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U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Senate Republicans about healthcare in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., June 27, 2017. Trump is flanked by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).

EDITORIALS

Collins sets the right standard for Senate health care bill

Susan Collins has the right solution — fix the flaws in the Affordable Care Act.

Maine Gov. Paul LePage speaks at the 23rd Annual Energy Trade & Technology Conference in Boston, Nov. 13, 2015.

DAVID FARMER

Sacrificing everything at the altar of tax cuts

Burn it down. That’s not a governing philosophy or an ideal. But that is the approach that too many Republicans are taking with government.

PINE TREE POLITICS

Shutting down free speech

Campus activism, and college kids acting like foolish children, is nothing new. But there is something insidiously different about this situation.

CONTRIBUTORS

It’s a moral obligation to welcome the stranger at our nation’s door

“Our job at the local level, no matter our faith or how many generations since our own family’s arrival, is to seek out friendships with our newly arrived neighbors, to experience the blessing of learning their stories and to help them restore hope for their futures.”

Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) speaks to reporters after Senate Republicans unveiled their version of legislation that would replace Obamacare on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., on June 22, 2017.

HUGH HEWITT

This is the GOP’s last chance to avert single-payer health care

There is a president who will sign their bill, if they can pass one. If they don’t, single-payer health care will arrive by default.

EDITORIALS

To reach a budget deal, Maine needs leadership from LePage, not a game of chicken

Instead of barreling toward a shutdown, it is past time for true leaders to put aside their wishlist and to compromise on a budget that keeps Maine open, for business, for all.

James Beckett (left) puts a wedding ring on the finger of Ken Tidd while getting married at Bangor City Hall, Dec. 29, 2012. Beckett and Tidd were the first couple to exchange vows in Bangor after voters approved gay marriage in November of 2012.

CONTRIBUTORS

The gay marriage debate has been won

The Pew Research Center’s latest poll adds to the mound of evidence that there has been a sea change in public opinion about gay marriage.

CONTRIBUTORS

My faith calls on me to oppose the Senate’s immoral health care bill

Catholicism teaches us to center the poor and vulnerable — values that mirror our call to public service.

POLLWAYS

Problems with Trumpcare start with its meanness

There is meanness in what Trumpcare would do to people’s health, but it will also damage the economy and people’s dreams.

Former Maine Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew.

EDITORIALS

LePage administration should tell Mainers what it plans to do with $34.5M it shifted from TANF

The LePage administration and DHHS owe taxpayers an explanation about what they are doing with tens millions of public dollars that are, so far, unaccounted for.

Gov. Paul LePage addresses the chamber during the 2017 State of the State address at the State House in Augusta, Feb. 7, 2017.

LANCE DUTSON

Maine needs leadership, not acrimony, to pass a budget

This is not the way lawmaking is supposed to happen outside of an Eastern Bloc nation.

Former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates testifies before the Senate Judicary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism on Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., May 8, 2017.

CONTRIBUTORS

Making America scared again won’t make us safer

“It’s time to move past the campaign-style rhetoric of being “tough” or “soft” on crime. Justice and the safety of our communities depend on it.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is surrounded by reporters as he walks to the Senate floor of the U.S. Capitol after unveiling a draft bill on healthcare in Washington, June 22, 2017.

CONTRIBUTORS

The Senate would be wise to ‘first, do no harm’ before passing its health care bill

We recognize the politics of this debate are difficult and urge Maine’s delegation to put patients before politics. We believe our delegation is poised to be a leading voice in this debate. We support and encourage them in that role.

CONTRIBUTORS

House Republicans want us to turn our backs on asylum seekers. That undermines our economy.

Immigration in the United States is a controversial topic these days — no question. But there should be no question that immigrants are good for Maine.