Today the American Bankers Association, the nation’s top lobbying group for the banking industry, launched new ads in Maine thanking Senator Susan Collins for pushing a program that allowed banks to collect up to $24 billion in fees this year. Senator Collins’ Paycheck Protection Program enabled Wall Street banks like JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America to collect more than a billion dollars for processing PPP loans, while Maine small businesses faced “shortfalls.”
Collins has long been a darling of the banking industry — she’s already the number two recipient of campaign cash from the securities and investment industry in the U.S. Senate — but today’s announcement shows that Collins’ Wall Street backers are doubling down on their investment to save her seat. It’s no wonder that Wall Street is spending big to keep Collins in the Senate — she’s a reliable vote for their bottom line. In just the last five years, she’s voted for the GOP tax bill which resulted in a “$32 billion windfall to America’s top banks,” supported bank deregulation legislation that critics warned would “set the stage for another financial crisis,” voted to repeal a rule that protected consumers’ right to sue banks, and voted against ending corporate tax deductions for executive compensation over $1 million.
“Wall Street is investing to prop up Senator Collins’s campaign because they know that if she wins reelection she’ll continue to shield them from accountability while voting to help them rake in billions,” said Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Lisa Roberts. “It’s obvious that Collins’ banking backers are terrified of losing her seat to someone who puts working Mainers first.”
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