As Senator Collins Cast 7,000th Vote, Special Interests Profit & Mainers Left Behind
Mainers have higher premiums while corporations & special interests have lower taxes
 
Senator Susan Collins, after more than two decades in Washington, cast her 7,000th roll call vote today - a milestone overshadowed by the fact that she has become a reliable vote for Washington special interests and has voted with President Trump 94 percent of the time, more than she did with Presidents Bush and Obama.

Collins’ record includes higher health care premiums and prescription drug costs, threatening protections for pre-existing conditions, a tax bill that overwhelmingly benefitted corporations, and less internet privacy protections – and worse: the direct line from her votes to the dollars she’s raised from the special interests who fund her campaign. Here are some highlights:  
  • Voted to increase health care premiums, took $900k from the insurance industry - In her own words, Collins “voted against Obamacare from the very beginning” and “voted repeatedly to repeal” it, including its protections for those with pre-existing conditions. This includes in 2017, Collins voted to partially repeal the Affordable Care Act, which she admitted would lead to “double-digit premium increases” and which sparked the GOP lawsuit to dismantle protections for those with pre-existing conditions.Throughout her career, Collins has taken $906,460 from the insurance industry.
  • Voted against decreasing drug prices, has taken $350k from pharmaceutical industry - In 2003, Collins voted to kill an amendment to close the gap in coverage for drug costs, and then voted E-I-G-H-T-!-!-! times against closing the prescription donut hole. Throughout her career, Collins has taken $358,449 from the pharmaceutical industry.
  • Voted to repeal federal rules protecting consumers’ online data, took $127k from the telecom industry - In 2017, Collins voted to repeal a set of federal rules meant to protect consumers’ online data from internet providers. Throughout her career, Collins has taken $127,849 from the telecom service industry.
  • Voted to virtually eliminate the Land and Water Conservation Fund, has taken $290k from the oil & gas industry - In 2011, Collins voted to virtually eliminate the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which environment groups described as the “greatest legislative assault ever on the environment”. Throughout her career, Collins has taken $290,884 from the oil & gas industry.
Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Lisa Roberts issued the following statement:

“Mainers have been sending Senator Susan Collins to Washington for more than two decades but it now seems like she's working more for the special interests than the people of Maine.  From a tax bill that overwhelmingly benefitted corporations while sticking people with higher health care premiums to the constant attacks on protections for pre-existing conditions, Mainers simply can’t afford six more years of failed leadership.”
 
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