The American constitutional convention completed its work on Sept. 17, 1787. When New Hampshire ratified it on June 21, 1788 the Constitution created our national government under the terms of Article VII which required the ratification of nine states,. It became workable when Virginia ratified it June 25 and New York, on July 26 1788. The ten amendments, known at ... Read More »
“Whatever the final outcome in the Cyprus crisis — we know it’s going to be ugly; we just don’t know exactly what form the ugliness will take.”—Paul Krugman, NYT March 25. As it is for Cyprus so it will be for the United States of America. We know the final outcome of our present conditions will be ugly, but we ... Read More »
“Under democracy, one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule. Both commonly succeed, and both are right.” —H.L. Mencken. Exasperated voters routinely accuse Republicans and Democrats of playing politics, i.e., showing more interest in partisan advantage than national needs. Republicans repeatedly accuse the Democrats of playing politics at the ... Read More »
Ideally, a columnist has a parasitic relationship with what is called (sometimes accurately) the “working press.” That is they do the leg work, the columnist reads their reports and, drawing on a lifetime of reading, offers an analysis. Once in a while this columnist departs from the ideal; showing up at places where the news is made. So it came ... Read More »
In May 2011 the Republican majority, along with a single Democrat rejected a bill to increase the minimum wage from $7.50 to $8.00 an hour. Now that the Democrats are back in the majority and President Obama has proposed increasing the national minimum wage to $9.00 we can expect a renewed effort to increase Maine’s minimum wage. During the 2011 ... Read More »
The Department of Peace Enthusiasts are experiencing a renewed burst of hope. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-13) has just introduced H.R. 808 “Department of Peacebuilding Act of 2013.” This follows a trail already blazed by Ohio Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who attempted to establish a Department of Peace. Everybody knows that wars kill people, including little children, wrecks things, consumes huge ... Read More »
There are two things readers must know to understand this passage. First, that it was the Lincoln-Douglas senatorial debates that raised Lincoln from a one-term congressman and state legislator to the status of a presidential candidate. Second, that the debates centered on the constitutional issues of whether the territories gained by conquest from Mexico would be admitted as slave states ... Read More »
This is the title given to a February 14 Maine Taxpayers United (MTU) press conference in the State House. The meeting centered on a letter signed by 58 citizens of our state and sent to Maine’s congressional delegation. It asks our senators and representatives to oppose any increase in the national debt, and get to work on the long-delayed job ... Read More »
As the Gun Nuts and Control Nuts engage in furious forensic affray, we have inevitably reached the point where there are studies of the studies on gun violence studies attacking contrary gun violence studies. While this gives pain to the handfuls of seriously apolitical researchers and policy wonks, it affords some entertainment to those of us gifted with a perverse ... Read More »
On January 9 the new Democratic legislative leadership held a press conference to tell us about their agenda. According to Senate President Justin Alfond (D-Portland) they will be offering a new tone—“a tone of civility, a tone of getting things done.” In the absence of specifics it’s too early to say whether they intend to get things done or get ... Read More »
Exploring Lincoln Local Faces, Names, and News from the greater Lincoln, Maine area
