Taxpayers bear cost of corporate tax breaks
I see that Lowe’s is looking for tax breaks for its stores in Maine as the Bangor Daily News reported Jan. 21. Of course, the communities where Lowe’s stores are located might see their municipal budgets squeezed, and property taxes might have to go up as a result.
But wait, if Lowe’s gets its tax breaks, the Lowe’s executives and lawyers in charge of this tax-reduction scheme might each get a bonus. Maybe they can spend that money in Maine and it will “trickle down” to the rest of us.
Don’t worry about the fact that Lowe’s taxes go down and yours might go up as a result. That’s capitalism at its best. “Privatize the profits, socialize the expenses,” as they say in the corporate world. You don’t get a tax break, but large corporations routinely do.
So if you’re concerned about “socialism,” don’t worry about welfare or other assistance for Maine’s poor. That’s chicken feed. Worry about our perverted capitalism, which has turned into socialism for big business, at a cost of billions, which trickles down to all of us.
David P. Frasz
Dover-Foxcroft
18 pounds of heroin
Why in the world did the the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency spend two years investigating an Oxford County drug ring that led to the arrest of 15 people in December 2015?
Maine law states that trafficking in at least 6 grams of heroin is a Class A felony punishable by 30 years in prison. Law enforcement could have nipped this operation in the bud with the first arrest and seizure of 10 ounces of heroin.
Now I am not 100 percent sure about how the organization of these alleged dealers worked, but I would bet that when this investigation began two years ago there were not 15 people involved. I bet there were maybe two or three to start and they got cocky and branched out because they had not been caught yet. The drug dealers brought more and more heroin into Maine while the police sat there and watched it happen.
I almost got sick when I read that almost 18 pounds of heroin was allowed into the state. How many people died or overdosed on this heroin? How many new addicts were created because of this heroin? No one will ever really know.
Steven Mendez
Fryeburg
No one should fear police
I see a more fundamental issue than whether the incident reported in the BDN Jan. 24, between a state trooper and a Liberty resident lasted 30 minutes or five minutes, or the race of either. We should all consider a more basic issue affecting our freedom. Why should any cop approach a citizen minding his own business and call him over to the trooper’s car? Why should any cop, even one as polite as that trooper, interrogate him for any period of time?
I understand that police are suspicious and acting preemptively to find Dee Money and other drug dealers. Black people are few in our white state imbuing many situations with a racial framework. Yet, in a constitutional carry state, twice the trooper questioned him about weapons. No cop ever halted my speeding car and said, “Ma’am, do you know why I stopped you? Do you have any weapons?”
Cops are expected to help when we make mistakes and arrest those of us who are crooks. But to keep our freedom, we must scrutinize police behavior. As a white woman who has never been on drugs or welfare and lived through the 1960s, my privileged position means I have an obligation to defend others’ rights because so many others can’t. We should never think it’s OK to live in a society in which people fear the police.
Leslie Woods
Montville
Homestead shows how Maine thrives
The Homestead section is a great addition to the BDN. It’s a weekly reminder of the many good things keeping our communities alive and thriving. The fact that Maine has the highest increase in new young farmers in the United States, while farmland continues to decrease nationwide, should buoy our hopes that as a rural culture we are headed in a healthy direction. Keep up the good work, homesteaders and writers.
Diana Prizio
Knox