A sneak attack on our children
Surprisingly, the proposed tax bill threatens the livability of the climate our children will need to survive. Under this tax bill, tax incentives for renewable energy would be slashed and federal taxpayers would continue to subsidize the fossil fuel industry by more than $15 billion each year.
Why? Because this industry invests about $350 million per year in campaign money. They get a huge return on their investment. Great for them, but not for us.
The House version of the tax bill also eliminates tax credits for electric vehicles, essentially crippling that market. It would cut tax credits on investments that make solar and wind projects possible.
But wise tax reform now could reduce climate change in an extraordinary way. Without federal and state subsidies, about 45 perfect of all new U.S. oil projects would not be profitable enough to pursue. Stopping these subsidies would help balance our budget and force us to transition more quickly to renewable energy, safeguarding our children’s lives.
When the House and Senate reconcile their tax bills, there is an opportunity to correct the bill’s preferential support of fossil fuels. In the past, Sen. Susan Collins has been courageous in proposing legislation to protect our children’s climate. Her vote is needed to pass this tax plan so she is in a pivotal position now to be the climate hero we need. Please, call her. This is a chance that will not come again soon.
Richard Thomas
Waterville
Stop abortion
In this season of awaiting the birth of Christ — Christmas — it is good to reflect on the dignity of the woman. We’ve been given a great gift of co-creating life. Let’s stop abusing this gift by aborting babies. It’s killing a life, plain and simple.
In many states, when a pregnant woman gets killed, there are two murder charges. When a baby is not wanted, it’s a fetus. When wanted, a baby.
Women’s health care is available outside of Planned Parenthood. In this area Penobscot Community Health Care has been providing health care to anyone regardless of sex, insurance, ethnicity.
We all want to be treated equally and with dignity. Let’s start with life at conception until old age. Merry Christmas everyone.
Claudette Michaud
Bangor
Prepare Maine for new economy
Rep. Bruce Poliquin’s “number one priority [in the tax reform debate] has been to bring jobs back to Maine. … The new, lower tax rates for … businesses and job creators will give American workers a fighting chance. As a border state, tax reform is critical for Maine businesses that compete with Canada … and other international competitors.” He also cited the recent closure of mills and the loss of manufacturing jobs, saying that these were “largely a result of a costly and complex tax code.”
Is this true?
Since 1990, our state has lost about 73 percent of its manufacturing jobs. They’ve been dwindling steadily since 1950. Maine doesn’t seem to be losing its manufacturing jobs across the border (Canada also cites losses in that sector; the downward trend is the same in the United Kingdom, Japan, France and elsewhere).
Mass job loss is not a new phenomenon. In the early 1900s, one third of Americans were farmers, but with commercial farming practices, only 2 percent now farm. Perhaps we’re nostalgic, but we shouldn’t base policy on these lost jobs. Rather, we must evolve to meet the demands of a new economy and workforce.
What does this new workforce look like? As thousands become “re-employed,” ample growth is expected in the health care, education, hospitality and social assistance sectors. Unfortunately, Maine’s research and development funding places us 37th nationally, and its education is equally lacking.
So if the congressman wants to “bring back jobs,” shouldn’t he focus on supporting sectors that are growing, not declining? It seems that in the face of a booming national economy and declining unemployment in Maine, Poliquin wants to support wealthy job creators in bringing back obsolete jobs to keep Maine in the 20th century.
Jon Stein
Ellsworth
Collins betrayed Maine
Did Sen. Susan Collins just become our “Gypo Nolan” friend with her vote for the $1.4 trillion tax bill? With her deep Irish roots, Collins must know about Gypo Nolan in the classic film of betrayal, “ The Informer,” in which Nolan betrays his best friend for 20 pounds to the British police.
Although Collins voted to defeat an earlier attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, she voted in the middle of the night to betray the people of Maine she once sought to protect. The Congressional Budget Office warned that the repeal would cause 13 million people to lose health insurance over the next decade and would drive up the cost of insurance premiums by 10 percent.
This will be the first federal income tax modification in American history that will raise income taxes on the working poor, while simultaneously providing a large tax cut to the wealthy according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Collins’ vote was cast on a day when another headline captured even more attention: “Trump in shock as Flynn flips.” For many Mainers, the headline might read: “Supporters in shock as Collins flips.”
The story of Gypo Nolan concludes with scenes of retribution and salvation. The next chapter for Collins and the people of Maine remains to be written.
Robert F. Lyons
Kennebunk
America trembles before Trump
From the dawn of drama, poets and audiences alike have trembled, screamed (and, on occasion, fainted) at the “evil genius.” Characters such as Dracula, Moriarty and the Phantom of the Opera have brought nightmares to millions and, oddly enough, have helped us to reclaim the human spirit.
Sadly, America now finds itself burdened with an evil leader. Unlike the roguish reprobates of the screen, this man has the power to ruin an already-concussed society. Less appealing (and more relentless) than a two-dimensional ne’er-do-well, this narcissist is poised to construct our own personal chamber of horrors.
If our citizens cannot reclaim their morality (or at least, their dignity), it will soon be over, as we’re done in by our president. Indeed, our flag may become our burial shroud, and the monuments of confederate soldiers, our own cardboard tombstone.
Douglas Antreassian
Brunswick