Neither Dems nor GOP are representing the people of Maine

Letters to the Portland Phoenix editors, March 2, 2012
By PORTLAND PHOENIX LETTERS  |  February 29, 2012

The sad fact is that the Democratic and Republican parties in our state have been bought by large corporate interests through campaign donations and lobbying. In his article "Two-Faced Democrats" (February 24), Lance Tapley describes how both parties in our state adhere to the concept of trickle-down economics, which states that "if we give money to the rich and their corporations, they will dribble down benefits to working people, for the well-off are the 'job creators', as the GOP cliché has it." Worldwide, the concept of trickle-down and austerity for the 99 percent has led to further devastation in our current global economic depression (see Greece's current crash into poverty and protests against further austerity measures).

With both parties voting for tax cuts for the rich and tax loopholes for corporations, while at the same time cutting social services for the poor, our economy will continue to slump and the people of Maine will only suffer. The campaigns of elected officials are often paid for by large and vastly wealthy private interests. When the goal of a politician is to be continually elected, the politician will support legislation which will ensure continued support from their largest donors. People in Maine and across the US need to elect representatives who do not accept large donations, who adhere to clean elections, who disclose all of their donors, and who reject superPACs, regardless of political party.

Holly Seeliger
Portland

  Topics: Letters , Politics, Democrats, Republicans,  More more >
| More


Most Popular
ARTICLES BY PORTLAND PHOENIX LETTERS
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   DONE WAITING FOR PATIENT SAFETY  |  March 07, 2013
    As an employee in downtown Portland as well as a resident, I've been exposed to a climate of escalating hostility surrounding the entrance to the Planned Parenthood of Northern New England offices.
  •   NOT BUYING THE MOSS LEGEND  |  January 30, 2013
    In the January 11 Portland Phoenix, book reviewer Charles Taylor lauds Kate Moss — the notoriously waifish model — as the "most extraordinary photographic muse of our era."
  •   BIRDS, NOISE VS. WIND POWER  |  December 31, 2012
    I was very disappointed that the Phoenix chose to endorse subsidizing the wind power industry.
  •   COURAGE IN JOURNALISM  |  November 28, 2012
    What does it mean to be a courageous journalist?
  •   AN ORGAN RECIPIENT SPEAKS UP  |  October 31, 2012
    An article on this subject ("On Being Undead," by Jeff Inglis, October 26) needs to be done with great thought and care.

 See all articles by: PORTLAND PHOENIX LETTERS