Fantasies of joining Canada are fantasies, but there is hope for us yet. Mainers must put our Yankee work ethic to use and save ourselves. Our representatives in Augusta must take responsibility for the people of Maine.

Maine’s legislators on both sides of the aisle must work together to plan for and protect Mainers from the chaos in Washington, D.C. Ultimately, Maine can be more self-sufficient and become a stronger, more sustainable state if we rise to meet this challenge. (I speak of both fiscal and environmental sustainability.)

The challenges include:

• The possible dismantling of FEMA (stripping the security that national disaster relief provides).

• NOAA cuts leading to the deterioration of weather reporting in Maine.

• Maine’s farmers being hit with an unprecedented clawback of grant funds.

• Mehmet Oz possibly leading Medicare and Medicaid into chaos and dissolution (MaineCare depends on funds from Medicaid).

One opportunity to take responsibility are the bills “An Act to Create the All Maine Health Program” and the accompanying “A Resolve to Study the Costs and Funding of a Universal Healthcare Plan for Maine,” sponsored by Rep. Anne-Marie Mastraccio of Sanford. The Legislature must support both of these bills, which offer a start in protecting and improving Maine’s health care system.

Should Medicare be fully privatized, Mainers will suffer. Should the Affordable Care Act be repealed or ignored, working Mainers will lose needed health care and costs will skyrocket for all. These bills offer an alternative for all Mainers, one that we may sorely need.

Winston Lumpkins IV
Portland