Sara Moore for Union Select Board
It’s not every day we meet someone we immediately trust and feel are 100 percent honest with us. Sara Moore is one of those people. Every time I talk with Sara, I get the feeling that she always tells the truth and that we can believe what she says. Her life experiences have given her sound judgment, reason and common sense. As a farmer, she is hardworking but also logical and efficient. These incredible traits are rare, but are exactly what we need at all levels of government.
I like to think Sara is “one of us,” but know she is better than many of us. Sara is not one of the “good ol’ boys” and will be a valuable addition to our currently all-male Select Board. I encourage everyone in Union to vote for Sara Moore for Union Select Board.
John Field
Union
East-west disrespect
I recently attended the east-west highway meeting with the goal of learning about the project itself and the enormous economic benefit it would bring the surrounding community.
While my personal goal was in fact accomplished, I was very disappointed with the way the community was represented at the meeting. Many people were disrespectful toward Mr. Vigue, asking him questions and then interrupting him as he answered. How one feels on the issue should not affect how respectful they are. While this issue may not, respect for others is something that should cross party lines, and being rude to a man who is trying to help and improve the economic situation of our region is unacceptable.
Mr. Vigue deserved the utmost respect and unfortunately on Thursday night that is not what he received. He is trying to help our state and bring it economic prosperity, but that isn’t how everyone sees this project, and I understand that. I do firmly believe, however, that community members were in the wrong for interrupting him while he talked and yelling out irrelevant follow-up questions. Why would someone want to generously give their time to come and answer questions about the project when he is interrupted and not listened to?
Christopher Shorey
Dover-Foxcroft
Reed for District 23
Residents of Carmel, Etna, Hermon and Stetson: Roger Reed wants to represent us in District 23 in the Maine House of Representatives in Augusta, but he needs your vote in the Republican primary June 12 in order to do so.
Roger has been teaching and coaching at Bangor High School for over 25 years. His work ethic and his character are beyond reproach. He is a man of his word and believes that the Constitution is the law of the land. He is a strong fiscal and social conservative who wants the heritage of our state and nation to be preserved for our children and grandchildren.
Your X in the box for “Reed, Roger of Carmel” is a vote for a strong voice for life, freedom and the pursuit of happiness. As a veteran I am proud to support Roger Reed, and I encourage other veterans to do so.
Harry F. Rideout
Hermon
Fair coverage please
The front page of your Saturday (June 2 BDN) edition carried interesting and informative (albeit brief) replies to the same questions from the 10 U.S. Senatorial candidates. In doing so, you provided your readers with a valuable opportunity to learn more about the positions of them all. The “ground rules” of that segment were clear and fair — limited to “tweet” size of 140 characters.
In the June 5 paper, you took the liberty of providing a nearly half-page expansion on only one candidate’s, Matt Dunlap’s, “fuller answers” to your questions. I looked for an explanation that others would follow, but your lead-in to the Dunlap piece indicated that the remaining responses are available only online.
The liberal left repeatedly hammers home the theme of “fairness” and “level playing field” in the name of bashing its opponents, yet your paper continually demonstrates a bias that provides anything but.
Your readers and the candidates alike should expect accurate, complete and fair reporting, providing each with an equal opportunity, a level playing field, to reach voters. I hope you are going to publish expanded replies from all those competing in this all-important race, but somehow I doubt that will happen.
For shame, BDN.
Curt Bean
Orrington
Tea party
It seems to me that a person who votes for a tea party member is like a chicken that votes for KFC.
Lionel R. LaPointe Sr.
Garland
Two questions
Residents of Hancock County should ask themselves two questions: Are you worried about your tax dollars? Are you worried about how Hancock County government is being administered?
Every check that is sent out through the warrant process of Hancock County may be reviewed by the department head, the CFO, the deputy treasurer, the treasurer, the chairman and the remaining commissioners. There is also an annual audit that verifies that all the money is accounted for. Your tax dollars are safe.
Are you worried about the administration of Hancock County? You should have some concern when employees try to get rid of their overseers because they don’t like being told what to do. Have we come to that? We the commissioners of Hancock County care about all of our employees, but we also care about how tax dollars are spent. We ask for a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay. We ask our department heads to be good stewards of our taxpayers dollars. Most are, but some aren’t, and when they aren’t the CFO tells us and we question them about it at an open meeting. Some department heads don’t like having their judgment questioned in public, but that is the way a governmental operation should be run, out in the open for all to see and hear. Email me at sejoy@aol.com if you have questions.
There is always more to the story.
Steven Joy
Ellsworth
MEA support
I am constantly intrigued by specific issues that organizations in our state choose to support. I hope someone can explain to me why the Maine Education Association has chosen to support gay marriage.
I do not see how this stance is important to the education of the students in this state — primary, secondary and postsecondary. Please, MEA, support causes that will have a positive and long-term impact on the education of students in our state.
Harriett Real
Eastport
RSU 26 Budget Vote
In a recent letter, Susan O’Roak urged residents of Glenburn, Orono and Veazie to vote against the RSU 26 school budget. As one of the 42 residents (including several of Mrs. O’Roak’s fellow RSU 26 school board members) who voted for the increase of $265,000, I feel it is necessary to present voters with additional information so they can make an informed choice.
Mrs. O’Roak’s claim that the additional $265,000 will result in either an increase in taxes (although a very small one) or a budget reduction elsewhere is accurate in and of itself. However, this $265,000 represents the amount that the state told the towns to increase their local contributions to the schools by. Instead of asking the towns to do what the state required, the school board chose to absorb cuts totaling this amount. In effect, the school board short-changed the schools by $265,000.
Mrs. O’Roak also claimed that students will not miss opportunities without these funds. This is simply not true. Without this money students will have fewer class choices and see decreased access to library services, physical education, music and extracurricular activities. Class sizes will increase. Students in Glenburn will have one principal for more than 400 students, raising safety concerns. These are not small matters.
I urge you to support quality education in RSU 26 schools and vote in favor of the school budget on Tuesday.
Mark Brewer
Orono
Curt Bean: your criticism of the BDN’s alleged bias toward Matt Dunlap is embarrassing. For several weeks now the editorial page has included full op ed articles by most, possibly all, of the GOP candidates for US Senate. Maybe Dunlap preferred the question and answer format. The important point is that the BDN provided as much space to your beloved GOP candidates as to Dunlap. Indeed, since these GOP op eds appeared BEFORE the Dunlap q & a, one might charge the BDN with bias in giving the conservatives earlier self-promotion than the moderate Dunlap. In any event, your charge is so typical of the nonsense about “the liberal media.” At least the exposes in Britain about Rupert Murdoch’s tactics have undermined this charge abroad. Or do you somehow think that Murdoch is “liberal’? Next time, read the complete coverage before criticizing the extremely fair coverage by the BDN of the Senate candidates.
BDN Op Ed page Thurs 6/8/12.George Will,Debra Plowman,the former director of the Christian Civic League and David Farmer.2 R’s,1 D and one who is on the R side.Sure seems biased to R’s to me.And that doesn’t count the Matt Gagnon swill.There has never been anyone who has offered fewer solutions and more lies except LePage.
Should be 6/7/12.
Harriet Real: I don’t know what went into the MEA’s endorsement of same sex marriage, but it is, for many of us, the correct thing to do. What would you have said if, like the Catholic Church and its religious schools in Maine and elsewhere, it had condemned same sex marriage? Would that have been kosher in your eyes? Our students need to appreciate diversity and tolerance.
Seriously our Students need to Learn Tolerance, how about tolerance of the Christian Faith; once they learn about “tolerance” of SSM, they can also start to learn about how much money we have wasted on fighting for a cause that effects oh say 5% of the population. Let’s focus on fixing; Jobs, Folks losing their homes; Homelessness; and oh yeah and College kids getting out of college with debt, debt, debt, and no jobs, but millions being poured into a SSM debate. Please!
Might I suggest that conservative christians stop treating gays like less-than-equals. If you’re feeling intolerance toward your religion, you’re bringing it on yourselves. Let us have our place at the table of equality and the issue will go away.
5% or 50%…we’re still people.
Unfortunately it’s not only the LGBTQ community that they hate but anyone who isn’t just like their Inquisition era mindset.I’m proud to work for equality for everyone and to keep god out of the public schools and the public square.FFRF.org.
Funny how the conservatives didn’t complain when they won in WI.And there’s no bigger group of whiners than CC’s anyway.
Mr. LaPointe, I think of the tea partiers more as sheep lining up to become mutton. Either way, they are allowing themselves to be fooled by the uberrich.
Not to mention they have the audacity to call themselves patriots.They are nothing more than the slime that followed Coughlin in the 30’s and McCarthy in the 50’s as well as many others.Fortunately both of those clowns died in disgrace.
REAL Americans support liberty and choice for all-not a select few.The TPers are dead-they just don’t know it yet.
They are patriots in the sense of Dr. Samuel Johnson’s aphorism: “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.”
Mr. LaPointe-brilliant letter! Thank you over and over again.
Mr LaPointe,
apples to oranges. kfc wants to cook and serve chickens, the tea party wants humans to have the LIBERTY to cook and serve chickens
Amen David!
Ben Franklin once said “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.”
Just wanted to stay on the food theme there. FWIW, I’ll take Liberty any day.
Christopher Shorey–I agree with your letter insofar as it regards civility in public debate. However, I question your closing line–
“Why would someone want to generously give their time to come and answer questions about the project when he is interrupted and not listened to?”
Surely you jest? Mr Vigue may have a passing interest in the well being of certain Mainers but it is patently obvious that his overriding concern is about extracting wealth for his personal benefit and he is obviously willing to step on a few toes to achieve his goal.
Harriett, tearing down walls of discrimination is history in the making. It’s nice to see our teachers on the side of fairness and equality.
L.R.LaPointe – It seems that you know nothing about the Tea Party. You should do some research before you make a fool out of yourself.
Guess what. Some people are going to have a different opinion than you and that doesn’t automatically make them a fool.
I have expressed my opinions many time on here and have been called all kinds of names. You have even called me names for having a different opinion. Maybe it’s a one-way street for some. Ya think?
Here’s some research for ya. We know you stand with politicians that would like to cut Social Security,Medicare,and Medicaid benefits or do away with them all together so you can continue to give more tax breaks to the top 1% when there is no evidence,and there never has been ,that this will create job growth. The real job creators are every day working people who have money to spend which drives up demand for goods and services. We know you don’t like it when people unionize so they can stick up for themselves because you seem to think that big business is actually going to take care of you when the facts are that worker productivity is up but wages have stagnated. We know that you like unneccesarry Voter I D Laws under the false pretense that we have a voter fraud problem. You only seemed to be concerned about your own constitutional rights and really don’t care about anyone elses. When politicians say they want to decrease the chance of voter fraud by passing these laws it would be like saying, let’s take all guns off the streets just in case someone may get shot. We know how loud you would cry over that one but there’s a far greater chance of someone geting shot than there is of someone commiting voter fraud . One more myth you like to spread is that the Stimulus Act didn’t work. The truth is that the Stimulus Act did work but it wasn’t big enough. We should be spending more and putting public sector workers back to work to drive up demand.
Research? No. It’s just your skewed, left-wing opinion. You really know very little about me. But, that’s all right, because most liberal have no clue how the mind of a conservative patriot thinks. Let’s break down your diatribe a bit:
You wrote, “First of all, We know you stand with politicians that would like to cut Social Security,Medicare,and Medicaid benefits or do away with them all together so you can continue to give more tax breaks to the top 1% when there is no evidence,and there never has been ,that this will create job growth.”
Actually, the Republicans have no plans on cutting these programs. The have, on the other hand, attempted to reduce the unnecessary increases in the programs. But, to a liberal, an increase less than what they want is a cut.
Then you continue, “The real job creators are every day working people who have money to spend which drives up demand for goods and services.”
I’m an every day working person. I spend money for different goods and services. So far, I haven’t hired anyone to help me work or spend my money. Your statement doesn’t hold water.
You continue: “We know you don’t like it when people unionize so they can stick up for themselves because you seem to think that big business is actually going to take care of you when the facts are that worker productivity is up but wages have stagnated.”
Unions have a purpose, and that purpose is to protect the workers and ensure they are treated fairly. Unfortunately, the unions such as SIEU, the Teamsters, the Teacher’s Unions and the UAW have transformed into political action groups, wildly spending the members money on left-wing causes that not all of the members support. Many have become nothing more than bullies and thieves.
And then you write, “We know that you like unneccesarry Voter I D Laws under the false pretense that we have a voter fraud problem. You only seemed to be concerned about your own constitutional rights and really don’t care about anyone elses. When politicians say they want to decrease the chance of voter fraud by passing these laws it would be like saying, let’s take all guns off the streets just in case someone may get shot. We know how loud you would cry over that one but there’s a far greater chance of someone geting shot than there is of someone commiting voter fraud.”
99% of people have a picture ID. Picture IDs are needed for everything from cashing a check to entering a secure building, using a credit card, or buying cigarettes or alcohol. It is necessary, in this day and age, to have a picture ID. As for voter fraud, if you don’t have any rules, then how can you have any fraud. But, I’ll bet that there are those that take advantage of the system and vote multiple times each election. All they have to do is verbally lie about where they live and they have to be allowed to vote under the present rules. But, since there are no rules, this would not be fraud in the eyes of those that these people are fraudulently voting for. And ID and pre-registration are a minimum, and should be put into law.
Finally you write, “One more myth you like to spread is that the Stimulus Act didn’t work. The truth is that the Stimulus Act did work but it wasn’t big enough. We should be spending more and putting public sector workers back to work to drive up demand.”
Nearly half of the stimulus money was never spent. It’s locked up in the treasure with a “DO NOT SPEND” sign on it. By the way, we can’t spend our way out of a recession. If you don’t believe me, just ask Greece, Ireland, and France.
99% of people do not have a picture ID. Stop lying.
Prove it.
Generally,the person who makes the claim is the one who has to prove it. Obviously.
But since your post is so riddled with misinfromation, I’ll help you out. The numbers vary, but a very conservative number is 10%+ of eligible voters don’t have a photo ID. The number is much higher for senior citizens and minorities. That’s something like 3 million people.
http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/voting_law_changes_in_2012
http://www.brennancenter.org/page/-/d/download_file_39242.pdf
Very far from your lie of 99%.
Interesting links. However, the Brennan Center opposes voter IDs, so it’s not an unbiased or non-partisan source. And, if you dig far enough into the site, you’ll find that the 10% figure comes from a question about government issued photo identifications. Here in Florida, the only ones that have that form of ID is those that don’t have a driver’s license or other acceptable photo ID. When you include all acceptable IDs, the 10% drops dramatically.
And since you provided deceptive information, I would have the right to call you a liar. But, I won’t.
I didn’t provide deceptive information. I provided information that proved you lied and that’s why you don’t like it. You don’t get to denounce all facts simply because you don’t like them. That’s called willful ignorance.
Also, since I was the only one to provide information and you provided absolutely none, it’s more like you’re the deceptive one. You have no facts to back you up, do you?
I should probably take your advice seriously based on the evidence that you are indeed an expert on willful ignorance and denouncing all facts just because you don’t like them.
You don’t have facts! You provided no evidence of your claim/lie about 99% having photo IDs. Keep trying to change the subject, but that fact remains. You don’t have the truth on your side.
All right, I’ll give you the 99% issue. And since your only issue with my comment was the 99%, thanks for agreeing with the rest of my comment.
Not my only issue, but just the easiest one to prove you were lying and look how long it took for you to come clean!
Are there no gay students, gay teachers or gay parents to be concerned about?
Exactly. Those who oppose that support seem to think that the MEA is in a vacuum-no gay people there. Sort of like Iran….
Are lesbians not homosexuals? Last time I checked they were.
Your name becomes rather ironic when you seem to be arguing against those of us who are seeking freedom from discrimination.
Has the MEA stated in any way shape or form that they are going to stray from the prescribed curiculum and teach homosecuality in the schools?
—-
Again, it seems that people are confusing the MEA with the PTA.
The MEA is an organization to support the educators and others who work in education.
The continual yammering about how the MEA should be focusing on the children is like telling the UAW that they need to work for helping drivers; the busdriver union that they should be focusing on the passenger, or that Crystal Lee Sutton’s (as portrayed in the movie Norma Rae) was fighting to protect the people who wear the clothes made by the textile workers.
This is really just anti-union and anti-gay commentary.
It really gets me that the union member swho oppose this support are really saying that they are against their gay brothers and sisters.
Children learn best and easiest when they come from stable and secure homes. Legal recognition and protection of gay families makes their home life safer and thus more stable. The NEA supports anything that promotes family safety and stability.