2 others in race try to get message out

Though observers of the Senate race in Maine may be focused primarily on what Tom Allen and Susan Collins are saying about themselves and each other, there are two other declared candidates in the race who also are tailoring their political messages to include economic policy ideas.

Tom Ledue, a Democrat from Sanford who is challenging Tom Allen for the party’s Senate nomination, recently indicated that political leaders in Washington should have done more to head off the apparent economic downturn. The stimulus package recently approved by Congress could have been unnecessary, he suggested.

“The stimulus package is an attempt to spend our way out of a previous lack of leadership and inadequate vision that has not built a stable and sustainable economy,” Ledue indicated in a prepared statement.

Much of the $150 billion being considered for the stimulus package would be better spent on infrastructure improvements, he said. Congress and the president should encourage investment in clean, renewable energy, he added, and should promote ethical and sustainable business practices.

Ledue said he supports expanding the AmeriCorps federal community service program and offering each volunteer two years of college tuition for each year served in the program. He favors fully funding the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, and said he also supports increased federal funding for education and favors universal health care coverage.

More information on Ledue is available at tomledue.com.

Laurie Dobson, an independent from Kennebunkport, proposes addressing the collapse of the subprime housing loan market with a five-year nationwide moratorium on all foreclosures. In a recently issued statement, Dobson said millions of Americans could lose their homes to foreclosure this year.

“The people of Maine deserve a federal government big enough and tough enough to stand up to Wall Street and the hedge fund pirates who caused this mess,” Dobson said in the release. “Collins, Allen and the other current members of Congress haven’t had the guts to do it.”

Dobson proposes a 1 percent tax on all sales of stocks, which she says would affect only the top 20 percent of income earners. She said qualified students should have access to a free college education and that she favors a universal, single-payer health care coverage system. She also supports providing free health care to people serving in the military and their families.

“I have kids and I want to make sure we have a future for them,” Dobson said recently. “If this country doesn’t get turned around, we’re not going to have one.”

For more on Dobson’s views, visit www.dobsonforsenate.com.

btrotter@bangordailynews.net

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