No need for sanction
Regarding the letter of Suzanne Waterhouse, July 30-31:
We are not a nation of “Christian roots,” We are a nation of freedom of religion, of all religions. The Founding Fathers were made of Christians and nonbelievers as well, who were willing to welcome all manners of belief, or nonbelief, if that is what one chose.
We are not a theocracy, either, and should steadfastly avoid any steps in that direction. If we wish to pray for guidance either as citizens or as members of the government, we are all welcome to do so, in a Christian or non-Christian manner. The government does not need to sanction this for any of us, at any time.
It is incumbent upon us to help ourselves.
David J. Mahoney
Greenville
Protect our townspeople
The Frankfort selectmen’s actions should be another red flag for our town and other towns in Maine in regard to companies such as Eolian. Their goal is to sell us their product and ensure their profit. Eolian is highly motivated to conduct their research. It is a race for time against any potential future restrictions voted in by the town.
Our selectmen sold out. Eolian CEO Jack Kenworthy reports the actions and wishes of the people are unlawful and unconstitutional. Eolian is saying they are intending to work in a “collaborative and transparent way with the town.” They have an odd definition of these terms.
They essentially have to say they are working collaboratively with us. Surely they won’t say “we stand to profit hugely off your town and our intention is implement our plan regardless of your health, property values and rural life.”
Raising questions about large, industrial wind companies isn’t anti-wind. We should be interested in the growing concerns across the nation and abroad that suggest significant problems with these companies. Getting our information from the salesman is risky. Any business that can negatively impact the investments and health of others should not be allowed to have an open-door policy. We need to view the cost and benefits just like they do.
Frankfort residents stand up and protect all of our townspeople and landowners. Selectman, I have lost faith in your ability to represent us and to treat this situation without bias.
Sadie Fournier
Frankfort
Don’t fix what wasn’t broken
One recent election day just before the polls closed, a woman came in with three children, all in pajamas. She’d come home from a long, tiring workday, thinking only to have some quiet time before bed.
Her kids had been watching television and were dismayed to find she had not voted. “Mom,” they said, “You have to. It’s historic.” So she put them in the car, got to the polls in the nick of time, registered and voted. She pushed herself a little harder than she thought she could, and got a little further than she thought she would, and she did it for her kids.
Those really disadvantaged by the loss of same-day voter registration are not fraudsters or special interests. They are hard-working “regular people.” They punch a clock, ride the bus to work, have a half-hour for lunch and can’t take time off to register during business hours. They are people working two jobs to make ends meet.
They are single parents with busy schedules whose plan to register may have been derailed by a last-minute need to stop at the store instead. They are college students trying to balance a full course load, a part-time job, and a long commute.
By changing the law on same-day registration we’ve broken something that was working well for Mainers. It’s not too late to fix that mistake. When those pajama-clad youngsters are old enough to vote themselves, I hope they’ll be able to do so, even though they haven’t had time to register in advance.
Lisa Feldman
Orono
Receiving assistance
Making sure that public assistance programs are effective and efficient requires a comprehensive approach that avoids the traps of anecdotes and stereotypes. Recently, the LePage administration announced that it was enhancing its anti-fraud efforts at the Department of Health and Human Services. While we all agree that businesses and families shouldn’t inappropriately profit from public programs, it’s just as important to ensure that struggling families get the help they deserve.
Last year I worked with Maine Equal Justice Partners, the Maine Women’s Lobby and the University of New England on one of the most comprehensive studies of Maine’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. We found that most families on TANF have a strong work history. But chronic problems, such as having a family member with a disability, make it difficult for many to work.
As the recent editorial, “Triage, Not Fraud,” points out, when we understand the needs of families receiving public assistance, we can improve the way we help them and improve outcomes. Legislation from this past session proposed implementing a more comprehensive strategy to help DHHS identify the challenges and barriers faced by families receiving TANF assistance and link these families to the services they need to become stable and get their feet back on the ground. The bill did not become law, but I hope the idea is not lost. We must focus on providing the right supports at the right time to help families reach greater economic security.
Sandy Butler
Bangor
Bring manufacturing home
Congress and the president hammered out a deal to raise the debt ceiling and cut trillions of dollars from the budget. So, the markets should respond positively, right? Wrong! Since consumers aren’t spending, the only spending has been coming from the government.
We have a consumer-based economy. That means that the more Americans spend, the better the economy is. Unfortunately, consumers need jobs in order to make money to spend. And their jobs have been outsourced to other countries in order to boost corporate profits.
One of the results of this shift is that hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens are returning to Mexico. Why? Mexico’s unemployment rate is half of ours!
Perhaps U.S. corporations that are sitting on billions of dollars in cash might consider manufacturing here at home, putting Americans to work so they can spend money on goods and services. Further, the new workers pay taxes, thus increasing revenue. And government spending on welfare can decrease as we put people to work.
Michael Drake
Monson