TPP bad for America
Constitutionally, the Trans-Pacific Partnership undermines everything our Founding Fathers envisioned. Domestic laws must never be challengeable by foreign powers, and business interests must never take precedence over the rights of individuals and governments. Yet that’s exactly what the TPP will bring us.
Once again we have corporations writing laws, a function that is supposed to be reserved for the Congress, without interference by special interest.
Joy Metcalf
Lincolnville
Yes on Question 1
I’m a little bit surprised the BDN published Matt Gagnon’s silly Oct. 8 column, in which he attempted to convince readers that our clean election system is an Orwellian construct. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Maine-grown, first-in-the-nation, citizen-initiated clean election campaign finance system allows qualified Mainers to run for state office without relying on big money from special interests or wealthy individuals. No one has to use it, but many candidates prefer to because it lets them spend their time connecting with local voters instead of seeking out donors. After they win, they can interact with State House lobbyists with the confidence they will never have to rely on them or their clients for campaign money.
It’s about keeping Maine elections and government of, by and for Maine people.
Because the U.S. Supreme Court has been unkind to campaign finance laws over the last five years, Maine people are heading back to the ballot to pass a new clean elections initiative to repair some of the court-inflicted damage that has weakened our law. It’s Question 1, and I encourage all Maine voters to vote yes Nov. 3.
A “yes” vote for Question 1 is a vote for transparency, accountability and a strong clean elections system for Maine.
Suzanne Kelly
Bangor
No need for Searsport big dredge
Proponents of the Searsport dredging project repeat the same tired arguments, and John Henshaw trotted them all out again in his Sept. 23 OpEd. People such as Henshaw say Searsport needs to accommodate today’s bigger ships, but we would need more than a big dredge to do that. Bigger ships carry more cargo, and what are they going to do with all that cargo once it gets here?
There are only two ways out of Searsport for cargo that arrives at our port. It can go by truck on Route 1, which is one lane in each direction for most of the distance from Calais to Kittery, or it can go by rail.
Proponents of the big dredge like to say Searsport has rail service, but we have one old rail line that goes through people’s backyards and over country roads without crossing signals. Expanding rail service to serve a larger port would require investment of hundreds of millions of dollars and the taking of large amounts of private property by eminent domain.
Henshaw also says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined the dredged material “is suitable for disposal at sea,” but they are not proposing to dispose of it far out to sea. They want to dump it in Penobscot Bay, within 5,000 feet of a productive mussel farm and in the middle of productive lobstering grounds.
Even if the dredge spoils were not contaminated with heavy metals and other toxins, dumping a million cubic yards of silt in either place would damage Penobscot Bay fisheries and put many people and lobstermen out of work.
Meredith Ares
Searsport