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Letters to the Editor
  • Published
    January 18, 2012

    Paul only candidate willing to cut military spending

    Machiavellian manipulation is the description that came to mind while listening to President Barack Obama’s recent speech about his plan to reduce defense spending. I liken it to shell game or three-card monty. What we see is not what we get, and the loser is us taxpayers. A “reduction” from what? Doesn’t his proposed “reduced” […]

  • Published
    January 18, 2012

    Solving problem of teen pregnancy should be first

    I was glad to read another view concerning the issue of teenage pregnancy in the Jan. 9 Maine Compass by Sharon Abrams/Martha Kempe, but I thought the tone was defensive. I also thought the focus on programs that assist teen mothers and their children and how well some teenage parents succeed because of these programs […]

  • Published
    January 17, 2012

    Only hear from Snowe when she’s up for re-election

    For 16 years, Sen. Olympia Snowe has voted against her own party and with the Democrats. A few years ago, her vote broke a tie, defeating an effort to allow us to drill for more oil in Alaska. Her reason was that she felt it would disrupt the paths caribou use. I ask, what about […]

  • Published
    January 17, 2012

    Cable company seeks to encrypt all channels

    Combined with the transition from analog to digital, going all-encrypted means every single TV device is going to be obsolete or neutered (no longer capable of independently tuning stations without an external box — provided by cable, of course). We already have seen analog service cut and have been forced to say goodbye to our […]

  • Published
    January 17, 2012

    Cordray’s appointment gives bureau its power

    Since July 21, the CFPB — a centerpiece of the 2010 Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act — had been up and running, but with only partial powers. It’s the nation’s first federal financial regulator with only one job — protecting consumers — including seniors, students and servicemembers — from unfair financial practices. The […]

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  • Published
    January 16, 2012

    Prosecutors took path of least resistance in trial

    Once again, I’m expressing complete dismay in Maine’s judicial system. Criminal investigators using witnesses who look out for only themselves. These are non-credible witnesses with criminal histories. In the trial of Raymond Bellavance, prosecutors secured a guilty verdict from jurors by showing that the law doesn’t need cold, hard evidence to convict; just the words […]

  • Published
    January 16, 2012

    Take local action to help overcome wealth inequality

    The national acceleration of economic inequity generates local consequences seen all around us. Our neighbors suffer from the squeezing of their financial resources from income loss and stagnation or lose as employers shift ever larger percentages of health care premiums onto workers. Many are concerned that their children are being bequeathed a future with less […]

  • Published
    January 16, 2012

    House speaker asks that partisanship be set aside

    We now have confirmation of what the governor said a month ago: The state of Maine is facing a significant budget shortfall in the Department of Health and Human Services. Original estimates put the deficit at more than $220 million. Democrats in the Legislature have questioned that figure, but the non-partisan Office of Fiscal and […]

  • Published
    January 15, 2012

    Tar sands oil, pipeline are planet killers

    Alberta’s tar sands oil and the Keystone XL pipeline should have no future. They are planet killers. Congress has said that President Barack Obama must rule on a permit for the XL pipeline by Feb. 21. He needs to say no. There is no doubt about what is causing climate change. Burning fossil fuels adds […]

  • Published
    January 15, 2012

    At least some legislator is paying attention to voters

    I'd like to thank Sen. Tom Saviello, R-Wilton, for responding quickly to my letters to the editor and for the concern he has about all the matters that I have addressed. His actions have amended my negative feelings about some of our politicians.