Trump’s shameful Boy Scout speech
I praise the strong July 26 BDN editorial, “The speech Boy Scouts should have heard, given by President Truman 67 years ago.” I was there at the 1950 Boy Scout Jamboree when President Harry S. Truman gave his speech; I was 14 years old. It must have had an impact on me, because it continues to feel precisely on the mark.
I’m teaching high school ethics, and the message of Truman’s speech hasn’t changed. The Eagle badge I earned still represents the core values of which he spoke. The current president seems incapable of comprehending such things. His rants during the event were abusive and shameful.
Ralph Moore
Rockland
All Americans need affordable health care
Susan Vaughan is right in her July 28 BDN letter to the editor that all Americans deserve health care. Thanks to Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and John McCain, we have a better chance to get it.
But we still need to call and write our senators and representatives and make sure they know it is affordable care for all Americans that we want. Our calls, letters, and visits can make the difference, so pick up a pen or the phone and ask your friends across the country to do the same.
Willie Dickerson
Snohomish, Washington
Congress should pay for pre-existing condition coverage
The other day I visited a hospital with no parking available, so I waited until a visitor left the building and then I went to his parking space. I waited while he finished his cigarette, I caught a few puffs of unwanted secondhand smoke and then he drove off.
Now tell me this: This middle-aged man had to have some kind of an energy boost but why should any for-profit company have to cover this person with health insurance. If Congress wants everyone covered regardless of pre-existing conditions, then let Congress foot the bill. If Congress expects private for-profit entities to do the job, they are barking up the wrong tree.
Hence they should declare health care some kind of a right and place a universal sales tax on goods and services to cover the costs. Otherwise, every member of Congress should wear a T-shirt declaring, “That’s not my job.”
Robert Fournier
Bangor
Collins right to reject ACA repeal
I want to thank Sen. Susan Collins for voting “no” on the Senate’s “skinny” repeal of the Affordable Care Act. At stake was the loss of health insurance and premium increases for millions Americans and thousands of Mainers.
A Republican colleague called it “terrible policy and horrible politics,” a “disaster” and a “fraud.” He voted for it anyway and so did 48 of his fellow senators, but Collins did not.
I thank her for standing strong and doing the right thing for Maine and the country.
Roberta Downey
Bangor
Implement ranked-choice voting now
I am writing to express my appreciation for the thousands of Maine voters who called, lobbied and wrote their representatives in Augusta this past session in support of ranked-choice voting. Because of their efforts, the landmark ranked-choice voting law was defended against a full repeal effort by opponents.
I remind readers that we’ve spent the last 15 years debating the merits of ranked-choice voting. Voters have heard the story on both sides. That debate is now over.
When we went to the polls on Election Day in November 2016, we made a powerful statement approving this law with the second largest “yes” vote in the history of Maine referendums.
With the June 2018 primary elections approaching fast, I also urge the Maine secretary of state’s office to waste no more time. They need to get to work now implementing the law so we can use ranked-choice ballots in the Democratic and Republican state and federal primaries.
David Berg
Searsport