The following appeared in Wednesday’s Washington Post: What happened this week among House Republicans carries a useful and important lesson. The incoming GOP conference voted secretly to emasculate the independent House ethics watchdog, and when the action became public, a torrent of protests erupted. Even President-elect Donald Trump expressed doubt, and the lawmakers backed down. […]
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Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Republicans primed for push to dismantle Obama’s policies
WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of the 115th Congress will be sworn in at noon Tuesday, setting off an aggressive campaign by Republicans who control the House and Senate to dismantle eight years of President Barack Obama’s Democratic policies. The first and biggest target is Obama’s health care law, which Republicans have long sought to gut […]
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Posted inOp-Eds
Let Republicans fix what they break
What if Republicans abruptly repealed Obamacare, chaos ensued and Democrats sat on their hands and watched? Democrats would be doing the right thing, both for the American people and for themselves. Donald Trump has vowed to repeal Obamacare on day one of his administration. What would he replace it with? “Something terrific.” Vice President-elect Mike […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Some advice for the president-elect
It didn’t take long. Journalists, editorial writers and columnists who hate Donald Trump and consistently opposed his election are now advising him what not to do. Newspaper headlines claim Trump is pulling back on his campaign promises. Editorials encourage him not to do everything he pledged, although his pledges are what got him elected. The […]
Posted inMaine
Poliquin only Republican from New England in U.S. House
When the next Congress convenes in the nation’s capital in January, the only New England Republican among them will hail from Maine. The sole GOP holdout in the U.S. House among the region’s 21 members will be U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, whose northern Maine district re-elected him by a wide margin last week to a […]
Posted inOp-Eds
When Trump loses, what will he do?
NEW YORK — Politics is an enduring feature of human life, but political parties are mortal. This week we watched the beginning of the end of one of America’s great, illustrious parties. The Republican Party, as we knew it, is dying. The death of a party is not so unusual. Scholars divide American history into […]
Posted inOp-Eds
The GOP’s moment of truth is at hand
WASHINGTON — What is the Republican Party? Suddenly, this has become one of the central questions of the 2016 campaign. It’s not simply a matter of whether the GOP is the party of Donald Trump or the party of Paul Ryan. It is also an issue of whether Republican congressional leaders have any connection with […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
The year of the normal Republican
Mike Pence’s vice-presidential debate victory was a striking blow for normality. In fact, beneath the sound and the fury of the Trump campaign, normal Republicans are having a pretty good year. Pence had an exemplary introduction on the national stage. GOP Senate candidates are holding their own. House Speaker Paul Ryan, flying the banner of […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Helping Mainers make it in America
During the past seven and a half years, through hard work and sacrifices, workers and businesses in Maine and across America have weathered the recession. But while the economy has improved overall, working families and small towns across the country still have yet to fully feel the benefits of recovery. In order to move the […]
Posted inLetters
Elephants and donkeys
This is in response to Dave Griffiths’ letter (Aug. 26). He wrote that many spineless Republican statesmen will not oppose Donald Trump. I will share what spinelessness is. It is a president who draws red lines all over the place, then caves in when the enemy laughs at him and violates those “lines” over and […]