Signers beware. That’s the first lesson all Mainers should take away from the recent people’s veto effort targeting vaccine regulations in the state. This summer, an anti-vaccine group collected signatures to challenge a new law that limits exemptions to vaccine requirements for public school students. Under the new law, which is now on hold, children […]
We no longer have a two-party system in American Democracy. We have an asymmetrical system where one party continues to comport itself largely along traditional lines with deference to the law, the Constitution and Democratic norms, and the other has declared total and complete war on any institution or check that would constrain its power. […]
Democrats should be embarrassed. But not for the typical reasons that might have quickly jumped to mind. They should be embarrassed by the strength, depth and diversity of the field of candidates vying for the party’s nomination to face President Donald Trump. The field looks like America. Even some of the candidates who have already […]
It was a long, deadly weekend as gun violence claimed more lives. At least seven people (eight if you count the gunman) are dead in west Texas at the hands of an angry man with an “AR style” weapon. Three police officers and a 17-month-old were among the 25 people who were wounded. The victims […]
As long was we can dream of a better day or fear our nightmares, there will be con artists and scammers looking to steal our money. My father was a dreamer. He’d buy the old Cadillac or the limping RV with the hopes that he could coerce a few more miles out of the relics. […]
Gov. Janet Mills has called the Legislature back into special session next week to consider a smart investment package that includes money for transportation, to boost the economy, to clean up pollution and for the Land for Maine’s Future program. The money to pay for the debt service on the bonding was already included in […]
In my column last week, I wrote about 30 ideas that could help stem the ever-rising tide of gun violence in the United States. The ideas ranged from background checks and waiting periods to a ban on military-style weapons such as the AR-15 and large capacity magazines. Generally speaking, as someone who worked on the background check […]
One. Strengthen background checks and close the loopholes that allows someone to buy a gun without one. Two. Ban high-capacity magazines that enhance the killing power of semi-automatic weapons and reduce the need for an attacker to reload to continue on a rampage. Three. Require gun owners to be licensed. Four. End so-called “constitutional carry.” If […]
Democracy is under attack in the United States. A recent US Senate Intelligence Committee report found that it’s likely all 50 states were targeted by the Russian government in 2016 as part of that country’s efforts to influence our elections. While there’s no direct evidence that votes or election data were changed, the implications are staggering. […]
There are certain tasks most of us will face, assuming we have the good fortune to live long enough. One of those is cleaning out the house of our parents – perhaps the house where we grew up. My mother, Louise Farmer, died in October 2015, and I have put off dealing with her house […]
