campaign spending
I am gobsmacked. $62 million spent on one Maine candidate’s campaign. $71 million spent by PACs (outsiders who have nothing to do with Maine but who want their party to win a majority so the opposition can be shut out). We’re being brainwashed with smear-charging, mud-slinging false charges of how an opponent says one thing but does another. Those giant postcards that monopolize my mailbox (between two and six every blooming day six days a week) are produced and sent with that money. Imagine what those millions of dollars could do more constructively: feed the starving, house the homeless, support job creation programs, bolster social service agencies trying to deal with suicidal folks who see nothing but despair because they’ve lost their jobs, their homes, their pride, their self-esteem. These campaigns are enough to send us tearing out our hair as we run screaming for the next carton of ice cream – or booze – to blot out our frustration. No wonder so many people don’t want to vote. We’re voting for people who are beholden to the heaviest-lined PAC pockets who will then strong-arm the winning candidate so that their interests will be protected in Congress, not the interests of Maine constituents. I’m fed up with Congressional “leaders” who haven’t a clue how to compromise and who behave like uninformed tantrum-throwing kindergarteners, stamping their feet demanding their way and no other. If you haven’t voted, inform yourself first by at least reading the websites of all the candidates, then steel yourself and go to Town Hall to vote, making sure to place your mark next to the name of the candidate you think will better serve Mainers’ — and this country’s — collective interests.
Margy Burroughs,
Brunswick
Vote Arford
The voters of Brunswick House District 49 should elect Poppy Arford as their state representative on Nov. 3. Poppy has lived, worked and raised a family in Brunswick for over 35 years. In that time she has served as a town councilor, patient advocate and advisor for health improvement organizations, mediator with the A.G.’s Consumer Complaint Program, director for SHAREcenter, Substance Abuse Counselor for Community Alcoholism Services and Outward Bound instructor. Poppy has received numerous awards for her outstanding work with these and other organizations. Poppy is well qualified to serve as a state representative.
In Augusta, Poppy will get results by listening to all points of view and crafting solutions from the best ideas, no matter their source. She is most passionate about providing affordable, universal publicly funded health care to all Mainers, providing educational opportunities for all, and improving the economic climate and well being of all Maine citizens. Poppy Arford is the clear choice in House District 49.
Richard Kania,
Brunswick
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