Commentary
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What to be thankful for in this dreadful year of 2020
If you like individual liberty, economic freedom and self-determination, 2020 probably wasn’t the...
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AG Frey warns Mainers about enforcement of Gov. Mills’ unscientific mask mandate
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey used his bully pulpit this week to remind...
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Gov. Mills suggests Mainers call the cops on violators of coronavirus mandates
Last week, Governor Janet Mills joined Maine Public to shed crocodile tears for...
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California hates the holidays
Thinking about getting together with family for the holiday season? Think again. Just...
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Your ballot with ranked-choice voting
In this election, Maine voters will become the first in any state to...
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Reisman: No justice, no peace
In a shameless act of cultural appropriation, this week’s column title takes the...
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What we learn from the rhetorical disputes over SCOTUS nominations
It’s Supreme Court nomination time again, and the result is predictable. The usual...
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Reisman: Systemic racism racket gets trumped
The systemic racism industry has had its sweet multimillion consulting racket exposed and...
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Landlords sue Trump administration and CDC over executive order banning evictions
The Trump administration’s controversial nationwide eviction moratorium, issued through the Centers for Disease...
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Reisman: Peace and ‘the Resistance’
“If you want to make peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk...
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Domestic violence remains a concern amidst pandemic
It’s no secret that 2020 is a year like no other, and COVID-19...
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The new left rejects a self-governing republic
I’m an engineer by aptitude, education, and vocation. Those of you who are also...
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Governor’s arbitrary decisions will haunt Maine for years to come
We are quickly approaching Labor Day and the end to the summer season...
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Reisman: Midsummer Nightmare
August rolled in and although the garden looks good, I cannot say the...
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Reisman: Cancel culture karma
As a long-time supporter of the First Amendment and the value of free...
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‘No one is above the law’ – except members of Congress
We’ve been watching the judicial gyrations over the fate of retired Lt. Gen....
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Why Mainers should be skeptical of the bond questions in the July primary election
In the past 13 years, Maine voters have approved 38 of 39 bond...
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Coronavirus, Governor Mills, and the Constitution
Governors and bureaucrats are picking and choosing which parts of the Constitution they...
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Look both ways – twice – before disbanding the police
We grow up being told to “look both ways before you cross the...
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Maine lawmakers should advance policies that will kickstart economic recovery
To state the obvious, Maine’s economy is in trouble. The 14 day quarantine...
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Councilor Ben Hartwell: ‘I had to do something’
A few weeks ago, I read about the City of Calais declaring all...
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As election season approaches, beware of the ‘b-word’
Today’s political climate is exceptionally partisan and overly sensationalized. It’s that way on...
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Government response to the pandemic makes matters worse in Maine
The COVID-19 crisis feeds into the progressive belief that a crisis is an...
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How similar are the recovery plans in Maine and New Hampshire?
Last Friday, Maine Governor Janet Mills released a revision to her phased reopening...
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Our rights do not disappear in times of emergency
We all knew it was probably inevitable, but it is here, finally –...
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There’s no justification for centralized and dictatorial government
I’m not a doctor but I played one in real life. I served...
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Gov. Mills’ multi-phase ‘recovery’ plan is a blueprint for a prolonged economic depression
Governor Mills unveiled her multi-phase plan for slowly reopening the Maine economy on...
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Open letter to Gov. Mills: It’s time to reopen Maine
Dear Governor Mills, Many Mainers are facing desperate times. I would like to...
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SEIU pledges $150 million to defeat President Trump in 2020
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Janus decision in June of 2018,...
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The nanny state wants to take away your vape
Lawmakers on Maine’s Health and Human Services Committee held a public hearing Wednesday...
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Southern Maine lawmakers want to build a taxpayer-funded convention center in Portland
The Maine Legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee is holding a public hearing...
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Progressives, impeachment and the Constitution
“In republican governments, men are all equal; equal they are also in despotic...
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Understanding Governor Mills’ 10-year economic plan
Governor Janet Mills earlier this month released her 10-Year Economic Development Strategy for the state,...
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Maine must fund waitlists for people with intellectual disabilities
On October 8, 2019, the Office of Aging and Disability Services (OADS) released...
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Like others that preceded it, Governor Mills’ economic plan will be a bust
Governor Mills on Wednesday released her 10-year economic development plan for Maine, the...
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Congress needs to know its place
“…the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good...
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Want a new mobile phone? First, give the state your face
Last week, the government of China initiated a mandate that every new SIM...
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New California law threatens workers in the ‘gig economy,’ and it’s spreading to other states
A new law that changes how workers are classified in the “gig economy”...
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Law, oaths and the truth
In today’s partisan, impeachment-centric political climate, the following have become figurative lapel pins...
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Should a prescription be necessary to purchase vape products?
Last month, Maine’s Legislative Council allowed LR 2765, “An Act To Enact Restrictions...
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Maine should end the practice of home equity theft
In Maine and 12 other states, local governments have the ability to steal...
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Socialism and unintended consequences
“One of the sad signs of our times is that we have demonized...
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Is a remedy for tiny homes on the horizon?
Last week, Maine’s Legislative Council admitted a bill into the second session that...
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Maine lawmakers are moving in the wrong direction on vaping
Following a national trend, Maine lawmakers decided in June to raise taxes on...
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‘Social justice’ degrades our constitutional rights
Over the past 79 years, I have observed that the more socialism is...
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We cannot virtue signal our way to a climate solution
Last week in the news there was a teenage girl being exploited by...
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The inevitable socialist conundrum: Running out of other people’s money
“In the 1950’s the richest nation, the richest city on earth...
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Is the United States too hard on felons?
I have never been in jail. I have never been arrested. But I...
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A distorted view of oppression
“A Fatal Tendency of Mankind…common among people. When they can, they wish to...
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Activists failed to secure enough signatures to expand ranked-choice voting in Maine’s most liberal city
This week, Portland city officials notified Fair Elections Portland, a pro-ranked-choice voting group,...
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Maine Legislature reconvenes next week to consider governor’s bond proposals
Governor Janet Mills issued a proclamation Monday calling the legislature back to the...
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Returning to our constitutional roots
“The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as...
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Debunking income mobility myths
It is tempting to think of America’s economic classes as stable and sedentary....
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The affordable housing paradox
Governments spend a good deal of time and money attempting to solve problems...
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It’s time for Maine’s private colleges to step up
Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, is surely among the wealthiest institutions in Maine. Its...
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Our people and politics will suffer if we continue to stray from the Constitution
There is a very profound reason that the American constitutional republic has created...
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Progressive theory and the Constitution
U.S. constitutional law depends on the purpose and limitations of our written constitution,...
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Should Maine and other states end state-run lotteries?
To an obdurate defender of economic theory’s central simplifying assumption — that people...
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On taxes, lawmakers should exercise restraint
It is a fallacy that individual clauses in the Constitution can be considered...
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Portland should put people at the heart of economic development
What creates jobs? What goes into building a healthy and vibrant economy that...
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Dependency diminishes government’s role to protect property
Karl Marx said that “Religion is the opium of the people.” Marx should...
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Lawmakers to consider plastic bag ban, paper bag fee
It has not been difficult to find bills this legislative session that would...
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Progressivism is not for Maine
It is hard to make constitutional sense out of the cacophony of progressive...
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A Republic, if you can keep it
It is time to rein in the taxaholic phalanx of lawmakers in Augusta...
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Avoiding legalized plunder
“Sometimes the law defends plunder and participates in it…how is this legal plunder...
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Free college, Medicare for All and other insanities of the extreme left
Clichéd as it may be, conservatives live in “a target rich environment” for...
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New York governor has revelation: Progressive tax policies are hurting his state
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo may have come to his senses on tax...
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Legislators can take steps to prevent Maine’s coming regulatory storm
This piece first appeared in the Portland Press Herald. During her recent inaugural...
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Maine taxpayers cannot afford the costs of universal health care
Among the many harebrained schemes that will be considered in the Maine Legislature...
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Government must remain within the confines of the Constitution
“If Congress can employ money indefinitely to the general welfare…the education of children…would...
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We have the right to property, and property in our rights
Reaching into the farthest recesses of my political recollections, I recall how I...
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Is political discourse dead?
One political point that most people agree on these days is that political...
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Our next governor’s success is the success of our state
Last week, the Maine voters cast their ballot to elect Janet Mills as...
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Jared Golden Did Not Win 50 Percent of the Vote
Jared Golden did not receive more than 50 percent of the vote after...
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Question 1 a scheme to achieve fully socialized medicine
More and more we are seeing direct democracy take hold in our elected...
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Question 1 will fail those it is intended to help
Question 1 promises a false sense of security that is destined to fail...
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Fear in the hearts of progressives
First, as a constituent of Sen. Susan Collins, I would like to thank...
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The abandonment of reason
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” It’s said...
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Businesses beware: higher unemployment taxes are on the horizon
In this tight labor market, we must use every tool at our disposal...
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The Fisking of Edgar Allen Beem
Oh, Edgar. There’s something almost comical about reading a piece of writing that...
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The Disproportionality of Bloodlust
I remember instances in high school or junior high when something bad happened...
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Let’s keep our economy on the right path by attracting more workers
The Maine Department of Labor recently released its projections for job growth for...
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We are a teenage nation
The more I try to parent teenagers, the more I recognize similar patterns...
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Portland City Council chasing opportunity into oblivion
Recently, the Housing Committee of Portland’s City Council met to discuss the possibility...
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The belligerent ignorance of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Oh, Alexandria. Ever since she won a stunning upset victory over her democrat...
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The right to vote is for citizens
People don’t value the things they get for free. Giving legal residents who...
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Why are ‘experts’ so determined to mislead the public on Universal Home Care taxes?
When Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap was accepting public comment on the...
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The ‘universal home care’ referendum will be disastrous for Maine’s economy
Ballot Question 1 is another benign-sounding, feel-good referendum. In reality, it’s one more...
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What’s next for progressives after Universal Home Care?
I have a hunch. This late summer or fall, after Labor Day but...