Letters

Published
July 14, 2015

Letter to the editor: Congress should protect IRS refunds from fraud

My wife and I had our identities stolen. Someone filed for a federal tax return using our Social Security numbers. We filed Jan. 26. But our return was overridden by an electronic filing. I was shocked to learn that the Internal Revenue Service gave a refund without having Forms 1099 and W-2s to verify the […]
Published
July 13, 2015

Letter to the editor: LePage wrong in the extreme to say he speaks for Mainers

Gov. LePage has often claimed to be “speaking for the people of Maine,” and I would like to rebut that. In particular, his veto letter stated: “The Maine people made it quite clear in November they want tax relief and welfare reform.” While I doubt that every one of the 294,189 people who voted for […]
Published
July 13, 2015

Letter to the editor: LePage’s treatment of Eves reasonable and justified

Gov. LePage’s political enemies eagerly attribute the meanest of motives to him for rescinding Speaker Mark Eves’ appointment to head the Good Will-Hinckley School at the same time they attribute the purest of motives to the speaker’s overnight conversion from a charter school critic to a wannabe charter school champion. The speaker’s allies also want […]
Published
July 13, 2015

Letter to the editor: Minimum wage should apply to tipped employees too

I was disappointed to read the front-page news July 8 that “Portland’s higher minimum wage comes with (an) unforeseen hitch.” It was not unforeseen that the new ordinance, like the much stronger “Ordinance Toward a Living Wage,” on which Portlanders will vote in November, includes new wage protections for tipped workers. I think everyone on […]
Published
July 13, 2015

Letter to the editor: Tipped workers merit $6.35 hourly rate

As a restaurant worker and Portland resident, I am disappointed to learn that it was only by accident that my city councilors raised the municipal tipped minimum wage. The truth is that servers and other tipped workers are not making as much money as many assume. In “Council told of minimum wage issue, groups say” […]

Published
July 12, 2015

Letter to the editor: No Labels organization is a worthy, grassroots group

I first became aware of the organization No Labels when it was identified by Olympia Snowe in her book, “Fighting for Common Ground.” No Labels has developed and proposed a national strategic agenda that it believes is important to many citizens of both parties: creating new jobs, securing Medicare and Social Security, balancing the budget […]
Published
July 12, 2015

Letter to the editor: Christie does little to help LePage’s image

Presidential wannabe New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s recent visit to Maine, during which he supported Gov. LePage, might be seen by many an unconvincing effort to boost public regard for Maine’s governor, who in recent months has been mired in controversy and calls for impeachment. Mr. Christie likes to think of himself as one with […]
Published
July 12, 2015

Letter to the editor: Doctor-patient bond hurt by intrusion, regulations

Ever since Hippocrates, the doctor-patient relationship has been the cornerstone of good medical care. This relationship is being threatened daily, and as a result our health care system is in critical condition. To better understand what is wrong with the health care field, imagine for a few minutes that one has invented a series of […]
Published
July 12, 2015

Letter to the editor: Columnist must now accept same-sex marriage rights

I found it curious that M.D. Harmon cited Pope Francis in support of his views on same-sex marriage (“Same-sex marriage ruling tramples on religious liberties,” July 3), just two weeks after questioning the pope’s “non-infallible” (Mr. Harmon’s words) encyclical on environmental matters (“Climate change encyclical has people jumping on the Vatican bandwagon,” June 19). It […]
Published
July 12, 2015

Letter to the editor: AARP lauds lawmakers for override of budget veto

On behalf of our 230,000 members in Maine, AARP congratulates the Maine Legislature for working together in the spirit of bipartisanship to override Gov. LePage’s veto and pass the state budget, which includes restored funding for programs critical to many of Maine’s most at-risk residents. In particular, AARP Maine fought hard for funding for the […]

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Letters