In reaction to recent praise for Julie McDonald-Smith’s columns, I would like to suggest the praise is due not so much for what she has to say, as for The Forecaster’s willingness to publish her right-wing blurb, riddled with lopsided, distorted, simplistic and twisted logic.

An example is her recent rant about alleged welfare fraud in Maine, a “problem” Gov. Paul LePage has used to demonize poor folks while solidifying his base. Like the governor, McDonald-Smith’s pitch avoids context, failing to point out the reality that the vast majority of folks receiving public assistance do so legitimately and do not abuse the privilege. You can look it up. McDonald-Smith and LePage would do well to offer us a comparison of the cost of welfare fraud with corporate and individual tax fraud, most often perpetrated by folks with a political and fiscal lean to the right. You can look it up.

Art DiMauro
Scarborough