Poliquin’s misplaced priorities
It’s reassuring to know Rep. Bruce Poliquin is on top of the “ no food stamps for terrorists” issue. Even though no terrorist has applied for food stamps yet, it clearly is a major concern for all Americans. Just stop and consider the devastating consequences. Many terrorists would swap their food stamps for candy bars or, God forbid, lottery tickets.
My buddies at the coffee shop are even more concerned about terrorists with fishing licenses. Last summer, I encountered a swarthy type on the Prestile Stream with a telling smirk on his face. I am pretty sure he was a terrorist, and I wonder why he gets to fish for my trout. Let’s close that loophole as well. If Poliquin can’t do the job, maybe I’ll call “The Donald.”
It is good to see our government hard at work.
Dick Langley
Fort Fairfield
Capitalism more effective than socialism
Reuben Dendinger’s lucid defense of “democratic socialism” in his Feb. 1 BDN OpEd brings to mind the well-known quote from Winston Churchill: “If you are not a socialist at 20, you have no heart; if you are still a socialist at 30, you have no head.”
Despite all its warts, the capitalist system has proved far more effective than socialism in promoting economic development and improving living standards. Individual drive and ambition clearly provide much stronger motivation in comparison with a general appeal to work for the greater good, however laudable that may be.
Douglas Ruthven Professor emeritus
University of Maine
Old Town
Ranked-choice voting not complicated
Robert Tredwell’s otherwise excellent description of voting systems limitations in his Jan. 23 BDN OpEd contains two seemingly minor, but politically important, misconceptions: Ranked-choice voting requires neither voting machines nor centralized tabulation. The public’s unfamiliarity with ranked-choice voting leaves many falsely believing that the process is complicated, necessitating centralized computer work.
In fact, the processing is fairly straightforward and is achieved, similarly to the present system, by local towns and precincts sorting, counting and tabulating the ballots, then sending the tabulated information to a central location — often by faxing the tabulation sheet. Instead of simply counting the number of ballots for each candidate, as is done presently, the local election workers need to count the number of each permutation of ranked-candidate selections, which in the case of a three-way race means reporting six numbers instead of three.
Only in the case of a recount would the ballots have to be gathered centrally, similar to the present system. I appreciate the opportunity to continue the discussion of the yet-to-be-determined details for the implementation of ranked-choice voting leading up to the referendum question on this fall’s ballot.
Rep. Ralph Chapman
Brooksville
Bangor has a great bus system
In my opinion, transportation is vital to the livelihood of a city. We are very fortunate we have a good bus system in Bangor. The service area that is covered by the Community Connector is quite large, taking into account that some of it is rural.
As an employee of Lynx Mobility Services at Penquis, we work hand in hand with the Community Connector every day. We refer customers to it, as it does to us. This allows people to go to work, medical appointments, grocery shopping and other important needs. It is a great partnership that allows us to be able to assist individuals with their transportation needs.
I also am a member of the Transportation for All committee, which focuses on helping the people of our communities with the transportation barriers they face. We have heard the demands from residents for the buses to run later, to include Sunday service and more routes. These are challenges, and these items are being looked at with a positive approach. Transportation for All will continue to promote the Community Connector and its future endeavors.
Galen LaVertue
Hampden
King ignores people on national park
I am very puzzled at Sen. Angus King’s lack of any strong support for the proposed national park and recreational area that is being offered as a gift to the people of Maine. Not only would up to 150,000 acres of land be donated, but a $40 million endowment would be added to pay for operations and maintenance. A tremendous gift.
Some benefits to the park: This project would create hundreds of good jobs for area residents.
Hunting, snowmobiling and other recreational activities in the national recreational area, conducted in accordance with state law, would be protected by legislation as a feature of the proposal.
Public support is 2-to-1 in favor of the proposal, and it has been endorsed by chambers of commerce, numerous civic organizations and more than 200 businesses in the region of the proposed park. It is very disappointing our elected representatives in Congress, Sen. Susan Collins, Rep. Bruce Poliquin and King, an “independent,” can so blatantly ignore the wishes of their constituents. The needs and choices of the people of Maine should be their primary concern. We hope it is.
Ann Mullen
Belfast
We can’t afford the TPP
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations, is likely to come up for a vote in Congress later this year. A compact similar to the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership has been negotiated behind closed doors by corporate lobbyists and is written to benefit the financial interests of multinational corporations at the expense of people and the planet.
The Pacific trade pact’s most outrageous feature is its investor-state dispute settlement provision, which allows corporations to sue the governments of countries in which they do business over regulations they claim threaten their bottom lines.
Lawsuits attacking a nation’s right to protect itself from the environmental impacts of corporate investment have already been brought under the North American Free Trade Agreement, which has a similar dispute settlement provision. For example, TransCanada plans to seek $15 billion in damages from a trade tribunal against the U.S. government over President Barack Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline last November.
Faced with the reality of climate change, we cannot afford to implement trade agreements that undermine national efforts to enforce sane energy policies. I urge you to direct your representatives to vote no on this toxic trade deal.
Sam Jenkins
Orono