The past two years have proven, time and again, that the Republican Party does not wish to represent the needs of the working people, the elderly, the sick, schools and others. It seems its main interest lies with big money, insurance providers and the exploitation of workers and the resources of Maine.
With two years in power, the Republican-led Legislature has passed a budget that has serious reductions in health care for the sick and elderly (while increasing the Estate Tax exemption) and causing a major cost shift; passed an insurance law (PL 90) that will benefit only the insurance industry; reversed a law protecting laid-off workers from forfeiting their accrued vacation pay in lieu of unemployment; actually made it illegal for Decoster Egg workers to unionize; and pushed for a new Workers Compensation law that will hurt the most severely injured workers (again, this only helps the insurance industry).
Those are only some of the attacks Mainers have had pushed onto them.
Have these laws created jobs? No.
Have they made Maine a better state to live? No.
What they have done is catered to the wants of big business, the insurance industry and the wealthy in Maine.
In November, I will cast my vote based on facts and not from the fears and half-truths that are peddled to support the Republican national agenda.
Joseph Mailey, Auburn
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