Tag Archives: Barack Obama

Can a license to drive be a license to own a gun?

I trust Matt Dunlap more than Donald Trump and Barack Obama. This isn’t personal; it’s just his job. Maine’s elected officials are more responsive to the needs of our state than a far-off federal government in Washington. That is true regardless of who resides in the White House at any given time. But maybe Secretary […]

The Russians are winning

Attorney General William Barr’s letter summarizing Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report confirmed one thing. It is time for America’s elected officials to start offering some leadership. Unfortunately, we do not appear to be getting it. To begin, we should go back to 2012. Famously, then-presidential candidate and now Utah Senator Mitt Romney was asked during […]

Divide the government and get things done

“As Maine goes …” The famous saying may have new meaning. Democrats will probably take the U.S. House of Representatives and hold the Maine House. Both here and in Washington, the Senate will be balanced on a knife’s edge. And the executive branch is definitely going to be led by a Republican in D.C., while […]

Congress needs to know its role and stop wrestling over Kavanaugh nomination

“Know your role.” Before Dwayne Johnson’s real name was popularly known, his wrestling persona “The Rock” coined the catchphrase. We could probably heed his advice in the public sphere. One of the details seemingly lost in the tales full of sound and fury — ultimately signifying naught — related to Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to […]

Can we tax reform our way out of debt?

I, for one, welcome our new debt-concerned Democrats. As the tax reform debate wages in Washington, those on the left are assailing GOP plans from an unusual vantage: our national debt. Some estimates indicate the reform proposals will add $1.5 trillion to the national debt over 10 years. That is why some Democrats claim they […]

Remember the Civil War; return civility to politics

“And now we are engaged in a great civil war.” Abraham Lincoln’s words from the Gettysburg Address echo through the ages. That war — and the death of hundreds of thousands of Americans it brought — tested whether any nation “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal … […]

Will the real will of the people please stand up?

“The will of the people!” That is one of the rallying cries shouted over the past few weeks, whether in Portland City Hall or under the capitol dome in Augusta. Somewhat sardonically, it was also the name of a socialist revolutionary terrorist organization in 19th century Russia, counting Vladimir Lenin’s older brother amongst its members. […]