Once again, Mary Mayhew, commissioner of Health and Human Services, attempts to push governor LePage’s agenda for welfare reform (Common sense welfare reforms are taking place in Maine; Sunday Telegram, May 17).
And, once again baseless platitudes are asserted in order to convince Mainers that the long-term unemployed, food stamp recipients and immigrant populations in need of general assistance are gaming the system.
While there are those few who scam the system, Mayhew fails to see that thousands of unemployed would love to have full-time employment.
I might suggest to Commissioner Mayhew that instead of talking to the businesspeople (“I cannot tell you how many business people the governor and I speak with on a regular basis who lament the attitude of entitlement among many who have come to rely on the programs”), she should seek out the homeless, the unemployed, and those who have fallen through the cracks to recognize what poverty is really all about.
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