After Maine lawmakers spend all the money they project will be raised by taxes over the next two years, the legislative session usually ends with a vigorous discussion about how much the state can borrow.

That’s how it’s usually done, but not this year . . .

Senators from both parties had an opportunity this week to take steps toward reducing the federal budget deficit, making the tax code more rational and helping embattled consumers. And they blew it.

Looking at the 59-40 vote against ending ethanol subsidies was like watching a batter get three strikes on one pitch.

It’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t like L.D. 1, the regulatory reform package signed into law Monday by Gov. LePage.

The governor called it a “good down payment” on transforming Maine’s business climate, and a campaign promise kept. Senate President Kevin Raye said it would help “lift the burden that has shackled and held back Maine’s job creators for too long.”

Born out of the ashes of World War II, the NATO alliance – for North Atlantic Treaty Organization – was a defensive pact created in 1949 by the nations that had destroyed Hitler’s Third Reich, with one major exception: the Soviet Union. Resisting its postwar expansion became the focus of NATO’s mission in Europe.

But with its founding purpose made moot two decades ago, NATO is floundering – a fact long recognized but only pointed out in irrefutable detail last week by outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Old Glory’s birthday isn’t exactly a holiday, but it’s worth both remembrance and honor.

What the city would gain in tax revenue and economic activity outweighs what it would give up.

Robots can meet our scientific and security goals, so let the private sector do the rest.