The Poliquin RCV ballot. Read More
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In 2018, Maine truly stepped into the role of a laboratory of democracy as the first state in U.S. history to use ranked-choice voting for statewide races. Read More
Unless you are a fossil fuel company, what’s not to like? Read More
Those who voted "yay" on the farm bill deserve rose petals at their feet and a sustained Bravo! — and maybe a bow-wow here and a meow-meow there. Read More
Letters to the editor for Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018: Buy local, technology nuisance, Kavanaugh and Roe v. Wade. Read More
This “don’t worry about the funding” approach to the Bangor facility is the exact opposite of the governor’s objections to Medicaid expansion, which was approved by Maine voters last year. Read More
Bruce Poliquin and his team have said they were pushing in part for legal clarity, and they got it — not from the Democrats, not from ranked-choice voting advocates, and not even from this RCV-skeptical editorial board — but from a federal judge. Read More
Elizabeth Kolbert writes in this week’s New Yorker about nations’ continuing and worsening habit of pretending to care about climate change amidst mounting, blinding evidence that the planet is in greater and more imminent danger than previously thought. It’s my biggest beef with both apathetic voters who… Read More
The idea of rent seeking by companies is a common theme of Stirring the Pot. Rent seeking occurs when firms or whole industry groups lobby government bodies to fix the rules of the market to benefit one particular firm or group of firms. This can be as… Read More
It's unconscionable that the government incarcerates children in the first place. Read More
Maybe the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a bit more democratic than the mere Republic of Congo, but it’s a matter of (fairly small) degrees. Read More
Ours is an age of egregious excess, of tearing everything apart to set everything right and then hiding from reality when everything gets worse. Read More
One of the most alarming aspects of President Donald Trump's unfitness for the job is the danger he poses to national security. Read More
Our arguments over a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border encapsulate much of what's wrong with American politics. The wall has become a much larger issue than it deserves to be, and the parties have been unable to make a deal over it that ought to be easy to make. Read More
Ranked-choice voting won’t solve all our problems, but it is something that the Maine people can be proud to have enacted and elevated to the national stage to help fix a broken system. We hope that, together, we have lit a path and blazed a trail for other Americans to follow. Read More
When constitutional crises have threatened our foundations, it has been the Senate that has stood in defense of our democracy. Today is once again such a time. Read More
Instead of California and other Democratic states, they might have found what they were looking for right at home in Trump country. Read More
In many ways, the Affordable Care Act is in good shape this year. Democratic gains in the midterm elections mean repeal is off the table for now, and individual insurance is cheaper in some states for the first time in years. Read More
“Why do you continue to teach?” was asked again, which interrupted my day dream-like trance. I answered abruptly by stating that teaching was all I ever wanted to do. Read More
This is true! Though Trump appears to be in considerable legal trouble, no one investigating the president is believed to have found a smocking gun. Read More
Telling people "You're fired" may have been a good strategy when Trump starred in "The Apprentice," but it's not transferable to the White House. Read More
As we all absorb the realities of harm and violence in our current culture, it’s time for us to come together with an aim toward making our communities, homes, schools and workplaces safe for the generations that will follow. Our children deserve better. Read More
Trump Christmas Carol. Read More
If you followed the drinking water crisis in Flint, this story will certainly ring a bell. Read More
A program like the Land and Water Conservation Fund with such far reach deserves to continue not just for its value to conservation, recreation and wildlife, but also for its economic impacts. Read More
Recent revelations about billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's sweetheart deal with government prosecutors are the tip of the iceberg in a scandal of money, power, sex, corruption and boys' club criminality. Read More
One narrative about the Yellow Vest protests in France is that politicians should not adopt energy taxes to change behaviors that lead to climate change. In this telling, the political costs of wise energy policy are too high. This is an overly simple reading of the French… Read More
Limiting the powers and adding constraints to an institution or office before turning it over to the people who won the legitimate right to control it next is just wrong. Read More
It’s time for the lawmakers in Augusta to clear the air and begin anew. Read More
