Collins: Palestinian PM Concedes UN Error

Sen. Collins:

[Salam Fayyad, the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority and I] discussed the PA's unilateral appeal to the UN to grant recognition to a Palestinian State, a move that I strongly oppose. He seemed to concede that this approach was a mistake.

Quote of the Day

Via Andrew Sullivan, here's former Sen. Rick Santorum:

"We'll repeal Obamacare and get rid any idea that you have to have abortion coverage or contraceptive coverage. One of the things that I will talk about that no president has talked about before is I think the dangers of contraception in this country, the sexual liberty idea and many in the Christian faith have said, you know contraception is okay. It's not okay because it's a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be."

Sen. Collins worked to re-elect Santorum in 2006. (And no, this isn't much more outrageous than the kinds of things he was saying at the time.)

Define "Open-Ended"

Sen. Collins:

"I have never supported an open-ended and unconditional commitment of U.S. troops in Iraq. However, I do remain concerned that many U.S. military officials have repeatedly said that they believe a residual force of U.S. troops might have to remain in order to continue training Iraqi troops to help ensure that the significant gains we have made there, at great cost to American blood and treasure, are not lost."

Flashback to May, 2007:

CNN reports that Sen. Collins "will consider calling for troops to be withdrawn from Iraq if sufficient progress has not been made in the country by September."

Ayotte Amendment

Via e-mail, ACLU of Maine Executive Director Shenna Bellows says that her organization is "very concerned" about Sen. Collins' vote in favor of the Ayotte amendment, which would have banned the use of civilian courts for many terrorism cases.

Some more background from an ACLU prepared statement:

The failure of the Ayotte amendment...should be a wake-up call to anyone who still thinks there is a binding deal for the National Defense Authorization Act detention provisions. Top leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee have repeatedly said they struck a deal on detention issues when the Committee passed its bill behind closed doors earlier this year. But now it turns out that literally all six Republicans on the Armed Services Committee who supported the NDAA detention deal by voting against a nearly identical Ayotte amendment in committee markup (McCain, Graham, Wicker, Chambliss, Scott Brown, and Collins) flipped sides this morning and voted for the Ayotte amendment.

“It should be clear now that the bipartisan NDAA detention 'deal' is a farce.

Sen. Snowe also supported the amendment.

Quote of the Day

Lawrence Lessig:

Forget the 99 percent. We are the 99.95 percent of people who have never maxed out in a Congressional election campaign by giving the maximum amount. It is .05 percent of America who have given $2500 in the last election to a Congressional candidate, .05 percent, and Congress listens to them.

Drum Roll Please

We're excited to announce the 2012 Margaret Chase Smith Journalism Award competition.

The $100 award, named after an American who spoke uncomfortable truths to powerful people, will go to a Maine journalist with the fortitude to press elected officials to answer difficult, important questions.

For the 2012 round, the award will be given to the first Maine-based reporter who asks Sen. Snowe or Sen. Collins how she would balance the federal budget and then provides readers/viewers/listeners with the context necessary to assess the plausibility of the answer and see how it squares with the pol's legislative record.

Fine print:

--No, this is not a joke.

--Want to make a commitment of $5 toward the $100 prize to help defray our costs? E-mail us at the address at right.

--The contest period begins today. The deadline for eligible reporting is October 13, 2012.

--Maine-based print, radio and TV journalists are eligible for the prize. Reports must run on Maine TV, radio or in the print edition of Maine newspaper to be eligible. (Sorry, no blog posts.)

--Judgments as to eligibility will be made by Collins Watch at our sole discretion.

--Judgements as to whether a particular piece of reporting meets the award criteria will be made by Collins Watch at our sole discretion.

--No application necessary. $100 prize will be sent automatically to the author of the first piece of reporting that meets the award criteria.

--Collins Watch reserves the right to grant no award if no Maine-based reporting is found to qualify during the award period.

--Collins Watch reserves the right to amend the rules governing the award at any time, as necessary.

No On Nathan

In spite of no votes from Sen. Collins and Sen. Snowe, the nomination of Alison Nathan to US District Court was approved today by the US Senate. She will become only the second "out" lesbian to serve in the federal judiciary.

It's not clear why Collins opposed the nomination--there's no explanatory press release on her website as of this writing.

But given her support for truly fringe Bush administration nominees like Priscilla Owen and Janice Rogers Brown, you'd think she might want to explain her decision to vote against a trailblazer like Nathan, about whom Betsy Smith, executive director of Equality Maine said, via e-mail, "[her] qualifications are superb and [her] presence reflects the diversity of our country."

Collins Filibusters Jobs Bill

Sen. Collins, who played a pivotal role in shaping the largest Keynesian stimulus in US history just three years ago, has voted to block even a debate on the administration's jobs bill:

Collins said, the administration's "take it or leave it" proposition in an effort to score political points persuaded her to vote against the bill. She added that the administration also changed the bill to retain "sweetheart tax breaks for the five biggest oil and gas companies."

Got that? Unemployment is at 9%. Incomes are falling. The middle class is struggling mightily.

But since the administration went ahead and offered a "take it or leave it" proposal (which was somehow substantially rewritten just days ago) everyone should suffer.

And besides, the bill didn't get rid of tax breaks which have nothing to do with its goal. Ergo, the whole thing is a bad idea.

To call this incoherence is to be way too generous.

Which is why Collins ought to be pressed to explain herself more clearly, and to offer something closer to an honest explanation for her vote.

If only there was a group of people--a corps you could say--whose job it was to report back to their fellow citizens about what accountable representatives are up to and why...

Collins Defends Scott Brown

After Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren noted--in response to a debate question referencing Sen. Scott Brown's (R-MA) nude Cosmopolitan centerfold--that she had "kept [her] clothes on" while paying for law school, Brown had a sharp, tart response: "Thank God."

Too bad it was classless, ugly and kind of icky.

But that hasn't stopped Sen. Collins from coming to the aid of the Brown campaign's furious spin operation:

Collins similarly turned the spotlight on Warren, saying Brown was "merely responding" to comments first made by the Harvard professor, in which she "made light of the difficult choices in his life"--a reference to Warren's recent jab at Brown's decision to pose nude for a magazine in his 20’s.

Set aside Collins' one-sided take on what transpired. Set aside her decision to use "difficult choices" as a euphemism for Brown's decision to pose nude.

Remember, Collins is a civility scold. She's literally made a career out of the proposition that our country would be stronger if politicians treated each other more politely.

And yet Scott Brown comes along and says "thank God" Elizabeth Warren didn't take her clothes off. And we all know exactly what he means. And Collins doesn't just give Brown a pass. She defends him.

It's enough to make you wonder.

The "Small Business" Canard

There's been a noticeable improvement in the quality and diversity of political writing on BDN Op-Ed page in recent months. This piece from Nate Libby, director of the Maine Small Business Coalition, exemplifies the trend:

Small-business owners know what's happening in our communities because we serve and employ the workers who make our local economies thrive.

[...]

Too often, we hear arguments for "business-friendly" policies that don’t match up with our experience--mostly coming from big-business lobbyists who claim to speak for our interests. The latest example is the “business” support for Sen. Susan Collins' "regulatory time out" and "regulatory accountability" proposals.

[...]

Take the "time out" proposal, which puts a freeze on new health and workplace safety rules or standards. When a football team calls a time-out, play stops on the field. But that's not what Sen. Collins is proposing at all. She is proposing to let big polluters, big banks and big insurers keep playing their games, but to take the officials out of the game so they can't throw flags on penalties.

Who wins in that situation? The big guys do. And who loses? The little guys.

It's striking to see a Maine small business owner--let alone the leader of a 2,500 business coalition--calling out Collins' bogus "small business" posturing. But Libby's basic point in the piece isn't controversial--at least not in the small business community.

The fact is, very few business owners spend their days obsessing about government regulations.

Collins "Unfamiliar" With DOMA Impact

Sen. Collins, who has won plaudits and awards from several gay rights groups in recent months--and is slated to be honored by another prominent group next week--professes not to know how the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is affecting gay couples:

When Metro Weekly spoke with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) about her views on the repeal of DOMA, the senator celebrated by many LGBT advocates for her prominent role in ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" said she was unfamiliar with the federal impact of DOMA on same-sex couples and with the law aimed at repealing DOMA...

Speaking with Metro Weekly at [the Sept. 20 Log Cabin Republican's dinner honoring her], Collins had no view on the bill and claimed to be unaware of the impact of Section 3 of DOMA--which defines "marriage" and "spouse" in federal law as referring only to marriages between one man and one woman.

Asked about and given a brief description of the [Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal DOMA], Collins said, "I was going to say, I'm not sure what the Respect for Marriage Act is." She then added that she would "have to look at that."

Collins then said that she hadn't "looked at" the federal limits on marriage recognition put in place by DOMA, stating that she was not aware of how Section 3 of DOMA impacts same-sex couples.

Collins's comments are particularly confusing given that she was the sole Republican Senate co-sponsor of the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act in the 111th Congress, a bill to extend health insurance benefits to federal employees in same-sex relationships--legislation made necessary by Section 3 of DOMA.

Asked on Sept. 28 for follow-up information about Collins's position on DOMA and the RMA, Collins's office was unable to provide immediate comment and a spokesman did not respond to an email seeking comment.

They Write Op-Eds

Jonathan Shenkin, former president of the Maine Dental Association, on potato consumption and childrens health:

Our senators' argument, which appears to have originated with the potato industry, is that the potato is full of nutrients. In a recent press release, Snowe detailed all the healthful components of the potato, but neglected to mention its established association with obesity.

Collins claimed that the potato is much healthier than iceberg lettuce, which is low on nutrients. Iceberg lettuce, however, is not associated with weight gain and obesity.

I decided to call my medical colleagues in Maine and throughout the United States to hear their opinions about the Institute of Medicine's recommended changes in school nutrition.

Physicians were unanimous in their belief that we must moderate potato consumption among children in the country to tackle the obesity epidemic. No one I spoke with supported the senators' views...

Their political strategy, not based on scientific evidence, greatly concerns me.

Taking A "Breather"

The Center for American Progess isn't happy with Sen. Collins

On September 12, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and 20 of her colleagues introduced the Regulatory Time-Out Act, S. 1538. This bill would establish a one-year moratorium on regulations from the executive branch and independent regulatory agencies...

This moratorium would halt the implementation of rules to reduce mercury, dioxin, and other toxic chemicals from coal-fired power plants, industrial boilers, and cement manufacturing. The American Lung Association noted that allowing these sources to continue unchecked will inflict real harm on Americans, particularly children, seniors, and the sick:

These emissions can make breathing difficult and can worsen asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchitis and other lung diseases. These pollutants can cause heart attacks and strokes, lung cancer and other cancers, birth defects and premature death.

The American Lung Association projects that these two pollution reduction requirements would save at least 51,000 lives and prevent over half a million asthma attacks every year...

In Sen. Collins’s home state of Maine, her bill would continue the emission of at least 12,000 pounds of mercury and other toxics from Maine power plants and cement plants. At least 2.6 million pounds of airborne toxics are emitted into Maine’s skies every year—or two pounds for every Maine resident. The energy and natural resources companies have contributed over $400,000 to Sen. Collins since she was elected...

Sen. Collins’s most recent bill continues her yearlong assault on the health and safety of Mainers and other Americans. In February she targeted the Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology rule, which would require facilities with large industrial boilers to reduce their emissions of mercury, lead, and other pollutants that harm our health. These chemicals have proven, damaging effects on the heart, lungs, and brain. By clearing the air of these toxics, the boiler MACT rule would save 2,600 to 6,600 lives per year.

Sen. Collins has also sponsored the Clearing Unnecessary Regulatory Burdens Act and the EPA Regulatory Relief Act. Both acts target regulations that would reduce emission of hazardous air pollutants.

Sen. Collins says she is proposing S. 1538 in order to give U.S. companies a “sensible breather” from the regulations that suppress job creation. But this would make breathing harder for children, seniors, and the ill by prolonging emission of millions of pounds of toxic pollution.

Inflation

Way back in 2008--in the middle of a re-election campaign--Sen. Collins supported raising taxes on people with annual income of more than $1 million.

Here she is this week:

Collins said she favors overhauling the tax code and hiking taxes on the extremely wealthy, perhaps people making $5 million a year or more.

Seems like something of a moving target, no?

Collins: Debt Plan Step In Right Direction

The junior senator will back the debt ceiling plan:

While this plan is not perfect, it is a step in the right direction. It averts default, puts real controls on spending, makes significant reductions in our long-term debt, protects Social Security, and provides much-needed certainty to our job creators.

Round and Round

Last November:

As of today, Matt is now serving as the Director of New Media Communications for United States Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) in her Washington, DC office.

Yesterday:

@MatthewGagnon: Excited to announce I'll be the new conservative columnist for my home town paper, @bangordailynews. You'll see me every Friday!

Years ago:

"In the 1996 senatorial race...[BDN] again [intervened] on behalf of Collins on both its editorial page and in its reporting and analysis.

Cynics of all party affiliations could see a pattern in subsequent events. The managing editor of BDN, Mark Woodward, went on after the election to become communications director for Senator Collins--although he soon returned to the old job."

Collins Backs $3.7 Trillion In Cuts

It's still not clear what the so-called "Gang of Six" deficit reduction plan is--and what it isn't.

But in any case, Sen. Collins is embracing it:

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins has signed a letter backing a bipartisan plan in the Senate that aims to cut the deficit by at least $3.7 trillion over 10 years through a mix of spending cuts and increased revenues from closing some tax loopholes.

The Maine Republican is one of 33 senators, 15 of them Republicans, to sign the letter, as the Senate searches for a compromise plan to hike the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling and avoid a federal debt default looming on Aug. 2.

This seems like smart politics: The plan has little chance of passing, and even if it does, its lack of specificity gives Collins plenty of wiggle room to decry the cuts to entitlements and other programs that it would inevitably require.

If it doesn't pass, Collins can point to her support as evidence of her fiscal conservatism. And then go back to voting for all of the tax cuts and nearly all of the big ticket programs.

Friends In High Places

Lobbyist Jane Alonso, Sen. Collins' former legislative director, has been promoted to senior vice president at her lobbying firm:

"Jane has played an invaluable role with the Senate, in particular on a wide range of issues from energy to health care to telecommunications and has helped the firm land significant new business in these growth areas for the firm," said founder Stewart Verdery in a statement.

About That Event

Wondering whether Sen. Collins spoke about gay marriage at the EqualityMaine event? So were we.

Here's the take of Betsy Smith, the group's executive director, on what was said:

Members of EqualityMaine's staff did ask the Senator about marriage.

My understanding is that she said she felt it was a state not federal issue, although she pointed out that she had voted against an amendment to the US Constitution banning marriage equality.

She also noted that like many Americans she is on a journey on the issue and noted that public opinion was changing rapidly on the issue and that she found that to be a very positive thing.

Advocacy Done Right

I was amused--and may even have let out a chuckle--when I read that EqualityMaine was honoring Sen. Collins for what the group called her "unique leadership" in the drive to repeal "don't ask, don't tell."

Don't get me wrong: The junior senator played a key role in reviving the repeal effort when it stalled during the Senate's lame duck session late last year. (And we applauded her for it at the time.)

But it's also true that Collins' intransigence and transparent partisanship were a big part of why repeal ran into trouble to begin with. Remember, Collins voted to filibuster the military authorization bill that contained repeal--a bill she professed to support--on the grounds that some of her Republican colleagues had issues with it.

If that's not putting politics ahead of principle, I don't know what is.

Collins also insisted that repeal be put off until wealthy Americans were awarded giant tax cuts, effectively demanding a mulitbillion dollar ransom in exchange for supporting equal treatment under the law.

"Unique" leadership indeed.

Still, given the historic nature of the policy shift, Collins' meandering path from repeal obstacle to repeal supporter is basically a footnote. It's easy to understand why EqualityMaine would want to celebrate a home state senator's critical role in the realization of a cherished goal.

But the full story, it turns out, is more complicated than that--and more interesting: Because unlike almost every other advocacy organization in the country, EqualityMaine actually has a track record of accountability and truth-telling when it comes to Maine's senators.

Here's Executive Director Betsy Smith responding to votes by Snowe and Collins to filibuster repeal:

EqualityMaine is extremely disappointed in U.S. Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, who today voted lockstep with their Republican colleagues Mitch McConnell and John McCain in a display of pandering to the right to avoid repeal of the military's discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. (Emphasis added.)

Here she is blasting both senators for putting tax cuts for the rich ahead of repeal:

It is particularly distressing to myself and our members across the state of Maine that both Senators Collins and Snowe have chosen a path of partisan rancor instead of reflecting Maine values of independent spirit for the common good...They have committed to voting for repeal of this grossly unfair policy in the past. It's time for them to live up to that commitment. (Emphasis added.)

And here she is calling out Collins for her record as a Bush enabler:

Senator Collins chose to vote with this anti-LGBT administration 77 percent of the time. She has also supported the confirmation of highly conservative court appointees, setting back progress on relationship recognition issues and endangering critical protections for our allies, for women and for choice.

In short, EqualityMaine has confronted Collins--repeatedly and forcefully.

And in the case of repeal, that approach got results.

The straight-talk strategy is a marked contrast to the approach adopted by groups like Human Rights Campaign and the Maine and national arms of League of Conservation Voters--which tend to coddle Collins, praising her effusively whenever possible, while overlooking bad acts in a seemingly desperate attempt to preserve access.

And against this backdrop of harsh criticism, the EqualityMaine event with Collins seems downright savvy--an attempt to demonstrate to Collins and other wavering pols that while egregious behavior will be called out, there is an upside to doing the right thing.

Meanwhile, if the junior senator strays again, she knows that she'll be facing persistent, pointed criticism from an entrenched local advocacy group that isn't afraid to mix it up.

Seems like a lot stronger motivator than vapid plaudits and unearned awards.