Letters

Published
April 10, 2016

Letter to the editor: Lawmakers should fully fund Clean Election system

Once again, the Maine Legislature is on track to shortchange the Maine Clean Election Fund. Despite a double-digit win for the Clean Elections initiative in November, Maine voters are still waiting for full funding of the robust Clean Election system they desire. Lawmakers have a challenging job. They must balance many competing priorities and determine […]
Published
April 10, 2016

Letter to the editor: Health care insurer’s decision shows why we need Sanders

I’m one of the small-time donors supporting the quixotic campaign of Bernie Sanders. That immediately tells you that in matters of grave importance, such as the future presidency of the United States, I listen to my heart even though I agree with the rational arguments of friends. As a physician whose career has been devoted […]
Published
April 10, 2016

Letter to the editor: Downeaster service from Portland to Brunswick too costly for light use

There’s a clear difference in thinking between air and rail transportation planners. A 20-year master plan for Portland’s airport (March 9) “expects passenger volume to increase by nearly 40 percent by 2036,” noting that a “greater percentage of those passengers will be carried by larger airplanes” because of the cost-effectiveness of high-capacity vehicles. This is […]
Published
April 9, 2016

Letter to the editor: Abolish special issue votes, publicize all referendums

How odd that on April 6, half of the front page of your Local & State section was spent, with photographs, telling us: “Voters overwhelmingly approve bond for rebuilding Hall School.” That would be the overwhelming majority of the 4 percent of Portland voters who cast ballots. And how even more odd that, during the […]
Published
April 9, 2016

Letter to the editor: Simplify tax code and forms to cut out middle men

It cost me more to get a tax preparer than to pay my income tax. I would gladly pay a higher tax, with fewer deductions, if the Internal Revenue Service forms were simple enough for me to do them. That way, the government would get more money and I would save money. Making the tax […]

Published
April 9, 2016

Letter to the editor: Democrats must eventually unite to support candidate

We found the venomous and vitriolic personal attack on Hillary Rodham Clinton by Barbara Doughty in her April 2 letter to be absolutely repugnant (“Columnist’s characterizations of Clinton, Sanders too facile”). It is surprising that we can still find good, honorable people to run for public office when they are all too often so personally […]
Published
April 9, 2016

Letter to the editor: Students show we need to overhaul our social services

I teach history at a Maine college, and today I was proud of my students, who, in a discussion of a novel about the American Dream, concluded that, in the end, it was unattainable for a single black mother in the 1940s. We talked about why the main character “couldn’t make it” in the land […]
Published
April 9, 2016

Letter to the editor: Medicaid expansion is key to helping save more lives

In the February edition of the journal Family Medicine, the following data was reported: “In the 22 states that opted not to expand Medicaid … it is estimated that 7,115 to 17,104 unnecessary deaths can be attributed to the lack of Medicaid expansion.” This is truly not a surprise to me as a health care […]
Published
April 9, 2016

Letter to the editor: It’s time to stop subsidizing inefficient biomass power

Biomass-generated electricity is in trouble again. It is time to solve the real problem here. We have hardworking loggers in Maine who need a market for their waste wood that does not involve burning it in an inefficient, high-polluting subsidized biomass electric plant. Let’s put the emphasis on finding socially useful ways to use this […]
Published
April 8, 2016

Letter to the editor: Garbage to Garden service workable for most households

Recently, there have been a few articles in the paper concerning the disposal of waste. Having attempted composting in the past, with the only success being the attraction of skunks, we had been putting our compost in the trash for years. We first learned of Garbage to Garden at Gorham Savings Bank’s Launchpad presentations. Both […]

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Letters