As astronomers peer farther and farther out into the universe, they are finding more and more stars that, like our sun, have planets of their own. This interesting news helps me to understand the current situation in Washington, D.C.

In June 2009 General Motors, a victim of the financial crisis, went bankrupt, putting more than 50,000 jobs directly at risk along with uncountable jobs at suppliers all over the country. The government lent the company money, and GM was able to limp along and rebuild.

The “bailout” was roundly denounced by the Republican Party. As recently as Nov. 19, John Boehner, now speaker of the House, lashed out by saying the government’s action “hurt tens of thousands of Americans.”

Last week, GM announced bonuses for more than 48,000 hourly workers who had stayed with the company and helped it return to profitability. The average bonus will be about $4,000.

Yeah, that must really hurt.

Now that our stargazers have seen so many new planets, maybe the Republican Party and its leadership will be able to tell us just which one they are from. It must be strange and wonderful.

Bob Sessums
North Yarmouth 

Change you can believe in?

Gitmo running after 25 months; a half-trillion to the “super rich”; slashing 200-plus domestic social programs, including heating assistance, which means freezing or starving in the North; increasing war funding by 3 to 5 percent while slashing a trillion over a decade in money that poor citizens really need.

Why? To get re-elected? To cut the deficit? Health care costs are eating us up, and we spend twice as much as Canada and EU countries to get less.

I am so disappointed and will support Mr. Obama in 2012 only if I see the man I voted for in 2008 reappear. He can do it — come on! Let him hear your voice.

Dan Rynberg
Yarmouth 

Mainers asked to step up in another hour of need 

It is shocking to hear of the plan to slash federal home heating assistance to Maine by 50 percent. So many Mainers depend on heating assistance to make it through the winter.

For this reason, last fall I started a website called An Hour for My Neighbor dedicated to augmenting fuel assistance funds for local communities. The site is information-only, providing addresses where donors can send checks to help their neighbors heat their homes. I do not accept any funds.

Mainers are generous and responsive to those in need. We’ve donated to numerous good causes: international disaster relief, families burned out of their homes, patients in need of special equipment and other similar needs.

Most towns in Maine have fuel assistance funds, sometimes set up as part of the general assistance fund, sometimes as a separate fund with fundraising done by volunteer organizations. All are being overburdened by the number of families needing assistance this very cold winter. Some of your neighbors have lost their jobs or are ill and are unable to afford fuel this year.

An Hour for My Neighbor suggests you donate an hour of your pay to your own town’s fuel assistance fund. An hour is simply 1/2,080th of your annual income — a drop in the bucket, so to speak. I encourage everyone to consider donating this tiny fraction of your annual pay to help your neighbors — some you may know, some you may not know — this winter.

Visit anhourformyneighbor.com to learn more or to have your town’s information added to the site. If your town is not listed, contact your local town office to find out where to send fuel assistance funds.

Gail Pettit
Berwick 

I recently learned two great men in our community have passed on.

I’ve been delivering Meals on Wheels, which provides home-delivered meals to those in need, for a few years now. It’s never easy to lose anyone, but Warren Simpson and William Lowell were “my guys.” They always brought a smile to my face, as I did theirs.

Over the years I heard countless stories about their lives, from the businesses they each started and ran to their wartime experiences. They loved their wives, they loved their family and friends and they loved the Meals on Wheels drivers who visited them every day.

There are numerous elders living among us who have so much to share and are so grateful for those who take the time for them. As we move into a new age, I know many of you are realizing that service to others is a necessity. I encourage you to volunteer in any way you can to be with and help our senior citizens. You can learn more at www.smaaa.org or by calling (800) 427-7411.

Alissa Pashko
South Portland 

“Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”

“Love thy neighbor.”

“Be kind to those in need.”

These concepts are central to most religions and moral systems. Good people — and good societies — try to live up to these principles. And yet our new governor is choosing to do precisely the opposite in cutting off aid to some of our most needy neighbors who are recent immigrants.

Most of the immigrants who come to Maine are innocent victims of war. Many of the newest arrivals are here because the United States invaded their country, causing their homes to be bombed and family members killed.

To cast these mothers, fathers and children into the street now is as far from morally upright as you can get. Imagine if your home were bombed, you were forced to flee penniless to an unknown country where everyone spoke a foreign language and then you were told you didn’t deserve any help while you figured out how to rebuild your life.

Many Americans are unaware that the United States has drastically reduced the number of refugees it admits, so that we now lag far behind other developed nations. When it comes to compassion for the displaced, ours is now the stingiest of nations.

One thing Mainers can be proud of, though, is that until now Maine has offered more generous benefits to these struggling and victimized families than many other states. I hope our legislators will deny Gov. LePage’s attempt to join the ranks of the heartless.

Mary Wheeler
Scarborough 

Copy the Story Link