Thank a cop
What do I know about law enforcement? Maybe just a little more than the average person. What I do know for certain is that I wouldn’t make it a day working in the profession; it would be like the movie Groundhog Day. Each day would repeat itself; I’d wake up each new day and quit.
I currently work as a business agent for the members of Teamsters Local Union No. 340. We represent members in both the private and public sector throughout Maine. Many of our members work in law enforcement. The women and men that choose this profession do so as calling, a call to protect and serve. They choose this profession knowing and agreeing with the fact that whether it be by policy and procedures, state or federal law and even in their collective bargaining agreements, that they will be held to a higher standard than those that they protect and serve. That higher standard is as it should be.
Law enforcement officers are entrusted with an awesome responsibility, as well as immense power and authority. Every decision they make throughout the day is subject to second guessing, armchair quarterbacks, political expediency and agendas. Yet each day they get up and do the job.
The men and women that serve the Maine public in law enforcement show great compassion and discipline each and every day on the job. Maine can be proud of those that serve us. I cannot imagine a day without them nor would I want to. Thank a cop today.
Joseph Piccone
Gray
Postal Catch 22
On Nov. 14, under “Other Voices” was an article from the Washington Post about the inefficiency of the United States Post Office. Anyone who bothers to Google the information will discover the Postal Service is undergoing a crisis manufactured by Congress.
The Postal Service is the one government program that works the way it was designed to, paying for itself with no tax dollars involved. So in 2006, the Republican-led Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, which mandates that the Postal Service pre-fund the next 75 years of its projected retirement, health and pension benefits. The service was given 10 years to do this, and none of the money could be used to cover present benefits.
So it paid the $5.6 billion yearly that was demanded. When revenue dropped due to the increased use of computers, the Postal Service tried to cut costs and diversify their services to enhance profits. But Congress would not let them.
Right now the Postal Service can no longer pay the extra billions mandated, although it continues to successfully pay all its other costs. The service provides hundreds of thousands of middle-class jobs, giving preference to veterans. Without the 2006 postal act, the service would be at least $1.5 billion in the black instead of almost $20 billion in the red. The act is designed to slowly drive the Postal Service into bankruptcy.
Private mail service will be neither convenient nor cheap. Complain loudly to your congressmen.
Cara Doucette
Van Buren
Do-nothing Congress
We teach children to compromise and get along. Yet our government can’t. I think Congress has shown great disrespect for the president, maybe even a little bigotry. They won’t even call him by his name most times they refer to him as “this president.”
What exactly has Congress done since President Barack Obama was elected? Basically nothing but moan and complain. I hope people think twice before the next election cycle so we don’t elect the incumbents who have done nothing to help the American people.
Kathy MacLaughlin
Calais
No park needed
The last thing Maine needs is another national park. When was the last time you heard someone begin a sentence with the words, “The federal government does a swell job with…”?
Mainers already have the opportunity to hunt, fish, snowmobile and hike, with very few restrictions, throughout most of the state. How will a toll taker in a brown shirt and a boatload of rules enhance the experience?
We need all productive, tax-paying, private land to remain private. When the federal government buys land, we lose our tax base, we lose local control and the land most always becomes non-productive.
More government-owned land in Maine is a very bad idea.
Mark Armstrong
Lisbon
Praise be Roger Katz
Speaking as an independent voter, I hope my neighbors realize how lucky we are that Sen. Roger Katz of Augusta was in charge of the Senate District 25 recount. Judging by press accounts, tremendous party pressure was applied to reach a one-day predetermined verdict.
In my opinion, Katz clearly understood that Maine’s legacy was at stake, and therefore, chose a cautious approach, with an emphasis on due process. Imagine how much faith would have been squandered if an instant arbitrary decision had come down.
Jake Morrel
Sangerville
Death with dignity
“Officers give last salute to ailing dog,” was a heartwarming story, rewarding a police dog who “grew sick with illness and the prognosis was grim” so the dog was set free from the suffering of an ugly death. We call that “being humane.”
In Gouldsboro, a man put his elderly wife out of her misery then turned the gun on himself. For them there was no peaceful euthanasia, no compassionate presence at the end. I call that a tragedy.
The motto of Maine is Dirigo: “I lead.” We have let Oregon, Washington, Montana, New Mexico and Vermont get ahead of us on this issue and it is time to give serious thought to legislation permitting euthanasia in carefully-defined cases. Doctors can end useless suffering. We need guidelines for physician aid in dying.
Gerald A. Metz, M.D.
Addison
Postal credo goes dark
The credo of the U.S. Postal Service is, or used to be, “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”
Yesterday, no one answered the upraised flag to remove the outgoing mail from our box. Incoming mail is not a big deal as most of it doesn’t get past the recycling box in the garage.
I called the area distribution center this morning and a paraphrase of the man’s statement was that on Monday they were buried in mail and they called the carriers back early “because of darkness.”
We live on a rural route and the mail is delivered by motor vehicle. Did UPS and FedEx call their people back early “because of darkness”?
Charles Veeder
Old Town