It’s back.The energy bill that conscientious members of the U.S. Senate were able to defeat last year will likely return – albeit in a scaled-down version – this week.Senate Energy Committee Chairman Pete Domenici has reduced some of the cost of the bill and eliminated liability protections for the makers of the gasoline additive MTBE, […]

I respect Laura Bush and know she’s a very busy lady – especially with all these media-friendly education events she’s suddenly doing around the country. You can tell just by looking that Mrs. Bush is too decent to serve knowingly as a mere political prop, cynically deployed to reassure voters about her husband’s “compassion” or […]

The reason lawmakers in both parties are saying Senate President Beverly Daggett is abusing her power is simple.She is abusing her power.Daggett refuses to appoint members to the new Office of Program Evaluation and Governmental Accountability. Her actions have derailed efforts to get the agency up and running, and that’s her intent.The audit program was […]

Bangor Daily News, Feb. 16With the proliferation of cruise ships along Maine’s coast, it is only natural that environmental regulators want to develop strong policies to prevent the degradation of the water and creatures that live in it. Lawmakers are currently grappling with how best to do this. Although not popular with those who favor […]

It’s just the sort of thing you’d expect from Iran.A woman runs afoul of local religious authorities who are angered by her refusal to cover up. But it isn’t just her immodest style of dress that riles the ayatollahs. They have also heard rumors that she sells sex toys from her home and instructs women […]

The Bush administration has created a radical break in American foreign policy, embracing a strategy of preemption and unilateralism that is unprecedented in the nation’s history and alien to its traditions. So goes the typical critique, which can be heard in any John Kerry stump speech. But it’s just not so.This is the message of […]

Politics make strange bedfellows.Certainly that’s the case when the Sierra Club and the United Auto Workers Union come together to oppose a policy.The two powerful organizations often find themselves at odds over environmental regulations, but they have found common ground in opposition to a new proposal by the Bush administration to change the fuel economy […]

Arctic air slams the brakes on a day of pay, but not a day of work. You are thinking about buying a diesel-powered vehicle? Maybe you should think again.The weatherman said it was the coldest night of the winter; 20-below when I checked my outside thermometer. Thank goodness I had plugged the old diesel in […]

The ongoing labor dispute between Auburn and its firefighters is moving toward a resolution.A state arbitrator will settle the affair, once and for all.Last year, around this time, the city and the union that represents its firefighters signed a new contract. The deal promised a 2 percent raise, which was scheduled to take effect in […]

Who’d have thought there would come a day when Michael wasn’t the most embarrassing Jackson? He ought to send Janet a note: “Thanks for the mammary.” Because the mammary has sure taken the heat off him.Two weeks later, the – you should pardon the expression – fallout from Janet’s Super Bowl strip show continues. Since […]