LePage misinforms on education surtax

I have several questions about the comments made by Gov. Paul LePage concerning the 3 percent surtax on annual income over $200,000 to fund education approved by voters last November.

Why, several months after the election, doesn’t he know what the referendum says? Has he not read it? Does he not understand it? Why has nobody within his inner circle made sure that he does understand?

How can someone take such a strong position on an issue without thoroughly understanding the issue? Or does he actually know what is being proposed, but is purposely misrepresenting the content in order to sway people to his way of thinking?

If he does know what the referendum proposes, then he is blatantly lying to people, and this should not be tolerated. He is certainly entitled to his opinion, but it should be related to the facts.

If he doesn’t know what the referendum proposes this late in the process, then he is obviously not doing the job that he was elected to do and this should not be tolerated, either.

Norm Viger

Plymouth

LePage on wrong side of history

At the height of the Great Depression, former Gov. Percival Baxter began acquiring land that would become his legacy, Baxter State Park. In 1962, he put the last parcel in place. Baxter’s gift to the people of Maine captured his vision that the majority of residents greatly value unspoiled woods and water.

On Aug. 24, 2016, President Barack Obama created the Katahdin Woods and Water National Monument under the Antiquities Act of 1906. His executive action placed 87,500 acres just east of Baxter State Park under the National Park Service. This land was donated to the federal government together with an endowment of $40 million for its operation and maintenance by Elliotsville Plantation Inc., run by the Quimby family.

With the closing of the paper mills, the region has suffered through some extremely hard times. While the national monument will not restore the region’s economy to its former prosperous position, it has given the community a sense of hope as well as some improvement in local business.

Gov. Paul LePage wants the national monument rescinded. His ideology, which does not reflect the views of the majority of Mainers, has him now engaged in Washington to make this happen.

On April 26, he appeared on stage with President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order requesting a study of the Antiquities Act. The governor furthered his position by speaking before the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on May 2.

His legacy will show he was on the wrong side of history.

Jim Harnedy

Machiasport

Impeach Trump

I have been voting for presidents of our country for a long time, and I have to say that I have never been so afraid for this country as I am now. I joined many of our other citizens in signing petitions to stop the oil pipelines from destroying the lives and sacred lands of the Standing Rock Native Americans, and President Barack Obama stepped up and took care of the problem.

One of the first things that President Donald Trump did during his first week in office was to sign an executive order to allow the restart of the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which included digging under the Missouri River on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

He is like a small child who now has all the marbles and wants to flaunt his power. I am afraid that there will be little left of our country before he is done. He has asked for a review to determine whether national parks and other protected lands should be protected from oil digging.

If any man deserved impeachment, I believe it is Trump. He has no idea what he is doing to this world.

Bonnie Seavey

Bowdoin