2018-05-01
I never thought that I would
see
I never thought that I would
see
...when protecting the state’s treasury was more
important than protecting the people.
We have a surplus
income and we have an enormous rainy day fund yet 70,000 people are
without health insurance. The money for that health insurance comes
largely from the federal government which means that we have already paid
in those funds to develop such programs. And yet for the cost of
administering the program we have decided it is far more important to
sacrifice the health and well being of 70,000 residents. That is more
people then currently live in the state's largest city but they appear to
be expendable
I never thought that I would
see
...when reducing the size of the state government
was more important than the education of the state’s
children.
The current administration feels the size of
state government is too large. So the current administration has begun or
continued to consistently reduce the size of government, effectively
rendering it almost useless. When member of the Republican Party informs
me that the reduction in staff in the Department of Education has led to
the creation of a set of outside consultants who inherently cannot carry
out the mission of the department, then then we have sacrificed the
children of the state for a belief in small government.
I never
thought that I would see
....when our extensive
natural resources would become a mere pawn in the game of big industrial
development.
The state is huge and has natural resources
and natural beauty beyond most states, and yet we are willing to sacrifice
this enormous coastline to explore for oil and gas, And at what cost? And
at whose benefit? To continue such exploration of oil off the coast
of Maine is anathema to what we believe as Mainers.
I never
thought that I would see
...when saving money was more
important than preventing mental illness in youngsters
If
our youth represent our futures, then we have not done our due diligence
in providing them with a secure future. We know that adolescents
face mental illness challenges which are exacerbated by their very
adolescence - it’s hard for an adolescent to ask for help. But we
have chosen to make them liable for the conditions they can not understand
or control.
I never thought that I would
see
…when it was more important to save a dollar
than save a life.
Direct Care Providers will face a
decrease in their wages on July 1 when the funding runs out. The
legislative actions of last week mean no legislation was passed to carry
on that funding. These are the people who care for senior citizens
and the disabled - but perhaps they are all not worth saving. And all of
those people who are victims of substance abuse disorder - well, the
administration has pretty flatly stated that they are not worth the
trouble to save.
And ironically, I don’t have good
eyesight. Such is life. It doesn’t take good eyesight to
have vision though, and the vision of the current administration is based
on the stewardship of the few, the privileged, and not the stewardship of
the people. This administration has failed to care for the
people.
In so many ways, I thought I was elected to do the people's work. It's difficult to do that when so many others work against the people.