Good Advice for Lisbon Residents; BDN: Cohen, Simpson urge Americans to take control of their government, demand elected officials work together

 Former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen

 By Judy Harrison, BDN Staff

ORONO, Maine — Former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen on Thursday urged Americans to take control of their government and demand that elected officials work together to make the hard choices it will take to lower the deficit and cut the growth of the federal budget.

Former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson, who was the featured speaker at the biannual lecture at the University of Maine named for Cohen, was more blunt. He urged the more than 1,000 attendees to attend the next town meeting of their elected representatives.

“And when you hear that wonderful phrase from your elected official standing there in the beauty of the glare of the [television] camera: ‘I know what the problem is and we can get it done without touching precious Medicare, precious Medicaid, precious defense, or precious Social Security. God bless you,’” the former Republican senator from Wyoming said.

“Then, you should get up and say, ‘You, sir, are making a terminological inexactitude, you lying son of a bitch.’ ”

Read more:  http://bangordailynews.com/2013/11/07/news/bangor/cohen-simpson-urge-americans-to-take-control-of-their-government-demand-elected-officials-work-together/