Recent proposals by the LePage administration to “freeze” the COLA (cost-of-living adjustment) appear to be a mean-spirited attempt to attack state employees and educators. Those receiving Social Security will receive a true COLA. State employees have already had their COLA’s frozen for the past two years.

So what is the effect of a frozen COLA? For a retiree with a $20,000 “pension,” at an average 4 percent inflation rate for 25 years, he would need $53,316 to have the equivalent buying power. Looked at another way, after 25 years this 4 percent inflation rate would erode the value of $20,000 to $7,502. That income has fallen in real terms by 62 percent.

I hope that state employees and the general public will keep these numbers in mind as we address the state’s failure to honor its responsibility to support the fund the state developed for state employee “social security.”

John Krueger

Liberty

As a retired educator of five years — after teaching for 35 years — (the state) is going to cut or put a hold on our COLA.

We’ve gone without for two years and got by shopping at Walmart. Now you want us to shop at Marden’s.

We’ll be out in force to fight.

Jack Garvin

South Portland

No time for Legislature to be making whoopie

Have we really gone to the time and expense of electing a Legislature so that it can argue over pastry?

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve rarely met a whoopie pie I didn’t like, and I’m more than proud that our state can count them among its many contributions to society. This said, is a legal debate of this worth even a minute of our time?

Keeping the Legislature in session must have some real cost in dollars, and whatever time is wasted hearing about the enhanced nutritional value of the pumpkin option will be lost forever when it’s time to sort the real problems of jobs, health care and education.

Doubtless I’m quibbling over pennies here, but in any case I’m not yet ready for comic relief from Augusta. We have too many real and unsolved problems for the human whoopie pie to be stealing the front page. And if Pennsylvania somehow beats us to the punch, who cares? It’s hard to see it eating into business.

Elliot Rappaport

Portland 

You have got to be kidding me!

People are out of work, homeless and freezing and the Legislature is frittering away time on a stupid bill to make whoopie pies the state dessert.

I love whoopie pies as much as the next person, but don’t we have more important issues to address? And what is the cost to the taxpayers for clerical and administrative tasks associated with a bill like this?

If my rep sponsored a bill like this, you can be sure that he or she would lose my vote in the next election.

Pauline Gallagher

Bath

Stimulus package puts money in Maine pockets

Here’s a story of how one penny-pinching Maine family was tempted into contributing serious dollars into the Maine economy.

We’re dedicated do-it-yourselfers renowned for our frugal tendencies. We rarely eat out. Our cars are 13 and 27 years old. We heat our house to 63 degrees (53 at night). Nevertheless, we found ourselves in the position of voluntarily spending more than $23,000 at Maine businesses.

What miraculous force wrenched that much money from our tight fists?

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Yup. Obama’s stimulus program.

Stimulus-funded Efficiency Maine programs dangled the carrots of some cash back in our pockets if we improved the energy efficiency of our house and replaced our old boiler with a new one. We took the bait, figuring we’d have to replace that old boiler anyway — and if we waited, it would only cost us more.

But, if we wanted those incentive checks, we had to follow the rules: Employ people to do the job and get it all done and paid for by the end of last year.

Now we need less oil to heat our more comfortable (and more valuable) house, and quite a few local workers and businesses got nice Christmas paychecks. Yet there is no way we would have undergone such an arduous, expensive and inconvenient project without the financial incentive and deadline in front of us.

This application of stimulus funds proves that appropriate incentives can encourage individuals to provide jobs and contribute to the country’s long-term goals. That’s success.

Anita Brosius-Scott

Camden

Requiring photo ID to vote more benefit than burden

There has been much discussion recently about voters in Maine having to present a photo ID in order to be able to vote. Some have the opinion that it would be an obstacle to voting and place an “unnecessary burden” on potential voters.

On Oct. 14, the Bangor Daily News published an editorial strongly advocating the need for voters to have and present a photo ID. That editorial noted that a photo ID is currently necessary to write a check at the local convenience store, cash a check at your bank, or buy a drink at a bar or alcohol at the store. Yet in Maine, people can vote without such identification. It goes on to state that without a photo ID, it is possible for political activists to use the names of recently deceased people to vote.

Worse yet, however, is the capability for anyone in Maine to register to vote without producing any form of ID. Yes, it might involve taking an oath, but anyone with already nefarious intention wouldn’t let that stop them. Once registered, proof of that registration can be used to help construct a legitimate identity for other fraudulent purposes.

Not only should voters in Maine be required to prove their identity to vote, they should have to prove their identity to register to vote. The requirement to provide appropriate ID to vote in Maine is long overdue.

Michael Gleason

Bangor

 

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