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The Quiet Storm

In this desperate downtime, is Deval Patrick regrouping, or cluelessly steering a sinking ship?
In recent weeks, Governor Deval Patrick has been receiving some of his best press in a long time — which is to say, he’s gotten very little coverage at all.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN  |  November 04, 2009
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Our endorsements

Election 2009
Statewide referenda and Portland local races
By PORTLAND PHOENIX STAFF  |  October 29, 2009

Kennedy vs. the Catholic Church

Opinion Dept.
Last week, Congressman Patrick Kennedy took the Catholic Church to task for opposing health reform that fails to include an explicit ban on federal funding for abortion. And he was right to do it.
By MARY ANN SORRENTINO  |  October 30, 2009
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Band-Aid for expensive healthcare

Until there's a real solution, use these free and discounted medical services
Until there's a real solution, use these free and discounted medical services
By TANYA WHITON  |  October 21, 2009

Death and taxes

We’re all going to die
Here's the simple truth about Maine's automobile excise tax: If you don't support the initiative on the November ballot to cut it sharply, we're all going to die.
By AL DIAMON  |  September 23, 2009
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The Olympic (shell) games

There are billions of reasons why every debt-saddled American should hope that the US does not get the gold in 2016.
It’s been 13 years since the pageantry and spectacle of the Summer Olympic Games — and the mythical economic boon that goes with it — has graced US soil. But we’ll find out next week if, in a secret-ballot vote in Europe, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will award the 2016 Games to Chicago, the American city competing for the bid.
By ANNE ELIZABETH MOORE  |  September 25, 2009
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10 years later, we told you so

Ten years of being right (well, mostly)
Like many in the alternative press, we pride ourselves on being ahead of the game. Sometimes, of course, that means we're wrong about what might be coming down the pike — that's part of the risk of being "out front" and not just reacting to the news as it happens.
By DEIRDRE FULTON  |  September 16, 2009
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Your Money

Here comes the FairPoint bailout
We thought the bailouts were over. They're not. FairPoint Communications, the nightmare that has become northern New England's landline provider, is seeking tax dollars that could help it fulfill the promises made to regulators in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont when the company spent $2.3 billion to buy Verizon's systems here.
By JEFF INGLIS  |  September 02, 2009

Law review

Musicians hit by new tax
We know — tax-law changes are boring and probably don't affect you. Until they get confusing and apply directly to how you eke out a living here in Maine.
By JEFF INGLIS + PORTLAND MUSIC FOUNDATION  |  August 19, 2009
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A mighty wind

New England plays catch-up in the green-energy race
This past Earth Day, President Barack Obama, speaking at an Iowa wind-turbine factory, delivered a gusty peroration. "The nation that leads the world in creating new energy sources will be the nation that leads the 21st-century global economy," he said. "America can be that nation. America must be that nation."
By MIKE MILIARD  |  August 24, 2009
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Bad times for the good earth

How are we going to keep them down on the farm?
You could say that the plight of the Massachusetts farmer began during the Great Ice Age, when the Laurentide Ice Sheet scraped over New England leaving poor soil and, as one farmer put it, "rocks, rocks, rocks."
By D.C. DENISON  |  August 11, 2009
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It's time to party!

Get your friends together and marshal support for marriage
Doug Kimmel and Ron Schwiser were married 40 years ago by a Presbyterian minister. They've lived in Hancock — where they pay taxes, attend church, and volunteer in the community — for more than 20 years. Yet, they are virtual strangers in the eyes of the law. They are denied the more than 400 legal rights and benefits that come with marriage under Maine law.
By SHENNA BELLOWS  |  August 04, 2009

Off the track

Politics and other mistakes
I've been thinking about what makes a first-rate kook.
By AL DIAMON  |  August 05, 2009

Gubernatorial agonistes

Caprio makes a big move. Plus, reasons to block the LNG terminal
On Tuesday, WRNI political reporter and former Phoenix news editor and master of the Casa Diablo elbow bend, Ian Donnis, broke the news that veteran political communications specialist, Bill Fischer, head ramrod at True North Communications, had signed on as spokesman for the State Treasurer Frank Caprio's gubernatorial campaign committee.
By PHILLIPE & JORGE  |  August 05, 2009
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Patrick's opponents

A meaningful debate about Massachusetts will take intelligence and courage
Charlie Baker, former head of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and onetime finance chief for governors William Weld and Paul Cellucci, was scheduled to file papers this week to officially open his gubernatorial campaign. With that, he also unofficially kicks off the 2010 Massachusetts election season.
By EDITORIAL  |  July 29, 2009
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Greens see red, must seek more green

Campaign planning
In a move Maine Green Independent Party leaders say unfairly targets them, but that Maine Democrats say is simply protecting taxpayer money, the Legislature last month passed a law requiring gubernatorial candidates to raise tens of thousands of dollars from private donors before qualifying for public support.
By JEFF INGLIS  |  July 29, 2009

Happy together

Politics and other mistakes
There's an easy way to make everyone happy.
By AL DIAMON  |  July 29, 2009
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Loan Groan

A new federal program aims to help overburdened student borrowers
Each month, with miserable certitude, the snail-mailboxes of middle-class twenty- and thirtysomethings are stuffed with student-loan bills, from both federal and private lenders. The balance seems to remain stagnant, even as we mail in check after check.
By DEIRDRE FULTON  |  July 08, 2009
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The Loan Groan

Never a borrower or a lender be dept.  
Each month, with miserable certitude, the snail-mailboxes of middle-class twenty- and thirtysomethings are stuffed with student-loan bills, from both federal and private lenders. The balance seems to remain stagnant, even as we mail in check after check.
By DEIRDRE FULTON  |  July 08, 2009
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Loan Groan

A new federal program aims to help overburdened student borrowers
Each month, with miserable certitude, the snail-mailboxes of middle-class twenty- and thirtysomethings are stuffed with student-loan bills, from both federal and private lenders. The balance seems to remain stagnant, even as we mail in check after check.
By DEIRDRE FULTON  |  July 08, 2009

My aim is true

Talking Politics
I believe in having clear and achievable goals.
By AL DIAMON  |  June 24, 2009
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Having it Both Ways

Should we blame Baldacci now?
 For years, Democratic Governor John Baldacci, governors before him, and many legislators have made job creation their loudest mantra. “Jobs!” echoes under Augusta’s State House dome as the rationale for cutting taxes and expenses (services) and increasing corporate tax breaks to make Maine more “business friendly.”
By LANCE TAPLEY  |  June 03, 2009

Stickin' it to the poor

Right wing celebrates state budget
The Maine Heritage Policy Center, a right-wing Portland think tank, has been bragging in news releases about how state leaders have followed its advice, approving a two-year state-government budget that, among other cuts, slashes school aid, programs for the needy, and state-employee pay.
By LANCE TAPLEY  |  June 03, 2009

Recession lesson

Drinkin 'n' thinkin'
Cigarette tax hikes in Rhode Island have smokers kicking the habit.
By MARY ANN SORRENTINO  |  May 20, 2009
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You Snus you lose

Rhymes with noose
Unbowed by last month's $1 a pack increase in the cigarette tax, the tobacco industry is pushing new unhealthy products to gain more Rhode Island customers.
By STEVEN STYCOS  |  May 13, 2009

Art for art's sake

The creative economy
Apparently, I'm one of those artist-types. Except it's not called "artist" anymore. That term is too, well ... artsy-fartsy. It doesn't adequately convey my critical importance to society.
By AL DIAMON  |  April 29, 2009
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Tax time?

New taxes may be needed. Plus, why Massachusetts can take pride in the Serve America Act.
State House of Representatives leaders have served the Commonwealth well with their austere new budget: they have shown us the tremendous sacrifices we will need to make, and the drastic cuts that will be put into effect, if we don't raise new revenues.
By EDITORIAL  |  April 22, 2009

Payin' for my sins

Politics and other mistakes
I don’t like the way you’re looking at me.
By AL DIAMON  |  April 15, 2009

Equal scary people

Should foreigners -- like folks from NH -- vote in Maine?
I have nothing against people who've had the misfortune of being born in other nations. Unless they're from Chad.
By AL DIAMON  |  April 08, 2009
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Is it Tim time?

As Deval Patrick flails, Tim Cahill is positioning himself to run. And that's a-okay with the Patrick team.
Whereas a few months ago it seemed that no one could pose a serious threat to any re-election campaign mounted by Governor Deval Patrick, a recent string of missteps has suddenly made him very vulnerable.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN  |  April 01, 2009

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