Ethan Strimling

Ethan Strimling of Portland is a Democrat, running for the first congressional district seat being vacated by Tom Allen.

He is a state senator from Cumberland County (eighth district), and is also the director of Portland West, a social service agency which works with at-risk kids from low income families.  He is married to Mary Beeaker from Livermore Falls.  He is a University of Maine graduate, and got his master’s at Harvard.  As is our policy, we allow each candidate to address the issues in his or her own way.  Here, then, is Ethan Strimling on the issues.

Iraq:  It is time to bring our troops home as safely and quickly as we can.  In 2003, the first bill I put in the legislature as senator was to have the Maine Senate go on record opposing the war.  We were the first legislative body in the nation to do that.  That resolution talked about the cost, the loss of lives, the destabilization of the middle east... passing it was one of those double edged swords.  I am proud that Maine was first, but saddened that so much that was predicted in the resolution has come true.  I think beyond the destabilization of middle east and loss of life, what has been devastating is the economic consequences we have spent on this war, directing it away from people who need help in Maine ... that is destroying our social fabric.  A billion dollars of Maine’s money has gone to this war, and with that we could have eased the burden of the middle class, solved some of the problems of welfare, financed college, and lowered taxes.  Unfortunately, the federal government made a different choice.

War on Terror:  Do we have to protect ourselves? Absolutely. First thing, we bring the troops home.  The Pentagon itself reported that the war in Iraq created more terrorists than existed there before.  We have to focus domestically on helping people make ends meet.  There is a disconnect between regular people’s lives and what is going on in Washington.  We have to help with college and health care.  We need to provide an income that allows them to take a few weeks’ vacation every year.  Instead, we waste a tremendous amount of money. 

Oil:  We must end our dependence on costly foreign oil.  It’s as simple and as complicated as that… but the first step is deciding we want to end our dependence.  There are a myriad ways of getting there.  Wind, tidal, solar, hydrogen.  All must be invested in in order to get ourselves off this addiction.  The government should encourage the use and production of alternatives.  Increase CAFE standards.  Provide a broader education to the public, incentives to businesses and homeowners.  Because wages are low and the economy is stagnant, people aren’t able to make those investments.  We need tax incentives, perhaps using the Maine Housing Authority, to encourage state policies that reward certain behaviors.

Global Warming:  Global warming and our dependence on oil are one and the same.  I am running for Congress, in context of this economy ... my campaign will be based on economics.  Dependence on oil is an is economic issue, but also an environmental issue.  We have to make investments in alternative energies, a 21st century philosophy.  The environment and the economy are one and the same.  We can’t sacrifice one for the other. 

Health Care: Single payer system.  We already have it in medicare.  We need it for everyone, now.  Anybody who comes to the table with an idea that will get to universal coverage, creates access, is affordable, and offers high quality health care, I’m in.  All three pieces have to be met.  Accessible, affordable, high quality. If we don’t meet all three, we are falling behind.

Social Security:  1.  Stop borrowing from trust fund. 2.  We need to raise the cap on taxable income.  Raising the cap is relatively simple solution that will allow us to extend Social Security for many years.  Also, it’s not enough.  Two people I know on Social Security had to go back to work just to make ends meet during retirement.  That’s inappropriate in a nation this wealthy.  People struggle to make ends meet from the time they begin working through retirement.  It’s a disgrace.  They deserve time to spend with their grandchildren without worrying about whether they can heat their bedroom.

Immigration:  I would have supported the bill Ted Kennedy and the President put together.  We need a good guest worker program, to make it easier for people who come legally to get here.  There are a lot of stumbling blocks.  As director of Portland West, I work with a lot of immigrants, mostly refugees.  The problem is that many people are looking at immigration as a problem rather than as a value.  Immigrants are still a vital part of our economy and future.  We have to do all we can to strengthen that part of our workforce and society.  The problem is that the gap between rich and poor has grown so wide, so few have such a big piece of the pie.  So we look at those in the same economic bracket, or those below us as the problem.   They’re not the problem ... the imbalance between rich and poor is the problem.

Free trade versus fair trade:  I am glad we took away fast track for CAFTA.  Trade is good, as long as there is a fair balance between imports and exports.  Importers have to meet our labor standards, our environmental standards.  Without those, we have what happens now - companies move offshore to take advantage of less stringent requirements, and send back items that don’t meet our standards for safety.  We are in a global economy, and the world is quite flat, so we have to participate, but in a way that we protect our working people.  We can’t take many more manufacturing jobs going overseas.

Education:  Opportunity Maine is a great initiative.  It will be incumbent on the legislature to continue its funding.  There is a simple cost benefit analysis, and since it keeps qualified employees in the state, it is vital to state’s economy.  Parents today worry that their kids will not have a better life than they did ... it breaks your heart.  Pell Grants should fund a basic level of education that everybody can get … and it should be high quality. 

If the government says we should do something, they should pay.  Unfunded mandates are just a way to shift responsibility from the federal government to the state taxpayers.  No Child Left Behind is not good public policy.  Mostly, the program is about teachers having to administer test after test after test, as opposed to teaching young people to become smart, critical, active members of community. 

At Portland West we work with kids under 7, a program called Even Start, to help them catch up or stay caught up in literacy.  Being able to read is the core of education.  All else will come if the student can read.  When you talk about poverty and making ends meet, education is the key factor. 

For me in this race, I am running because of three issues … the war, which needs to end, our dependence on costly foreign oil, and the gap that has grown so wide between the rich and everybody else.  That third point is where my expertise and passion are strongest.  Simple things like reducing property taxes $300-400  a year, helping students make their way through college and get an undergraduate degree, bringing businesses to the state for high paying jobs.  I’m very proud of our higher minimum wage, but it’s not enough.  We need to move higher and index it so that we know on an annual basis people are getting the wage they need to survive. 

As I’ve traveled, I have met so many people … hundreds and hundreds … in their living rooms, their homes ... you get to hear their hopes, dreams, fears.  They showed me an undercurrent of anxiety, fear, struggling to make ends meet, to retire, to send their kids to college.  That is unbearably sad to see.  People work hard.  People who are barely making it are working harder than the wealthier in this country.  This economy is not serving them.  While the wealthiest get richer, most people have to work harder and harder to keep their heads above water.