Childhood vaccinations strong investment
One in five children worldwide still lack access to basic childhood immunizations, which leads to 1.5 million preventable deaths each year. This is a problem with a solution, and now is the time to act.
Great strides have been made over the last decade to increase access to childhood immunizations. The world is now 99 percent polio free, with the disease endemic in just three countries. We cannot stop now and lose the significant gains we’ve made.
In addition to the moral and humanitarian impact, giving children around the world access to immunizations increases global and national security. In today’s interconnected world, these deadly diseases don’t stop at borders, as demonstrated by recent measles outbreaks and Ebola cases in the United States. Immunizations are also a financially sound investment; for every $1 spent on childhood immunizations, $44 in economic benefits are reaped. That includes money lost when a child is sick and a parent can’t work.
The United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign is asking U.S. legislators to help reduce vaccine-preventable childhood deaths around the world by providing adequate funding for global vaccine programs. This World Polio Day, Oct. 24, call Rep. Bruce Poliquin’s office and ask him to strengthen and prioritize funding for global vaccine programs through partners such as the United Nations, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, CDC, and USAID.
We all have a stake in the outcome and parents around the world will sleep more soundly knowing their children are protected
Ashley Daigle
Bangor
York casino opportunity for Maine
In 2003, this state voted to open a casino in Bangor amid a lot of predictions of gloom and doom. What happened? The casino has provided some $500 million for Maine to help keep taxes down, fund state priorities and build a convention center. The Hollywood Casino in Bangor has been a good neighbor, a good corporate citizen, and a source of good jobs and economic growth.
Now we have a chance to build another casino — a gaming and entertainment venue in York County. This facility, if we vote yes on Question 1, will provide badly needed money to our cash-strapped schools, not just in York County but across the state. It will fund programs for veterans, Native American tribes, senior citizens, the disabled and more — to the tune of $45 million per year.
And if we don’t? Well, watch those dollars drive down Interstate 95 to Everett, Massachusetts, where a Las Vegas tycoon is building a $2 billion resort casino to drain money from Maine, keep visitors away and do the same to every other state in New England.
Let’s keep the money in Maine. Let’s create a year-round attraction for Maine tourists. And let’s stay competitive in the gaming industry that Maine entered more than a dozen years ago. Maine can’t just stand still while other states are moving ahead.
Rebecca Foster
Spokeswoman
Progress for Maine
Falmouth
Expand Medicaid
When you vote yes on Question 2, the referendum to expand Maine’s Medicaid program, you will have started the process that will bring about 3,000 good jobs to Maine paid for by the more than $500 million in federal funds that will come to our state. (Presently our tax dollars go to 31 other states that expanded their Medicaid programs.) Your vote could provide more resources to programs to confront the opioid crisis and help to restrain private insurance premiums because currently rate hikes in the private market are needed to pay for the uninsured.
Our Legislature approved this expansion five times, and five times the governor vetoed it. Over 60,000 Maine residents signed the petition to bring this issue to us and more than 60 independent organizations as diverse as the Maine Small Business Association, the Maine Council of Churches and the Maine Medical Association are supporters.
But, to us, the most important reason is that we know that our yes vote will provide access to health insurance to more than 1,000 of our neighbors in Sagadahoc County who are between the ages of 21 and 64, and 70,000 throughout the state. We can imagine what it must feel like to be ill and not be able to see a doctor because you can’t afford to pay the bill.
You can now vote absentee at your town office or in person on Nov. 7. Please join us in voting yes on Question 2.
Sandy Jaeger
Georgetown Democratic Committee
Georgetown
Reject York County casino
I was really taken with the number of signs posted around Bangor encouraging us to vote yes on Question 1, the referendum for a casino in York County.
The sign also indicates that a “yes” vote improves “Jobs, Schools and Tax Relief.” This really made me think and to seek answers from what is really written in the proposed initiative.
I wonder if voters really know what Question 1 is all about. It is asking us to “allow a certain company to operate table games and/or slot machines in York County, subject to state and local approval, with part of the profits going to the specific programs described in this initiative.”
First of all, these signs do not tell what the main purpose of the initiative is to “allow a certain company to operate table games and/or slot machines in York County.”
Second, it leads one to believe that this initiative is about providing jobs, benefits to schools and some tax relief.
The more important aspect of what we — the Maine voters — should notice is this: Have we slumped so low as to depend on gambling to survive as a state?
The state of Maine I know and love was built on faith, honesty, hard work, integrity and a belief in strong family values. As residents of this great state, we should consider the costs and potential detrimental results of increased gambling in our state.
I encourage you to vote no on Question 1 on Nov. 7.
Bud Butterfield
Bangor
Election notice
The BDN will stop accepting letters and OpEds related to the Nov. 7 election on Oct. 28. Not all submissions can be published.