Trump’s impulsive attacks
The Trump presidency has raised many questions, all of which have the same, very simple answer. Why did he issue the travel ban to keep people from six majority Muslim nations out of the country? Why did he issue an executive order denying transgender people the ability to serve in the military? Why is the administration working to dismantle the environmental protections relating to drilling in the arctic wildlife refuge and the protections of the Clean Air Act? Why, through his secretary of education, is he ordering a review of Department of Education guidance on handling sex assaults on college campuses? Why did he tweet a fake video showing him knocking Hillary Clinton over with a golf ball? Why has he become embroiled time after time in infantile conflicts with colleagues, actors, journalists?
The answers are quite simple. He does these things because he can, and because his insecurity and narcissism compel him to act impulsively regardless of the target. He has to see himself better than President Barack Obama; certainly, there is no policy agenda that causes him to dismantle all that Obama achieved, some of which are health care and equal rights for the LGBTQ community.
And should articles of impeachment be drawn up, he will undoubtedly announce that his impeachment will have been the very best ever.
Mark D. Roth
Bangor
Expand Medicaid
Most people would agree that our health care system is broken and in need of fixing. If there was ever a time for common-sense legislating, we’ve arrived at the moment in history. As a citizen, you have the right to expect that your congressional representatives will act on the needs of the majority for the greater good.
Our country has a history of such attempts. Congress passed the Hill-Burton Act in 1946, which funded construction of hospitals and later health care clinics so the majority of citizens had access to health care services. Decades later, Congress passed the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, which requires that all patients who seek treatment for an emergency medical condition must be treated and stabilized regardless whether the patient can pay for such treatment. In 1965, Congress passed health coverage legislation that created Medicare for older adults and Medicaid for citizens with limited incomes. All of these legislative actions were based on a very important public standard that protects the needs of the majority for the common good.
Maine residents will have an opportunity to continue to support this public standard. Vote yes on Question 2 to expand Medicaid on Nov. 7.
I am writing on behalf of the Alamoosook People’s Alliance, community members from the Bucksport Bay area who love our country and care deeply about our democracy and the dignity of every human being.
Mary Jane Bush
Bucksport
Boycott the NFL
I am not a football fan, but I do watch the nightly news. Concerning the players who kneel during the national anthem, I am not a veteran but my dad served four years in the U.S. Army as a tank commander during World War II. He received the Bronze star for bravery.
Just before he passed away in 2000, he broke down and revealed to me what he went through those four years. If all the rich, snotty nose football players could hear what my father said to me, they would be standing, not kneeling. Everyone should turn their TVs off on game night and protest this situation.
If they want to protest for equal rights, they should not do it on a football field but in the appropriate arena, and they should not involve the flag.
Nathaniel Wood
Orrington
Candidates need plans
I keep getting solicitations from gubernatorial candidates but my question for them is — what do they stand for? Are they afraid to put out ideas lest someone steal them? We need really good ideas to get Maine back on track.
Since they are running to be governor of Maine, I’d like to know what they are going to do about universal high-speed internet across the state. Way too many Mainers do not have high quality affordable internet connections. What is their plan for that?
Long-term energy policy is another area where I’d like to know where they stand. What is their energy plan?
Maine had its educational plan for the Every Student Succeeds Act accepted. What is their plan for K-12 education? Education is probably the largest employer and most important economic driver in Maine.
The University of Maine has gone through numerous strategic planning and new initiatives as has the community college system. What is their plan for two- and four-year higher education, as well as professional certifications, in Maine?
The Maine Center for Graduate Professional Studies means to combine MBA programs with the Maine Law School “to create a model for entrepreneurial, multi-disciplinary graduate business and legal programs and to help drive statewide economic development.” Perhaps Maine should create a Maine Academy of Sciences as part of the Maine Center for Graduate Professional Studies. What are their out-of-the box ideas?
I really want to hear more than “buddy, can you send me 10 dollars?”
Tom Keller
Newcastle
Women lose again
The Trump administration has, once again, shown their complete disregard for more than half the population of the United States. Women can now be denied birth control by their employers for “religious” or “moral” reasons. Then, because of lack of reproductive freedom, the low-income children that result will be not have access to the Children’s Health Insurance Program due to failure of this Congress to reauthorize it.
Remember that picture of all men sitting around a conference table planning ways to repeal and/or replace the Affordable Care Act? Do these Republican men think that women and children are expendable persons? It’s clear that they do.
It’s time all women rise up and register to vote in record numbers to oust these Republican “lawmakers” who care not a jot for the health and futures of their female partners, daughters, sisters, mothers, nieces, and granddaughters.
Janet Clifford
Mount Desert