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9/22/08
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19 comments
September 22 Letters to the Editor
Smiley too grumpyUntil her column was published in the BDN Sept. 8, I thought Sarah Smiley was a pretty good writer. Then she started grumping about her poor kids playing outside in 79 degree “cold” in their fleece shirts, how the movers mistreated her good china, and how the kids make footprints on her sofa. There are people here who will be cold this winter. There are people who won’t have cookies — or anything — for dinner. There are women who don’t have husbands to “rescue” items from the trash so they can cart them around for another 10 years. And there are some women who would give their eye teeth to have a couch with a few footprints on it that were made by happy kids, have those vanilla wafers and have a husband they can count on to be around another 10 years. Most movers are good guys. In our move to Maine more than 20 years ago, we had a number of items on the Bill of Lading shown as “Chester Draw”; this meant anything from an antique secretary to old bureaus. “Barn” items ended up in the “Attic,” things marked “Front Bedroom” were in the kitchen, etc. The movers were polite and careful with most of the things, and a big bunch of sub sandwiches, soda and coffee midday perked them up again. Life is different here from what it is in the South. Mrs. Smiley should either learn to like it, at least accept it, or talk her husband into getting a transfer. Andrea Maberry Deer Isle • • • Greens push organics
The Maine Green Independent Party is dismayed about the rejection of organic farmer Deborah Aldridge for a seat on the board of pesticides control. During the hearing on Ms. Aldridge’s nomination, reference was made to her advocacy of a modest and sensible proposal to have a 500-foot buffer zone between aerial blueberry spraying and adjoining crops. The Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry should be ashamed. Of all the places where an organic farmer should be welcomed, it should be the board of pesticides control. Organic farming is growing as we learn more about the link between diseases and chemical pesticides. It is logical to control pesticides and to avoid them whenever possible. For some chemically sensitive people, such avoidance is a matter of life and death. We also understand the correlation between decreased wildlife in Maine and pesticides. Pesticide runoff has terrible effects on aquatic life. Not only does MGIP seek clean water and air for our fellow creatures, but also to preserve an environment conducive to a prosperous tourist economy. It is shortsighted to reject a qualified person due to her perspective on organic farming and pesticide use. We encourage the governor to either resubmit Ms. Aldridge’s name for reconsideration and actively support her nomination, or substitute another nominee with the same type of qualifications. We desperately need an organic viewpoint on this critical regulatory board. Lynne A. Williams State Chair, Maine Green Independent Party Bar Harbor • • • Bad combination
Forget Father Pfleger. Forget William Ayers. Forget Jeremiah Wright. Forget Tony Resko. Forget that a community organizer has only minimal executive experience. Look at what Barack Obama proposes for our economy. Increase taxes in a time of economic turbulence and reject NAFTA (the latter indicative of a protectionist mind-set). The last time this combination of proposals was enacted was during the administration of Herbert Hoover, anathema to Democrats well into my lifetime. Many economists and economic historians believe that this winning combination was the major contributor to the Great Depression of the 1930s. This may be a change we can believe in, but is it the kind of change we want? Hans Schmidt Lamoine • • • Irresponsible spending
As far as I know, the government’s major source of income is from taxes. It seems logical, therefore, that when the tax rate is reduced and a slowing economy produces less taxable income, as is now the case, that spending should also be reduced. Where, then, is the government getting funds to take on additional expenditures for aiding reconstruction in Georgia and underwriting repairs to the massive damage inflicted by Hurricane Ike? Add to those the bailouts of Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac. It seems that an administration which has loudly touted its tax cuts is spending funds it doesn’t have as improvidently as the proverbial drunken sailor. I don’t believe that is what is taught at Harvard Business School. Barbara Bowler Bradford • • • Collins enabled Bush
Most Maine voters recognize that the Bush presidency has been a disaster for America. It is time we recognized how much Susan Collins has done to facilitate that disaster. Look at how she backed up Bush on the economy. Bush took a federal budget in surplus and turned it into a huge deficit. He has added $4 trillion to the national debt. He accomplished this through leading us into an unnecessary war in Iraq, costing us $10 billion a month, and pushing through three rounds of tax cuts, mostly for the rich, costing even more. He appointed regulators who were ideologically opposed to regulation, leading to the collapse of the mortgage market and into the present recession. Susan Collins supported Bush in all these blunders. She voted for the war in Iraq, and continues to support it. She voted for the tax cuts, enabling the rich to get even richer. And she voted to confirm the lobbyists Bush appointed as regulators. In the House, Tom Allen was voting almost the opposite. He voted against the war in Iraq and against the irresponsible tax cuts. The House does not vote to confirm appointments. But this election is not just about ending the Bush policies. Tom Allen has definite plans for getting us out of Iraq, improving our health care system, rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, and aiding small business. If you want a change from the Bush policies, why not vote for the man who has already voted for change? Vote for Tom Allen. Rufus Wanning Orland • • • Good move by FraserIt was announced by Fraser Papers Inc. that Serge Sorokin is to concentrate his expertise and efforts on making Katahdin Paper’s Millinocket mill site a profitable operation. It is proper to concentrate a seasoned executive with high operations skills where the greatest opportunity is: the Millinocket mill site. The site has advantages but what it doesn’t have is thermal energy, steam, at a profitable cost. Getting that is not going to be easy. As he pursues that goal he may discover other opportunities to help make the mill site profitable. It is wise to have a strong individual, who is unburdened from day-to-day operating responsibilities, be totally focused on one objective: get the Millinocket mill site operational again with a good sustainable profit in a short period of time. The management of the project in this way is different than in the past and gives the project its highest likelihood of success. Sheldon Cote Millinocket • • • Goodman vs. GOPTelling the truth is risky these days. Ask Amy Goodman. Amy, a gray-haired grandmother with Maine roots, spoke in Bangor recently. An award-winning reporter, Amy covers events not normally covered by mainstream media. At the Republican Convention she was called from the convention floor to a disturbance. Without warning, she was attacked by two brutes who took her press card, wrestled her to the ground, cuffed her, and dragged her by one leg across the pavement until her face bled. They hauled her off to jail to join dozens of other arrested reporters. Their crime? Doing their jobs. One reporter from the Post yelled, “Hey, don’t arrest me, we’re a Republican paper!” Here’s the clincher: Amy tells how the Republican Party made a cozy deal with the Minnesota police before the convention. Some judge who forgot to read the Constitution issued a warrant so police could arrest certain reporters and confiscate their “weapons” such as cameras, cell phones and tape recorders. Many of these reporters will sue and win but the Republican convention fund will pay millions to compensate them. In effect, the Republican Party bought an entire state police force to do its dirty work. You didn’t know this because a reporter in jail can’t report. What is done to Amy today can happen to any of us tomorrow if we continue to allow the government to use military containment tactics against law-abiding American citizens. Karen Johnson Machias • • • Evaluating candidatesIt’s election time again. Each candidate is blurting out personal slander, back-stabbing, and making fun of the other, and the list goes on. Just once I would like to see a clean election, an election in which candidates talk about the issues facing this country. I don’t care about the other things that they are talking about. I want to know how they will persuade Congress to pass the necessary bill to make it happen. I think the people of these United States of America forget one thing about all the promises made by the candidates. These promises must first be made into a bill, debated on, sent to both the House and Senate for a vote. If members of Congress don’t think it’s a good bill, it won’t pass. I hope we don’t get caught up in the frenzy and emotions so we forget who we should be voting for. We need to make a choice for the candidate who will be the best president for this country. We need to make choices for candidates, both on the national and state levels, who will listen to the people and vote accordingly. Becky Wiers Palmyra
Comments
To the Letter via Andrea Mayberry...i have to defend Mrs. Smiley. I have never met her. I only read her articles. You said you moved/relocated to Maine about 20 years ago. You did not mention anything as to where you came from, or what the reason (s) you came to Maine. Although Maine is a beautiful state to live in...most of the year (except February and March), it has it's detractions, just like anyplace else. And, yes...there are thousands of mom's in Maine with kid's who would love to have the opportunities Mrs. Smiley's kids have. Mrs. Smiley, Mrs. Mayberry, is a nationally-renowned author and columnist in major papers in the US. Her husband is a career officer in the US Navy. They are successful. Could I interject just for a monent to mention this to you? My wife and I are also successful. We, also have a son. He also grew up in our home. We, too, had issues to deal with him in his upbringing...but he never touched one item in our home he knew was fragile or that he should take his shoes off when in the home. My wife is Asian, and nobody enters the house with shoes on...ever. Yes, our furniture in the US was nice, also, and it is with us still, and continues to be nice. However, sometimes kids will be kids and sometimes accidents will happen. So, scold the child, and then he or she will learn that walking on a sofa or jumping on it is unacceptable. It's that simple...and a lot of parents must instill that kind of discipline in their child. We do not want our furniture looking like it came from the downtown homeless shelter, ma'am. Apparently you did not understand or missed the writing style of Mrs. Smiley. It is supposed to be a writ in humor, Mrs. Mayberry. You should see that in your reading comprehension. But, if you read the comments posted under her articles on her website page, you will be able to notice something. Please be more understanding, and if you write again, I hope your comments do not resonate of jealousy, envy or mistrust for those of us who are secure, educated and worked for the opportunities and stabilities we have in our lives; or moved into Maine from "far away places with strange-sounding names". Hans:
Get your information correct. McCain - tax cuts for the wealthy. Obama - tax cuts for the middle class. Stop letting Limbaugh and Hannity do your thinking for you. Karen Johnson; I don't believe you or Amy. If this "conspiracy" did exist, I think we would have heard about it from a source other than a letter to the editor in a democratic biased newspaper in Bangor Maine. There are two sides to every story, and some democratic left wing loons have demonstrated their abilty to be disruptive, vile, and rude to anyone not sharing their beliefs. It is possible that they deserved to be arrested. Hans Schmidt in his Letter to the Editor of September 22 claims that Barak Obama will raise taxes. In fact, that's only true for the less than 2% of Americans who earn more than $250,000 per year. Can we assume that Mr. Schmidt is one of these Americans?
Lori Cole Northfield, ME Re: Bad combination. Ok, some fact checking please. Obama's plan is to reduce taxes on everyone making under $200,000 a year. He will increase taxes on those making OVER this amount back to where they were before the Bush Tax cuts (for the rich). He also wants to increase social security payroll taxes by raising the cap on income that is taxed. ( right now once you reach $97,000 additional income is not taxed). His plan calls for additional taxes over incomes of $250,000. Claims that he will increase taxes for everyone are just not true. Obama was once a community organizer who helped those affected by massive layoffs.( how evil!) However, this in only ONE thing on his resume. This would be like saying Palin's experience comes from being a Beauty contestant. You can't conveniently "skip over" Obama's political career any more than you could skip Palins. His position on NAFTA is to rework it, not to simply eliminate it. If you are going to attack someone over their position on issues, at least make sure you know what their position is first. Adding another I.O.U. to the Social Security shoebox in an effort to bail out the morgage corporations is just another step in he wrong direction. As CEO's get their multi million dollar bonus checks for poor business ethics the tax payers get to pick up the bill for bad decisions buy buyers and lenders alike. Are Politicians "Smarter Than A Fifth Grader"? Mrs. Mayberry - this is Ester, the wife of "Johninphilippines". You made me so angry with your comments on your letter. You were so fast to misjudge Sarah Smiley! You do not seem to understand several things. Coming from Florida, after living and having come from the South-southern states of the USA, to Maine at this time of year, is a dramatic change in temperature to the acclimated body system of the Smiley's. If Sarah wants to put a sweater on her children, it is because they simply are not used to the Maine climate yet. And it is her decision to do that. In your paragraph 2, you made a considerable number of comments that actually have not one thing to do with anything. What do those comments have to do with Sarah Smiley, anyway? Seems you are airing your own problems in this paragraph. Nobody cares. I do not know who moved you from Anywhere, USA to the State of Maine, but seems you had jokers instead of credible movers to move you. Sarah Smiley already is well aware what life is in Maine, now. You are the kind that make transition-moving difficult for anyone coming into your area to adjust and cope. I found this out myself, but I really do not care much about that, as it is listed in my 11 years in Maine yearbooks as to visit Maine is okay, but don't stay there. Like the saying goes, "Welcome to Maine, now go home", seems to be your attitude. It is not for you to determine what Sarah Smileys thoughts are for living in Maine, that is none of your business, and her husband will be transferred someday, and "talking" to her husband to get a transfer is impossible. You know nothing about how the military works, either! But, counter to your views, the Smileys will have a much better time in Maine than in your perspective. You make me so mad at you for saying those things about Sarah Smiley, I had to take the computer from my husband this morning to express my point of view to your distasteful triad against her. Leave it alone. Seems you are the one who dont like to live in Maine! "deace1"...NO! (answering your 9-22-08 last sentence question). Well, I agree with you that we should respect the opinions of economists with regards to politics. Most economists (59%) believe that Obama will be better for the economy long-term, with only 31% saying McCain would be better (10% undecided). Most Economists (and Alan Greenspan) also say that McCain's proposed tax-cuts (mainly for the wealthy, more of the same failed "trickle-down" garbage) are far too large. Let's also be realistic about the idea that the Republican Party, and especially John McCain, are about cutting government spending, or government size in general. The current Republican president is the biggest spender in 30 years, and his administration has increased the "size" of government substantially. More troubling is the fact that he increased the scope of government to include spying on it's own citizens. John McCain will likely be worse than Bush, first because he leans populist anyways, but more importantly because he pretty much guarantees more, costlier wars. McCain voted with Bush almost every time, so it's kind of hard to believe that he is going to reduce either government spending or size and scope, that just plain doesn't reflect in his record in any way. How are we going to support the massive top-heavy tax cuts McCain "promises" while spending money hand over fist to propogate injustices against other nations and even our own citizens? Obama's proposed tax cuts are far better-aimed, and his policy far less expensive, especially in terms of long-term debt to China (which is likely where the money for McCain's tax cuts will come). Ms Maberry,
It wouldn't take an 8th grade student more than a minute or two reading Ms Smiley's columns to realize that she is writing with humor. Yet, you somehow miss that point. Having spent a 28 year career in the same service as her husband and having to move 20 times I can relate to each and every item she wrote in that column. From the movers to the "footprints" on the sofa. More importantly, so can my wife and my now adult children.
I am not originally from Maine, but the climatic difference between Florida and Maine are exactly as she describes. I have worn more than one sweatshirt during the summer months up her.
Before we moved here I had always heard that Mainers are a reticent lot, slow to welcome strangers into their midst, I found just the opposite to be true. They are a great bunch of folks.
I found your last paragraph to be mean-spirited and pretty much offensive. As do most of the good people of Maine, I welcome Ms Smiley, her husband and her children into our community. They are certainly a welcome addition. john--what happened to brevity? and I am amazed that you seem to be in expert....in everything! lol How about a Jack of all traits and and master of none?????? "danwoj"...you missed my statements to "katofbangor"...I just may be an expert at (most) everything. Want me to send you my 14-page biograph? Never mind brevity. Seems you don't have too much to say, anyway, huh? Oh..."steveyDee"...you, too! Golly, I just noticed your comment below "danwoj's". This is getting good! By the way...I have mastered more than you can imagine, sonny...and the word is not "traits"...the word is "trades". Can someone explain to me how supply-side economics are "failed" policies? When taxes are low on those who produce, people are encouraged to produce more, which increases tax revenue, not decreases it. Tax revenues have grown tremendously, hitting record levels the past three years, since the Bush tax cuts went into place. Deficit spending is a result of over-spending, not under-taxing.
And let's please cut the "tax cuts for the rich" bull. The tax cuts were across the board, helping middle-class families as well as the wealthy. In 2006, the top wage earners earned roughly 22.1% of the adjusted gross income, yet paid 39.9% of all federal income taxes. How is that fair?
Lastly, does anyone really believe that Obam-uhhhh will actually cut taxes for anyone. His voting record indicates otherwise. Now we're supposed to believe that he's going to cut taxes? Are we supposed to HOPE that he has CHANGED? Let's look at the record of the most recent Democrat president. Slick Willie promised middle class tax cuts, then pulled the rug out from under the middle class. To borrow a cleche from the Clinton years, "It's the spending, stupid!" "danwoj"...look at the posting of 9-22 to you by "drigodad"...cannot you simply understand your thought process is screwy? I cannot make any more comments to you or "steveyDee" as you two are bringing up the same "DOGPILE" as you did when BDN had the old website...now you guys are at it once again! John, what pray tell are you talking about now? what DOGPILE on the old website??? John, it seems to me the only thing you've mastered is tooting your own horn in online message boards, kind of like that cross-dresser dude that used to be on here every day writing some verbous story about when they were 15...SteveyDee? At least he's humorous, you're just annoying. Watch out, SteveyDee, he'll sick Ester on you!!! |
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