With passage of a Senate bill Saturday, Americans are almost certain to have a new sort of health care system beginning in 2010. While there are good ideas in the plan, we still deeply doubt it will be a break-even proposition for the American taxpayer, let alone cut the deficit. That will depend upon President […]

There are two very quick things Congress could do to make health care more affordable. That it refuses to do either shows the power of greed over fairness. That was proven again Tuesday when the U.S. Senate voted down an amendment co-sponsored by Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe that would have allowed the reimportation of low-cost […]

Jeers to the Portland City Council, which voted earlier this month against asking applicants to city boards and commissions to disclose if they have criminal convictions or charges pending against them. The given reason: asking would be an invasion of privacy. The decision follows revelations earlier this year that a Planning Board member was in […]

We are angered and disappointed by revelations Wednesday that roving bands of Somali youngsters are mugging vulnerable white people in the area around Kennedy Park. The news seems to go hand in hand with unofficial reports we’ve been receiving since last summer of Somali children driving white kids out of the skate park downtown and […]

Councilors in Gray have failed their constituents. Miserably so. They improperly voted in executive session last week to rescind the termination of the town’s recreation director, shielding their exceedingly questionable and collective action to reinstate an employee who they know mismanaged a fair sum of taxpayers’ money. The executive session was properly called to discuss […]

The Maine Department of Transportation must realign its priorities when it comes to passenger rail service by focusing on connecting Maine’s population centers and its major hubs of commerce and industry. It appears the plan, due in draft in January, is poised to cater to the state’s most affluent communities while ignoring major population centers […]

There’s nothing wrong with Plum Creek Timber Co. paying $1.7 million for expert analysis of its development plan for the Moosehead Lake region. But allowing the giant land developer to give money to outside groups to provide favorable testimony during public hearings is unseemly and unfair. The Portland Press Herald reported last week that Plum […]

There should be a special place in hell for government contractors who cheat our soldiers and our country. Maurice Subilia Jr. of Kennebunkport and several of his relatives are to be sentenced in federal court in January for bribing public officials and money laundering. Subilia paid $1.2 million in bribes to two officials at the […]

We’ve longed for the economic recovery to migrate from Wall Street to Main Street, and now it apparently has. Among the glimmers of hope on the horizon last week were two pieces of good news from Whited Ford Truck Center of Auburn. The heavy truck and RV company announced Tuesday that it had acquired the […]

Much of this nation appears to be moving in the direction of making bulk data more easily available to the public, while Maine seems to be moving toward hindering access. Maine is moving in the wrong direction. Requests for access to bulk data, such as accident reports, hunting licenses and property deeds, is not new. […]