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Let's compromise

FLAWED BUDGET BETTER THAN NONE

I am writing in response to the article that ran in the paper on July 1 entitled "Democrats Celebrate Victory in the Face of Defeat" (by Lance Tapley). The state budget that the Legislature passed a couple of weeks ago is far from perfect. This budget was clearly a compromise between the two parties. No one should be happy that some of Maine's neediest people will be hurt by the cuts that passed, or that the tax cuts for the wealthiest will make it that much harder for Maine to help the people who need it most in the future. But that being said, legislators were able to lessen the harm of the governor's proposals.

I am one of the more than 40,000 seniors and people with disabilities who would have lost help with prescription-drug and other health-care expenses under the governor's budget proposal. Without this help, thousands of seniors who live on fixed incomes like me would have been forced to choose between food or heat and prescription drugs. Without help to pay for my prescription drugs, I would have struggled to pay for all of the drugs that I need to stay healthy and would have been at risk for more serious health problems.

I agree with Mr. Tapley that this budget was flawed, but I am thankful for the Democrats who fought to protect health care for more than 70,000 people in this state. I fear not reaching this compromise would have led to a government shutdown, causing greater harm for people in Maine. Legislators would have been under a great amount of pressure to pass a budget, any budget to prevent a long shutdown that would paralyze the state and our economy.

Roy Goudreau
Randolph

GET YOUR OWN NICKNAME

While recognizing the dearth of intellectual creativity in the mind of the typical New England sports fan, this deficiency does not excuse recent attempts to steal the nickname of "Titletown" (see "Come the Revolution," by Rick Wormwood, July 15).

As any nominally intelligent fan knows, "TitleTown USA" describes the home of the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers and has been the city's universally acknowledged nickname since the days of the Packers' unprecedented dominance of the NFL in the 1960s.

So get your own original moniker New England — it really can't be all that difficult...

Bill Lundgren
Portland