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Let students voice their opinions — all of them

If you have permission to do something, does it really qualify as civil disobedience? That’s the question which needs to be asked after Wednesday’s “National School Walkout” concerning gun violence. It doesn’t belittle the cause; after all, both the Tea Party rallies in 2010 and the Women’s March in 2017 were completely appropriate exercises of […]

Ranked-choice voting for governor is exciting — like math!

I really like math. So what does that have to do with Maine politics? Well, it turns out at June’s gubernatorial primary we will vote by ranked choice ballot. That means math. As we sit here today, several Democrats — Sean Faircloth, Jim Boyle, and Patrick Eisenhart — have dropped out of the race for […]

The unconstitutional ghost of James G. Blaine

With all the hubbub around budgets and shutdowns, we missed an important story. A few weeks back, a prominent Maine politician got thumped by our nation’s highest court. No, not Paul LePage. Or Janet Mills. Or Angus King. His name? James G. Blaine. For those who may not have delved deeply into Maine political history, […]

Miss USA got it right, health care is a privilege

Well, the Miss USA pageant has done it again. There hasn’t been this much controversy about a pick since Donald Trump owned the organization. Last Sunday evening — Mother’s Day! — saw Kara McCullough win the title of “Miss USA.” A black woman, she was born in Italy, where her father was stationed with the […]

Can we repeal the law of unintended consequences?

You know what would make policymaking much easier? Repealing the law of unintended consequences. For example, the proponents of last year’s Question 2 — the bill which hiked Maine’s top tax rate to one of the highest in the country at over 10 percent — advertised it would raise an additional $157 million for education. […]