One of President Bush’s strengths is the unambiguous way he talks about terrorists and the countries that harbor them. He puts it plainly and succinctly: Hand over terrorists or share their fate.The case of Luis Posada Carriles endangers that clarity. Posada is an admitted terrorist. According to The New York Times, he is the prime […]

Eighth-grade students at Minot Consolidated School have been working for eight weeks on a tough lesson.As part of their social studies class, small groups of students have been working on 10 public policy initiatives that would affect the school, community or state. The issues range from the policy on student participation in extracurricular activities at […]

Maine cannot solve the problems of global warming and high energy prices on its own, but the state can take small steps that help consumers, reduce energy consumption and lead to a cleaner environment.A bill requiring some appliances sold in the state to meet higher energy-efficiency standards is one such step. L.D. 1435, which passed […]

During a legislative committee work session Wednesday, state Sen. John Martin tried to drive a wedge between the communities of the Androscoggin River Valley.After the Department of Environmental Protection presented a “compromise” plan to improve the water quality in the Androscoggin, Martin, D-Eagle Lake, suggested that if the state were going to get tough with […]

Maine has been hit by a “tsunami.”On Friday, the Pentagon released its list of military bases that it would like to close or realign. Maine was particularly hard hit. Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and its 4,500 jobs are targeted for elimination. Brunswick Naval Air Station is slated for realignment, meaning it will lose another 2,420 jobs. […]

Miss a child-support payment, and you can lose your driver’s license. Miss several, and you can end up in jail. Fail to meet obligations of more than $3 billion and, no worries, U.S. taxpayers will pick up the bill.It’s more difficult for a deadbeat dad to escape his obligation to pay child support than it […]

It’s a grim choice made possible by the horrendous law adding a prescription drug benefit to Medicare.Remember the speeches: Seniors shouldn’t have to choose between their medicine and food. It sounded so good. But, just like the price tag the Bush administration used to sell the plan, it was a load of bull.In January, Medicare […]

Only a heartless scoundrel could hear Michael Palmer’s story without feeling sad and frustrated.Palmer suffers diabetes and a degenerative bone disease; he’s a cancer survivor. He hasn’t been able to work since 1997 and draws $844 a month from Social Security.It’s not much to live on. At the same time, it’s $21 too much for […]

The Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to hold a work session today on a bill that would require the Androscoggin and St. Croix rivers to meet the same pollution standards as other Class C rivers in the state.We have little hope that the committee will support Rep. Elaine Makas’ L.D. 99. The interests that […]

Machinations in the U.S. Senate to end the use of the filibuster to stop judicial nominations could peak as early as today.As much as partisans on both sides would like to couch their arguments in grand ideals, the truth is uglier. The move by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to launch the “nuclear option” – […]