Westbrook, MAINE - Republican Congressman Bruce Poliquin appears to be setting the stage to work with Republicans in Congress to cut Social Security and Medicare, programs that are critical to hundreds of thousands of Mainers.
In a post on his Facebook page last Friday, Poliquin renewed his support for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, writing that it would force Congress to make “tough decisions” on federal spending. But his self-proclaimed concern for the national debt comes just months after he voted to explode it by $1.5 trillion in order to finance huge tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations while largely overlooking hard-working Mainers.
But now that he’s given tax breaks to the wealthy, Poliquin appears to be setting himself up to join Speaker Paul Ryan to cut Social Security and Medicare, especially after Ryan said last year that Republicans would “have to get back next year at entitlement reform, which is how you tackle the debt and deficit.”
Maine Democratic Party Chairman Phil Bartlett issued the following statement:
“Congressman Poliquin voted to add $1.5 trillion to the national debt in order to finance massive tax cuts that prioritized corporations and the wealthiest over hard-working Mainers -- and now that he’s finally concerned with the debt he created, it appears he’s ready to balance the budget on the backs of Mainers by working with Speaker Ryan to cut Medicare and Social Security. It’s the worst of both worlds, and Mainers deserve better. They deserve a representative who will defend their interests in Congress - not vote to increase health care costs, give tax breaks to those who need them least, and then sacrifice the social safety net that Mainers rely on in order to pay for it all. Poliquin’s priorities are not only fundamentally unfair, they’re out of step with Maine people.”
###