National park a proud legacy
The Nov. 6 Bangor Daily News editorial endorsing the proposed North Woods national park is a breath of fresh balsam-scented air. It’s absolutely the best hope for the Millinocket region, where the mills will never, ever come back. But beyond brighter economic prospects for the area is the need to protect one of Maine’s most valuable resources: It’s natural beauty.
It’s a bumpy road to win support for a new park, but, like traveling the old logging roads in our northern forest, it’s worth the trip. Last winter, I skied into the proposed park area, and it’s breathtakingly beautiful. I urge anyone who is skeptical of the proposal to visit the area and see themselves.
Let’s hope our entire congressional delegation and the people of Maine get behind this project, a legacy they can be proud of, that will benefit generations to come and the wildlife and ecology of the region. Sometimes the highest value of land is not industrial development or housing lots. Sometimes the highest value is preservation. Some things — clean air and water and experiencing the Maine woods with children and grandchildren — are priceless.
Steve Cartwright
Waldoboro
LePage and public health
Should it come as any surprise that Gov. Paul LePage, in his ego driven power grab, wishes to emasculate a program over which he has little control? Gutting the funding for Healthy Maine Partnership to elevate reimbursement rates for primary care to recipients of Medicaid, all the while doing what he can to reduce the number of people eligible for it.
Of course, there is more than adequate funding available under the Affordable Care Act, which LePage and his cadre of right-wing zealots have steadfastly refused to participate in.
Peter Froehlich
Whitefield
Poliquin’s incivility
Don’t miss the chance to see our tax dollars at work, live from Washington, D.C., by watching the YouTube video of Rep. Bruce Poliquin as he tries to skewer Richard Cordray, the director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Poliquin can hardly sit still during this political theater stunt designed to please his wealthy donors on Wall Street. Nevermind the nearly empty chamber or that Poliquin has nearly every “fact” wrong.
This sad display of incivility towards another human being left me embarrassed to call Maine home.
Mary Ann Larson
Portland
Ben Carson’s lies
Is it me or does Dr. Ben Carson look like he is self-medicating? Perhaps that is why he may be having trouble with remembering the truth of his past.
To date, Carson has made numerous claims that have turned out not to be true or could not verified, such as that he turned down a full scholarship to West Point, attempting to attack his mother with a hammer, attempting to stab a friend, or saving white classmates from a black mob.
Neither Carson nor Donald Trump have any political or foreign relations experience qualifying them for the job of president. But at least Trump in all his embellishments has never been caught in so many bald faced lies.
Patrick Eisenhart
Augusta
Why are Americans arming themselves?
According to the FBI, the homicide rate in 2013 was 4.5 per 100,000, on par with the 1950 rate of 4.6 per 100,000. The homicide rate peaked in 1980 at 10.2 per 100,000.
Between 2001 and 2013, the number of U.S. citizens killed by terrorism, at home and abroad, was 3,380, of which 2,990 occurred on Sept. 11, 2001.
During the same period, deaths from guns, including homicides, suicides and accidents, totaled 406,496, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Annual gun deaths increased from 29,573 in 2001 to 33,636 in 2013.
Whom are we arming ourselves against? The violent crime rate is statistically the same as it was in 1950. The number of U.S. citizens killed by terrorism is 0.8 percent of the gun deaths in the U.S.
We are the ones we need to worry about. We kill ourselves and our fellow Americans. We are paranoid and violent.
We have met the enemy.
Gregory Lamping
Spruce Head