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Mark Bamford of Bucksport is a retired certified surgical technologist. He was a registered Republican until the day after Donald Trump was elected president in 2016.
What makes a country great? That is a question that all Americans need to ask themselves.
Does it care for everyone, rich or poor, young or old? Does it ensure that all citizens can earn a living wage, where everyone has equitable opportunity for employment and enjoys a safe living environment without fear? Does it ensure every child has access to an excellent public education? Does it aspire that everyone has sufficient food, clean air, clean water, affordable housing and health care so that everyone prospers?
Does it believe that scientific research, though not always there with all the answers, strives to answer the questions that increase our knowledge, improve our lives, and make our environment cleaner and safer for all life on Earth? Do its leaders truly care about the welfare of the electorate? Is it a country that truly cares about the welfare of the world, not just those few who were lucky enough to inherit their wealth, or were smart enough to create new ideas? Does it care enough to help defend those wrongly attacked?
I believe that we once strived to be that nation. No more.
Is a country great if its leadership is constantly denigrating allies and friends, while praising dictators, oligarchs and bullies? Is a country great when its leadership conducts petty personal vendettas against anyone who they perceive has wronged them? Is a country great if its leadership causes harm to its citizens by creating unemployment only to promote tax breaks for the ultra rich? Is a country great when its leaders create constant chaos, embarrass themselves and our country on live television, and are unwilling to take the advice of experts? Is a country great when its leaders purposely defy the Constitution and its laws, which they pledged to uphold?
Nobody likes taxes, but they are a necessary price to pay for the services and infrastructure that our country enjoys.You may not agree with every law, service, or institution created by our government, but they were created through discussion and compromise by lawmakers for the betterment of everyone.
Many laws and institutions in this country do not affect me, but I don’t think that they should be dismantled because I don’t agree with them. I don’t have children, but I believe public education is one of the most important things that my taxes support. I support and believe in scientific research. It leads to an improvement in everyone’s lives, health and environment.
I believe every taxpayer should be treated equally and that the 1-percenters should pay at least a similar percentage (if not more) of their income as the average middle-class taxpayer pays, not less. I believe that if you are fortunate enough to have that much wealth you should spread it around for the betterment of the planet and its occupants (plant and animal). The world has been good to you, be good to it.
Inflation will rise as import tariffs rise. Who ultimately pays that tariff? Anyone that buys those imported goods.
I believe America was a great nation until Jan. 20, 2025. To regain its greatness it needs to stand up against the constant chaos created by what I see as a petty, narcissistic, bully with his constant hate speech and character assassination, who is only in it for his personal gain. Our country stood up in the 1950s against Republican Sen. Joseph McCarthy, when on June 1,1950 our own Maine Sen. Margaret Chase Smith made her famous “Declaration of Conscience” speech. Unfortunately, it took over four years for Congress to censure McCarthy. In that time considerable damage was done to our great country and its people.
I don’t believe that our country will survive major damage without a modern-day Republican senator like Margaret Chase Smith who has the courage and takes the lead in denouncing the fear, hate, bigotry and ignorance being promoted by the current administration. It needs a Congress that will act immediately. We can’t wait three more years for this nightmare to end.