Sen. Susan Collins has dismissed the concerns of thousands of her constituents who have spent the last month contacting her as coming from a liberal group “that’s just rooting for (her) to fail.”

On the contrary: We are individuals opposed to the policies of the party of Donald Trump and Roy Moore, with their explicitly racist Muslim ban and walls, their policies of voter suppression for minorities, their attacks on women, reproductive justice and LGBTQ rights and their policies of, in the words of Martin Luther King, “socialism for the rich and rugged, free enterprise capitalism for the poor.”

Eighty-six percent of small businesses in Maine will not benefit from the corporate tax cuts. Fewer than 3,000 Mainers will benefit from a reduction in the top income tax bracket, according to the Internal Revenue Service, while over 100,000 Mainers have an income of less than $10,000 a year.

A majority of Mainers just voted to expand Medicaid, indicating a desire to extend affordable health care to fellow Mainers; this bill will increase premiums by 10 percent every single year. By 2027, three out of five Mainers will see a tax increase because of this bill. Sen. Collins needs to explain to us how handouts to the wealthy will help our state.

Sen. Collins has the choice: to act in the tradition of our great Republicans in Congress, Margaret Chase Smith and William Cohen, and vote for what is right for the country and the state of Maine, or to continue to support the party of Trump and Moore by voting for this tax bill and continuing to vote for “not qualified to serve” judicial and Cabinet nominees. If she chooses to vote against the will of her constituents, then there will be an organized and motivated liberal group in Maine rooting against her.

Christina Foster

Peaks Indivisible

Peaks Island

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