Opinion & Comment
September 26, 2013, The Bridgton News, Page D
My Irish Up by Mike Corrigan BN Columnist
The Weak in Review:
Airheads create plan
Dissatisfied with threatening to shut down only the government, House Majority Leader John Boehner hinted last week that his delegation was considering shutting down the supply of air in the United States. This plan remains “on the table,” he said, unless Republican demands are met to completely defund all social programs “forever,” or at least until EARLY MORNING VIEW with the sun and fog rising was captured here by Alexa Baumgardner of Naples. “just before the 2014 elections.” “Hopefully, everyone without their own supply of air would be dead by that date, anyway,” Congressman James Freemarket said. “That means that anyone still breathing would be able to see quite clearly on which side their bread was moldy.” He added, “I just want my country back. I cheerfully wave at kids while they wait sleepily for the Clearly, there are too many people taking up my valuable bus at 6:30 in the morning as I drive to work. They wave resources.” back, sometimes awkwardly, as if perhaps I was one of the Congressman Bill Spittoon added, “A lot of people who people their parents warned them about. I smile and give think they have a right to breathe but obviously do not have them a cheery thumbs-up anyway. that ‘right.’ Where is the right to breathe in the Constitution? And since encouragement often comes by the spoken or The Lord should smite them. But since He is not doing the written word, I’m always on the lookout for a turn of phrase by S. Peter Lewis job, Congress must.” that may turn a heart toward hope — and sometimes I find Given equal time to respond, Congressional Democrats BN Columnist these words in unlikely places indeed. AIRHEADS, Page D I recently began reading the biography of John von I love encouraging people. Born for it. Neumann, a Hungarian mathematician from the past century Called to it. Wife. Kids. Friends. Strangers. most known for his genius work on early computers, game Anybody. I’m an equal-opportunity cheer- theory, and nuclear physics. The bio is an academic work written by a former editor for the Economist, perhaps a bit leader. I wake up each day hoping to find dry between the pages, but when I picked it up off the shelf creative ways to paste smiles on peo- the other day I really didn’t have any more entertaining alterple’s faces. I keep lists and make phone native, like re-caulking the bathtub or shoving flea pills down calls and send e-mails and even write real the cats’ throats with a screwdriver. Here’s a typical excerpt from the book: “These criteria letters and mail them. I talk (a little) and listen (a lot) and THEORY, Page D pray with people (at the drop of a hat). Whatever it takes.
Hope from axiomatic theory Views from the Uppermost House
NSB After Hours is tonight Planning Front
by Anne Krieg Bridgton Director of Planning, Economic & Community Development
FALL IS HERE — Kirby Vaughn, 4 years old, takes a walk on the Bob Dunning Memorial covered bridge trying to spot the different colored leaves. Of course, he has to use the map! (Photo by Alexa Baumgardner of Naples)
Letters
Apples and pies for sale
To The Editor: The scenic Naples Causeway provides a beautiful setting for the Sixth Annual Apple and Pie Sale conducted by the Naples Lions Club on the two weekends which “bookend” the Fryeburg Fair. The sales booth will be open for your purchases on both Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 28 and 29 and again on Oct. 5 and 6, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. The Lions will offer at least four varieties of locally grown apples, homemade apple pies, fresh cider and pumpkins, all for reasonable prices. You do not have to pick your own, someone has done it for you.
Hello and happy fall! In late August, I don’t always look forward to fall coming, but then when it does, I breathe it in and say, oh yes, I love fall! Fryeburg Fair, Halloween doings, apple picking and hiking/biking to see the colors change — we live in a great area for fall! Work wise; I am, as my dad used to say, “busier than a onearmed paper hanger.” I met with the Bridgton Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce about a video to be shown on TV about Bridgton. It will air next year and many businesses are signing on to it. Contact Barbara Clark at the Chamber for details.
As is always the case, the proceeds will go to a number of charities sponsored annually by the local club, including student assistance programs at Lake Region High School, the Naples Fuel Assistance Program, camperships at Camp Susan Curtis and Camp Sunshine and grants to the local food pantries. All Lions fundraising efforts must follow the international organization’s bylaw requiring all profits returned for public needs. Remember the old saying, “An apple a day…” Stop by, make a purchase and support the Lions Club’s efforts. Carl Talbot Naples Lions Club
around SAD 72 for several years. There are options on the table, but do we really know what we are buying? Let’s discuss what I know to be history. I attended Snow School for my K-6 grades. It worked. Seventh and eighth grades housed in the “yellow” building had to walk to the Snow School to get their lunches and return to their classrooms to eat. While students are not sitting in class in the “yellow” building any more, students are still having to walk into the Snow School from portable classrooms. And, there are still students in attendance at an aging school. I hear that the Snow School is not safe. If not, then why are our youngest and most vulnerable students in attendance there? Should there not have been an engineering study commissioned To The Editor: A new school to replace an and completed as to what aging C.A. Snow School has is required for that school been the topic of discussion to continue in use? Where are the lists of deficiencies?
What are we buying?
If those deficiencies are so bad, why are students in there attending classes? Can they be fixed to continue using the school for the next 25 years? Ten years? Next, I heard that SAD 72 was near the top of the list for schools to be replaced, and the state was to pay 100%. Granted that was under a different superintendent, but the taxpayer would not have to pay a thing! Wow! That seemed like a good deal! Now, suddenly this seems to have changed again. Is this a shell game? Two options are on the table. Option 1: replace the Snow School with a new structure added onto Molly Ockett Middle School; or Option 2, create a larger addition and locate all of the district’s K-5 students on the Molly Ockett campus (thus closing New Suncook and Denmark Elementary). From the beginning, I’ve LETTERS, Page D
Speaking of the Chamber, Norway Savings Bank is holding an After Hours reception tonight, Thursday, Sept. 26 at 5 p.m. so come say hello to a wonderful community bank. Also the big event for the Chamber is this weekend, Sept. 28, the BrewFest at Point Sebago in South Casco starting at 11 a.m. — hope to see you there! The Memorial School project is moving along quickly! Details are on the town’s website so please stay with this! The first public meeting/charrette where we all dream up ideas for the reuse/redevelopment of the property is Wednesday, Oct. 9, starting with a site walk at 4 p.m. and then the meeting at 5 p.m. at Stevens Brook Elementary School. Please come to this meeting as the success of this project depends upon residents agreement on what types of development should happen there. Yes, there will be food! I also attended the Northeastern Developers Association (NEDA) annual conference in Portland. It was a great conference. I learned about fundraising ideas for the Economic Development Corporation, the future of manufacturing and received some great free advice from marketing professionals! PLANNING, Page D
Medicare nugget
By Stan Cohen Medicare Volunteer Counselor Don’t confuse Medicare with Obamacare. There is some overlap with the open enrollment periods for the two. The annual open-enrollment period for both Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D plans runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7. This year, it overlaps with the initial registration for the Health Insurance Marketplace, a cornerstone of the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare). The Marketplace initial enrollment period is from Oct. 1 this year, to March 31, 2014. But, don’t confuse the two. They serve different populations. If you’re already covered by Medicare, you needn’t give the Marketplace another thought. The Marketplace has no impact on Medicare. Richard Olague, spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says: “We want to reassure Medicare beneficiaries that they are already covered, that their benefits aren’t changing and that the Marketplace doesn’t require them to do anything different.” Stan Cohen, a Medicare Volunteer Counselor, is available for free, one-on-one consultations at Bridgton Hospital on Tuesdays from 8 to 11 a.m. No appointment is necessary. Alternatively, call the Southern Maine Agency on Aging (800-427-7411) and ask for a Medicare advocate.
Welfare expansion not something we get for free
Last week, we finally paid the hospitals the halfa-billion dollars in welfare debt the state has owed them for years. Before they could even cash their checks, liberal politicians were asking to expand welfare again. And now, they claim that welfare expansion is free. The hospital debt was a result of expanding welfare in 2001. This led to broken budgets, unpaid hospital debt, and an unreliable welfare system.
Liberal politicians now want to expand welfare again and add 70,000 people to the MaineCare program. They keep telling Mainers that this expansion would be free because the federal government would pay for it. But folks, as I keep saying, there is no free lunch. This expansion would cost Mainers hundreds of millions in local tax dollars. Expanding welfare would require more staff and
Views from Augusta by Paul LePage Governor of Maine more administrative costs at Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services. DHHS estimates that this so-called “free” expansion
of welfare would cost millions of local Maine taxpayer dollars in the shortterm. Then, it will cost $150 million in each state budget after that. No matter
what the liberal politicians tell you, that money has to come from hard-working Mainers. What liberals will not admit is half of the 70,000 Mainers they want to put on MaineCare rolls would already be eligible to purchase private health insurance at reduced rates in 2014. Why would we put people on government health care when they could buy private health insurance at a very low rate?
We must focus on the 3,100 elderly and disabled Mainers who are on waiting lists for critical services. We must prioritize our tax dollars to care for them today. The federal government will not pay Maine’s welfare bill for the long-term. The federal government is 17-trillion-dollars in debt and continues to cut funding to states. They are cutting food stamp benefits to Mainers. They have also WELFARE, Page D