Letters to the Editor

Looking for
the right decision

To the Editor:
    We’re already a month into the legislative session and we need to address the continuing discussion about expanding health care coverage to thousands of struggling Mainers. Many of these people are between the ages of 50 and 64 who have lost their jobs. Even if they are working, many are still struggling without adequate health care coverage. The state needs to take action. If we can help hard working Mainers obtain the health care coverage they need to get through tough times then it is beneficial for Mainers and for Maine.

    Expanding health care coverage will give people without insurance access to preventive care that can save lives. Expanding health care coverage will help thousands of 50- to 64-year-old Mainers, not yet eligible for Medicare, who have fallen into a coverage gap because they do not have access to subsidized coverage through the ACA health exchanges.
    Before the passage of the ACA, a loss of employer coverage was devastating for many 50-64 year olds. On average, people over 50 have at least one chronic condition. Because of their age and health status, older adults often had trouble finding a plan that they could afford and one that met their needs especially with a pre-existing condition. The expanded health coverage will provide access to both primary and preventive care such as medical screenings and treatment for chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease.
    It’s time to make a difference for Mainers who live in fear of getting sick or who delay taking care of their health problems because they cannot afford health care coverage. I strongly urge our elected leaders to work together to make the right decision in 2014 and accept the federal dollars already set aside for Maine.

Cynthia Grovo
AARP volunteer
Scarborough

Able-bodied adults should take care
of themselves

To the Editor:
    The most expensive issue being discussed at the State House this winter is the expansion of MaineCare, a program that originally was designed to provide medical coverage to poor families. It’s been expanded over the years to include more and more individuals. MaineCare now covers more than 300,000 people and consumes 25 percent of the entire state budget. The expansion currently being debated would add another 70,000 to those rolls.
    Who are these 70,000 individuals? Believe it or not, they’re able-bodied adults between the ages of 19 and 64. More than half are single men and women without children who could work if they wanted to. With some effort on their part, they could qualify for a subsidy under Obamacare and buy their own health insurance for no more than $10 per week.
    No matter what you hear, adding these folks to MaineCare is going to cost Maine people who get up and go to work every day millions in new taxes. That’s money that we could use to reduce property taxes.
    Even if this expansion were free, is it the right thing to do? Should society provide for people at no cost what they are perfectly capable of providing for themselves? I don’t think so and will not be voting to give more welfare to people who should be taking care of themselves.

Sen. Doug Thomas
R-Ripley

Betrayal

To the Editor;
    When The Maine Conservative Voice was started, it was my desire to be just that, a voice. The hope was to make political leaders, both statewide and nationally, aware that the conservative movement was not dead in Maine, but alive and well. What a humbling experience it has been to have so many people in rural Maine shake my hand and say “thank you” for lending a voice to their beliefs and convictions.
    The hope has always been that conservatives across Maine would unify in one force and work together to set Maine free from the tyranny of liberal and socialist agendas.
    Time has passed and TMCV has been able to have some influence, along with other groups, on Maine’s political landscape. Still, progress has been slowed and marred by competing egos and personal agendas.
    My greatest fear when I began this column and blog was that eventually I would grow numb to the corruption and become a silent observer. While there are some positions that I hold where ethics require silence, still my passion to expose unscrupulous behavior remains undaunted.
    But what if the betrayal comes from leaders you have worked closely with and supported? What then? How could I retain the integrity of the ideals I set forth with if I remained silent?
    I understand compromise and that it is a vital part of our political system. What I do not understand is calling yourself a conservative yet forming an alliance with one of the most liberal members of your party.
    I cannot comprehend campaigning across a senate district touting your support of the governor’s agenda to secure conservative votes and then joining political forces with the one man who has worked tirelessly to subvert the Governor’s policies and conservative ideals.
    I am astounded that a man can campaign as a social conservative and then join forces with the very man who has fought to subvert everything social conservatives stand for. But this is what we find in the latest revelations from the political soap opera that is Sen. Doug Thomas.
    Sen. Roger Katz of Augusta recently held a fundraiser http://electdougthomas.com/fundraiser/ for Sen. Thomas in his law office in Augusta.
    For those who don’t know, Katz and the Pretentious Eight, as I have dubbed them, wrote an infamous op-ed against the Governor in an attempt to undermine his leadership at the very onset of his administration.
    Katz has repeatedly opposed many of the initiatives the conservatives have put forth. It was Katz that spearheaded a move by liberal Republicans to help Democrats overturn the Governor’s veto of a budget that raised taxes on the Maine people.
    And Doug Thomas is breaking financial bread with him? In political speak, fundraising for a candidate is a statement of allegiance.
    There are no political favors without one in return. Conservatives had been uncomfortable with the various sightings of Thomas and Katz at public functions, but there was no way to verify a betrayal until now.
    It’s no secret the Roger Katz has been maneuvering for power in the legislature to build his campaign against the Governor.
    Obviously, he has found that the “Honorable” Doug Thomas can be bought, easily. Katz wants Thomas’s vote for leadership and rumors have a way of materializing. Thomas is selling out his fellow conservatives and the governor for money.
    TMCV has worked hard in the past to support and elect Doug Thomas into office. I have written many columns in his behalf. That ends now. I have grown tired of the duplicity. I will not look the other way and be silent.
    When confronted on his behavior, Sen. Thomas responded that it doesn’t matter and the people don’t care. I was told that I don’t understand how business is done.
    Actually, I do understand and I’m tired of business as usual. I will not be silent.
    I will be a voice for truth.
    We must stand for what we believe if we truly want to set Maine free.

Andy Torbett
Atkinson