The recent uproar over Lewiston Mayor Bob Macdonald’s controversial statements about Somali integration is misguided. The question should not be whether immigrants retain or jettison their cultures; diversity greatly strengthens America. The question should focus on whether this rapid mass immigration should have been permitted at all.

• Why did the government and organizations like Catholic Charities relocate thousands of people into an economically battered area in a drastically short period of time?

Maine can’t even provide adequate employment opportunities for its own citizens. Officially, 7.6 percent of state residents are unemployed, and that figure shamefully excludes the long-term unemployed who have ceased looking for work.

As an incredibly small state, we do not possess the jobs infrastructure to permit such huge influxes of low-skilled people in short time frames, yet this is the fiasco that occurred in Lewiston. Countless unemployed Mainers lost out on potential job opportunities as an end result.

• Why did hundreds of these same legal immigrants move from lower-cost and hot-weather states like Tennessee and Georgia to the lower-wage and colder environment of Maine? Can we say “overgenerous ‘welfare magnet’ that is buttressed by the aching backs of struggling Maine taxpayers”?

• Why was this mass immigration not directed toward wealthier areas such as Falmouth Foreside or the Yorks? Is it because such highbrow areas do not wish to accommodate any sort of “riff-raff,” whether it is lower-class Mainers or poor foreign arrivals?

Immigrants are good and decent people, and we must always encourage legal immigration when it benefits the United States. But our country is being severely eroded by a long-term unemployment crisis and the ascent of the ominous “fiscal cliff.” It is time to refocus and attend to the needs of jobless American citizens.

Ben Holmes

Portland

Rep. McClellan helped make regulatory system workable

As Senate chair on the Regulatory Reform and Fairness Committee that worked in the Maine 125th Legislature’s last year, the first order of business was to look at the business environment in Maine and find ways to simplify and clarify regulations for job creators.

The committee was tasked with bringing Republicans and Democrats that would work together to make real change to our stifling regulatory system.

Rep. Mike McClellan of Raymond was one of those thrown into the mix. He had already been assigned to one of the busiest committees, Education and Cultural Affairs.

Mike brought attention, good humor and a background in business from his chamber of commerce days that clearly supported our efforts. He was always prepared, and we traveled across the state listening to the people of Maine and building personal relationships with members of both parties, which would serve him well during the next two years.

When the listening tour concluded and we began to sort through the vast information that we collected, Mike continued to be a great resource.

Although we were the majority party, we worked together with Republicans, Democrats and the independent throughout the process.

I am pleased to say due to the work of Mike and the entire committee, the ultimate regulatory reform bill (L.D. 1) came out of committee with unanimous bipartisan support.

L.D. 1 passed in both House and Senate and has been both a model of how to work collaboratively toward the goal of simplifying regulation and creating a balance for job creators while protecting the environment.

I am pleased to encourage you to re-elect Mike McClellan to the Maine House of Representatives.

He is a principled leader who listens and can bring people together to solve the challenges of today and tomorrow.

Sen. Jon Courtney, R-Springvale

District 3 (Alfred, Limington, Lyman, Sanford and Waterboro)

As legislator, John Tuttle has his priorities straight

Like most sportsmen in Maine, we have become increasingly accustomed to politicians telling us one thing and then doing another.

It’s a pleasure when you get a chance to vote for someone who really does know what we want.

We need leaders who understand our traditions and will fight for us.

I have had the pleasure of knowing state Rep. John Tuttle for more than 40 years and having hunted with John for more than 30.

So it’s with certainty that I tell you that John has been working for and will continue to work for all sportsmen in Maine if he is elected to the state Senate.

He has consistently received the highest rating from conservation groups like the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine fighting for our initiatives.

He has also been a steadfast supporter of his constituents and cares deeply about our great state.

Tuttle’s blue-collar roots have always guided his support for middle-class Maine workers.

By most measures, he is a fiscal conservative, social moderate and an outdoorsman who cares about our concerns.

What Maine needs is more state senators like John Tuttle.

I encourage you to vote for John.

Jayson Allain

Eliot

 

Vietnam vet curious about King’s military record

Having read Angus King’s bio in the Portland Press Herald and on his website, I find no mention of his military service during the 1960s.

I believe we as a nation were engaged in a conflict in Vietnam during that period of time. The draft was a fearful reality to guys our age. I know. In 1967, at the age of 21, I got my notice and away I went into the U.S. Army.

I spent my year in hell with many others in the Republic of Vietnam as a track commander with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment from October 1968 through October 1969.

As a 1964 graduate of Deering High School I was fearful and uncertain about my future, as I did not come from a family of privilege or power. My fate was sealed. I did return home in one piece, but mentally and emotionally I was forever changed.

If anyone could shed some light to what I consider a very important issue of the details of Mr. King’s experience and whereabouts at that time, I and the voting public deserve to know.

John F. Raney

South Portland