A solar system far, far away
A recent news story suggests Earth-like planets have been discovered at a distance of 39 light-years away. Since a light-year is about 5.9 trillion miles, that distance is about 230 trillion miles. If a spaceship could travel at a million miles per hour, it would take 230 million hours to travel the distance.
Since there are 8,760 hours in one year, it would take 26,255 years for the spaceship to travel that distance. While a million miles per hour is very fast by human standards, as far as the universe is concerned, that speed is painfully slow.
As far as the wormhole theory is concerned, it is just that — a theory. That theory is derived from a theory of physics called geometrodynamics.
Irvin Dube
Madawaska
Ban plastic bags
I am in favor of banning plastic bags at supermarkets and stores. The best alternatives are to bring your own reusable fabric bags or wheel the cart to your vehicle and unload it there.
There are other ways, such as boxes or paper bags. Some stores will give a 2-cent discount for bringing your own bags. The landfills are running out of space. We all need to do our part to reduce waste.
Alton Shedd
Lincoln
Trickle-down economics don’t work
For the third time since taking office, Gov. Paul LePage is proposing a reduction in income taxes, primarily for the wealthy.
This proposal, like its two predecessors, has two major flaws. First, it is unfair. The 2 percent of Mainers who make over $200,000 will disproportionately benefit versus the 98 percent of Mainers who make less.
Second, it will neither result in greater economic growth nor prosperity for Mainers. Trickle-down economics, where the wealthy are given large income tax breaks in hopes that those savings will be invested in the economy, has proven to be an ineffective means to stimulate economic activity. An analysis of trickle-down economics by the Harvard Kennedy School of Government illustrates why.
A 1 percent decrease in the income taxes for the top 10 percent of income earners takes 13 years to generate an increase in gross domestic product (the value of goods and services produced) equal to the cost of those tax cuts. It would take 40 years to generate a 5 percent increase in gross domestic product. This is hardly running government like a business.
Maine’s last two income tax cuts also have not been cost effective. They resulted in neither an increase in GDP or in greater prosperity for Mainers. In the last five years, Maine’s per capita GDP has decreased 0.78 percent, and median family income has been stagnant since 2010.
If LePage truly wishes to cut taxes that will benefit most Mainers, a better approach would be to focus on decreasing property taxes.
George Seel
Belgrade
Hear constituents
Like many concerned citizens, I’ve contacted members of Maine’s congressional delegation a number of times over the past several weeks. Or tried to. Although I was usually able to leave early-morning phone messages with Maine’s senators, Rep. Bruce Poliquin’s phone-line mailbox was too full to hold any more.
As crunch time approached for the vote on the American Health Care Act, Poliquin’s mailbox remained full all morning long. And when my call finally rang through — early afternoon, two days before the vote — it was his recorded message (about leaving messages) that I heard, not a staff member. One afternoon, a human finally answered.
Poliquin seems to have little interest in hearing his constituents’ views — or revealing his own, for that matter. And where is the money going that he should be using to pay office staff?
Melodie Greene
Calais
Capitalism subverts common good
Most people would agree that the best place to live is a state, town, city or hamlet where residents work together to promote the common good. Such places have schools, libraries, parks, churches and meeting spaces where anyone can go to study, pray, commune with nature or help decide what is the common good.
Prosperity is good, poverty is not. Peace is good, violence is not. Health is good, sickness is not. Justice is good, injustice violates mutual trust. These prerequisites for the pursuit of happiness are easy to agree upon. Why are they so difficult to practice in our country and our beautiful state?
Money. Thomas Jefferson’s dream of a democratic society based on justice and shared prosperity is confronted by the capitalist ideal of “getting ahead,” which only means getting ahead of others to become the “stars” in a competition that pits the stronger against the weaker so that the common good is abandoned in favor of a game of winners and losers. Our governor rose from living on the streets to living in the Blaine House. Our president climbed to life in a golden tower. They made money. They got power.
But their game plan doesn’t work very well because America offers a better dream. The old ideals that created our democracy — that “all men are created equal” and they are “endowed … with … inalienable Rights [to] … the pursuit of Happiness” — acknowledge our hope for a just country in which we can live together.
Charlotte Herbold
Belfast
Taxes support us all
In a March 22 BDN article, I read our governor’s argument to oppose the 3 percent surtax on annual income over $200,000 for public schools because “Maine has become so greedy that they hate success. They’re punishing success.”
I am not wealthy, and I am not poor, but I have an entirely different perspective on this issue. My parents were part of the greatest generation, and I was taught that any success I achieved was due in part to the support and help from my community. I drove on roads that taxpayers supported, attended schools that taxpayers funded, had freedom thanks to our military and was safe at home thanks to taxpayer-supported law enforcement.
No person achieves success on their own. Therefore, once successful, I was expected to give back to the community that contributed to my success. Giving back may be in the form of elected community service, volunteerism, charitable donations or taxes.
When did responsibility to the community and altruism get separated from acquired wealth? So exactly who is greedy?
Dale J. Gordon
Caribou