Raise minimum wage
On Dec. 9, the BDN promoted a survey, “Maine has ideas to help it prosper,” which listed 20 items; increasing minimum wage was not one. With its factual history of job growth, including 2014 when 13 states and many cities increased their minimum wage, it belongs on the list. Today, fast growth areas are those that brought the wage to $15 per hour.
To survive, many people work two or three jobs, and still qualify for welfare. Maine’s $7.50 an hour would double at $15 per hour, generating $30,000/year. Low-wage earners get off welfare, and don’t work two jobs for a living wage – that opens up jobs, and hiring begins.
Economic benefits of a higher minimum wage are: 1) More jobs open and are filled; 2) More flexible funds to purchase goods; 3) Mom and Dad stay home to help the kids with school; 4) Health benefits assist families; 5) Welfare rolls are reduced, saving taxpayer money; 6) Growing economies open higher-level jobs; 7) School results increase as family lives become stable; 8) Income tax revenue increases.
Hard evidence supports these conclusions, but a July 2013 story from the Washington State Wire says it all when hotelier Scott Ostrander pleaded for Washington’s SeaTac city to not increase the minimum wage to $15, stating, “I am shaking here tonight because I am going to be forced to lay people off.” On Jan. 1, the minimum wage increased to $15. Ostrander expanded his business by $16 million adding 63 rooms, a spa — and jobs.
When workers prosper, so do communities and businesses.
Jarryl Larson
Edgecomb
Art conflict-of-interest
As members of the Union of Maine Visual Artists ( umvaonline.org), we are replying to Chris Busby’s recent column about “Art Collector Maine.” The column hit on key points about pay-to-play galleries opened by the Maine Home plus Design publishing conglomerate, but It fails to follow through on the ethical problems involved.
There’s a conflict of interest when publications like these share ownership with galleries and then seek to provide marketing products, not only to individual artists, but to the galleries in which the artists show. In effect, the publications are presenting self-promoting ads as journalism. In addition, artists have reported being bullied — and if they were to withdraw from the gallery, they’ve been threatened with being blacklisted from coverage in these magazines. Leading Maine galleries have withdrawn from advertising in these publications for the same reasons.
We want to be clear: It is unethical to present advertorial (paid presence) as magazine editorials. When combined with the pay-to-play gallery and enforced marketing, these conflicts and unethical practices are damaging to the clean reputation earned by Maine artists and galleries.
It’s sad when an art business that exploits artists’ hunger can prosper while galleries with critical standards are having hard times. We call on the principals — Jack Leonardi, Kevin Thomas and Susan Grisanti — to reorient their professional practices so that they do not prey on artists desperate to get their work shown, miring our state in conflict-of-interest or unethical practices.
Natasha Mayers
Rob Shetterly, UMVA President
Whitefield
Bear confusion
Everyone in Maine thought they were voting to ban bear hounding, baiting and trapping. Not so. Am I the only one who read what the ballot actually said? It clearly said “or” not “and.”
If the “yes” vote had won, who would have had the authority to decide which one of the three would have been banned?
Makes me wonder who drafted the wording. Was it malice aforethought or just stupidity?
Tyler H. Thompson
Hancock
No one cares about torture
Why doesn’t the government keep information like that about the CIA interrogation program in-house? Do the American people care what happens to a terrorist? Probably not. The Geneva Convention rules should not apply to terrorists. If Sen. Diane Feinstein or Sen. Angus King had a relative that was beheaded, would they be worried about treatment of terrorists? Probably not. Real torture is having to jump from 20 stories because a plane just hit the building or knowing you are about to die in a plane crash.
Give us a break from all this bleeding-heart baloney.
I have asked a number of my friends what they think of this and they wholeheartedly say “we don’t care.”
If some American gets tortured or has his head cut off because our esteemed legislators need to inform the world, are we going to hold them accountable? Probably not. They will have some excuse to get around their mistake.
For the sake of people around the world, keep your reports in-house and keep your mouths shut.
John L. Clark
Bangor
Not missing Cheney
Among the many things I have to be thankful for this year is that Dick Cheney is no longer in a position of authority and that his opinions about such things as the interrogation tactics revealed in the Senate Intelligence Committee’s Report, or about anything else, for that matter, are no longer of any consequence.
As a Republican I find myself clinging to my party’s occasional — but too infrequent — outbursts of honor, humanity and common sense such as the remarkable acknowledgement of our country’s bad behavior offered on the senate floor by Sen. John McCain. I’ve always admired McCain, not for his politics, which I’ve often found threatening, but for his honesty and willingness to stand up for what he believed in no matter the consequences. His speech last week was the best example of that willingness in recent memory and the best contrast between what America stands for and what someone like Cheney stands for since Edward R. Murrow reminded us that the line between investigating and persecuting is a fine one.
As McCain revealed to us, waterboarding is essentially a mock execution and an exquisite form of torture. Cheney’s insistence that it not be regarded thus but rather be justified by the skillfully conjured “enhanced interrogation” and his eagerness to do it all over again remind me of how very fortunate we are that he no longer matters.
Phil Crossman
Vinalhaven
Not holiday shopping
A current TV commercial encourages people to do their “holiday shopping” downtown. But since I prefer to go “Christmas shopping,” I’ll just have to shop elsewhere. It may seem trivial to some, but I prefer to go “Christmas shopping” rather than “holiday shopping.”
Efforts by downtown Bangor merchants’ attempts to replace Christmas with their “holiday shopping,” a “holiday tree” and their “festival of lights” has dulled my Christmas enthusiasm to shop, eat and drink downtown.
It’s distasteful trying to replace Christmas with a light bulb.
Elaine Buckley
Bangor