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- Can Pork-Barrel Spending Save Susan Collins?
“I’m the first Maine senator in nearly a century to chair the Appropriations Committee, and I’ve been able to bring $1.5 billion to Maine to support projects just like this one,” said Senator Susan Collins in late October, beneath overcast skies, standing in front of a massive radio tower at the police station in Winthrop, a town of about 6,000, not too far from Augusta, the state’s capital. The tower, funded largely through money Collins secured through her chairmanship, was a particularly prominent example of what she talks about incessantly: her ability to deliver federal dollars to Maine. “Collins highlights federal funding in closing pitch to voters” blared the headline in the Portland Press Herald, Maine’s largest circulation newspaper. It’s no surprise that Collins, the five-term incumbent, would make such old-school spending her final argument to Maine voters, as she faces a formidable challenge from Troy Jackson, the former president of the Maine Senate, who secured the Democratic nomination after the collapse of Graham Platner. Candidates don’t usually get in the weeds about committee assignments, but because Collins chairs Senate Appropriations, the chamber’s largest and arguably most powerful panel, she has reason to crow. Even as committee power has, in recent years, been diminished by massive omnibus budget bills forged through closed-door leadership agreements rather than the how-a-bill-becomes-a-law committee process outlined in Schoolhouse Rock and countless textbooks, Appropriations is a special money-dispensing creature. It’s how the late Senator Ted Stevens, the Alaska Republican, financed legendary largesse like the famed bridge to nowhere, and how the late Senator Robert Byrd brought home the bacon to to West Virginia. Neither ever faced a serious challenge at home, nor have other recent Senate Appropriations Chairs such as Washington’s Patty Murray and Vermont’s Patrick Leahy. As a blue wave readies to make landfall, Collins is the only Republican representing a state that voted against Donald Trump three times, albeit Maine’s unique apportionment of Electoral College votes allowed him to pick up one delegate in each of his races. This is a blue state, but the 73-year-old has held on because of adroit skills and, increasingly, seniority, in a small state that has long punched above its weight in national politics with Senators who accumulate seniority like Margaret Chase Smith (the famed anti-Joe McCarthy Republican), Edmund Muskie (future Secretary of State), and George Mitchell (Senate Majority Leader). Collins was a congressional aide to Senator… [TheTopNews] Read More.2 days ago - Trump Administration Said to Plan Rolling Back Pregnancy-Related Job Protections
The Biden era law was meant to help women stay in the workplace, but some conservatives say rules to enact it went too far with coverage for abortion and fertility treatment. [TheTopNews] Read More.2 days ago - 5 things top news: DoorDash, Instacart become mega team
The two look to join together in $17B deal [TheTopNews] Read More.2 days ago - Model Indya Moore Goes After Martha Stewart’s Deeply Insensitive Halloween...
“This is why your excuse is not believable for so many people,” the model said. [TheTopNews] Read More.2 days ago - Legal challenge to Australia’s social media ban to start in High Court
A rights group will argue the world-leading policy robs under-16s of their right to free communication. [TheTopNews] Read More.2 days ago - Milwaukee Bucks pick up options on key players from Giannis trade
The Milwaukee Bucks exercised the fourth-year option for center Kel’el Ware and the third-year option for guard Kasparas Jakučionis, which keeps them under contract through the 2027-28 season. [TheTopNews] Read More.2 days ago
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