Sen. Susan Collins has called the national campaign to raise funds for her future 2020 opponent if she votes to confirm Brett Kavanaugh a “bribe” for her vote. Let’s just call it what it is: campaign finance. She should know about this. She was significantly dependent on campaign contributions from political action committees, lobbyists and special interests in her last re-election cycle.
According to Federal Election Commission filings, she raised more than $2 million from PACs between 2013 and 2014, 25 percent of those funds from 146 health-sector PACs. This included such industry heavy hitters as Abbott Labs, Aetna, Amgen, Bayer, Eli Lilly, Genesis Healthcare, Humana, McKesson, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Aetna, Anthem-Wellpoint, Liberty Mutual and Primerica, and trade associations that promote the interests of medical practitioners, like the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association, the American Society of Anesthesiologists and many, many more
She could say, “Well, I voted against repealing the Affordable Care Act, so I am truly independent.” But her ACA vote was not a vote against the interests of these industry players. They were not asking for ACA repeal, because they benefit from adding people to health care rolls. The legislation she introduced as an alternative (Collins-Cassidy) would not have harmed these interests that support her campaign, either; they would have benefited from her proposal.
Sadly, campaign finance has become the key factor in political success and failure. It is totally fair game, if that is the system, to raise money for an opponent should the senator vote in a way that will harm the interests of the people of Maine.
Gordon Adams
Brunswick
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