Letters submitted by BDN readers are verified by BDN Opinion Page staff. Send your letters to letters@bangordailynews.com
A voting system we can trust
Now that the dust of insurrection is settling in the courts, Americans are more aware than ever that our election system needs fixing. Today, more than 40 states are considering changes to their voting laws, most of them unfair and unique to their state. Discrepancies among the states prove that Americans do not have an equal right to vote.
It’s about time the For The People Act, HR 1, is passed. This should be a non-partisan bill. But some politicians oppose it — including those who depend on dark money and voter suppression to win. It’s time that Congress reclaim its power to regulate elections by passing this essential bill.
We need HR 1 to ensure that every American citizen has the right to vote and that an attempt to vote will not be suppressed. We need HR 1 to end gerrymandering by requiring independent commissions to draw districts in each state. We need HR 1 to require disclosure of donation sources and to avoid conflicts of interest in every branch of government.
Whether you believe Donald Trump’s statement that the 2020 election was stolen, or whether you believe the election officials in all 50 states who verified that Joe Biden won, we need a system that all of us can trust.
Vicki Adams
Kennebunk
Working together
Two competitors, Johnson & Johnson and Merck, are working together to produce a COVID-19 vaccine which is a benefit to all of us.
Wouldn’t it be nice if our elected Democrat and Republican officials would do the same?
Jim Paton
Carmel
Jared Golden has done well in tough position
A recent letter in the BDN criticized Rep. Jared Golden for not voting more often in alignment with Democratic priorities. The writer suggests finding another Democrat to run in 2022 for Golden’s seat.
I am a Democrat, but disagree. First, I think Golden has done well in the difficult position of serving as a Democrat in the conservative 2nd Congressional District.
Second, a different, more liberal Democratic candidate might appeal more to Democrats, but could such a candidate win in the 2nd District? I have my doubts about that, but I think Golden can win again and hold the seat to help maintain the thin Democratic majority in the House.
David P. Frasz
Dover-Foxcroft
Flying the same Maine flag
I think our current Maine flag is beautiful and I fly it proudly. I do not like the pine tree and star being a replacement. It looks like something I made in the second grade.
It is a terrible idea to replace our beautiful flag with that ugly one. I made one a few years ago with the pine tree and star, flew it a couple days, but took it down and threw it away. I returned to flying the current one.
Doug Pooler
Dexter
Minimum wage vote
On March 5, Maine Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins both voted to prevent an increase in the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour over five years. By leaving the federal minimum wage as is, King and Collins would relegate millions of workers to a grand total of $15,080 a year, while they, as senators, make $174,000 a year. That’s fully 11.5 times the poverty wage to which they are consigning millions of American workers.
But there’s more.
According to a 2020 Bangor Daily News article, Collins and her husband Tom Daffron last year declared a net worth between $2.3 million and $6.9 million, and King declared between $3.9 million and $16.3 million. Meanwhile, 20 percent of Americans have negative wealth or no wealth at all. And thanks in part to King and Collins, that’s exactly where they will stay.
Marie Antoinette would be proud.
Lawrence Reichard
Belfast