Congress gets a raise

Congress has given itself a raise.

While one could make the case that there has rarely been a time in this country when America has thought Congress deserved more money, this one is particularly disgusting (albeit not surprising at all) in its timing (read: with an economy in tatters and right before Christmas when thousands of Americans have lost their jobs).

This outgoing Congress is one of the most unpopular sessions in recent memory, which says something when you have one of the most unpopular presidents at the same time. However, they could have gone out on a powerful symbolic note by holding a vote to freeze its pay instead of allowing the automatic 2.8% increase to go into effect.

Keep this in mind the next time you see a member of Congress high up on their pedestal telling some CEO that they should take $1 in salary for the year. Perhaps, since our country is running a huge deficit and likely to only balloon further out of control, we should ask our "leadership team" to do the same.

Red Sox Unveil New Uniforms and Logos

Boston Globe: The Red Sox unveiled new team logos, uniforms, and caps that will make their debut on the field at the start of the 2009 season on Thursday, December 11, 2008.

Link to Globe Story

Pictures

Engineers give Maine infrastructure poor grade

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- The Maine section of the American Society of Civil Engineers is giving the state's bridges, roads and schools a low grade in a report card assessing the state's infrastructure.

Story Link

Shocking: Maine not friendly to small business

On December 9, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) released its 13th annual rankings of the states according to their public policy climates for small business and entrepreneurship in the "Small Business Survival Index 2008: Ranking the Policy Environment for Entrepreneurship Across the Nation."

No newsflash here, but Maine ranks 48 out of 50 in states that create a "conducive environment" for small businesses.

http://www.sbecouncil.org/news/display.cfm?ID=2957

TD Banknorth Banker: Recovery Starting to Work

Interesting article, especially the part about TD getting out of mortgage-backed securities about three years ago. Whomever made that decision looks very bright.

Banker: Recovery starting to work

But the missteps that led to today's problems were years in the making, TD Banknorth's CEO says.

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/elink/?226581

Memo to Democrats: It's all downhill from here

Morning Sentinel Opinion Piece, by Dan Billings December 4, 2008

It's a tough time to be a Republican. The November election resulted in the election of a Democratic president by a significant margin and an increase in the Democrats' majorities in the U.S. House and Senate.

At the state level, Democrats also increased their majorities in the Maine Legislature to levels not seen in more than a decade. Commentators see the country moving to the left and some have predicted Republicans will be wandering in the wilderness for the next 40 years.

But age and experience teaches that things are never really as bad as they look when times are tough and are never really as good as they look when you are on top. Based on that, and recent history, the 2010 election may be more challenging for Democrats than many expect today.

Santa's Sleigh Collapses in Mexico

It is dangerous to be Santa in backwoods Maine.

Lewiston Sun Journal - December 6, 2008

Santa and Mrs. Claus weren't injured in the Mexico mishap, "but I guess it was a sight to see," Giroux said.

Judy Broomhall, who was at the Mexico Fire Department's Santa parade, said Santa's sleigh collapsed after Santa lit the station's Christmas tree, climbed back on the sleigh and it started forward.

When it collapsed, it dumped Mr. and Mrs. Claus to the floor. The children who saw it believed the jolly old elf was hurt, Broomhall said. Someone - either a child or an adult - yelled, "You killed Santa!"

Kids began to sob.

Santa and the misses, however, were checked out and deemed to be fine, said Rumford Falls Times reporter and managing editor Bruce Farrin, who was covering the parade.

Thanksgiving: Unions Help Laid Off Workers

EAST MILLINOCKET, Maine — When he was laid off from the Katahdin Paper Co. LLC mill on Main Street last week, Scott Markie wondered whether he could still afford the big Thanksgiving Day dinner his family has traditionally enjoyed.

He stopped wondering on Monday.

BDN Article-November 25, 2008

America's Most Overrated Product: The Bachelor's Degree

Opinion article from "The Chronicle of Higher Education".

Research suggests that more than 40 percent of freshmen at four-year institutions do not graduate in six years. Colleges trumpet the statistic that, over their lifetimes, college graduates earn more than nongraduates, but that's terribly misleading. You could lock the collegebound in a closet for four years, and they'd still go on to earn more than the pool of non-collegebound — they're brighter, more motivated, and have better family connections.