Support ranked-choice voting
There’s a movement in Maine to support ranked-choice voting that we’re encouraging and endorsing. On Election Day, it will appear as a referendum question to enact ranked-choice voting for future Maine elections.
Being a state of independent thinkers, we have many third-party candidates. They often are referred to as “spoilers” and not taken very seriously. People hesitate to vote for their first choice, as it might seem as though their vote will be wasted. Instead, voters often choose between the two “winnable” candidates. No vote should ever be wasted, and no Maine resident should ever not be heard.
Ranked-choice voting works like this. In a three-person race, you have the option of choosing your first, second and third choice. If no one receives a majority — that is, 50 percent plus one — the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Those voters have their second-choice rankings added to the top two candidates’ tallies. The candidate who gets more than 50 percent then will have the backing of a majority.
It sounds so simple and makes so much sense that it’s difficult to find the downside. It will prevent a candidate from winning with less than 40 percent of the popular vote. Be part of the movement and support ranked-choice voting this November.
Jennifer and Torrey Sylvester
Linneus
Lift the Cuban embargo
I was pleased President Barack Obama made the decision to visit Cuba. This historic event hopefully will further the process of normalization of relations between Washington and Havana. Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro at their meeting on March 21 discussed human rights, among many topics of mutual interest.
As Marjorie Cohn, former president of the National Lawyers Guild, wrote in a March 18 Huffington Post article, there are two international standards for the protection of human rights: civil and political rights; and economic, social and cultural. These are contained in two treaties, as parts of the International Declaration of Human Rights. The United States has refused to sign the latter treaty.
“We find it inconceivable that a government does not defend and insure the right to health care, education, Social Security with provision and development, equal pay and the rights of children,” Castro said at a joint press conference after the meeting. The worst human rights abuses in Cuba occur at the Guantanamo Bay prison, where detainees have been held, most without charge, for 14 years.
It was extraordinary to see the U.S. president standing there in Havana. Obama told the press that “the embargo is going to end,” adding that “lifting the embargo requires the votes of a majority in Congress.” Polls show most U.S. citizens, including Cuban-Americans, want the embargo lifted.
Congress must take more energetic action to accomplish this.
Judy Robbins
Sedgwick
Pension help in Congress
I was thrilled to read Karen E. Holmes’ March 22 BDN letter to the editor about the possible repeal of the Social Security windfall elimination provision by the Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act.
I was dismayed to read that retirees in Maine and 13 other states are impacted by the windfall elimination provision. In fact, the windfall elimination provision impacts public servants in all 50 states. For example, more than 75 percent of the fire, police and other first responders in the country either are losing or will lose earned retirement benefits because of the windfall elimination provision.
The trigger for the windfall elimination provision is paying into a non-Social Security retirement system, such as the Maine State Retirement System, without also paying into Social Security for that same job. If Maine teachers do this, for example, then the Social Security benefits those teachers earned for other work, such as summer jobs, comes under the windfall elimination provision and is significantly reduced. They earned it, but they can’t get it.
The windfall elimination provision and its companion, the government pension offset, are unfair laws that need to be repealed. Any public servant who has paid into a non-Social Security retirement fund but who also has earned Social Security benefits for other work needs to research these laws. The retirement income will not be what is expected, unless the windfall elimination provision and government pension offset are repealed.
Sue Shaw
Penobscot
Minimum wage hike helps Maine families
This November, as voters consider the minimum wage increase put on the ballot by the Maine People’s Alliance and the Maine Small Business Coalition, what the issue ultimately comes down to is families like mine. Here in Bangor and across northern Maine, families struggle to get by.
Having worked at low-wage jobs and now with a family at home, I know what it’s like trying to live on the roughly $15,600 per year that full-time minimum wage workers make. It leads hardworking Mainers into food insecurity. It leads to unpayable medical bills, particularly when coupled with Gov. Paul LePage’s MaineCare cuts. It forces families to rely on public assistance and the generosity of others for housing and other basic needs.
During this campaign, I’ve learned that servers make even less, a mere $7,800 per year in real wages, if they manage to get 40 hours a week. They’re forced to hope that the goodwill of others, through tips, will make up the rest.
The people who build our economy and make the companies we work for thrive deserve a fair share of the earnings we generate for those companies. That’s why so many small businesses already pay more than the minimum wage, and it’s time for big corporations to give their employees a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.
Robert Payne
Bangor
Canceling ‘Yankee Jungle’ a mistake
Animal Planet made a mistake when it canceled “Yankee Jungle.” A small group protested against alleged animal abuse because DEW Haven has animals in captivity. The network fears it will lose viewers if it doesn’t cater to these people.
I’m offended a great show about caring, hardworking people running a zoo is canceled. They treated and cared for the animals there. I hate how quick people are to be offended and protest something they know nothing about. I hate even more how the network listened to these protesters and reacted without finding out how its viewers feel.
Heath A. Kinney
Eddington