Capitalism, contrary to what many conservatives would say, works best when its more self-serving impulses are reined in by laws and regulations. From workplace safety and equal opportunity hiring rules to banking disclosures and restaurant health standards, government regularly interferes in the affairs of business, to mostly good… Read More
When a trusted Merrill Lynch adviser proposed putting $20 million of Maine’s cash pool into a securities firm called Mainsail II last August, it sounded like a good deal. A triple A rating. Interest at an annual rate of 5.45 percent. But 12 days later, the investment was… Read More
Having adapted his own life to a career he didn’t foresee, Richard K. Warren saw the Bangor Daily News through four decades of changes and helped his hometown reshape itself after the closure of Dow Air Force Base. The longtime publisher of the BDN and tireless community supporter… Read More
Despite stern threats from President Bush, the House let a controversial wiretapping law expire today. This makes lawmakers vulnerable to charges that they are soft on terrorism, but more likely the situation may show that a more narrowly tailored law is sufficient. The Senate earlier… Read More
As the presidential campaign goes on, we will continue to hear a lot of comparisons of Iraq and Vietnam. Especially with John McCain, a true Vietnam hero, as the emerging Republican nominee. The two wars are both different and alike. Both were mistakenly undertaken. Both… Read More
The phrase “War is hell,” attributed to Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman during the Civil War, is perhaps the most succinct and eloquent description of armed conflict. Yet it falls far short of bridging the gulf between those who have experienced war and those who have not, and… Read More
Maine and New Brunswick have been working in recent years to strengthen their obvious but undervalued historical, economic, transportation, natural resource, recreational and cultural ties. On Tuesday, some of those ties were in focus in Bangor and Augusta, as Gov. John Baldacci hosted New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham. Read More
The president’s budget is often viewed as a blueprint for Congress as it crafts a federal spending plan for the coming year. Given the dissatisfaction expressed by Maine’s congressional delegation at President Bush’s document, released last week, it is a blueprint for what not to build. Instead, they… Read More
Beginning this fall, the federal government will not pay hospitals for the treatment of a variety of preventable errors, injuries and infections suffered by Medicare patients. Pennsylvania followed last week with a new policy to no longer make Medicaid payments to hospitals to treat preventable errors in 27… Read More
It is often said that facts can be twisted to support any argument. These recent examples from the Bush administration should prompt lawmakers to step up their scrutiny of the proposals and policy changes advocated by the White House. In mocking those who oppose making… Read More
Not surprisingly, Sen. Barack Obama handily won the Democratic presidential caucuses in Maine on Sunday. Not surprisingly, because Maine historically has been a safe harbor to candidates perceived as poised to rattle the walls of the party palace. In 1984, Colorado Sen. Gary Hart topped eventual Democratic nominee… Read More
The reliable and steady profits promised by slot machine gambling are like a plate of brownies fresh from the oven – really not good for you, but oh so hard to resist. The Penobscot Nation can’t be faulted for seeking to boost tribal revenue by adding slot machines… Read More
The charges against Bangor City Councilor Richard Greene will most likely ultimately be resolved in a court. But in the court of public opinion, the verdict is in. Whether deservedly or not, Mr. Greene has lost his credibility with city residents and more importantly his ability to serve… Read More
Congress recently passed a bill that, among other things, prohibited spending Defense Department funds for establishing permanent military bases in Iraq. President Bush promptly signed it into law. But in signing the bill, Bush added one of his “signing statements” making it clear that he… Read More
The latest, though perhaps not the last consolidation initiative coming from the governor is a plan to merge four natural resource agencies – Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Conservation, Agriculture and Marine Resources – into no more than two departments. The Legislature’s debate on that proposal… Read More
No one wants to eliminate programs and services, but with a growing state budget shortfall, lawmakers will have no choice but to go down this path. The Legislature’s Appropriations Committee and the Baldacci administration have set up a needed, but no doubt painful, process for doing this work… Read More
Despite the pressing budget concerns that will occupy most of its time and energy, the Legislature must act this session on a short-term opportunity to restructure Maine’s relationship with the electricity grid. Putting off a decision for further study or further reflection by legislators would have serious deleterious… Read More
Maine Democrats caucus Sunday in town and city halls, and at schools and community centers. The party believes it is poised to retake the White House after eight years of Republican control. Part of the process by which party members evaluate the two top candidates, Sen. Hillary Clinton… Read More
Since late last year, the specter of a national recession has dominated the talk among financial columnists and network pundits, and, in this election year, among politicians. The fate of the economy has, according to surveys, replaced the war in Iraq as the issue of most concern to… Read More
Given that National Guard units are enduring longer and more frequent mobilizations to Iraq and Afghanistan, it is clear that the function and operation of these units has fundamentally changed. What is less clear is whether they are adequately prepared to sustain these new missions while not giving… Read More
As the Senate again turns its attention to an economic stimulus package, the focus should remain on choosing the quickest, most effective financial boost. Because lawmakers have only one chance to get the contents and timing of a stimulus bill right, they should stick close to the Senate… Read More
As the Legislature tries to fit spending into a tight budget, one small item offers an opportunity for net savings rather than long-term outlays. The issue is restoration of a $150,000 appropriation for the Hancock County drug court. The Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee has… Read More
The Legislature is expected to consider changes to the state’s school administration consolidation law this week. In debating LD 1932, lawmakers must remain focused on changes that remove impediments to consolidation while not opening so many loopholes that the goals of streamlining administration, saving money and improving classroom… Read More
Maine has great – and measurable – potential to reap electricity from the wind. But without a clear set of rules for the wind power industry to consider before proposing projects, that potential may go unfulfilled. Recently, the Land Use Regulation Commission approved one wind power project in… Read More
With the Iraq war in its fifth year and no end in sight, the Bush administration is putting the final touches on an agreement for a “long-term relationship” there. Its work must be closely watched by Congress. Both governments need legal justification to continue the… Read More
To meddle between parents and teens on matters of sexuality is to tread on dangerous ground. The proof is the outrage many expressed last fall on learning that the health clinic at the King Middle School in Portland may have been prescribing birth control pills to girls as… Read More
A surprise compromise struck on the state proposal to consolidate county jails is a successful resolution to a costly problem. State corrections officials believe the new version of the plan, aimed at better managing cell capacity and better delivering inmate programs and services, is as financially efficient as… Read More
New England Patriots fans have a new reason to hope for a blowout against the New York Giants in Sunday’s Super Bowl – it would be better for their hearts. Literally. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = [];… Read More
By adding an extension of unemployment benefits and including more low-income people in its tax rebate, the stimulus package passed by the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday will do more to boost the economy than the plan passed by the House of Representatives. In addition… Read More
Most noncoffee drinkers will, if pressed, admit to liking the smell of freshly brewed coffee. The smell of roasting coffee beans, however, isn’t as universally appealing, Patrick Reilley readily admits, comparing it to “burned toast.” A neighbor of Mr. Reilley’s roasting operation in Rockland, Rock City Coffee Roasters,… Read More
At a time when Congress is deciding how best to stimulate the sagging economy, the Bush administration is pushing ahead with cuts in Medicaid funding that will further strain state and local budgets and reduce services to children and people with chronic illness and disabilities. Congress should include… Read More
When Maine Republicans begin caucusing Friday, they will have distinct choices to make. Many may argue that with the public, and the Republican Party, frustrated by the failures of the Bush administration, they should choose a candidate who stands in sharp contrast to President Bush. More important than… Read More
A bill before the Legislature that would have the state pay for breakfast for more poor children ought to be approved. The bill highlights the need for, and role of, a social safety net, which is often a target in highly charged times such as these, as state… Read More
Despite seven years of failed policies and missed opportunities, President George W. Bush used his final State of the Union address Monday night to alternately admonish and threaten Congress, issue stern warnings to the leaders of Iran and to take credit for ephemeral successes in Iraq. Mixed in… Read More
Microsoft’s Bill Gates predicted three years ago that the problem of junk e-mail would be solved by 2006. Here it is 2008, and it is time for a progress report: Not much. The torrent of unwanted offers of penny stocks, fake Swiss watches, sexual partners and impotency remedies… Read More
Bangor Daily News reporter Sharon Mack writes that LD 2001 would, if approved, raise the fines on those convicted of blueberry theft. A first offense of less than $100 worth of berries would be a Class E crime with a possible $5,000 fine. More berries stolen, and the… Read More
It wasn’t too many years ago that children facing physical, mental and behavioral disabilities were herded into a single classroom in the local elementary school. They spent their days in that room, attended to by aides, and mixed with mainstream students only in brief moments when they left… Read More
Just weeks after President George W. Bush signed a law delaying a requirement for passports to cross the border between the United States and Canada, the Department of Homeland Security announced new rules requiring more than just a driver’s license to re-enter the U.S beginning next week. This… Read More
As Maine experiences an old-fashioned winter with plenty of snow, state and municipal road crews are using every weapon in their arsenal to fight back. One of the weapons – liquid calcium chloride – is handily winning the war on snow and ice but is causing collateral damage,… Read More
A plan from county officials to remake jails gives the governor and lawmakers an opportunity to rescue a necessary but clumsy corrections system reorganization effort. A major shortcoming of Gov. John Baldacci’s plan to have the state take over county jails was that it was sprung on local… Read More
The plan to stimulate the sagging national economy, crafted by Congress and the president this week, focuses largely on giving checks to middle- and low-income people. The hope is that they will spend the money, and quickly, which in turn will stimulate the economy, which is heavily tied… Read More
As the Legislature’s Criminal Justice Committee begins the difficult and emotionally charged task of remaking the state’s sex offender registry in the wake of a Maine supreme court ruling and changes to federal law, lawmakers must ensure that the public is protected without excessive punishment or shaming. Creating… Read More
A bill that would ban smoking inside motor vehicles if a child under the age of 18 is in the vehicle is being considered by the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee. The bill, LD 2085, sponsored by Rep. Pat Blanchette, D-Bangor, is modeled on the ordinance adopted… Read More
As the economic crisis deepens, it’s an open question whether new spending money will be put into the pockets of the poor and lower-middle economic classes. Their millions of modest payments for groceries, fuel, rent, health care, mortgages and entertainment do much more to keep the… Read More
In a perfect world, the only experimenting our children would do would be in chemistry class, and the only thrills they would seek would be on the high diving board at the swimming pool. But in this imperfect world, children turn to drugs – including tobacco and alcohol. Read More
As state lawmakers continue to seek ways to balance the budget and communities react to the governor’s push to consolidate schools and jails, you’re likely to hear a lot about the need to rein in state spending. While the state can likely operate more efficiently, it is worth… Read More
Wealthy universities, under pressure to spend more of their endowments and slow the upward course of tuition and fees, are shifting more of their resources to financial aid, a move that will help more middle-class families afford college. It is also a move that is likely to trickle… Read More
The latest set-to with Iran in the Strait of Hormuz has focused fresh attention on the Law of the Sea treaty, which urgently needs U.S. ratification by the Senate. Iran has been invoking a twisted interpretation of the treaty to justify repeated harassment of American… Read More
There may be no more fitting way to observe the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. than to recall his defining speech, delivered in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 28, 1963. . googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes… Read More
Gov. John Baldacci’s bold initiatives aimed at consolidating state and local government services, historically speaking, may not be that bold. What the governor has done is formalize and accelerate trends that have been at work for decades. Understanding the history of the consolidation tide in Maine may dull… Read More
Unlike Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who proposes to cut nearly $400 million from the California State University System’s budget, Maine’s chief executive has spared the state’s higher education institutions from his budget-cutting plans. Instead, Gov. John Baldacci has asked the colleges and universities to look for cost savings and… Read More
The second rejection of a wind power project in the mountains of western Maine highlighted the need for better, clearer criteria for weighing the positives and negatives of such projects, which will likely become more numerous in the near future. Having objective standards for where turbines are acceptable… Read More
As news about the U.S. economy gets worse, expect to hear more about a stimulus package. What should such a package include? Economists agree any stimulus measures – usually tax rebates or reductions and increased government spending – must produce quick results and be temporary. That means tax… Read More
Belfast Police Chief Jeff Trafton walked into the city’s high school recently to address a schoolwide assembly. The student reaction? A standing ovation. That may not be a typical response from teens seeing a man in blue. Belfast Area High School students had just endured… Read More
A state-run unified corrections system proposed by Gov. Baldacci would save taxpayers $7 million in the first year, growing to a total of almost $38 million by 2015, proponents claim. The governor is selling his state takeover of county jails on savings for the beleaguered Maine taxpayer. Less… Read More
Despite centuries of progress, women and blacks are still at a disadvantage in today’s America. The current presidential race, as it shapes up, can lead to some rethinking and maybe decisive improvement. Women as a class are paid less than men for equal work and… Read More
President Bush Tuesday asked the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to release more oil onto the market to lower prices. Before looking for international solutions, the president should ensure his policies aren’t driving up costs. Immediately, he should ask the Department of Energy to reassess its ongoing purchases… Read More
January might seem an odd time to think about Maine’s tourism promotion, but it is now that promotion schemes are planned, markets targeted and advertising buys negotiated. The Maine Office of Tourism traditionally unveils its latest advertising campaign at the annual Governor’s Conference on Tourism, Feb. 12 at… Read More
The Department of Homeland Security has pushed back deadlines and eased requirements for Real ID, but without more clearly addressing how personal information will be protected and how the program will be paid for, the effort to set national standards for driver’s licenses and identification cards remains unworkable. Read More
Hunters gathering recently at an annual sportsmen’s meeting in Augusta cheered a speaker’s suggestion that the state should allow them to kill as many as 12,000 to 15,000 moose annually, instead of the usual harvest of fewer than 3,000. Hunters eager for a chance to bag a moose… Read More
Almost everyone agrees that smoking is bad for the health. And it is clear that raising tobacco taxes has helped to reduce smoking. With alcohol, there is no such agreement. For older people, regular moderate drinking has been found to reduce the incidence of heart… Read More
Signing onto a national agreement to conserve energy is a progressive step for Bangor and other communities, but more important is work that the city and others have already done and will continue to do to reduce energy use, preserve open space and reduce pollution. Read More
Critics say wind power turbines atop 400-foot towers are unsightly on Maine’s undeveloped mountains and that they produce just a fraction of the electricity of oil- and coal-fired and nuclear plants. But those concerns are trumped by the fact that wind farms are Maine’s best current energy alternative… Read More
Much has been made of how a multitude of polls could be so wrong in showing that Barack Obama would easily defeat Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire primary. Even more interesting, however, may be that prediction markets – where people actually invest in their beliefs, not just… Read More
Gov. John Baldacci used a lot of numbers in his State of the State address Wednesday night. Here are some of them: $1.2 billion – The state budget shortfall Baldacci faced shortly after he was elected in 2002. The governor gets little credit for having… Read More
If last year’s inaugural address by Gov. John Baldacci was bold – proposing a major school administrative consolidation and changing health care management – this year’s speech reiterated why such cost-saving measures, and some smaller new ones, must go forward. Gov. Baldacci sought to reassure… Read More
It took just six years for the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to go from horrific national tragedy around which revived patriotism grew, to the punch line of a presidential candidate’s joking jab at a rival. The joke, readers will recall, was Democratic Sen. Joe Biden’s, taking… Read More
Ensuring health care expertise reaches rural areas improves medical treatment in these regions, but also keeps them economically viable. A nearly $25 million grant from the Federal Communications Commission has the potential to do both for Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. The Rural Health Care Pilot Project also… Read More
Over the past 18 months, a core group of Democrats and others from the left has steadfastly maintained that President Bush and Vice President Cheney should be impeached. Mainstream Democrats in Congress are sympathetic to their arguments, but most have bowed to the political reality that impeachment proceedings… Read More
With a federal audit claiming Maine has overspent Medicaid dollars, coupled with impending cuts in federal funding for the health care program and a growing state budget shortfall, lawmakers in Augusta need to examine whether Maine’s program is sustainable. They had an opportunity to begin the process last… Read More
As state government wrestles over the next 18 months with a revenue shortfall projected at $95 million, it’s time to consider the cost of state employee benefits. As is the case in the private sector, the cost of providing health insurance benefits to state employees… Read More
The Bush administration is right that a national policy to combat climate change is preferable to a state-by-state patchwork of rules. In the absence of a mandatory comprehensive federal policy to reduce greenhouse gases, however, states, Maine included, passed their own laws. That approach was undermined last month… Read More
A first-time visitor landing at Bangor International Airport might believe he had arrived at a fair sized city, perhaps comparable to Charleston, S.C., Wichita, Kan., or Tuscon, Ariz. After all, BIA’s 2-mile-long runways are impressive, the passenger terminal is attractive and modern, and there is a chain hotel… Read More
The conviction of a bookkeeper whose thefts drove an Old Town nonprofit agency close to bankruptcy focuses new attention on an old and persistent problem Katherine Ratliff, 39, was charged with stealing nearly $84,000 from Adoptive & Foster Families of Maine. Prosecutors said she wrote… Read More
The 2008 presidential race is under way in earnest, and the signs – particularly those coming out of Thursday’s Iowa caucuses – are encouraging that the contest will be lively, surprising, engaging and will draw in previously dormant voters. The results of the Iowa contest… Read More
A report by the Maine Children’s Alliance helpfully points out that there are educational, as well as financial, benefits to school consolidation. The idea that reducing administrative costs would free up some money to spend in the classroom has been overshadowed by criticism of the mechanics of the… Read More
For a lot of people a new year brings resolutions to lose weight. Here’s some surprising advice at the start of 2008: Don’t go on a diet. Researchers who reviewed dozens of studies on weight loss found that while most people lose weight while on a diet, they… Read More
Thousands of Mainers work within sight or smell of salt water, but when it’s time to go home, they have to drive miles away from that water. The shortage of affordable housing, particularly along the coast and in southern Maine, could become a geographical class divide if planners… Read More
As lawmakers begin a new session in Augusta this week, the state’s growing budget shortfall will demand much of their time and attention. Gov. John Baldacci, through an executive order last month, has already outlined much of his blueprint for cost cutting with more to come when he… Read More
Among the many year-end statistics, one of the most startling is that more than 60 percent of the American death penalty executions in 2007 took place in Texas. Mainers can take pride in the fact that their state hasn’t had an execution since it hanged three murderers in… Read More
Maine’s population grew by 2,297 people between July 2006 and July 2007. That number of people wouldn’t even fill the Bangor Auditorium for a basketball game. And population growth that anemic does not bode well for the future of Maine’s economy. Maine’s population growth rate,… Read More
Ron Paul is the Rodney Dangerfield of Republican presidential candidates: He can’t get no respect, especially from the media. The Texas Congressman is the lone GOP candidate to unequivocally characterize the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq as a colossal mistake. There goes that touchy-feely… Read More
Once again, just like clockwork, here comes New Year’s Day. Once again, in a wave sweeping across time zones, the world counted backward from 10. Celebrants wished each other the best and meant it, at least for as long as the cup of kindness brimmed. Parades will march… Read More
It’s a typical below-freezing Maine winter day, and as you drive by the neighborhood school, you notice a door propped open, or windows in the second floor raised to let in the fresh air. Balancing heat and humidity in a building – especially an older one – with… Read More
Polls show that health care is a major issue – rivaled only by the Iraq war – in the current presidential campaign. Complaints about the present system include the mounting cost, the many left out, poor service and too much paperwork. Yet all the major candidates of both… Read More
Now that Christmas is over and the lazy, contemplative holiday week is in full sway, consider the poor fruitcake. It used to be a mainstay. Somehow it has become largely a butt of sneering jokes. True, several groups of Trappist monks and food suppliers such… Read More
There’s an old adage in the banking business, according Dr. Robert Strong, a professor of finance at the University of Maine. “Owe the bank $100, and you’re in trouble. Owe the bank $100 million, and they’re in trouble.” At the close of 2007, many homeowners… Read More
The deeply disturbing assassination Thursday of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has the effect of a boulder crashing down a mountainside. Whether it will trigger a landslide in this volatile region remains to be seen, and tragically there is not much more the U.S. can do but… Read More
One of the most audacious and irony-defying advertising campaigns to rumble down the turnpike in recent months has got to be “Hummer Helps.” The TV commercial features quick cuts of black storm clouds, hurricane winds, crashing seas, flooding shores and wildfires, interspersed with shots of postapocalyptic good Samaritans… Read More
It’s now a familiar routine: The Bush administration weakens environmental rules, causing states to sue to protect their citizens, their health and environment. This time, the litigation, by 12 states including Maine, is about a federal database of industrial chemical use and storage. Despite strong support for the… Read More
As several recent reports have noted, redeveloping old buildings is important for preserving Maine’s character and its ability to draw new people. Such rehabilitation work is expensive and Maine’s tax credits have not changed with the times. A bill that was unanimously supported by the Legislature’s Taxation Committee… Read More
After 40 years, many of Maine’s puffins still must nest among live explosives left over from a time when the Navy used the same area as a practice bombing range. A cleanup is long overdue. The December-January issue of Working Waterfront, in a rundown on… Read More
Like most great ideas, creating the Maine Community College System now seems like an obvious step, one the state should have taken decades ago to expand access to postsecondary education. The rate at which students are signing up for classes – from 5,066 in 1997 to 11,682 in… Read More
It is the beginning of the third millennium of the Christian era. The Roman legions once garrisoned in Palestine long ago returned to dust. But the passing of scores of generations of common men and of hundreds of kings and tyrants and presidents has made remarkably little difference… Read More
Calais community leaders may have legitimate questions and concerns about the proposal by California-based American Hope Charities to establish a residential drug treatment center in that city. The organization does not have an extensive track record, and the facility it hopes to open in Maine will have little… Read More
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are… Read More
The two major complaints about Gov. John Baldacci’s $38 million in spending reductions are that the cuts are too deep in social services while too few government jobs were cut. It may be possible to address both concerns by looking not only at total state spending but also… Read More
Congress has again approved funding for the Iraq war without any requirements for troop redeployments or withdrawal. This is irresponsible since lawmakers will have few additional chances to change U.S. policy on Iraq in the final year of the Bush administration. With this in mind,… Read More
If Abraham Lincoln was the Great Emancipator, Gov. John Baldacci may go down in Maine history as the Great Consolidator. The governor’s efforts to merge state departments, school administrative districts and jails are well-intentioned steps toward reduced government spending. One area the governor has not… Read More
At a time when the state is cutting back assistance to the elderly, children and the poor, you might reasonably assume that the Christian Civic League of Maine would have larger concerns than the bathroom practices of an elementary school student. You’d be wrong. The… Read More