Campaign Action
Look, Maine Sen. Susan Collins, if fellow Republican and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio can do this, so can you—and you've got waaaayyyy more reason than him. Rubio had one thing he really wanted in this tax cuts bill (besides stuff to make rich people happy) and it is actually a not bad thing at all. He wants an expansion of the child tax credit for working families. And says he won't vote for the final bill unless he gets it.
Rubio and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) proposed a change to expand the tax credit as part of the tax bill that passed the Senate, but the plan was opposed by GOP leadership and voted down. […]
If Rubio votes against the bill, Republicans can afford to only lose one more vote on their tax plan and pass it through the Senate. They control 52 seats in the Senate and need 50 to pass their bill, as Vice President Pence could break a tie. But Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) already opposes the plan because of its effect on the federal deficit.
You know what this means for Susan Collins? She's in the hot seat. She's still holding out her vote, telling reporters "I haven’t seen the conference agreement. […] I always wait until the conference report is finished before making a final decision." Like this is really a "conference agreement" when it was written outside of any conference committee meetings and had absolutely no participation from Democrats. But sure, Collins, you can keep pretending that any of this is normal.
Like you keep pretending you have a promise from Mitch McConnell that there won't be automatic Medicare cuts and that Obamacare stabilization bills will be voted on and all of it would happen either before the tax cut vote or in the continuing resolution to fund the government after December 22. As everyone in the entire political world predicted, none of that is included in the spending bill.
Oh, and the part where it does include repealing the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate and could end up kicking 13 million people off health insurance, without the vote on the stabilization bills (which the CBO has confirmed won't actually help anyway, if this repeal goes through). And the part where the bill now gives even bigger cuts to rich people and gets rid of the handful of tax cuts for working people even sooner.
Look, Collins, if Rubio can just go out and say "no" right now unless he gets what he wants to help people, so can you. End this charade and grow a spine. Maybe you'll gain back a bit of credibility with the folks back home. Or at least stop looking like McConnell's dupe.
Jam your senators' and representative's phone lines at (202) 224-3121. Tell them to vote "no" on the Republican tax bill.
Senator Susan Collins
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