I appreciate Dustin Gilbert’s portrait of Dean Scontras’ candidacy for US Congress.
I am unaware of an effort made by Mr. Scontras to come to USM, as many other candidates have done, but I feel his presence would facilitate an exchange of ideas beneficial to the entire USM community.
That being said, there is some false information and unsubstantiated arguments put forth in the column that are worthy of more earnest scrutiny.
First, one of Mr. Scontras’ opponents in the race was misidentified as Ethan Stremling.
His name is Ethan Strimling. This spelling error, repeated throughout the column, is negligible, except that it appears indicative of a superficial grasp of Mr. Strimling’s career and candidacy.
Mr. Gilbert’s remarks confirm this: “Democrats like Stremling [sic], who also owns low-income housing, keep pushing programs that allow low-income Mainers to live off the state, while at the same time keeping those people in poverty — and keeping their vote.” These claims are profoundly misinformed and risible.
In reality, Mr. Strimling owns no low-income housing. What Mr. Gilbert seems to be referring to — either dishonestly, or with a disregard for the facts — is that Mr. Strimling has served as executive director of the nonprofit Portland West for more than a decade.
Portland West assists at-risk and poor children and families, and owns some low-income housing to aid its mission.
It is via the industriousness of Mr. Strimling and others that Portland West has been able to overcome limited funds to provide disempowered members of the community with a stepping stone out of what is too often generations of poverty compounded by a pervasive sense of hopelessness.
Further, Mr. Strimling has been a senator in the Maine legislature for six years. There, he has worked to implement fairer taxes for the middle class and the elderly. He has worked with Senator Richard Nass, a Republican, to reduce property taxes. Very clearly, the policies and programs Mr. Gilbert laments do not exist.
Throughout his career, Mr. Strimling has demonstrated a keen foresight and commitment to finding solutions to pressing issues. Consistent with this theme, he has highlighted the hardships caused by misguided government policies that favor the very wealthiest citizens.
Polarization of wealth in the US, after all, is currently at a level not experienced since just prior to the Great Depression. Moreover, college tuition has skyrocketed (at double the rate of inflation) in the last several years, putting a college degree — and upward social mobility — out of reach for much of the public.
One of Mr. Strimling’s recent responses is a proposal to increase the minimum wage, which is, above all, a practical means of reinvigorating the slowing economy. As Mr. Strimling notes, “Americans who make less spend a higher proportion of their income at the market, re-injecting that income back into the economy and promoting economic stimulation.”
A policy of “trickle down” economics, on the other hand, as President Bush’s tax cuts represent, gives extra money overwhelmingly to people who need it the least and have the least incentive to spend it quickly.
Mr. Scontras’ business acumen could prove an important asset in the effort to strengthen Maine’s economy, but it is essential that the capabilities of the market not be exaggerated.
Private firms are concerned almost myopically with maximizing profits; more ethical considerations seldom register. Adequate safeguards must be routinely put in place lest the economy — and society — become too tightly controlled by a narrow group of economic elites, well isolated from the plight their decisions cause others.
Perhaps Mr. Scontras should leave the boardroom more often, follow Mr. Strimling’s lead, and start connecting more conscientiously with the issues most important to Mainers from all varieties of backgrounds.
Jeff Doucette is a senior political science major and a member of the College Democrats.