Where are today’s leaders?
As kids, we always thought of our representatives in Washington as our country’s best. There was Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Kennedy, etc. They were far more knowledgeable and worldly than us, and we could trust them to take care of us, like they had in the past.
Over the last 40 years or so, this has not been the case at all. Greed is the new America. Prices keep rising, and wages remain frozen with no end in sight.
As a young man, in the 1960s, I was 23 when I began an airline job making a dollar or two over the minimum wage. I bought my first new car, a new Corvette, I shared an apartment with a buddy, and I still had a few dollars for fun. Today’s kids, in their 20s, are sometimes working multiple jobs, just to be able to eat and pay the rent. They drive cars that are on their last legs, with insurance through the roof. They are spending the best years of their lives working, instead of enjoying their youth.
Today, companies aren’t leaving the U.S. because they aren’t profitable. They are leaving because they are not profitable enough. Putting this in perspective; we are one of the richest countries on earth and millions of kids go to bed hungry every night. Nearly 40 million people live in poverty. You don’t need to be a Rhodes Scholar to find the solution. Balance wages with the cost of living! So where are these representatives in Washington while this is going on? Your guess is as good as mine.
Doug Davis
Windham
Equity and privacy
In the April 24 opinion piece, “The injustice of taxpayer-funded abortions,” I found Brett Baber to be missing some key points on why LD 820 is so important: the equity it provides, and the right to privacy.
According to the American Journal for Public Health, women who are forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term are four times more likely to live below the poverty line. By not providing the same affordable opportunities to poor people that we give to others, we’re only increasing the wealth gap and denying poor people the opportunity to have autonomy over their own lives.
The right to privacy is commonly known for its relevance in Roe v. Wade, but this idea goes back as far as Griswold v. Connecticut (1965). The purpose of protecting the right to privacy is to prevent others from infringing upon personal decisions. Baber speaks about business owners hurting by needing to provide insurance that would cover abortion. What he misses is that the choice is no concern of an employer unless it’s their own pregnancy. They should have no right to hinder the employee’s private choices.
I support LD 820 and people’s right to make choices for themselves.
Samantha Bullard
Bangor
Taking care of caretakers
It’s no secret that, as Maine ages, more and more family members will become family caregivers for an older adult. Maine families should be able to prosper rather than continuously face a downward spiral because of increased costs of living and caregiving, stress and lack of resources.
In my own family, I saw how important it was for my loved ones to receive the care they needed at home — where they felt safe and comfortable — and our elected officials should do everything they can to improve the quality and affordability of long and healthy family life in Maine.
This year, the legislature is considering several bills to ensure that everyone has access to care when they need it, and to ensure that family caregivers and direct care workers receive the support, training and wages they deserve. In particular, LD 1491 would expand the Earned Income Tax Credit to include family caregivers, providing a lot of support to caregiving families in Maine and improving Maine’s home care system.
I’ll be asking my elected officials to support LD 1491 so that family caregivers get the assistance they need, and I hope Maine will take a big step forward on making taking care of family members much more affordable.
Alan Parks
Bar Harbor