We finally bought a car with a modern dashboard, the kind with the little screen that gives us a choice of 500 satellite radio stations, lets me answer my phone, can show us a map to the nearest Starbucks, tells us altitude, helps me back up with the aid of a rearview camera and a […]

There are historical moments that often slip by both pundits and partisans. President Obama’s final State of the Union address is one of them. Blake Hounshell is Politico’s digital editorial director, a veteran journalist who is given to wry tweets and light mocking of politicians. But, humorous, or serious, I quote his tweet because it […]

I felt no emotion whatsoever when I learned last Thursday morning three people had won more than $500 million each playing Powerball. I was neither pleased for nor envious of them. The three winning tickets had been purchased in California, Florida, and Tennessee, making it unlikely I’d be personally acquainted with any of the trio […]

Throughout most of the 20th century the Republican Party was a peaceable kingdom. Its roots were in farms and finance, its adherents the managerial class, small-business owners and members of Rotary and country clubs, its power centers the Eastern colleges, the Farm Bureau, Madison Avenue, Wall Street and Main Street, plus much of the prairie […]

The new year is here, and with it comes the implementation of all the tax reforms included in the current state budget. Those reforms make our tax system more progressive, and will mean more money in the pocket of Mainers all over our state. As a member of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee, I spend a […]