Letters

Published
February 26, 2013

Letters to the editor: Who’s to answer for sequester?

The “Our View” editorial (“House Republicans created sequester crisis,” Feb. 23) stating that Republicans are to blame for the sequester “crisis,” besides being wrong and partisan, misses the point of out-of-control spending and lack of presidential leadership. Since President Obama took office, the national debt has increased 60 percent, or about $6 trillion. By the […]
Published
February 25, 2013

Letters to the editor: Early education doesn’t bear fruit

I’m sure Dana Connors, Meredith Strang Burgess and Robert Moore have their hearts in the right place and truly care about Maine’s tykes (“Maine Voices: Skilled workers start out as well-educated young Mainers,” Feb. 2). So do I, but I disagree with them that the answer is heavy-duty Head Start and other pre-K programs. […]
Published
February 24, 2013

Letters to the editor: Lottery adds to fishermen’s burden

What a good idea the state of Maine has come up with this time. Now the state has decided to make a lottery for the elver/eeling fishery (“Four licenses and 5,200 applicants for Maine elvers,” Feb. 14). Which one will be next? I and others have been commercial fishermen all our lives. We have been paying taxes […]
Published
February 23, 2013

Letters to the editor: Prison crowding points up bad drug policy

Gov. LePage’s plan to spend $100 million on prison renovation is concerning (“LePage: Borrow $100 million for prison project,” Jan. 14), considering that the U.S. already incarcerates more of its citizens than any other nation in the world. Since the war on drugs, the U.S. prison population has skyrocketed. The legal system has become so […]
Published
February 22, 2013

Letters to the editor: Tar sands oil gives U.S. option to OPEC

Reflecting on Portland’s anti-fracking march (“Huge crowd turns out to denounce possible transport of tar sands in region,” Jan. 27), I am reduced to one word: “What?” The God who has blessed us with coal, oil and gas now gives us an alternative to the greed-filled fuels of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (our […]

Published
February 21, 2013

Letters to the editor: An educated country is a secure country

I was glad to see the recent guest column by area business leaders discussing the importance of high-quality early education for improving Maine's economy and future work force . . .
Published
February 20, 2013

Letters to the editor: Storm adds to firefighters’ to-do list

On Sunday, Feb. 10, as the recent record-breaking storm ended, Portland citizens, business owners and visitors were seeing our fire department already out on city streets clearing the nearly 2,000 fire hydrants, which were mostly buried under 3- to 5-foot snowbanks. This is no easy task, considering our department’s reduced on-duty staffing level for six […]
Published
February 19, 2013

Letters to the editor: Homeless people deserve legal protection

Discussing homelessness is like acknowledging the elephant in the room. We all know it’s there, yet few will go far enough to acknowledge the issue or propose a change. Homelessness needs to be discussed. Last November, 450 individuals in Portland utilized homeless shelters. On Dec. 21, the annual Homeless Persons’ Memorial Vigil remembered 30 individuals […]
Published
February 18, 2013

Letters to the editor: Church puts power in the wrong hands

Benedict XVI’s resignation frustrates my plan for an online petition demanding it. Two grounds: The Vatican curia’s and Paul VI’s thwarting of Vatican II reform implementation procedures have allowed John Paul II’s and Benedict XVI’s major undoing of Second Vatican Council reforms and what hundreds of theologians have long agreed is a Vatican schism. Where […]
Published
February 17, 2013

Letters to the editor: Unlikely allies hurt U.S. workers

In her commentary (“Think again: Fallacies about immigration,” Feb. 3), Shannon O’Neil at least does the service of correctly identifying the advocates of unrestricted immigration: Big Business and the Democratic Party. Business wants to keep wages low by importing low-cost labor, and the party seeks a permanent constituency of welfare dependents. Neither gives a fig […]

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Letters