Rim Country Gazette: Susan Collins forced by irate constituents to walk back tax bill lie

Friday, December 8, 2017

Susan Collins forced by irate constituents to walk back tax bill lie

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 5: Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) walks to the Senate floor as she leaves a meeting with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill, December 5, 2017 in Washington, DC. After the Senate passed their tax reform legislation last week, the next step will be a conference committee with members of the House to iron out the differences between the two bills. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) — Sen. Susan Collins is feeling the heat of her dishonest vote on the tax bill.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) easily had the most disingenuous and embarrassing performance among Republicans, letting her vote-in support ride on promises from Mitch McConnell that she knew were absolutely worthless. Then she had the gall to go on national TV and lie about it. She's facing the music for that back home, as she should, and has been forced to walk back the lie, sort of.

Nearly two hundred people chanted “bullshit” outside the Portland office of Senator Susan Collins Wednesday afternoon, one day after the Republican attempted to walk back claims that the widely unpopular GOP tax bill would pay for itself. It’s actually projected to create at least a trillion dollar deficit, threatening bedrock government programs including Medicare and Social Security.

Collins has been under fire since voting for the widely unpopular bill this weekend and is now facing even more pushback after it appears she tried to justify her vote with a series of false statements. […]

When called out on the misleading statement, Collins' spokesperson Annie Clark said the senator "did not mean to state definitively that the tax cut would pay for itself."

"I can see why you would think that reading the transcript," Clark added, "and, to be clear, she does believe that the cuts could potentially pay for themselves."

So she doesn't definitively believe this massive tax cut will pay for itself, just potentially believes it. Like her constituents, I call "bullshit." Which is not what these folks who are currently occupying her Portland office are going to say, but it's what they mean.

If you live in Maine, add your voice. Call her and tell her to reverse course.

DC office = (202) 224-2523
Portland = (207) 780-3575
Lewiston = (207) 784-6969
Bangor = (207) 945-0417
Augusta = (207) 622-8414
Biddeford = (207) 283-1101
Caribou = (207) 493-7873