I write this in response to the Sun Journal front page article “Expanding Medicaid a hot issue” (Nov. 3). Anyone reading that article might want to step into a restroom and, when reading the second paragraph where it is stated that the federal government will be paying for 90 percent of the tab, stop for […]
Question 2
Posted inLetters, sj-web
Maine people will benefit
I hope voters will join me on Election Day to vote “yes” on Question 2 to expand Medicaid. The stories that people without health care shared with me when I served in the Legislature continue to haunt me: the working woman in her 50s who was diagnosed with cancer, but had no insurance; the student […]
advertisement
Posted inLetters, sj-web
The cost of Question 2
I am voting “no” on Question 2, “An act to enhance access to affordable health care.” There are many reasons to do so, but the fiscal impact statement section in the Maine Citizen’s Guide to the Referendum Election provides one important reason. There is a claim in the public comments section by two supporters of […]
Posted inLetters, sj-web
A healthier, happier state
Benjamin Disraeli, the Prime Minister of Great Britain in the late 1800s, once said: “The health of the people is really the foundation upon which all their happiness and all their powers as a state depends.” In other words, the healthier the population, the happier and stronger their country. By extension, the economy would be […]
Posted inLetters, sj-web
Question 2 passage important
As a family physician in Oxford County, I support passage of Question 2, Medicaid expansion, on Nov. 7. A “yes” vote will help 70,000 Mainers gain access to much-needed medical care. As a doctor on the front lines, I know that health insurance and access to basic medical care can be life-saving. I regularly encounter […]
Posted inLetters, sj-web
Extend Medicaid coverage
Medicaid saved my daughter’s life when she was born. When she was eight days old, we learned that she had gastric emptying delay and couldn’t keep any milk down, plus, she was lactose intolerant. She was literally starving to death as a baby. Medicaid fed her and provided the health care she needed so that […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, sj-web
Lawmakers disregard Question 3; insult or right thing to do?
LEWISTON — Roger Labbe and thousands of other Mainers voted for Question 2 in November, a referendum that passed statewide by about 10,000 votes. The tally was 383,428 in favor, 373,848 opposed. The referendum called for the creation of a 3 percent surcharge on annual incomes over $200,000; that money was to be dedicated to […]
Posted inOp-Eds
The will of Maine voters should be respected
The people of Maine spoke loud and clear in November when they passed Question 2, the ballot initiative to fully fund Maine schools by increasing taxes on those people making more than $200,000 per year. For the majority of people, the question and answer were equally clear: yes, we need more funding from the state […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
LePage administration, businesses want to repeal high income surtax
AUGUSTA — A new report by Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s office says the surtax on Maine’s highest earners that voters approved last November will negatively impact the state economy. The surtax makes Maine have one of the nation’s highest tax rates on top of earners with a 10.15 percent tax on earnings over $200,000. Supporters […]
Posted inLetters
No need for a recount
Gov. Paul LePage and those who opposed referendum Question 2 (Stand up for students) came up short in the Nov. 8 balloting by more than 9,000 votes. Now the losers are saying that those who voted in favor of Question 2 — the winners — were confused, did not understand, did not know what they […]