Commentary
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Halsey Frank: Little hymn to the Republic
On June 17, I attended the COVID-delayed swearing-in ceremony for my successor as...
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Protecting our children, both in body and in mind
In recent weeks, our hearts have been broken and our consciences racked by...
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Why Biden’s claim of cutting the deficit is false, in a single chart
Since President Joe Biden took office office early last year, America’s long-term budget...
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Halsey Frank: Democrats’ detrimental DA decision
In what appears to have been little more than a political litmus test...
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Yes, the products you’re buying are getting smaller—even though prices are not
The rise in consumer prices has rightly received a great deal of attention,...
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DSA ballot initiatives would add insult to injury for Portland businesses
Last week, the Maine Democratic Socialists of America rushed to file paperwork with...
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Lockdowners are still unwilling to recognize harms they brought on youth
Is it possible that despite the mounting evidence against them, some lockdown enthusiasts...
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Halsey Frank: Reservations about the DOJ’s new use-of-force policy
It is illegal and unacceptable for law enforcement officers to use excessive force....
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Hybrid learning during pandemic cements Cape Elizabeth parent’s support for school choice
For John Lewis, his local school district’s decision to enact hybrid learning during...
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Do we really need 100 different federal programs to fund broadband?
President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill apportioned $1.2 trillion for such projects as roads, bridges,...
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The New York Times explains why mask mandates don’t work
Throughout the pandemic, few things incited more discord than the mandated use of...
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Halsey Frank: Actionable intelligence regarding mass shootings
The recent mass shootings at the Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, New York and...
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Tobacco harm reduction–not prohibition–is the path forward for Maine
Last month, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it is developing...
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Government greed caused inflation, for the record
Government policies fail and create problems in the real world every day. But...
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Halsey Frank: Shame has been getting a bad name
Shame used to be a relatively simple thing. You did something wrong. You...
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Empowerment, exit and entrepreneurship will continue to transform education
Over the past two years of social and economic disruption, U.S. education has...
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Opinion: NECEC provides once-in-a-generation training opportunities for trades
There are a lot of benefits to the New England Clean Energy Connect...
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Halsey Frank: The CDC and trying to make sense of firearms homicides
On May 14, 18-year-old Payton Gendron traveled more than 200 miles from his...
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Opinion: Let’s save Maine’s lobster industry from death by regulation
If you’ve ever been to the state of Oregon – home of the...
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Biden just single-handedly made the gas crisis worse
Americans are already struggling under the weight of crippling inflation, from skyrocketing gas...
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Halsey Frank: Thoughts on voting rights
It wasn’t long ago that Democrats were claiming that the For the People Act,...
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No increase in flight cancellations after CDC mask mandate lifted, data show
It’s been two week since a federal court threw out the CDC’s transport...
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The FDA uses new authority to close off last remaining legal option for vapers who like flavors
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is moving fast to close off what...
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Halsey Frank: Maine’s new, not-so-good Samaritan law
Harm reductionists praise Maine’s new Good Samaritan law. I’m not sure it’s deserved. I will...
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Why energy prices are projected to increase 50% in 2022—after doubling last year
Sometimes I have to remind myself how good we Americans have it because—let’s...
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Maine becomes the third state to end single-family-only zoning
Maine is embracing new California-style laws aimed at reducing restrictions on new housing....
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Remote learning correlated with greater K-12 learning loss, study finds
A new study recently published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)...
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Halsey Frank: Making sense of Judge Mizelle’s mask mandate ruling
On April 18, Florida federal Judge Kathryn Mizelle invalidated the Centers for Disease Control and...
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Why the feds are clinging to their mask mandate
Bureaucrats cling to power. It’s their institutional predisposition. So it was no surprise...
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Drop the useless mask mandates and leave us alone
The last couple of years have been a revelation when it comes to...
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Halsey Frank: Taking on more than Portland can handle
Last week, while driving toward the peninsula on Outer Congress Street around Craigie...
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Final version of local zoning, affordable housing bill leaves much to be desired
Last week, LD 2003, a bill sponsored by Speaker Ryan Fecteau to reform...
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State government-controlled healthcare system would raise costs, jeopardize access to quality care
Mainers deserve access to high-quality health care with an affordable price tag. Following...
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New study provides yet more evidence that COVID lockdowns didn’t work
Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, even alarmist government officials like Dr. Anthony...
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Halsey Frank: Governing in Portland is no picnic in the park
The trend of people quitting Portland government (councilors Nicholas Mavodones, Jill Duson, Spencer...
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Opinion: Runaway spending defies Maine values
Tax Day is a fitting day to revisit where our tax-and-spend ways have...
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COVID stimulus checks worsened inflation
Inflation has surged across much of the developed world in the past year...
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The environmental downside of electric vehicles
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), an electric vehicle requires six times...
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What if discretion is our recourse?
(If you read my column “Have We No Recourse?”, this column is intended...
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Fentanyl now the leading cause of death for adults ages 18 to 45
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data now show fentanyl overdose...
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Halsey Frank: Tempest in a teapot, or in this case, a South Portland coffee shop
How can we end the cycle of recrimination from which we are suffering...
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‘Inflation tax’ will cost families this many thousands this year, Bloomberg analysis warns
Another day, another alarming inflation metric. We just got the numbers for the...
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Halsey Frank: Regressive justice
It’s hard to decide who is worse, actor Jussie Smollett, who faked a...
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‘Equity’ and ‘social justice’ at Maine’s public universities
Over the last year, frequent communications from University of Maine System leaders Chancellor...
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Why are Maine lawmakers letting special interests nickel-and-dime us on vehicle inspections?
Mandatory motor vehicle inspections already cost Mainers $14 million and countless hours of...
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The Biden administration is ignoring how its policies will worsen inflation. Again.
Despite inflation running at a 40-year high, the Biden administration is pushing ahead...
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Opinion: Flavored tobacco ban bill bad for Maine’s public health
As a physician – one who has dedicated his career to treating lung...
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Sweden—once mocked for its COVID strategy—now has one of the lowest COVID mortality rates in Europe
Early in the coronavirus pandemic, I asked a simple question. Could Sweden’s laissez-faire...
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Halsey Frank: In support of qualified immunity
In December of 1994, a United States Capitol Police Officer shot and killed Marcelino Corniel...
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How Wilson’s ‘living’ Constitution and ‘apolitical’ civil service class undermines our rights
President Woodrow Wilson wanted a professional bureaucracy that was apolitical. The theory sounded...
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Biden’s dishonest attempt to pin inflation on Putin
Ten months ago, Jeremy Siegel issued a dire warning about the trajectory of...
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WANTED: Stronger leadership on the world stage
Weakness is a contagion. Years in the future, when the historians are done...
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Halsey Frank: Jurors gone wild
Ghislane Maxwell’s attorneys say that three jurors concealed their experience of sexual abuse....
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New data show the exodus from public schools is continuing
This article is excerpted from LiberatED, a weekly email newsletter where FEE Senior...
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The CDC changed its COVID risk formula. The results are stunning
On Feb. 25, the CDC made its expected announcement that it was updating...
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Halsey Frank: Zelensky for President
I was working on several items closer to home but events in Ukraine...
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The CDC discovers actual public health, just in time
One day I’m reading an internal memo commissioned by the Democratic Party to...
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Ukraine grants citizens the right to bear arms—hours before Putin’s invasion
Russian soldiers flooded into Ukraine Thursday under orders from President Vladimir Putin, threatening...
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Halsey Frank: Palin trial problematic
One of the basic functions of government is to right wrongs. When all...
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Justin Trudeau said he admired China’s dictatorship. Canadians should have believed him
At a “ladies night” fundraiser in Toronto in 2013, an up-and-coming politician was...
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Congress must pump the brakes on the American Innovation and Choice Online Act
Antitrust is a hot topic in Washington lately. The pervasive reach of big...
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Opinion: Walk 2.2 miles in their shoes
On February 2nd, the 2022 Walk-for-Vets kicked off in Augusta. People are walking 2.2 miles...
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Could Mark Cuban’s plan to disrupt Big Pharma actually work?
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban recently announced his latest, ground-breaking innovation, and it’s one...
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Halsey Frank: NYT strikes blow against love
The New York Times Style Section’s Modern Love column on February 13 was...
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That study of face masks does not show what the CDC claims
A new study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) supposedly shows...
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Decisions on masking schoolchildren belong to parents
The dominoes are falling. In just the last month, public leaders of numerous (though...
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Halsey Frank: Power corrodes trust, absolutely
Central Maine Power provides electricity about 80% of residential customers in Maine, including my house. Factors that...
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European nations are dismantling the COVID state before our eyes. Will the US follow?
It takes incredible arrogance for lawmakers and bureaucrats to assume they know what's...
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‘Lockdowns had little to no effect on COVID mortality’: New Johns Hopkins study
We’re into year three of the COVID-19 pandemic. From mask mandates to vaccine...
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Halsey Frank: Supreme politicization
On January 27, Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer formally announced his intention to resign...
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The biggest education innovation is growing use of school choice
It wasn’t long ago that “normal” schooling meant public school, understood as some...
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Have we no recourse?
Can we do anything lawful and legitimate to “protect, defend, and preserve” America...
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Halsey Frank: A Senate divided needs to listen to each other
Last week, Democrats brought to the Senate floor The Freedom to Vote Act...
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Citing debunked CDC research, Virginia school districts vow to defy Youngkin on mask mandates
On Saturday, newly minted Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, declared an end...
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CDC: Natural immunity offered stronger protection against COVID than vaccines during Delta wave
On Wednesday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided new...
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Halsey Frank: Inconsistency and overreaction – the hobgoblins of our COVID response
On January 12, while driving, I listened to the Maine CDC’s weekly COVID-19 briefing conducted...
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New York, California, and Illinois saw historic population drops in 2021
Last week, the US Census Bureau released its “New Vintage 2021 Population Estimates”...
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America’s huge pile of national debt makes combating inflation more difficult
The optimistic scenario goes like this. America shakes off what remains of the...
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Halsey Frank: WaPo and its generals need to get a grip
In the Washington Post on December 18, three retired generals wrote that they are concerned...
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Athletes who had COVID will be considered ‘fully vaccinated,’ NCAA says in new guidelines
The NCAA on Thursday released its new COVID-19 guidance for winter sports, and...
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Opinion: The legislature should get back to work like the rest of Maine
Yesterday, the first legislative day of the second session of the 130th Legislature,...
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It’s 2022, but many schools are reverting to 2020’s COVID playbook
It’s 2022 but you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s still 2020—especially if you...
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Rand Paul exposes eight insane ways the feds wasted our money in 2021
Every holiday season, Senator Rand Paul honors the fictional Seinfeld holiday “Festivus,” an...
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Halsey Frank: Cherry-picking crime statistics
In its December 1st editorial, “Some serious crimes still go unreported,” the Press...
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‘Freeloading’ Elon Musk to pay largest federal tax bill in history, an estimated $8.3 billion
Elon Musk made a bold claim on Twitter on Tuesday. The Tesla founder...
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Halsey Frank: New Portland Charter Commission worse than the last
The current Portland City Charter Commission is worse than the 2009-10 one. The...
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Inflation will cost the average household an astounding amount in 2021, Ivy League analysis finds
The most widely-used metrics of consumer price inflation are hitting their highest levels...
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The author who warned us against blindly trusting ‘the Science’
“Attacks on me are, quite frankly, attacks on science,” said Anthony Fauci to...
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School districts are using their COVID-19 relief money on vape detectors, tennis courts
Earlier this year, schools around the country received more than a hundred billion...
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47,000 more people died of this disease in 2020 due to lockdowns, World Health Organization reports
Governments around the world took drastic measures in 2020 in hopes of slowing...
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New revenue surplus should prompt real tax reform
In late November, the Revenue Forecasting Committee (RFC), a branch of the Maine...
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Shortage of adult workers makes teens employable again
My son recently underwent what was once a common rite of passage: his...
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They said inflation would be ‘transitory.’ The data say something different.
President Joe Biden once bizarrely remarked on the 2020 campaign trail, “Milton Friedman...
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Who’s really to blame for inflation?
Last month, inflation in the US reached 6.2%, the highest year-over-year increase in...
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The torches are being lit, the battle is being joined and the truth is being pursued. It’s time to join up
Abraham Lincoln once famously said, “The philosophy of the school room in one...
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No gasoline without ‘COVID papers’? It’s already happening in some parts of the world
It’s hard to know what’s real and what’s fake on the internet these...
