Elect Bellows
Mainers have a “not-to-be-missed” opportunity on Nov. 4 to elect a new voice to the U.S. Senate. The incumbent senator, Susan Collins, is not the moderate Republican she claims to be and needs to be replaced by a leader who is in touch with the realities of her Maine constituents and the country.
Collins voted in lockstep with Senate extremists such as Mitch McConnell and Ted Cruz to block the overturn of the egregious Citizens United Supreme Court decision, which determined that corporations are people when it comes to making contributions to election campaigns. The overturning of that decision would have taken large corporate contributions out of politics. Eighty percent of Americans, including Democrats, Republicans and independents, want less corporate money in our elections, which, as we are seeing, is trying to buy our politicians. Our Democracy “of, by and for” the American people is being corrupted and is at risk. The answer is at the ballot box.
Don’t miss the opportunity to elect Shenna Bellows, a champion of democracy, to the U.S. Senate on Election Day.
Polly Shaw
Bath
Bear junk food?
Could someone from “Mainers for Fair Bear Hunting” please tell me how they came up with the figure of 7 million pounds of junk food placed in the Maine woods for bait each year?
I am sure it was a scientific figure, gleaned from decades of research.
Can this group also explain why so few Mainers have put any funding into this campaign?
Ninety-nine percent of this group’s funding has come from the Humane Society of the United States, based in Washington, D.C.
Not many of us have problems with bears, and I would like to keep it that way. I think I will trust 40 years of research done by educated folks right here in Maine and keep outside influences out of our hunting decisions.
Philip Henderson
Hampden
Gratwick leads on health
Many working Mainers lack access to health care that is affordable to them. Data recently reported in the BDN show that Maine is only one of two states where the number of uninsured is increasing.
As a physician, Geoff Gratwick sees the consequences. Needed care is out of reach for a significant segment of Maine people. Lacking access, the uninsured’s medical problems worsen. Eventually they come to the hospital where care is given. Care is usually much more costly at that point. Since these expenses are frequently not paid for by the patient, the costs are ultimately shared by the rest of us.
Turning down the $400,000,000 per year to assist those between traditional Medicaid and full health insurance has been unwise. The federal funds refused do not give Maine taxpayers any discount off their federal taxes, but rather puts us in a position of subsidizing health care in other states.
Significant responsibility for this situation lies at the state level. We need leadership in Augusta to change this. Gratwick has seen the results failed policies have on Mainers. Having run a small business for 40 years, he also has dealt with the challenges of providing health insurance to his employees. Gratwick has the perspective we need and should be supported in his bid for re-election as state senator for Hermon and Bangor.
Daniel Cassidy
Bangor
Voting for Michaud, Cain
In my lifetime, the people of Maine have elected Margaret Chase Smith, Edmund Muskie, William Cohen and George Mitchell. What these outstanding leaders had in common was the ability to govern by finding solutions that were in the best interest of all Mainers.
We now have some politicians who have chosen ideology over bipartisanship. The truth is neither Republicans nor Democrats have all the right answers. I don’t believe Maine needs Washington-style politics where things don’t get done and where shutting down the government becomes a viable option if all legislation doesn’t conform 100 percent to one’s personal agenda.
The likely reality is that Rep. Mike Michaud or Gov. Paul LePage will be our next governor. One of these candidates has shown a willingness to work with others and one has not. In the tradition of past Maine leaders, I will be voting for Michaud and Emily Cain, who have expressed a desire to work with both parties to find solutions.
It’s time for the people of Maine to use their good judgment to vote for compromise over conflict so that Maine will not become polarized like Washington, D.C.
Gary Titcomb
Bangor
LePage’s welfare state
I am a 67-year-old disabled man who has worked hard all my life. My wife has severe bone loss and arthritis. We have no running water or electricity.
Gov. Paul LePage keeps touting all the money he has recouped from welfare reform. He has just taken it from people who really need it. With an income of $7,300 per year, that would be us. Last January, my wife lost her MaineCare because she didn’t fit a category. Seems like being too poor to get her flu shot should be a category.
The only apparent reason for LePage to be cutting all that money from the poor is to give vacations and other perks to his cronies. Who else could it be for? Certainly not the poor.
Lyle Laflesh
Littleton
Time for Bellows
Shenna Bellows is much more qualified for this position than Sen. Susan Collins, who votes her party’s interests and along the party line. For example, last December, Collins asked veterans to send cards to our service men and women. At that time, she commended veterans for their service. In January, she returned to Washington, D.C., and she voted against an increase in benefits for our veterans and their families. She also voted against equal pay for women, the minimum wage increase, reiterating the party line and against overturning Citizens United, to name a few. Is this who we want to speak for us in Congress?
The people of the state of Maine deserve a true representative of the people, not one who votes against their interests in favor of the party’s agenda. It’s time that Maine leads the nation by hiring a senator who represents the people.
Let’s get out and vote. It’s time to rid our state of those who claim to be “moderate” but instead cast their vote along party lines and against the people’s interests. It’s time for new representation and for Bellows, an experienced worker who will put the people’s interest before the party.
Anne Borreggine
Bangor