On this day in 2011, Senator Susan Collins voted in favor of a GOP spending plan that would have required “draconian” spending cuts including slashing Social Security and Medicare. Despite widespread opposition from advocates for older Americans, including AARP, Collins toed the GOP party line and voted for a plan that would have put Maine seniors at risk.
In the state with the second highest percentage of residents over the age of 65, hundreds of thousands of Maine people depend on Medicare and Social Security benefits to make ends meet. But that hasn’t stopped Senator Collins from voting eight times for plans that proposed cuts to these essential programs. In 2017, she backed the GOP tax plan that is adding nearly $2 trillion to the national deficit. Now, Republican leadership, including Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell, have already tried to use the deficit that Collins helped create as an excuse to cut Social Security and Medicare.
“Maine deserves a Senator who will be a champion for Medicare and Social Security but Susan Collins’ repeated votes to undermine these programs have shown us that she can no longer be trusted to fight for our seniors,” said Maine Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Marra. “After years of putting her party leadership and corporate backers ahead of what’s best for our state, it’s time for Mainers to send Collins packing.”
###