Minimum wage fallacy
An $8.75 minimum wage in Portland? Why not $18.75 or $25.75? Where will the non-market driven wage increases come from? From higher prices for goods and services or from saved wages of laid-off workers.
Before Oakland, California, raised its minimum wage, numerous businesses in the Chinatown district closed out of fear labor costs would put them over budget.
The fashionable notions of third parties and governments to raise minimum wages have no regard for whether everyone is productive enough to be worth paying the wage they set. Setting a higher minimum wage merely is taking from others — in the form of increased prices — and giving to those workers. The phrase “from each according to their ability, to each according to their need,” opined by Karl Marx, describes the mandated wage increase. A proposal for a minimum wage is a proposal for wealth transfer.
I applaud Gov. Paul LePage’s endeavor to thwart minimum wage increases. The capitalistic market should be the ultimate arbitrageur of an individual’s compensation, not our elected government officials.
Steve Merritt
Old Orchard Beach
Kudos to Katz
I would like to thank Sen. Roger Katz, R-Augusta, for his supporting the release of voter-approved bonds being held hostage by Gov. Paul LePage. LePage’s continued, thug-like behavior is an embarrassment to the hard-working Republicans as well as Democrats in Maine’s part-time Legislature.
Where LePage supports voter approval of his political initiatives, he then tramples upon the authority of voters’ choices, using voters as hostages, when he demands compliance from the Legislature for want he wants.
Either voters matter or they don’t. And they are not to be bullied by the governor. Thanks to Katz for standing up for good, sound governing practices where others are inept.
Ernie Canelli III
Fairfield
Propaganda meeting
Gov. Paul LePage’s town hall budget meeting in Machias was a complete waste of time. I learned LePage wants us to “keep our money” and a group of “181 people” in Augusta — there are actually 186 people in the Legislature — comes in at 3 a.m. and secretly spends the hundreds of millions of dollars in budget surplus.
LePage said he tries to veto this, but “they” just override him. There was no debate. No one was available to fact check LePage’s figures.
The meeting was propaganda, pure and simple. Why is our tax money paying for this?
Jim Alciere
East Machias
Debt-free education
Even though I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat, it is worth recognizing a multitude of Democrats are trying to give students of higher education in the U.S. the ability to attend public educational institutions of higher education free from the tyranny of debt.
I urge Sen. Angus King to show genuine leadership on the problem of debt-free higher education by way of co-sponsoring the Grijalva-Ellison-Clark resolution in the Senate.
Student debt not only imposes upon career choices for graduates; it also prevents young citizens from saving for retirement, pursuing a healthy family life and innovating in the marketplace in Maine and beyond. Thus, such debt constraints are bad for the American economy and the economy of Maine.
Debt-free higher education can be brought about by way of federal-to-state support, increased aid to students attending public institutions and by innovative ideas that reduce the underlying cost of an education at such a public institution.
One national poll found that voters in red, blue and purple states, support debt-free college 71 percent to 19 percent. Individuals can support debt-free higher education at DebtFreeCollegeNow.com. Debt-free higher education certainly will improve the lives of Maine’s citizens and millions of everyday Americans.
Bryer C. Sousa
Orono
Belfast’s climate leadership
The Belfast Bay Watershed Coalition would like to express our praise for the visionary and practical wisdom of the Belfast City Council and other town officials who are making changes in our infrastructure to stem the tide of climate change by addressing its causes.
We see the 180 solar panels installed on the Belfast Fire House, which is a giant step to cutting our greenhouse emissions while also saving money. The plan to weatherize and upgrade the efficiency of public buildings is also a plus. We have learned of the effort in the works to audit the lighting in all city buildings and street lights, with the goal of converting to LED lights.
The fact that we have an active City Energy Committee is a brilliant, forward-thinking move. Their goal is to reduce fossil fuel use with cost-effective upgrades.
Changes made here in Belfast reduce carbon emissions, serving not only us but the greater world community by reducing atmospheric CO2, the very cause of our planet’s worst crisis. We are proud of this community for stepping up to the challenge and doing something about it. We applaud the city’s progress and endorse their further efforts in this process. We of this community look to, learn from and join forces among front line communities generating:resilient community strategies for sustainability, cooperative economics for a new way of being with each other and the planet, and resistance movements that can bring about the systemic change we need.
Tom King
President
Belfast Bay Watershed Coalition
Belfast
LePage’s broken trust
Is it really possible our governor is breaking yet another agreement with the Native American tribes of this state? According to an April 22 BDN article from Maine Public Broadcasting, “Tribes confused by state relations reversal,” Gov. Paul LePage rescinded a 2011 executive order proclaiming a special relationship between the tribes and the state. The special relationship provided for Maine’s Indian tribes to be included in discussions about state laws and policies that affect Native American people of Maine. The governor of Maine pledged to consider the rights of Maine’s Native American Tribes as an important consideration in state policies and laws. This appeared to be a step forward in healing the historically troubled relationship. But maybe not.
If, indeed, LePage’s rescinding of the “special relationship” is because of the Wabanaki people wanting the state government to follow Environmental Protection Agency’s guidelines for keeping the waters of the Penobscot River up to federal standards, I can’t help but wonder what this really is about. Why would the people of Maine not benefit from a cleaner Penobscot River? Who is LePage really representing?
Fran Bodell
Milbridge