It helps to have friends in high places. At least 75 members of the U.S. Congress have dipped into their own campaign funds to donate to their party’s candidate in Maine’s hard-fought 2nd Congressional District. Republican and Democratic incumbents, most of them in safe districts with no serious challenger, collectively tossed $114,000 into the coffers […]
Congress
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Analysis: Is the decline of local news ruining Congress?
For several senators up for re-election this year, a significant problem is that no one in their home states knows who they are. This is a consequence, as The Washington Post’s Paul Kane points out, of the collapse of local newspapers: “Overall, there are more reporters covering Congress than ever, except they increasingly write for […]
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Let’s not defeat outselves
WASHINGTON — The recent terrorist attacks have called forth predictable demands from our nation’s politicians, particularly President Obama’s opponents, for American leadership in the world. Here’s what these politicians don’t talk about: the image of our country they themselves create in the way they manage — or mismanage — the work of governing. For several […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Congressional leaders, Obama reach 2-year budget deal
WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders are throwing their collective weight behind a hard-won, two-year bipartisan budget plan aimed at heading off a looming government debt crisis and forestalling a government shutdown in December. The pact, which would take these volatile issues off the table until after the 2016 presidential election, emerged in behind-the-scenes negotiations late Monday […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
U.S. Senate OKs Lobster Day resolution pushed by King, Collins
PORTLAND (AP) — The U.S. Senate has approved a resolution introduced by Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King granting the lobster a national day of celebration. The resolution approved this week designates Sept. 25, 2015, as National Lobster Day. King and Collins say National Lobster Day will highlight the significant role that the crustacean […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Obama leaves no choice on Iran nuclear deal
If only President Barack Obama were as hard-nosed and clever in undermining our adversaries as he is in kneecapping the U.S. Congress, the country’s strategic position might be transformed. The Iran deal went to the United Nations Security Council for approval Monday, months before Congress will vote on it, and got unanimous approval. The U.N. […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Video: LePage presses Congress to streamline energy permitting
Gov. Paul LePage starts at the 49 minute mark. LePage testified Wednesday before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee considering a pair of bills aimed at reducing regulatory burdens on hydropower projects and speeding up permitting for natural gas pipelines. He suggested that activists are using the current system to slow down projects. “Overzealous activists […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Poliquin says federal government should reform welfare programs
LEWISTON — U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin is backing legislation that would give states more latitude to make their own rules for welfare programs that are fueled by federal taxes. Poliquin, a Republican who represents Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, touched on a range of subjects during a short interview with the Sun Journal on Thursday prior […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Analysis: Congress shows some signs of productivity
WASHINGTON — For just the first time in six years, Congress gave final approval to its annual budget resolution Tuesday — the latest in a slow but steady churn of progress that suggests maybe the new boss isn’t the same as the old boss. Later this week the Senate likely could pass a bipartisan bill […]
Posted inOp-Eds
William Whitney: Maine’s delegation silent about Cuba
U. S. economic sanctions against Cuba, in place for half a century, must go. For that to happen, congressional action is needed. When President Barack Obama recently announced plans to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba, he asked Congress to remove the anti-Cuban trade embargo. He had to ask because, in 1996, the Helms-Burton Law transferred […]