There he goes again. Despite the lowest unemployment rate in 17 years, including declining rates for minorities, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, affectionately called “crazy Bernie” by some conservative talk show hosts, is again flirting with the idea that the federal government should guarantee every American a job, paying a minimum of $15 an hour and […]
Op-Eds
Where is your spine, Sen. Rubio?
Dear Sen. Marco Rubio: So I see where you came after me on Twitter. I’m flattered. Never knew you cared. “This well known national writer,” you tweeted about my last column, “states very clearly that the 63 million Americans who voted for Trump are haters who should not be heard from or engaged in dialogue. […]
Emmanuel Macron's bid to save the West
NEW YORK — Emmanuel Macron came, saw and conquered Washington this past week. But the French president is trying to do something much harder than generate buzz and goodwill. He is trying to stop Donald Trump from dividing the Western alliance and disrupting the (already turbulent) Middle East. Watching him at work — flattering Trump, […]
Experience and theory. And lack thereof
Time was, we were taught not to discuss two topics in polite company. Religion and politics. The thinking of our parents and grandparents was that everyone had a different take on religion and politics, that these ideas underpinned how folks thought and behaved. So polite people didn’t risk angering others by tiptoeing into convictions that […]
Trump’s ‘An American Budget’ is not good for Maine
President Donald Trump’s “An American Budget” proposes significant cuts to the FY 2019 budgets of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The data and information generated by these agencies are used extensively by Maine decision makers, scientists and communities to better understand the rapidly changing ocean and coastal […]
Public reacts to threat of global warming
WASHINGTON — As we marked Earth Day earlier this week, it is natural to ask: What do Americans think of global warming? Is it a big worry? Is government doing enough? The answers seem conclusive but, on closer inspection, are frustrating. They reveal the limits of public opinion surveys in judging public opinion. Karlyn Bowman […]
Make distracted driving in Maine taboo
Buzzzzz, buzzzzzz … that little sound pulsing from our phone commands our attention to look, read and respond. Like sailors drawn to sirens’ songs, we seem perilously drawn to the tantalizing ringing, beeping and buzzing of our phones — all too often with the same destructive results. How did we get so quickly, completely and […]
Congress can preserve an open Internet
As broadband experts and community leaders gathered recently to discuss strategies for expanding high-speed internet access to more rural areas in Maine, closing the divide that prevents many residents from participating in an increasingly digital economy remains one of the state’s most critical challenges. But to connect more Maine communities, consumers and business to the […]
Bernie Sanders should stay on the sidelines
Bernie Sanders is back in the news, showing us all both his good side and the bad. Let’s start with the good. “If Democrats control either the House or the Senate,” he recently told The New York Times, “Trump’s agenda is dead.” Here is Bernie at his best — blunt and colorful, the senator from […]
Fix the flaws in the Iran nuclear deal
By May 12 the Trump administration must once again review American participation in the deceitfully named Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the Obama administration’s so-called “nuclear weapons deal” with Tehran’s terrorist regime. Indeed, the JCPOA is deceitfully named, so let’s address that problem before returning to President Donald Trump and the decision the JCPOA stipulates […]