Joshua Gear (Maine Voices, Jan. 7) recently wrote that “criticism of Sen. Susan Collins needs to stop.” Ironically, he went on to criticize her on three points – not a single one of which was accurate. Allow me to set the record straight:
• First, contrary to Gear’s conspiracy theory, Sen. Collins could not have prevented Betsy DeVos’ nomination from proceeding to consideration by the full Senate.
In a column last year debunking this myth, the Press Herald’s own Bill Nemitz told those who believe Sen. Collins could have stopped DeVos that it was “not true,” since nominees don’t require majority support in committee in order to be voted on by the full Senate. Sen. Collins not only voted against Secretary DeVos, but also spoke against her nomination on the Senate floor.
• Second, Sen. Collins has worked for years to improve our tax system. She underscored the need for tax reform in a November 2016 speech, for example. Sen. Collins supported the tax legislation because it “will help lower-income and middle-income families keep more of their hard-earned money.” As a result of this legislation, an additional 4.2 million lower-income taxpayers will no longer owe any federal income tax.
• Third, throughout her Senate service, Sen. Collins has been a bipartisan leader. And you don’t need to take my word for it: Sen. Collins was ranked as the most bipartisan senator for the past four consecutive years by the Lugar Center and Georgetown University.
While Mr. Gear is certainly entitled to push his vision for election reform, as his op-ed ostensibly claims, he should not misrepresent the facts to do so.
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