The nuclear disaster in Japan has not changed Gov. Paul LePage’s opinion on the future of nuclear energy, his spokesman told the Bangor Daily News last week. “What is happening in Japan is tragic,” Dan Demeritt told the newspaper. “But we are not changing our position that we need to consider all energy options going […]
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Partisanship seems to pollute all subjects
Sitting presidents probably expect to have their every word and deed ripped apart by their political rivals. But when the president can’t even talk about sports without it becoming a political hot potato, perhaps things have gone too far. As he has for the past two years, President Barack Obama spent 10 minutes on ESPN […]
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Live free, die early should be state’s new slogan
In what must rank as the most cynical political move yet in what has been a pretty cynical season, the New Hampshire House voted Friday to reduce the state’s cigarette tax by a dime. The goal: To take a bit of tax revenue away from the bordering states of Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts. This follows […]
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Revenue sharing crucial to keeping property taxes low
One complaint about the previous Legislature was the way it responded to Maine’s fiscal crisis by, in part, kicking the problem down one level to schools and municipalities. Now, unfortunately, Gov. Paul LePage’s administration is proposing a change that would, again, help solve the state’s problems by shifting them to local communities. For decades, Maine […]
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Here’s to the Irish in all of us
There are more Irish-American eyes smiling in the United States than at any point in history, with some 36.9 million Americans claiming Irish ancestry. That’s up 700,000 since 2008 and more than eight times the population of Ireland itself, according to recent U.S. Census figures. Today is St. Patrick’s Day, a day honoring St. Patrick, […]
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L-A legislators must be wary of turnpike ideas
Major changes in the governance of the Maine Turnpike seem nearly certain after an audit of the organization’s books and continuing legislative hearings on its operations. But unless Western Maine legislators and voters are vigilant, the changes could make a bad situation for L-A travelers even worse. Among the ideas being bandied about in Augusta […]
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Air miles wrong standard in casino debate
Wednesday, the Legislature’s committee on Legal and Veteran’s Affairs will take up a bill to clarify how to measure 100 miles in Maine. We hope the committee will use its common sense and support LD 677. This bill seeks to measure the distances between competing casinos in Maine using the “most commonly used road miles” […]
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Current limit on teen workers should remain
A bill to allow Maine teens to work more than 20 hours a week during the school year is not in the state’s best interest and should not pass. The legislation would benefit the state’s hospitality industry, which is an important part of our economy. But more important to our future is having a well-educated […]
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U.S. should avoid running no-fly zone
Former President Ronald Reagan nailed it when he called Col. Moammar Gadhafi the “mad dog of the Middle East.” But while our sympathies should clearly be with the citizens trying to overthrow him, the U.S. should not become involved in another shooting war in the region. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., called Friday for the U.S. […]
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Pretty good deal for the public sector
In 1983, hungry for cash, government raided employees’ collective retirement fund and, when the time came to re-pay debt, raised taxes to boost contributions to the fund, cut retiree benefits and increased the retirement age of those eligible for the fund. Sound like the current proposal to deal with Maine Public Employee Retirement System debt? […]