Letters to the Editor

CMP rate increase, hearing schedule unfair

To the Editor:
    I am one of the half million customers who will be affected by Central Maine Power’s proposed unfair rate increase if the Public Utility Commission approves their proposal. I decided to make my voice heard about this by testifying before the commission at a public hearing on April 3rd. I’m glad I did.

    Many in our state live on a fixed income. CMP needs to take a long, hard look at what an increase will mean to people who have no place to turn as they struggle to make ends meet each month. One-third of Social Security beneficiaries in Maine who are 65 and older don’t have any other income. No savings, no pension, nothing. How do you absorb extra costs when you have no other resources?
    It is also disappointing that the Commission chose to have only two hearings and both of them in the evening. Older people don’t tend to drive at night and many of CMP’s most vulnerable customers live too far away from Portland and Hallowell where the hearings took place to be able to attend.  They should have made the hearings more accessible to more people.
    CMP needs to remember that this issue is not about numbers.  It is about people. I hope all CMP customers will contact the Commission on their website and tell them what they think about CMPs proposal.

Erica Magnus
Windham

The ‘Truthiness Bill’

To the Editor:
    Once again the “Honorable” Sen. Doug Thomas has produced a nearly unanimous bi-partisanship in Augusta. A feat to be proud of; I’m not so sure. Senator Thomas is the sole sponsor of a bill so egregious that all the representatives in the House voted against it save one. Thomas’s one ally was a socialist Democrat from Portland.
    LD 1834 would have given government bureaucracy the authority to determine for the people of Maine what is truth and what is a lie in a campaign. I guess Sen. Thomas feels we are not capable of doing that for ourselves.
    His socialist friend agrees. In her speech to support Thomas’s bill, she affectionately called it the “truthiness” bill. She was thrilled that she and “the good Senator … agree on something.” She admonished the legislature asking them, “Do you really want to leave it up to ‘The People’ to determine whether that’s true or false? She further extolled the “virtues” of the “truthiness” bill saying, “These are the important issues of our time and it is absolutely imperative that a government agency give us a hand-up on the truth.” Ah, a piece of legislation only a socialist could love.
    We The People of Central Maine do not need government to “give us a hand-up” to understand truth. Is this really the way Sen. Thomas feels about his constituents? Does he really believe we can’t think for ourselves? This is one more government intrusion we don’t need.
    But this is not the first time the “good” Senator has forced Republicans and Democrats to join forces to stop him. Remember, he sponsored a bill to raise the fee on snow machine registration and impose of fine for late registrations. It was killed in committee by unanimous consent.
    State registrations are a takings or a tax. So it is ironic that Mr. Thomas is attacking Paul Davis for not signing the tax pledge, while Doug Thomas signed the pledge and then proceeded to sponsor a bill to not only to raise taxes on snow machines, but also fine those who registered late.
    So you make the comparison: One man prefers to let his record speak for itself and keep his pledge to the people by his actions, another, signs a pledge, then sponsors legislation to raise taxes all the while waving his signed tax pledge around like a get-outta-jail-free card. Where is the “truthiness” here?
    His version of “truthiness” also has Paul Davis voting against the tax cuts. What Thomas fails to acknowledge is that Paul Davis voted against the budget because the Governor asked him to, along with a group of fellow conservatives in the legislature. The Democrats had watered down the Budget and the Governor vowed to veto it. He needed Conservatives to stand with him and Paul Davis did.
    I wonder; Are all the other conservatives who stood with the Governor guilty of the same “crime” as Paul Davis? I’m sure they would like to know. Maine People Before Politics says that Paul Davis has a 100 percent rating of voting with the people. So, where is the “truthiness” here?
    I think Mr. Thomas wants an exemption from his own bill. He is proud, though, of the glowing review he received from the Bangor Daily News.
    I recently heard former Senator Steve Hall state emphatically, “You can’t believe anything from the Bangor Daily News!”
    I couldn’t agree more!

Andy Torbett
Atkinson