OXFORD — Two political newcomers and one veteran committeeman are facing off in a three-way race for an open seat on the Oxford Board of Selectmen. Peter Laverdiere, Peter Cushman and William Sanborn submitted nomination papers to the town office last month and will be on the November ballot to fill two years remaining on former […]
government
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Budget default looming
WASHINGTON — Republicans and Democrats in Congress lumbered through a day of political maneuvering Saturday while a threatened default by the Treasury crept uncomfortably closer and a partial government shutdown neared the end of its second week. “We haven’t done anything yet” by way of compromise, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said after Senate leaders […]
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Posted inNation / World, sj-web
U.S. government work is losing cachet for some
WASHINGTON (AP) — There was a time when being a federal employee meant a steady paycheck, great benefits and pride in serving the country. But these days, many federal workers are frustrated, anxious and growing tired of being pawns in a never-ending political struggle over government funding. “The pay has fallen behind, the uncertainty of […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Investigators: 36K got improper disability pay
WASHINGTON (AP) — Social Security made $1.3 billion in potentially improper disability payments to people who had jobs when they were supposed to be unable to work, congressional investigators said in a report Friday. The Government Accountability Office estimated that 36,000 workers got improper payments from December 2010 to January 2013. The numbers represent less […]
Posted inLetters
G. Jones: Real fear in the U.S.
Different people have different reasons for fear: cancer, loss of a job, hate crime victim, loss of benefits. Those and many others are cause for fear. But the two things I fear the most are the federal government and the mainstream media. Consider: On a regular basis, the president, some members of Congress and some […]
Posted inSpecials
Government: Public safety, potholes, progress
With all the recent focus on how dysfunctional government can be, there is pretty widespread agreement that where government actually works best is at its most modest level, in the small towns and cities at America’s rural roots. And that may especially true in Maine. Almost all the challenges with which the nation’s biggest and […]
Posted inLetters
R. Bechard: Benefits are not a handout
Government officials are calling Social Security benefits entitlement spending. But members of Congress have free health care insurance, outrageous retirement packages, dozens of paid holidays, three weeks paid vacation and paid sick days. To me, that’s welfare. And they call my Social Security retirement payments an entitlement? The only thing wrong with the government is […]