Question E on Portland’s city ballot would eliminate all non-owner-occupied short-term rental units. We are Airbnb hosts but we are also Mainers, advocates for our local economy and supporters of affordable housing. We are not real estate moguls. We own one small apartment building, which we used our life savings and 401(k) to purchase. The […]

“Pro-life” sounds like a wonderful movement. “Anti-abortion” is a much more appropriate description, however. Most of the “pro-life” politicians vote against any medical, housing, nutritional, educational or financial help for the many young women and poor women who decide to have an abortion. If they were truly pro-life, they would be trying to make life […]

If we had a progressive tax system (one that imposes a lower tax rate on lower-income earners), everyone would have excellent health care, good housing, good food, an education beyond high school – regardless of ability to pay. Every child would have the same education with equal educational support systems – regardless of ZIP code. […]

I read Paul Kando’s excellent Maine Voices column, “We can put out next ‘Reichstag fire’ – if we’re ready to” (Oct. 2). I feel called by his writing to speak up publicly for a change. I am appalled by the leadership in Washington and the failure to promote and safeguard the basic principles of our […]

It’s not nice to list your friends from “best” to “worst,” right? Right – except for when you’re filling out your ballot in an election that uses ranked-choice voting. This fall in Maine, voters get to list their No. 1 favorite pick for several jobs, including U.S. president, U.S. senator and U.S. representative. This year […]

One of my personal heroes, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, once said, “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” One of my sister legislators in the 129th Maine Legislature, Democrat Anne Carney, epitomizes that essential characteristic in all I have watched her do. […]

How ironic (or not) that columnist Bill Nemitz’s excellent “moment of clarity” (Oct. 4) is a glaring counterpoint to coverage of Maine Republicans flouting the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines at two campaign events. 1st District U.S. House candidate Jay Allen, a doctor, told the Press Herald: “We’re all going to get this […]

We should have known better, after Donald Trump loomed over Hillary Clinton in their Oct. 9, 2016, town hall debate, that it was time to end the time-dishonored spectacle of presidential debates. But no, we didn’t. And what did we get for our forbearance? Last week’s travesty of public speaking! If I were Joe Biden, […]

A few years ago, Republican Sen. Susan Collins supported a tax cut that lowered taxes for nearly every Maine taxpayer by 12 percent, which is why I don’t understand why Democrat Sara Gideon has chosen to attack Collins for this vote. Does Gideon actually think that Mainers feel the federal government is more deserving of […]