Kavanaugh qualified for the Supreme Court
Leading up to his confirmation hearings, Judge Brett Kavanaugh met with nearly every member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and with 65 senators. He didn’t think of these meetings simply as “courtesy calls,” as they’re commonly referred to. Kavanaugh knew the importance of these meetings and tried his best to connect with each and every senator he met with on a personal level, regardless of political party.
Kavanaugh also paid his dues to even be considered as a nominee for the Supreme Court. After graduating cum laude from Yale as an undergraduate, he went on to attend Yale Law School, where he was the news editor for the Yale Law Journal. He served as a law clerk for Justice Anthony Kennedy in 1993 alongside his fellow Georgetown Preparatory School classmate Neil Gorsuch.
He has spent 12 years as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. In that span, Kavanaugh has handled more than 2,000 cases and wrote 300 opinions. He is also an extremely diligent worker. A fellow Kennedy clerk said of Kavanaugh, “He seemed to have sort of an extra gear that he could kick into when the rest of us were just absolutely exhausted.”
After Kavanaugh gets confirmed, he will certainly bring his work ethic with him.
Cody Porter
Hermon
Give new nurses a chance
In regard to the BDN article reporting that Maine is facing a nursing shortage, I agree; we are. I have worked in health care all my life. I have seen a lot of changes.
My friend recently graduated from the University of New England’s school of nursing. She wants very much to stay in Maine. However, every job she applies to requires a year’s worth of experience. How are new graduates supposed to get experience if no one will hire them to give them a chance?
She did very well in school and clinicals and yet when she applies they want experience. She is most likely leaving the state for employment, and I can’t say I blame her.
If Maine wants to keep nursing students and get new young ones, they need to focus on that issue. I was a full-time caregiver for my late parents. I would not of been able to get through it without the help of nurses. They are the best, and we need them.
Amy Madge
Wells
Let Maine tribes open casinos
It is good that there is now a question in front of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court that seeks to instruct the state of Maine that it cannot prohibit a federally recognized Native American tribal entity from investing in and operating a casino. In fact, it is wrong for a state to prohibit the creation of any business that will meet the environmental laws by using the rationale of negative competitive impact upon already existing businesses — in this case, other casinos.
The proposed casino by the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians will bring much needed economic benefits not only to the tribe itself but to the entire county and state. It is hard to believe that 19th-century prejudices are still with us in the 21st century. To deny certain people of the opportunity to improve their welfare is clearly a discriminatory effort and undeniably wrong.
Mitchell Sammons
Belgrade
Congress must be check on Trump
Despite the blizzard of political ads coming from both sides in the race between Jared Golden and Bruce Poliquin for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District seat, the central issue of the election has barely been addressed. That is the rapidly growing threat to our constitutionally mandated system of checks and balances. The Founding Fathers were deeply aware of the danger of excessive concentration of power in any one office or person, the subject of some of the most eloquent of the Federalist Papers. One of these, by James Madison, bears the title “On the Safety of Multiple Interests: Ambition Will Counteract Ambition.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan has offered, on a few occasions, modest resistance to a president who claims openly to be “the only one who counts.” If Republicans retain control of the House of Representatives in 2019, the new speaker is likely to be either President Donald Trump’s favorite, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, or Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, a founding member of the furthest right group in the Republican conference. In either case, the chance of the House operating as a check on the president would near the vanishing point and we will move in the direction of having a “rubber stamp legislature,” similar to those in Russia or China.
To protect our constitutional norms, the ultimate guarantor of our individual rights, I urge support for Jared Golden, the Democratic candidate for the 2nd District seat. Madison, were he alive, would do the same.
Bob Rackmales
Belfast
Mills for governor
When I was 18, a local restaurant put pictures of Maine governors on the walls. I noticed that there were no women on those walls. Forty-four years later, that insult to women continues. Maine has had 70 male governors. Since Maine’s population is 50 percent female, 35 of the governors should have been women. Imagine if we had 70 female governors. Wouldn’t the men be saying it was their turn? Imagine if in the next 35 elections for governor, only women were allowed to run, to even the score.
Janet Mills is running for governor. She is from Maine and is highly qualified. In 1980, she was the first woman to be elected as a district attorney in New England. She was a member of the Maine House of Representatives from 2002-2009. In 2009, she was chosen the first female Maine attorney general.
She wants what most of us want, affordable health care, education and economic growth. She opposed Gov. Paul LePage’s effort to cut health care from thousands of young adults. She is committed to education, supporting a $40,000 starting salary for teachers. She wants a tax credit for people moving to Maine and working one year.
You have a chance to vote for Mills on Nov. 6. She has earned the right to be Maine’s first female governor. Let’s elect Mills, not another man who wants to cut taxes on the rich and has no state government experience.
Kathryn Bourgoin
Orono