How about a sympathy tax for extra welfare benefits?

Reisert could have helped, instead he fanned flames

I was very disappointed with Joe Reisert’s recent column about the Occupy movement. Reisert began by comparing the Occupiers to a child throwing a tantrum. This fallacy of argument is covered in high school English classes. Second, he extrapolates from the individual to the whole, a fallacy Reisert understands. For example, in our current economic […]

Give Kennebec Gas the OK only if service promised

Sidney recently had a special town meeting with Richard Silkman of Kennebec Gas Co. This company is in competition with other companies for the right to run a gas line through Sidney along Middle Road. We were told that only one company would be allowed to receive this right, so Sidney should be very careful […]

Making some cuts will make everyone’s costs rise

I agree wholeheartedly with the letter, “Medicare Savings Program needed by 72,000 in Maine” by Richard Farnsworth, chairman, AARP Maine Capitol City Task Force, on Dec. 23. One thing I think is missing, however, is that cutting the Maine Savings Program will not only affect the 72,000 who get assistance from it, but all Mainers […]

LePage can’t clean up mess left to him overnight

I understand why Gov. Paul LePage won’t talk to reporters or bother with the newspapers; all they do is bash him. Never have I seen them say anything good about him or what he is doing. Why don’t they just let him do his job and leave him alone; he knows what he’s doing. He […]

D’Amboise a fine man with good convictions

At a local Republican meeting recently, I met Scott D’Amboise. He is a fine man with good convictions. He loves this state and this country and will fight for freedom and jobs here in Maine for Mainers, unlike Olympia Snowe. She seems to have a global agenda and has forgotten who voted her into office […]

We’re losing our country; we must get involved

In a recent article about hearings on reduction proposals for the state Department of Health and Human Services, a speaker noted that a society is judged on how it cares for its poor. I disagree. I believe a society is judged on how it cares for its children, elders and sick. For the poor, it […]

Someone likely benefits by allowing fireworks sale

Well, our Maine politicians are at it again. I wonder who made money by legalizing fireworks? I also wonder when the insurance companies will figure out how much extra to charge for fireworks-related costs. When I inquired about homeowners insurance, I was given the third degree. I had to sell my trampoline. I could not […]

We need to tighten rules governing welfare, aid

What happened to the governor’s common sense? Paul LePage is embarrassing even his staunchest supporters. I wanted a governor who would do something about our welfare system. Tax dollars are used for welfare when they should be used to provide support while a person who is capable of working gains the tools they need to […]

DA bids happy retirement to valued office employee

Friday was Ruth Stevens’ last day in the Somerset County district attorney’s office. She has been our office manager since 1980, when Jimmy Carter was our president. I have never known any employee to be as efficient, competent and intelligent as Ruth. She has overseen an office that handles about 3,500 criminal cases each year […]