I was amazed to read in the Kennebec Journal (June 19) that Earle McCormick, the man who has represented me in the Legislature for 10 years in both the House and the Senate, considers the “highlight of that decade of service was getting to serve in the majority after decades of Democratic rule.”

He is quoted as saying: “That was the goal from the time we started.”

I was under the impression that the goal was to represent his constituents, and serve our needs. Unfortunately, he’s not alone.

Last year, Sen. Roger Katz of Augusta and Rep. Patrick Flood of Winthrop — both municipalities with a large number of state employees — in their “service” on the Appropriations Committee, supported changes to the state retirement system that had a direct impact on the pocketbooks of state and teacher retirees and their families.

Oh, they made soothing, caring sounds when Paul LePage called state employees corrupt, but their votes tell a very different story. I met with both men — challenging them on their actions, which cost retirees but not Katz or Flood, although the debt they were ‘reducing’ was one owed by the state as a whole.

Katz: “Life isn’t always fair.” Flood: “No one got hurt.”

Oh really? These three “area legislators” — and many others around the state — seem to have put the interests of the LePage administration and the Republican party ahead of the interests of their own constituents.

 

Harold Booth

Hallowell

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