Large campaign donors who lavished largess on candidates in 1996 must have gotten what they wanted in return because this year they not only have given a lot more money but, no doubt to spare the candidate heavy lifting, have developed the issues, created the advertisements and put… Read More
Given the wide-ranging subject matter of the six referenda on Tuesday’s ballot, it is probably mere coincidence that all went down to defeat. If there is a pattern, it may be that legislating in the voting booth leaves unanswered questions that would be resolved by the debates and… Read More
As people throughout the world celebrate peace this year while others struggle to stop years of strife and war, it will be meaningful once again to pause this Veterans Day to ponder the holiday’s origins and remember its true significance. Congress voted Armistice Day as… Read More
Congratulations to all elected Tuesday to the 120th Maine Legislature. Now get to work. Sounds brusque, but the reality of every election year is that there is precious little time between the counting of ballots and the commencement of legislative business. Leaders must be chosen… Read More
Florida officials, and eventually the federal courts, have many reasons to ensure that the Sunshine State is scrupulous in recounting votes and considering arguments from the candidates over potential voting irregularities. The most important reason is that the next president, especially considering the near-even party split in Congress,… Read More
In what was the defining moment of campaign coverage Tuesday night, GOP strategist Karl Rove told network commentators to back off on giving Florida to Al Gore. He said, in effect, that the vote was a lot more complicated than the network’s neatly colored maps were making it… Read More
After thanking friends and smiling at enemies, after dissecting races won and lost, after the parties and pomp of Inauguration Day, comes the work of the presidency. In a contest so close, with a near evenly divided Congress, the next president’s only mandate is to find common ground… Read More
From the moment it first popped up on the Web more than a year ago, Napster swore it was utterly and steadfastly devoted to the ethos of free music. The Internet music-swapping service said it would never give up its battle against greedy recording companies and antiquated copyright… Read More
Folks who run the Central Intelligence Agency love publicity when their projects turn out well. When the CIA overthrew left wing leaders in Guatemala and Iran a half-century ago, they loved getting credit for Cold War coups. But when the regimes they installed in those… Read More
Given the tightness of the presidential race, the number of ballot questions and the numerous questions of local concern, no potential voter should need added incentive to get to the polls. But Gov. Angus King has reminded Maine voters of their usual high turnout by joining with Minnesota… Read More
The presidential race is so close, and the swing states are so numerous, that this election campaign is haunted by the constitutional crisis of 1888. That was the most recent time when a presidential nominee won a majority of the popular vote but lost in… Read More
Snow has begun falling, so it’s not too early for a Christmas-time detective story: Who really wrote “The Night Before Christmas”? The poem first appeared, anonymously, in 1823 in an upstate New York newspaper. It soon became a hit. It transformed Santa Claus from a… Read More
The agreement announced last week between the National Park Service and the owners of Saddleback Ski Area to protect the Appalachian Trail was the result of a lot of hard work, perseverance, patience and not a little congressional involvement. Mostly, though, it was about money, and there’s nothing… Read More
On health care, education funding, job development, welfare reform, the concerns of seniors, Olympia Snowe has placed herself – and, therefore, Maine – into leading roles in the Senate, seeking practical solutions to large problems and finding compromise between the political parties so that those solutions could be… Read More
Maine voters need only to look only at the current record-setting stalemate over the budget in Washington to conclude that the current climate in the nation’s capital must be changed. This chronic impasse and the inability of government to function above partisan bickering demand a leader who values… Read More
With four years of experience in Congress, Rep. Tom Allen has distinguished himself in his service to Maine and set an impressive course to become a leading voice on national issues. The 1st Congressional District of Maine is fortunate to have such a skilled and attentive lawmaker and… Read More
When he first went to Congress in 1994, Rep. John Baldacci took with him a solid reputation, earned as a Bangor city councilor and a state senator, as a tireless advocate for his constituents. In Washington, he is famous for his work ethic and has enhanced his reputation… Read More
Do you favor ratifying the action of the 119th Legislature whereby it passed an act extending to all citizens regardless of their sexual orientation the same basic rights to protection against discrimination now guaranteed to citizens on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin in… Read More
Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to end discrimination against persons under guardianship for mental illness for the purpose of voting? Maine’s Constitution, as adopted in 1821, withheld the right to vote from a lot of people – paupers, Indians and the insane,… Read More
Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to allow the Legislature to provide for the assessment of land used for commercial fishing activities based on the current use of the property? For longer than a century “summer people” have regarded coastal Maine as more… Read More
Vote your conscience. Vote Ralph Nader,” says a green and white notice that pops up on many computers. Pat Buchanan’s campaign says, in effect, the same thing. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false;… Read More
Bangor voters will be asked to answer this question at the polls next Tuesday: Shall the following Resolve Entitled “Establishment of a Methadone Clinic in the City of Bangor” be adopted? Be it Resolved, that the City Council of the City of Bangor, on behalf of the citizens… Read More
Do you want to allow video lottery machines at certain horse racing tracks if 40 percent of the profits are used for property tax relief? On two counts, Question 3 already has earned itself a special place in Maine electoral history. It is easily the… Read More
Do you favor requiring landowners to obtain a permit for all clear-cuts and defining cutting levels for lands subject to tree growth tax law? Maine can acknowledge that some large landowners have over cut parts of the forest without resorting to this flawed initiative as… Read More
Should a terminally ill adult who is of sound mind be allowed to ask for and receive a doctor’s help to die? Those who have seen a friend or relative through the final stages of a terminal illness have witnessed the courage and grace with… Read More
Should a terminally ill adult who is of sound mind be allowed to ask for and receive a doctor’s help to die? Those who have seen a friend or relative through the final stages of a terminal illness have witnessed the courage and grace with… Read More
The agreement this week among the governors of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont to purchase prescription drugs together for nearly a million low-income people starts this region on an important, money-saving plan. Now these states should look for further areas of cooperation to make these health plans even… Read More
The agreement this week among the governors of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont to purchase prescription drugs together for nearly a million low-income people starts this region on an important, money-saving plan. Now these states should look for further areas of cooperation to make these health plans even… Read More
The Massachusetts prosecutors who this week found the bodies of two young boys of members of a religious sect no doubt are pursuing a yet-to-be revealed legal strategy in this case. But their public comments at Baxter State Park in Maine the other day left the impression, perhaps… Read More
The brilliant colors are fading. The scarlet leaves are fluttering down. Some of the maples already stand naked, their leaves scattered beneath them. People say fall is about done. But wait a minute. Look around and relish the second act while it lasts. The red… Read More
Amid the gloom of the declining technology sector, Wall Street finally found something to cheer about this week. The nation’s three largest oil companies – Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Texaco – reported record profits for the third quarter totaling $7 billion, a doubling of last year’s earnings. Read More
A couple of recent news stories have pointed out that young adults are likely to set new records for low attendance at the polls next month. The stories have found several reasons for this phenomenon but may have missed the biggest of them all. Except… Read More
When the Navy changed its timetable on the bombing of the destroyer Cole, it threw new light on the latest terrorist attack against the United States. The first story was that the explosion came as the billion-dollar cruise-missile ship was tying up at a refueling… Read More
The Board of Environmental Protection last week decided, 5-2, to continue with an incentive program that would get some older, more polluting cars off the road. But without a secure source of funding, the state could be headed for another trip down the road to CarTest. Read More
Groups supporting Question 1, Death with Dignity, yesterday argued that an advertisement their opponents have been showing on television is false and misleading. The ad shows, first, an Oregon doctor talking about the problems with the measure in his state and then portrays a teen-age girl going to… Read More
After eight weeks, the strike at Bath Iron Works is over. Labor praises the gains it made in wages, benefits and, most importantly, work rules, through hard-fought negotiations. Management says it’s just glad the company can get back to building the world’s best ships. For Maine’s largest industrial… Read More
With the U.S.-brokered cease-fire failing and hopes for the resumption of meaningful negotiations with Palestinian leaders dim, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak declared a “timeout” in Middle East peace efforts Sunday. Although the use of sports terms is overdone in politics, this is a particularly appropriate application that,… Read More
Congress may be preparing to end its session this week with a battle over school-construction funding, but a new report details what happens when Washington fails to properly fund the education programs it already has. The result is harmful to students and to the school systems they learn… Read More
It is no accident that voters will be asked to change the state constitution under Question 4 next month to provide property tax relief to owners of land used as working waterfront and, as they leave the voting place, likely will be confronted with a petition to raise… Read More
Minority floor leader Rep. Thomas Murphy, Republican of Kennebunk, says he won’t seek a leadership position if Democrats retain control of the Maine House and elect Majority Leader Michael Saxl of Portland as the next speaker. Though offering no specific objections, Rep Murphy wrote colleagues that he “would… Read More
Four years ago, Congress, disturbed by the idea that some of the legal services it funded might lead to broader welfare eligibility, added a range of restrictions on the Legal Services Corp. The service was forbidden from undertaking class actions, lobbying, representing most aliens or prisoners, or, to… Read More
Whatever overhaul is applied to the rising costs of health care generally and prescription drugs specifically, an adviser to Gov. George Bush in Bangor Monday warned, the regulatory process will ensure that a couple of years of review will pass before it is implemented. It is a sobering… Read More
Perhaps it is a measure of how quiet Maine’s congressional campaigns have been so far this season, or perhaps it is the exquisite sensitivity of politicians to the wrongs done unto them by their competitors. Whichever, the first strong disagreement over campaign tactics occurred this week in the… Read More
The pejorative “do-nothing” has been applied to many congresses in the past, sometimes fittingly, sometimes spitefully. This Congress, now lurching toward frenzied adjournment, does not merely deserve the label, it has set a standard of ineffectiveness it is hoped no future body of lawmakers can match. Read More
Sen. John Ashcroft of Missouri last week crossed party lines to become the 51st member of the Senate to support the stronger Democratic version of a patient bill of rights, similar to the package supported in the House. But without the needed 60 votes to overcome a filibuster,… Read More
Mainers could not have been surprised by the combative tone of the third and final presidential debate Tuesday. It was conducted in a town meeting format and, as anyone here who attends his or her annual exercise in local government knows, it is a format conducive to the… Read More
While hatreds rage in the Middle East, another peace process has been making headway in Korea. It got a big push recently with the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Kim Dae Jung of South Korea. The prize has brought his people together in celebration and… Read More
Supporters of a proposed citizens initiative to increase school funding will be looking for signatures at voting places next month, but questions about their proposal will take a lot longer to answer than most people have time for on their way out of the voting booth. And some… Read More
No one expects much from the emergency summit in Egypt. The only point of agreement among all involved – the Palestinian and Israeli antagonists, the mediators of the host country, the United Staes, Jordan, the United Nations and the European Union – is that expectations, if any, should… Read More
The Iris Network will be the new name for a fine old organization that is helping Maine’s 10,000 to 12,000 legally blind people live and work in a society that relies heavily on eyesight. When the Maine Institution for the Blind was founded in 1905,… Read More
The announcement last week by Gov. Angus King that Maine will not only certify but double certify its 500,000 acres of public land won’t mean much to most people. But to those embroiled in a long and seemingly endless debate about forestry certification systems, it is a welcome… Read More
Those looking for something new in a recent report by the former director of the Maine International Trade Center aren’t going to find much. But the work is valuable nonetheless because it puts in a single place a range of ideas that point to a stronger Maine economically… Read More
At a press conference Thursday called to expose one more surprise hidden within the slot-machine referendum, Terrence Garmey, who heads the No Dice coalition against Question 3, said he was “suggesting” the 16-page legislation underlying the one-sentence ballot item was “written in code.” The only… Read More
How do you celebrate the anniversary of a disgraceful incident of the distant past? Do you sweep it under the rug? Or do you review the details and learn from it? This Saturday is the anniversary of the day nearly a century and a half… Read More
Al Gore and George W. Bush each came into Wednesday’s debate with specific and opposite goals. The vice president had to show that his encyclopedia of policy detail is a work of non-fiction. The governor’s task was to demonstrate that his apparent edge in fealty to the truth… Read More
It is impossible not to be impressed with a new report from the board of visitors of the University of Southern Maine. Called “A Southern Maine Imperative,” the report is an ambitious, well-targeted argument for expanding programs at USM to meet the current and future demands of the… Read More
Supporters of the largest federal conservation program in years may have thought the many months they had spent debating, negotiating and lining up members of Congress to support the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA) would have assured them of getting it passed this year. A sudden compromise between… Read More
Congress has once again found its foreign-aid bill stalled over abortion language that it would never try to impose at home. In a world where unsafe abortions kill tens of thousands of women each year, a gag rule on abortion is a harmful trap that has had, as… Read More
From a comfortable distance, the violence scorching the Middle East looks awfully like the violence that has come before, the violence that has tragically come to represent the region. The televised scenes of anger, mourning and rubble are a nightmarish rerun. Certainly, the pattern is… Read More
Opponents of the death penalty have been able to take an issue both major candidates agree on and make it a campaign problem for Gov. George W. Bush. This is partly due to the fact that Texas executes more people than any other state, and critics blame the… Read More
You’ve heard of victimless crimes. A waste-oil dumpsite in Plymouth has produced crimeless victims. From 1965 to 1980, the Portland-Bangor Waste Oil Co. accepted waste oil and, apparently, solvents later found to have leached into nearby residential wells. The lack of rules at the time meant that neither… Read More
Leaders of the Waterville Elks Lodge say there’s nothing discriminatory in the fact that all of the club’s 1,000-plus members are men or that in voting on new members last week, all 15 male applicants were accepted while all four female applicants were rejected. The blackballed women, respected… Read More
From the failed promise of the Magnuson Act of 1976 through the fishing grounds closures and catch restrictions of the 1990s, it has been a confusing and agonizing quarter-century for the American marine fishing industry. New proposals being considered by federal regulators to let foreign trawlers work U.S. Read More
Those vees of migrating birds are a lovely sight as they slide across the pale blue sky in these crisp, crystal-clear days of early fall. Sometimes they fly in perfect lines, straight as an arrow. Other formations are still shaping up, the lines a bit wobbly, with maybe… Read More
Exactly one month from today, Americans will elect a new president. A long, noisy and sometimes frenetic campaign will be over. Although the outcome probably won’t be known until the wee hours one month from tomorrow, Americans can be assured of one thing – a peaceful transition of… Read More
If you came away from the vice-presidential debate Thursday night with the nagging suspicion that the wrong men are at the top of tickets, look at the bright side. For all their shortcomings, whether real or the product of partisan imaginations, Al Gore and George W. Bush have… Read More
Inside the UMass-Boston hall, Tuesday’s presidential debate went well for both Vice President Al Gore and Gov. George W. Bush. They effectively restated their positions, they made no dreadful mistakes, they gave supporters reason to continue that support, and perhaps the undecideds reason to begin leaning. Though unspectacular,… Read More
Those enormous bus-sized mobile homes, often with an ordinary car tethered on behind, caused some big problems in Acadia National Park in the season now drawing to a close. W. Kent Olson, president of Friends of Acadia, reports one such encounter. A 50-foot behemoth (not… Read More
During the debate in Maine two years ago on the medical marijuana referendum, supporters argued that the benefits the illegal drug offers in relieving pain and nausea should not be denied to those being treated for such diseases as cancer, AIDS and glaucoma. Opponents argued that in a… Read More
The Cranberry Isles are gradually losing year-round population. Two dozen specialists in rural life in Maine met recently with the islanders to see what should be done. Over steaming bowls of seafood chowder, they got an earful – first from students at the Islesford (Little… Read More
After years of bad news about the high level of cigarette smoking among Maine’s youth, the state’s Bureau of Health finally had news that wasn’t just good but remarkable. These latest findings suggest that a seemingly intractable problem can, in fact, be greatly reduced and that Maine has… Read More
The best of the Sydney Olympics was as good as it gets: stunning upsets, clutch performances, courageous and determined athletes gracious in both victory and defeat. Best of all, a large portion of that highlight reel has women in the starring roles. Women have come… Read More
Common wisdom has it that, after the Clinton administration’s disastrous health care reform of 1993, Congress could not look at the subject again comprehensively but would have to content itself with incremental change. Fortunately, common wisdom is like the common cold – most people get it and then… Read More
Though it isn’t something you’re expected to worry about, there’s a glut of mercury on the world market these days, brought on by a drop in its use – from industrial, such as chlorine production, which once used lots but now uses virtually none in the United States,… Read More
The New York Times devoted an extraordinary third of a page last week to a review of its coverage of the investigation and prosecution of Wen Ho Lee, the Taiwan-born American nuclear scientist who was held shackled and in solitary confinement without bail for nine months as a… Read More
The best thing about the state Department of Education’s tentative proposal to tie earning a high-school diploma to mastering the Learning Results is that it wouldn’t begin until 2006. That should give Maine educators and the public plenty of time to debate the strengths and weaknesses in the… Read More
As commissioner of the Department of Human Services, Kevin Concannon has an interest in appearing undaunted by the threats from some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies to make Mainers pay for their decision to ask for fair drug prices. But bravado probably had little to do with… Read More
It’s a casino only for Scarborough Downs Racetrack. It’s a gambling monopoly with a lack of oversight and accountability. It’s an empty promise of tax relief wrapped in the fleece of reviving Maine’s struggling harness racing industry. It’s Question 3 on the November referendum ballot. Read More
If legislators wanted to know whether a matching scholarship program they approved last session would work, they got their answer last week in Orono. But now that they can see its success, they will be faced with the important question next session of what to do about it. Read More
Another successful Common Ground Country Fair, another weekend of healthful living. Hold the pesticides, the genetically engineered foods, the suspect coffee, the artificial sweeteners – and pass the cigarettes. Seems that the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, a leading group in fighting the spread of theoretically dangerous… Read More
No matter how accommodating federal officials have been while trying to persuade Maine towns and businesses to agree to fund the cleanup of a waste site in Plymouth, those being asked to foot the bill inescapably will feel they are being penalized for mistakes made by the state… Read More
One thing is clear, amid all the finger pointing over the rash of rollover accidents involving Firestone tires and Ford Explorers. Regardless of whether the blame lies with Firestone or Ford, all parties agree that excessive heat causes some treads to peel off the tires. Read More
When President Clinton announced last week the release of 30 million barrels from the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve, it was hailed by supporters as necessary policy to prevent shortages in the upcoming heating season, blasted by opponents as cynical pandering to win northern votes in the ongoing election… Read More
Not only did Chancellor Terry MacTaggart bring calm to a turbulent University of Maine System when he arrived five years ago, he brought legislative skill that has allowed him to work with lawmakers, sometimes quietly, and usually to good effect. That makes his latest proposal, The Maine Idea,… Read More
Maine’s Ian Crocker is an Olympic gold medalist, a world-record holder, a rising star in competitive swimming. The young, barely 18, Mainer is hard-working, devoted to his sport and refreshingly modest. Did we mention he’s from Maine? Maine, of course, can claim no credit for… Read More
Sixty-three senators have signed a letter urging Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott to schedule a floor vote on the Conservation and Reinvestment Act. The bipartisan group deserves a hearing on a bill that could help Maine’s towns and woods for decades to come. CARA pays… Read More
It got its start in 1775 rebuilding fortifications at Bunker Hill for Gen. Washington. Its role was expanded to civilian projects in 1824 as a new nation set out to tame the West. Today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is one of the largest and most unusual… Read More
It would be hard to disagree with the bland language of the forestry referendum question in the November’s election. “Do you favor requiring landowners to obtain a permit for all clear-cuts and defining cutting levels for lands subject to the tree growth tax law?” Hard to disagree, that… Read More
Independent Counsel Robert Ray announced Wednesday he was closing the Whitewater investigation. Though no fault of Mr. Ray’s, it is a closing without any hint of closure. Mr. Ray found “the evidence was insufficient to prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that either… Read More
Are you still wondering whether Gov. Angus King’s laptop plan will work? If you are, just keep an eye on what’s going on in Guilford, at the Piscataquis Community Middle School. With generous help from the town’s biggest industry, Guilford of Maine, the school has… Read More
The world sees North Korea and South Korea together at the Olympics and feels relief that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il seems intent on bringing his nation out of its self-imposed exile. But the real relief is just starting to occur not in Sydney but in Pyongyang,… Read More
Maine’s official sailing vessel, the schooner Bowdoin, suddenly faces an uncertain future. Word is circulating in and around Castine that the Maine Maritime Academy has decided to get rid of the fine historic vessel, a veteran Arctic research ship and for 11 years a training ship for the… Read More
Sen. Susan Collins says she came reluctantly to the conclusion that supporting permanent normal trade relations with China was in Maine’s best interest, despite China’s dreadful record of human rights. She made the proper decision. A decade of Congress annually scolding China before passing most… Read More
In many ways, the Summer Games now begun in Sydney perfectly fit the mold of the modern Olympics. Ten thousand earnest young athletes strive for individual glory and national pride. Billions of viewers tune in, gripped by sports they largely ignore for all but two weeks every four… Read More
As summer fades, as the mercury begins to drop and the cars and campers and mobile homes from Connecticut and Massachusetts and Pennsylvania vanish down Route 95, it is time once more to begin enjoying the rest of the year – the Maine that the summer folks don’t… Read More
Say you own a store in downtown Bangor or at the Aroostook Centre Mall in Presque Isle or on Route 1 in Machias, and you’re wondering how the Internet is going to affect your ability to stay in business and, further, why Congress told store owners on the… Read More
To the Bangor City Council’s credit, it tried in its resolution on a referendum over a methadone clinic to present as broad a question as possible. But for reasons that are inescapable, the question is now so broad to be meaningless, no matter which way a vote goes. Read More
Two years ago this Friday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a report on the extraordinary spike in wholesale electric rates in the Midwest earlier that summer. The causes of the tripling, even quadrupling, of electric bills were many, FERC concluded, including the inability of market information systems… Read More
As a primer for some of the problems with the delivery of health care in Maine, the draft report from the governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care does an adequate job of describing what experts have been talking about for the better part of a decade. As… Read More
Billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett humorously described in The New York Times last Sunday one way to enact a small piece of campaign finance reform. As novel as his idea was, however, it missed a large part of the problem and illustrated why politicians have been able to… Read More