Can I buy access to Trump?
I am 86 years old. I live on Social Security income. I’ve saved up $1.49 that I would like to contribute to one of the Donald Trump charities that will arrange for me to have lunch with him. I would like to tell Trump what I think of him.
Which of the charities should I make the donation to to have the best chance of having lunch with Trump? Will they pay for my transportation? What if I die en route? Will they ship me back to Maine COD?
Charlie Cameron
Addison
Government protects the poor
Recently, I heard a quote from Dr. Ben Carson in which he said it was the job of the American people, not the American government, to care for the poor. I remember, from my American history class, that Abraham Lincoln gave an impassioned plea for a representative democracy where the “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” From that time, I have always believed that the government was the people and that they have pledged to promote the greatest good for all Americans.
Carson’s story of rising from poverty to become a renowned pediatric neurosurgeon puts him in a position to have unusual understanding and compassion for those living in poverty, particularly those in minority groups. But I remember from my sociology class that those who have risen out of marginalized groups and embraced the dominant ideology may also reject or distance themselves from their origins. I can only hope that is not the case with Carson if he is confirmed as secretary of housing and urban development.
The U.S. government became large and cumbersome because, historically, local communities and states have not united to protect the rights of the poor and marginalized groups. If America is going to demolish the federal government, there will have to be strong advocacy for those individuals whom the government was designed to protect: the elderly, poor, disabled and marginalized groups in our society. If this does not happen, America will not be “great again” in the next four years.
Beth Clark
Hartland
End alcohol advertising
For those that haven’t heard the advertising on the radio and television for Maine Spirits, the revenue the state of Maine makes is staggering.
Pine State Trading Co., which does the marketing, distribution and warehousing of the state’s liquor business, provided taxpayers with a $46 million profit from higher than expected liquor sales in 2015, the Portland Press Herald reported in September 2015. The contract with Pine State is expected to generate $450 million in profit over the next 10 years.
In 2014, more than 30,700 Americans died from alcohol-related causes, including alcohol poisoning and cirrhosis, The Washington Post reported a year ago. That was more deaths than seen from overdoses of prescription painkillers and heroin combined.
This tally of alcohol-induced fatalities excluded deaths from drunken driving, other accidents and homicides committed under the influence of alcohol. If those numbers were included, the annual toll of deaths directly or indirectly caused by alcohol would be closer to 90,000, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Let’s all remember that when we hear the advertisement at the end it does say “drink responsibly.” We no longer advertise tobacco products because they kill people. Isn’t it time we rethink alcohol advertising?
Michael Tetreault
Lewiston