Not buying Poliquin’s Social Security reform
I read with great interest the Sept. 19 BDN article about Rep. Bruce Poliquin’s push for Social Security reform to help public servants. I am one of those who has written to Poliquin and Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King about this issue.
Poliquin asks for patience. The bottom line is that if our legislators truly wanted to do what is fair and honest, they would have changed this law a long time ago.
We who paid into Social Security earned those benefits. There is no reason why some states cut into the benefits we earned. If I retired from teaching today, after 10 years, my combined income from Maine state retirement system and Social Security would be less than $800 per month, out of which my health insurance of $300 would be deducted first.
Like many others, I had all my quarters in with Social Security before changing careers. Having discussed this with other teachers, we are convinced that once again Poliquin is pulling a publicity stunt to further his campaign.
If the legislators truly intended to do what is right, they could literally do it in a matter of days. Good try by Poliquin, but it won’t get him my vote this time.
Jo Duhaime
Hancock
Hold gun owners accountable
There are two arguments opponents to Questions 3 — the referendum on universal background check on all gun transfers — use all the time. Even legislators.
Opponents say the law is not enforceable. Of course it is enforceable. In the same way all laws are enforced. Do you speed? Are you caught every time? How do you get caught? What happens when you are caught? The background check law will be enforced the same way. You will either be caught when a sting is set up or when a gun shows up at a crime scene. The law associated with Question 3 is very enforceable.
Opponents say the law hurts hunters who wish to loan their gun to a good buddy. The “good buddy” argument is flawed if you think about it for just a few minutes. Sure, you trust your good buddy. So do all good buddies trust theirs. If the good buddy argument works for one, it has to work for all. By all accounts — if you are to believe those who use that argument — we have good buddies all over Maine loaning their guns. All kinds of good buddies and all kinds of reasons. And right now it is legal to do that. But is it something we want to continue or stop? That is the question that Question 3 is asking.
Vote yes on Question 3 to hold all who own a gun accountable for that gun.
Mary Royal
Winterport
LePage’s war on government
In recent weeks, thanks to the Bangor Daily News reporting, I have learned that the LePage administration has cut the ranks of public health nurses in the state by half and rejected $3 million from a five-year federal grant to help youth ages 16 to 25 receive mental health care. Now, the administration stands to make matters even worse by contracting with a New York-based firm to manage the $62.5 million ASPIRE job training, employment and volunteer opportunities program, which helps recipients of TANF, among others.
Do Maine’s senators and representatives in the Legislature support privatizing a $62.5 million public program? The Maine Department of Health and Human Services plans to have this out-of-state firm oversee job training and other services for public assistance recipients in Maine, and I am horrified.
This reminds me of 2014 when DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew and Gary Alexander of the Alexander Group testified about our state’s Medicaid program, and then we found out the report contained plagiarized passages. We Mainers deserve better. Mainers deserve to have state-run programs that are well run and well managed by state employees.
To prevent Maine residents from losing assistance and Maine civil servants and taxpayers losing their jobs, vote on Nov. 8 to elect Democratic senators and representatives to the Legislature who will stand up to out of control Gov. Paul LePage.
Rev. Charles Stephens
Blue Hill
Baxter a wilderness gem
I arrived at South Branch Pond Campground at the northern end of Baxter State Park on a rainy day recently and hiked into my campsite and started a campfire to warm up. Over the next couple of days, I viewed the lake and surrounding mountains from North Traveler Mountain. I rented a canoe to cross the lake to the Howe Brook Trail and hiked to Howe Brook Falls. Canoeing back to our camp site I could see Mount Katahdin in the afternoon light beyond Pogy Notch across Upper South Branch Pond. That evening an almost full moon shone across the lake to my site. There was only the sound of silence.
There were no dogs barking or radios blaring, and the few people I saw weren’t missing the views and the experience because they were texting. There are no tourist trap stores to buy souvenirs. The only souvenirs are the memories and a restored spirit.
Baxter is different than other parks and campgrounds. It needs someone diligently watching over it so it doesn’t become what everywhere else has become. Let’s be grateful that the stewards of Baxter are being true to the intent. Baxter isn’t about how quickly you can achieve something, it’s about slowing down and appreciating what you already have.
If you’ve never been, it’s worth giving yourself a few days and making the trip. The park rangers are very helpful, friendly and work really hard.
Nora West
New Portland
Legislators should hold LePage accountable
It’s the same old, same old. One side says we need to do something about the bully in the Blaine House after his latest controversy, and the other side says let’s just forget it and move on. To me, this is disgraceful. We need a new leader in the Blaine House.
The truth is the truth, and the facts are the facts. Maine people deserve representatives with courage. We send people to Augusta to lead and make those tough decisions. Stop the nonsense of sweeping things under the rug and lead our state.
Doug Pooler
Dexter