Letters

Published
June 19, 2017

Letter to the editor: Solve health care problem with Medicare for all

I quote the June 5 edition of Barron’s: “Health care eats up 16.9 percent of our gross domestic product, versus 8.8 percent for the average rich country in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. No country comes even close to what Americans spend on health care each year, yet the U.S. ranks 36th in […]
Published
June 19, 2017

Letter to the editor: Job choice should not have to be based on health insurance

I’m writing in support of affordable health care, not just for my family, but for everyone in the state of Maine, because health care coverage should not be a privilege for a small percentage of the population in America. I’ve worked for large and small companies in Maine, and prefer the entrepreneurial environment of a […]
Published
June 19, 2017

Letter to the editor: Riverview situation demands answers to 2 questions

I read with interest the recent story about the $51 million the feds are demanding back from Maine. The Le-Page administration had been improperly spending the money since it was discovered that patients at Riverview Psychiatric Center were mistreated. Gov. LePage is pointing the finger of blame away from his administration (including longtime Health and […]
Published
June 19, 2017

Letter to the editor: Lawmakers should be held to implementing voters’ will

Referendums are not suggestions for our Legislature to consider. I am disturbed that our current Legislature is working to repeal ranked-choice voting. Residents of the state of Maine overwhelmingly voted this into law. It is the will of the citizens of Maine. Most of the law is constitutional; only part is not. Saying that the […]
Published
June 19, 2017

Letter to the edirtor: Drivers’ cellphone use tops seat belt issue for danger

The Click It or Ticket seat belt enforcement campaign has a certain resonance that comings from rhyming, but drivers using their cellphones while driving are much more of a public danger. Drive across the Casco Bay Bridge or up Interstate 295 and you’ll see that it’s an epidemic. And drivers seem completely immune from any […]

Published
June 19, 2017

Letter to the editor: Ah, the sounds, scents, smiles of summer

There’s something in the air. Yes, you can hear it if you listen closely. You can smell it, pungent and sweet. Or you can feel it, soft, pleasant to the touch. Look again – you can even see it. It’s bursting all around you; people are smiling again. Even the birds are chirping about it: […]
Published
June 18, 2017

Letter to the editor: Climate change deniers are skating to the wrong spot

Sometimes a sporting adage seems to fit broader life situations. That is just one of the reasons that sporting events are more than just an athletic contest to us. They teach us about courage, perseverance, and sometimes closely model the drama of world events. As the president chopped the legs out from under U.S. participation […]
Published
June 18, 2017

Letter to the editor: Humans can’t do anything to change Earth’s climate

We’ve seen an onslaught of irate letters to the editor from the environmental choir since President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. “He is a climate change denier!” they say. Perhaps we should look instead at the climate change defiers. For the 4 billion-plus years of the Earth’s existence, the climate has changed, and […]
Published
June 18, 2017

Letter to the editor: ‘For now…’ should not be good enough

I have been thinking about a young woman who I saw in Portland about a year ago, near Franklin Arterial, begging for money. I stopped briefly, as I was driving, and gave her a few dollars and had just enough time to ask her if she had children. She said “yes” and I asked her […]
Published
June 18, 2017

Letter to the editor: The working poor are not getting a fair deal here

The idea that people are poor because of personal failings and laziness is insulting. People receiving public support say it is demoralizing. Most Temporary Assistance for Needy Families recipients, who are required to work, do work. And they want financial independence. We say that welfare should go only to the truly needy and that we […]

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Letters