In 1974, President Gerald Ford signed the National Health Planning and Resources Development Act that withheld federal funds from states that failed to adopt certificate-of-need (CON) laws regulating health care facilities. CON laws require providers who want to open or expand a health care facility to first prove to the government that the community needs […]
Op-Eds
Opinion columns from the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Eduardo Porter: Fentanyl will win the war on drugs
So let’s say the United States labels Mexican drug cartels terrorist organizations, like so many Republicans are demanding. Let’s say it deploys “cyberwarfare” and missile strikes against its kingpins, declares war against the cartels and sends troops across the border, whether the Mexican government agrees or not. Then what? Here’s what: Fentanyl keeps killing Americans; […]
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Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Rep. Chellie Pingree: Corrupt Supreme Court must be reformed
With lifetime appointments, justices appear to think they’re above it all. If the court won’t alter course, Congress must impose changes.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Nicholas Goldberg: Trump’s up in the polls. How can that be?
I guess it’s possible that Republicans really don’t care about Donald Trump’s run-ins with the law. Maybe, despite the numerous allegations, investigations and charges against him — for rape, for defamation, for seeking to subvert the 2020 election, for his role in the Jan. 6 assault, for falsifying records about hush money payments — he […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
The Maine Millennial: Restrictions on MaineCare are hostile and shortsighted
Refusing to spend money on noncitizens’ health care might save money in the short term. But the bill will come due.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Hilary Koch: Eliot Cutler and ‘child pornography’
Let’s call the crime what it is, and maybe we won’t be so easy on the perpetrators.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: Outdoor school programs should be available to all Maine students
A three-day, two-night outdoor school program for all schoolgoing Mainers? We can make it a reality.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Jim Fossel: Legislature should set aside differences to help local government
It’s time to sidestep the usual ideological disagreement and work together on a plan that can offer Maine assistance it desperately needs.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: As artificial intelligence debates rage, Hollywood reflects our fears
Horror films of the 1950s depicted fears brought on by the nuclear age. In 2023, the same trend is brought on by the rise of AI.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: Proposed ratios will not bring needed nurses into the profession
The nurse-to-patient staffing ratio bill before the Maine Legislature will limit access to care when health care facilities are unable to comply with its mandate.