AUGUSTA, Maine — U.S. Sen. Susan Collins paid tribute Saturday to her soon-to-be departing Senate colleague Olympia Snowe during remarks at the Maine Republican Party Convention.
“What an honor it has been to serve alongside Olympia,” Collins said. “She has devoted her life to public service, and to serving the people of Maine. She is an outstanding colleague who defines public service at the highest level and has built a well-deserved reputation as an informed, thoughtful and effective legislator.”
Collins then shifted quickly to praising Maine Republicans for their takeover of the House and Senate in 2010 and for reforming the state over the last two years.
“Maine is being guided by our Republican values: a commitment to good jobs in the private sector, a belief in the value of hard work and education and a dedication to fiscal responsibility and less government,” she said.
The senator listed several accomplishments of Gov. Paul LePage and the Republican-controlled Legislature: tax cuts, red tape reduction and increased accountability.
She stressed that now is not the time to rest, though, and urged Republicans to keep working hard ahead of the 2012 elections.
“I stand with each and every one of you as a committed supporter of our outstanding Republican candidates at every level of government, and I will do what it takes to make sure our winning streak continues,” she said.
Collins transitioned from state issues and politics to national topics and her target was President Barack Obama.
“The president has utterly failed to lead: he rejected his own debt commission, he opposed a balanced budget amendment, and his own budget did not garner a single vote in the Senate,” she said.
She also criticized what she called overregulation being pushed by the Obama administration. Collins specifically referenced a recent plan by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to cut down on potatoes being served in schools.
“I’m not making this up: the federal government wanted to dictate to schools how often they could serve the nutritious, affordable potato,” she said. “This was Washington overreach at its worst. A truly absurd result, and one that would have cost states, schools and families nearly $7 billion over five years.”
Collins jabbed Obama and the Democrats on health care as well.
“Remember how [House minority leader] Nancy Pelosi told us that we had to pass the Obamacare bill to find out what was in it? Well, American has found out. Now we need a president and a Congress that will set to work immediately next January to repeal and replace Obamacare,” she said. “Obamacare has more negative side effects than those medications you see advertised on TV.”
Her 20-minute speech was well-received by the estimated 3,000 attendees of the Maine Republican Party convention.
===
Isn’t “red” the color of the communist revolution? I think it’s time for the Republicans to adopt a new color to distance themselves from the political ideology they supposedly are in opposition to!
We thought about using blue, but that is the color of death, and not appropriate for a vibrant party like the GOP. We’ll leave it, along with the jackass, to the Democrats!
===
An elephant can carry a lot more weight, a lot farther than a donkey! Stubborn, or pig-headed? Show me a donkey that doesn’t also produce a lot of crap!
“Pig headed?” Sounds like an elitist SS. Brits, Yanks, French etc etc., and all Non-Aryans were all “pigs.”
Well, the democrats have blue, green won’t work for the republicans, plus there’s a green party and so we really ought to give them that color… They’ll never go with yellow cause that’s associated with cowardice. Let’s give them brown
If Sen. Collins actions and words always met I would have no issues with her. I hope to see your actions backing up your words Sen. Collins. Nice speech all the same though.
I can only presume that Senator Collins wants to replace PPACA with the old ‘free market’ system where insurance companies hold an effective monopoly, charge whatever they want and raise rates at will, and skim thirty cents or more of every health care dollar off the top and offer nothing in return except a few fat cats that ‘lobby’ government to allow them to continue their wholesale fleecing of the American people.
It’s a shame that our soon to be senior senator can’t offer us any positive ideas–only the same old party line bashing of our elected president.
Senator Collins when sober only does what Joe Liberman tells her to do, otherwise she just screams that she wants more media coverage so she will feel love. Did you vote for her:)
Put a cork in it Susan, We are tired of your crap !
Playing towards the crowd. Too bad it’s just lip service. She needs to retire while she’s still ahead. What happened to that one term promise?
What a spin around the block that was! Apparently she hasn’t been paying much attention to the republican shenanigans taking place on the home front.
Baghdad Susan !
The Republican party has swung so tragically to the extreme right that it is unable to compromise, unable to do anything but spew the same old theories, and unable to move or think in any way that conflicts with their big-money masters.
Collins has just added her integrity to the burn-pile of hypocrites, like McCain and most notably Romney, who lie and flip-flop with a disgusting ability to not care about being unethical.
No, I disagree The left is the side that has swung to extremes. imagine what Dem’s from the 50’s-70’s would think of what our far Left has become. Then tell me it’s the Right that has become extreme.
The tax rate was way higher in the 50s to 70s than any democrat in the main stream wants today .
Both sides have swung apart.
Your so-called and inappropriately named “Conservatism” died some years back. The Koch-inspired Tea Party republicanism is neo-fascism. The republican party is so far to the right – you’re in the gutter.
Sorry Suzie, I’m afraid that the only reason anyone’s going to be seeing red will because of the “bloodbath” the GOP/Tea Party is about to suffer at the voting booths this November. This state needs to turn BLUE as fast as possible so we can reel in out of control “Tea Party Paul LePage.”
Yes, that is very nice violent rhetoric there SR…. I imagine Rep. Gabby Giffords would really “appreciate” your comments…
….buy hey, what do you care, yah know?
I have been disappointed with her a couple of times in the past year. Maine may need red, just not her.
Kevin Raye has changed his slogan to ” Cut it out, you guys, c’mon !”
I always enjoy seeing how the vitriol of the Left comes out whenever they realize they are going to lose an election. Sad, but very humorous. You made you pick last time, he promised Hope and Change but delivered neither. Time for a change.
Piffle.
Thanks for proving my point, I knew I could count on someone to take the bait! So predictable!
I know that Senator Collins is in love and will be getting married. Congratulations on that Senator. As they say love is blind and apparently it is true. For Susan Collins to stand up in front of a group of people and say ”
“Maine is being guided by our Republican values: a commitment to good jobs in the private sector” has to be proof positive that love has blinded her. Anyone with the ability to read has seen what the Republicans have done in Maine as far as good jobs are concerned. The Republicans have done every conceivable thing to lower wages in the State of Maine they even attempted to put into law a “training wage” for young people that was $2 per hour less then the minimum wage for a new employee’s first six months on the job. That’s 26 weeks to learn how to flip burgers, bus tables, wash dishes or to learn how to say “paper or plastic”. In comparison The United States Marines takes only 13 weeks to train people in the same age group to learn how to defend our freedoms and way of life.
She is getting married? Whats her name?
I’d imagine Senator Collins will probably keep her name, but you never know.
Thanks to Penguin and his mouth, this State is seeing red. It most certainly will not be staying red. If nothing else, this train-wreck of an administration has illustrated why the Republican’s have never been able to get any traction in Maine.
It also illustrates the difference between the disastrous last 30+ years of Libtard leadership that got us to this point and the responsible, adult measures required to fix it.
Before you bust an artery, rest assured, your incompetent side will again take power, so you will have the opportunity to again destroy any headway made under LePage.
I just wonder about your fixation with penguins. It’s not normal. It’s not very mature. But then, I just consider the source. I see you haven’t matured much over the last few years. Sad, but very understandable considering your views!
Thanks for your diatribe on maturity. Your use of the term Libtard really hits the point home. Sad, but very understandable considering your views!
I had to lower myself to your level so you would understand! Obviously it worked!
Having to “lower myself to your level” says a lot about the Koch Tea Party and their struggling GOPers.
Obviously a Plutocrat. A person of more loftier statue. How can such a Plutocrat lower themselves to even post an opinion amid us “left wing communist Marxist socialists?”
Every now and then we like to see how the “little people” are carrying on! And yes, you are carrying on!
Oh join your party pal – Darkat – and call us “Marxist, communist, socialist left wingers.”
You and your pals up there are so far removed from reality. Your new savior Romney believes dogs should ride on the roofs of their autos.
On the roof or in the beds of pick ups, explain the difference! The dog riding in a car sure beats eating it, don’t you think?
Oh, maybe not.
I don’t need to call you names, you define yourselves by your actions. And actions speak much louder than empty promises (like Hope & Change).
Your last paragraph is your own self incrimination.
Stay in the red? I think not.
What an airhead.
How disappointing! I have considered Collins to be more ‘moderate’ and I have always voted for her but if she is supporting LePage and Romney, forget it. Now I have to seriously question her judgement and mental stability. I’m born and raised in Maine but only know a handful of rebublicans. Where are they all?? Guess I’m lucky that way – surrounded by progressive, more evolved people. Phew!!!
Better Red than dead, eh?
I’m a Dem, but I’m not that partisan. I remember (as a kid) the Nixon years. My dad was a huge Wm. F. Buckley fan.
About that pendulum, it is currently so far right that the TP thinks Lindsay Graham is liberal because he is willing to work in a bipartisan way. Lindsay Graham?? the war hawk from South Carolina, a liberal?
I think Ron Paul is attractive to moderates from both parties. Since he really believes in small gov’t he supports marriage equality, doesn’t support foreign invasion. I don’t agree with all of his policies; I’d like to consider myself Libertarian with a heart, of course I can’t have it both ways.
I will probably vote for Obama, but *only because I don’t see a true choice*. Romneycare from Romneychusetts? Let’s not forget it is Gov. Romney’s program that Obama’s healthcare was modeled after. I can’t validate changing horses in midstream for no-choice. But I will remain open.
We have yet to hear a debate, please let there be issues of substance on the table like, what happened to Bowles-Simpson? Why, after the melt down, are derivatives still not regulated? Why is the system still operating with ‘too big to fail’ values? How come no one is in jail for robo-signing foreclosure documents?
I feel a push-pull with my heart and mind on this one. I can see myself voting for Paul in the general election if the GOP has the huevos to put him on the ballot.
You must vote your conscious, but Paul will not be one of the choices. I fail to see how the pendulum is to the right, when the country is being ruled by a Democrat.
If you like what obama has given the country ($4.00 gas, 8.1 unemployment, 5 trillion debt, no budget, no rational energy plan and no hope, just to name a few) then by all means, vote for more of the same. I am not one that subscribes to ‘America is lost if obama is reelected’. America will survive in spite of obama, not because of him. And Americans will succeed in spite of him, certainly not because of him!
But you must admit, obama had no real-world executive experience before his inauguration, and it has become painfully obvious over his reign. Time for a little leadership for a while, then we can go back to bumbling along if you like, once Americans are back working again.
Ask yourself, are you better off now than you were 4 years ago? If you are, congratulations! Is that because of obama, or your hard work?
fair enough.
but I am better off. I started a small business and we’re growing. I was laid off in Nov. 08, just after the market tanked and my employer’s company froze in its tracks. Thank God for extended unemployment so I could make that transition.
I agree with you on the leadership issue. I wish Romeny were a real choice. He’s not, tho.
So you are admitting that your success is due to your own hard work, and not obama? You do realize in some circles (like here!), that is sacrilege!!!
I know your story. We have conversed before, you just didn’t know my real name. I still commend you on your hard work.
I agree (surprisingly) that Romney is not the BEST choice, but between him and obama, I believe he will get America working again. I honestly think, based on the last few years, that no matter how much borrowed money obama throws at the problem, he will not succeed. He simply lacks the experience, and his ideologies are counter-productive to that end. After 5 trillion, the unemployment dropped .1%. Not very impressive to those that really understand business!
How long would YOUR business last spending borrowed money like that? I know my two would not last very long.
It’s not that complicated to those that CHOOSE to understand, you just can’t keep spending more than you take in. Sure, taking more in will work, when that is an option, but when you customers (taxpayers) are broke, that is no longer an option. You can print more money (exactly what obama is doing) but that only lowers it’s value and drives up EVERYTHING – not a solution! Or you can stop spending. obama refuses to stop spending, so sooner or later, we WILL pay the price. The Left seems not to care, or are ignorant of that fact. I’m sure, like me, you would like your customers to keep more of their money, so they could spend it at your business.
Is that a price you really want to pay? Is that a price you can afford to pay? Remember, as a fellow business owner, YOU are part of the problem according to the Left!
If you don’t stand up when they go after ‘the rich’, who will stand up for you when they realize ‘the rich’ is not enough and they come after YOU? Something to ponder.
of course I do not credit Obama for my business, but I do thank him for creating a legislative environment that extended unemployment long enough that I didn’t have to lose everything before I figured out I wasn’t going to get a ‘job’ that was going to support me.
I am part of the Left, so I don’t really blame myself.
and i HATE that word. LEFT. or RIGHT. we need to stop that. it is the failure to look past labels that has caused this nation so much pain.
We have to use labels to define ones position on some issues. You are Left of me (on the issues we discuss here anyway) but I think you are to the Right of obama and many on the radical ‘Extreme Left’. You might not want to admit it here, and rightfully so, but I suspect in nun-the-less.
On another subject, were you able to get much cross country skiing in this winter? (See, I remember!)
no darn, it!
thanks for asking. I did get up to Baxter a few times where the snow shoeing was excellent.
I do feel a bit robbed of a winter.
Hopefully it will be a summer that makes up for the lack of winter! Maybe the price of gas will translate into our having the state a little more to ourselves. Oops, was that too political? I know some years I can barely ride around Acadia without it being stop-&-go traffic.
I was in the garden between debates, loving the sunshine today. I hope you are right, I would love a warm long summer.
re: gas. I drive a Jeep. I can’t afford to drive around like I used to. :( nothing I like better than grabbing the Delorme and a buddy and finding someplace we’ve never been in Maine.
Then let be said your views are close to those of a neo-fascist. Like that label?
Oh please ! If you want your customers to have more money to spend at your business, then stop trying to deny them the opportunity to have a job. You do your best to not throw people out of work to save money if there is any other possible way to cut cost. At least that’s how my business works. Your business plan may be different.
Contrary to popular conservative mantra, most people in this country are not employed by mom and pop. They work at large corporations and for the government. For the past four years, Government has been the employer of last resort, either directly or by providing funding for jobs in the “private” sector. If that spending stops before employment rebuilds, more people lose their jobs. Most assuredly NOT what we need right now. When significant rebuilding occurs, then reasoned reductions in spending make sense.
And debt can be managed. We have been a successful debtor country for over 85 years. You manage the interest and then reduce the principal on the economic uprise, not before.
And please don’t insult us with that absurd NRA advertising ploy in your last paragraph. The “if they take his machine gun, who will stand up for you when they come to take yours” philosophy belongs solely in the domestic terrorist realm. And I know that you don’t think like that.
so Jon, based on SingleTrackGirl’s response, could you please explain to us again why the GOP is moving to put Romney on the ticket and flat out ignoring Paul (as you just did), when Paul is admittedly the ONLY potential GOP nominee that the democrats AND independents say they would consider voting for over Obama?
I mean, it sounds like if there is any vote that will assure Obama’s re-election, it’s the vote of th GOP that goes to Romney!!
Why don’t the Romney supporters back Paul, to get 100% of the GOP, as well as a plurality of the idependent and democrat votes, effectively annihilating Obama in the general election?
because the GOP is two tents under one house and the split has begun.
tent 1: civil libertarian (you obviously understand this)
tent 2: social conservatives.
these two camps are at total odds philosophically. Tent 2 wants to tell us who to marry, what to do with our bodies, and the rest of the hypocrisy that we are so familiar with. Tent 1 says ‘less govt means more liberty’.
i can live with the libertarians. the social conservatives are ridiculous and the reason every dem votes democratically.
This makes more sense than I have heard in a long time. I believe it is true for the most part. And tent 2 just can’t survive. Great way of putting it.
social conservatives are the American Taliban. no difference.
And the current Democratic party promotes socialism.
oh no!
oh yes!!!
Corporate welfare, the kind that allows Romney to pay about 9% taxes, is the same as socialism.
It’s just that you have to do math to realize it and so not everyone gets it.
Do the math. It’s Romney that wants welfare. Just he wants corporate welfare.
You claim to own a buisness, so pay more taxes and fix the problem you claim exists.
You claim to be a mountain man.
*yawn*
you are boring me.
That usually happens when people can’t face the facts!
I face that the Dems lean socialist. So what?
Do you pay what you are told to pay int he way of taxes? Do you send in more than you owe? Romney is in the bracket that requires he pay roughly 9%. Why is his success so threatening? Wouldn’t you honestly like to be successful?
It seems that many are very free and easy when it comes to other people’s money, but not their own. Everyone is free to send more in then they owe, but no one ever does.
thank you again, for making my point for me. Romney pays what is required of him, which is considerably less than most people because he is benefiting from corporate welfare we call tax loop holes.
I am sure I would pay less taxes if I could afford creative accounting. I can’t, so I don’t. again, tax savings are for the rich because the code so intentionally and ridiculously unfair.
Of course you can! Look into it. His ‘income’ is form capitol gains, taxed at a much lower rate then regular earned income. How is that wrong? You have capitol gains, use them to your advantage. If the system is unfair, use it to your advantage. That is now wrong, illegal or immoral. It’s smart business!
exactly my point. tax capital gains (income) at the same rate as wages (income).
to any differently is a purely class distinction….I mean reality. Flat tax ends so many of our country’s woes.
I agree about a flat tax, but capitol gains taxed as income will kill all investment! Do you want that?
i don’t believe that. people will continue to need places to put their money. taxing income as income is just parity.
I’ll take socialism any day over what the Republicans are peddling which is as close to fascism as anything the world has seen since the 30’s
That’s a bit harsh, care to explain? Or is it just a cool talking point, which is okay, but not very productive.
We can be a constitutional nation or a one based on the bible.
Explain to me how that is different from what is occurring in Afghanistan?
Are you equating our Constitution with the Taliban rule in Afghanistan now? You lost me!
Maybe we are farther apart then I thought!
no!!! quite the opposite!!!!
I am saying that the Christian Right trounce civil liberties at every turn. Marriage Equality is a no brainer for any civil libertarian. And so is Freedom of Choice (yes, abortions).
And the Left doesn’t have it’s own radical extreme? I see many examples of them here. I am pilloried for simply holding a different view than the majority here! Have you read any of the responses by Briney? The vitriol is absolutely dripping from their posts!
Why does being a conservative mean you are automatically apposed to the things you list. You are not so narrow minded as to think that only on the right, does the extreme speak for the majority.
I am rejecting Left and Right and promoting people to think for themselves. Though, I am happy to admit that compared to a Christian conservative, I am quite liberal/left. Compared to a Progressive, I’m quite conservative/to the right.
re: issues. i am saying that the GOP is 2 parties: one social conservative, one civil libertarian. they are diametrically opposed when it comes to marriage equality and woman’s right to medical choice.
The same can be said about the Democrat party. there are the radical socialist anarchists (like obama) and the moderates. Each party has duel faces. The Left doesn’t own marriage or female issues any more than the right fully apposing them.
no. you can’t say that about the whole party.
what about the ‘blue dog’ democrats who worked hard with the GOP to instill fiscal constraint?
Think beyond the labels.
And I hate to tell you, the Big O is not that liberal, the progressives are disappointed daily. His healthcare plan is based upon the Republican response to the Clinton proposal, the McCain plan and Romneycare from Romneychusetts. So, I don’t see it. I just don’t see it.
Mr Sheets. No one would condemn you and alleged conservative views. Unfortunately, and of course, between your labeling and condemnation of the president – a la Krupthammer – and anyone who countacts your radicalism, what do you expect?
You are a radical myopic right winger sharing the tea party fascist manifesto which does not give an inch to the man who was elected by an overwhelming majority of Americans. Long before Snowe and Collins, there was some modicum of respect. Today, there is none.
Right wing talking points and nothing more. Obama has very little to no direct control over the price of gas which also went to $4 a gallon under Bush. It is an international market, and you people talk night and day about llllllllloving the private market and keeping big government out of it. So you should be thrilled with the high price of gas since your corporate oil company owners are making such great profits. It is your beloved “market” that is causing these high prices, not Obama. So please get into reality. Of course your GOP TeaParty also lllllllllloves the Wall St. speculation which accounts for so much of the high cost of gas. There is more drilling today than under Bush, yet at the same time now there is also much more use of alternative energy with the largest investments in those we’ve ever seen. Of course your party hates that too because the corporate-owned Republicans are so bought and paid for by the oil corporations. Yes, there is an energy plan and a good one, well beyond the numbskulled “drill baby drill” plan of the corporate-owned GOP. Deficits? Oh give us a break. Bush and Co. EXPLODED the deficits with its wars, tax giveaways to the billionaires, and prescription drug bill ALL UNPAID FOR. Then they gave us the REPUBLICAN GREAT RECESSION which obviously drained the coffers. Stimulus was needed to head off a full depression, which it did, no thanks to the insane and dangerous corporate GOP. Republicans are pure LIARS and pure HYPOCRITES who would make Jesus Christ sick to his stomach. And your fake phony lying party is going to get pounded HARD come November. PS: RoMONEY is the ultimate corporate phony. In Massachusetts he was a “moderate” and has now flipped and flopped like a fish out of water on every single issue imaginable. He is a FAKE and another corporate PHONY who pays half the tax rates YOU and I do as he hides his money in the Caymans. And he is as inspiring as a corpse in a casket. If you look up “BORING” in the dictionary is says “SEE MITT ROMNEY.”
If you look up “EMPTY SUIT” in the dictionary it says “SEE OBAMA.”
You can READ ? Oh ….. now I see. It’s that 3-page conservative dictionary in very large print.
You’ve forgotten two wars , a Wall Street meltdown, with a price tag exceeding three trillion bucks.
When the car is in a ditch, you have to pay to have it hauled back out.
Bush, Cheney, Rove, and Rumsfeld lied about WMD and forced the country and other nations into a ten-year war in Iraq.
After 9/11 Bush told the world he didn’t give a hoot where Bin Laden was. He didn’t care. Obama did. He killed him and 22 more Bin Laden chieftains. He stopped the Iraq War and is attempting to close down the Afghanistan War.
Bush bailed out Wall Street. Speculators padded their wallets with million dollar bonuses and pushed gas prices to $4. Not Obama. No president – despite Tea Party propaganda – controls the price of gas.
Obama started working to bring some sensible controls in the medical world, so that all people can afford prescriptions without having to buy them in Canada. The plan was a duplicate of Romney’s Massachusetts plan – Romney Care. But a muddled Romney’s first target is to kill Obama Care and a slew of agencies and funding that provide vital services to men, women and children. Obama also dragged the auto industry out of the dumps. Romney said he would have let it collapse. There’s no consideration for the thousands who would have been displaced – not just in Detroit – but nationwide.
Conservatives are gone. The tea party managed GOP is nothing but a toll of rich people who favor less government. The only exceptions being, saving that part of government that provides their salaries, medical care, housing,travel, and retirement. Talk about socialism?
I haven’t forgotten anything. I am not defending Bush, although all of you on the left sure think anything against obama is somehow a defense of Bush.
But when you are in a hole, perhaps you should stop digging! obama has yet to stop digging! By your logic, 3 trillion – Bad, 5 trillion – Good! How much is enough?
I was under the impression that our ‘war’ was against radical islam, not one person. Now that obama has killed bin Laden, why are we still over there. Bring everyone home NOW, the war is over!
If no President’s actions have any effect on gas prices, why did the Left vilify Bush when prices spike during his term? They did, you know – blame Bush. Are you now saying it wasn’t Bush’s fault, or it’s never a Democrats President’s fault?
Sorry, I have lived in countries with socialized medicine and have seen first hand the disaster it is. Anyone that embraces obamacare knows not of that dreadful experience. I hope they NEVER have to, even you! Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.
obama didn’t “drag” the auto industry out of anything, he bailed them out! Americans made them profitable again, not obama! Had Americans not bought, no bailout would have helped! Give credit where it is due!!!
Conservatives and conservatism oar not gone, we just don’t have the overpowering need to constantly yell and bang drums. We go quietly about our daily lives, trying to eak out a living on whatever the government allows us to keep. We see EVERYTHING the Left does and is doing! We know, the only real thing that matters is the election in November. No amount of ‘occupying’ will change our vote. So believe whatever you want, just know that your beliefs are not reality.
Your radicalism is typical neo-fascist ideology of the Koch brothers. The TP-GOP wail is discredit or give no credit at all. If Obama had not have given the order to take out Bin Laden – who would? Does the Navy provide enlisted me with the authority to plot and raids in sovereign territories without presidential permission?
If Obama had not have rescued the American Auto Industry, Zwould the American people have just done it on their own? Most of the loans have been repaid and the industry at the highest level it’s been in years.
The Day the president swore to take the duties of president, he picked up a huge debt left by Bush and Cheney and their clan. That night, the very same night Obama was sworn in, the republicans held a secret meeting. That group started plotting to get rid of Obama.
You can believe anything. Tea Party republicanism is nothing short of myopia.
Well put, Briney!
Thanks. And thanks for clobbering these myopic Koch – assisted TP-GOPers. They must be party propagandists.
So, how’s that anger management working out for ya’? Can you request a refund? Sure is a good thing that obama has succeeded in uniting the country as he promised, otherwise I would think you actually meant all the drivel. But I admit, I never would have pegged you as a conspiracy advocate! But as you are so quick to point out, I am wrong. Good luck with that.
Initially, Bush invaded Iraq because he said Hussein was responsible for 9/11.
What does that do your one sided theory that the war was against radicalism not one man? Bush put troops in Afghanistan to get Osama Bin Laden. He had him cornered at Bora Bora, then removed the troops and set about tracking down Hussein. .
What does that do your almighty foreign policy as practiced by Bush and Cheney with an assist from Murdoch propagandist Rove?
Your learned appraisal of what actually took place seems to lack one detail – the truth. An old republican malady.
You “fail to see?” That explains your myopic clawing and self interest, interspersed with frantic and empty assertion.
Your self analysis of being unable to understand why people don’t want to reincarnate another disastrous eight years of financial ruin – says it all.
You and your destructive tea party clan are so far to the right, people are awakening to your brand of neo-fascism.
You sound like more of an Independent than a Libertarian. Libertarian’s don’t have hearts. Remember Ayn Rand?
exactly. i know there is no such thing by definition. (libertarian with a heart). I’m a registered Dem who votes independently.
Paul would destroy Medicare and Social Security and turn this country over the highest corporate bidder.
yeah, that’s where i take a left.
I’d call myself ‘libertarian with a heart’ but those two things are in opposition. So, I’m a ‘moderate Dem’.
It’s no coincidence that most Libertarians are white males since they have experienced the benefits of a free society to a greater extent than minority populations.
I don’t think that makes them bad, just out of touch wth what is going on with women, blacks, immigrants, the poor…etc.
While Paul talks a good game and has pulled the wool over the eyes of many who are desperate for some kind different candidate to vote for, Paul is not the one.
Yes, he wants to end the war and the “war on drugs”, but to insinuate he is at all a social libertarian is just plain old BS. What he actually says is that social issues should be left up to the states (most other issues as well). What that means dear friends is that under his brand of Randian rule if you live in a deep red state, that state may if it wishes choose to pass laws that: A) outlaw abortion in all situations even in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother, B) pass laws that allow discrimination on all levels, C) restrict women’s (especially poor women;s) access to birth control and reduced cost basic health care and diagnostic testing, D) allow anti-union laws to further propagate. E) allow states to set their own minimum wage, F) give corporations the ability to ignore all environmental laws and be only subject to in house regulation, G) also allow each state to set its educational criteria, which means your kid can have a big dose of Creationism with his three Rs. And if you do not like these changes in your state, you know where you live, work, own property and pay taxes, you are “free” as an American to move. I swear I am not making this up.
I could go on and on, but it would do no good because so many of the Paul-bots have already become glassy eyed converts; mostly the young but far too many people who are old enough to know better as well. If you are a fan of Paul, please look up the philosophies of Ayn Rand and tell me how you think a government structured thusly would benefit America. And I mean the real America, not the corporate one.
But back on topic…yes, as stated in an earlier post, Collins has certainly slipped down several levels on the credibility scale due to these most recent of her comments.
I agree with you, Kathy. I think the reason most Paul supporters are white men is because they have experienced the benefits of a free society to a greater extent than the rest of us. It’s not that they mean badly, but they do not understand/see that the playing field is not level.
Huevos ? Oh ! Now I see ! You’re a girl.
“Maine is being guided by our Republican values: a commitment to good jobs in the private sector, a belief in the value of hard work and education and a dedication to fiscal responsibility and less government,” What jobs? She is obviously out of touch and has been in Washington far to long.
obama has had 3+ year and hasn’t produced a single job. Using the obama doctrine, it will take another term to have any noticeable improvement. Or LePage can just blame Baldacci!
He saved a hundred thousand or more. Next time you’re in Bangor, take a look along their Hogan Road.
Prove it! Prove that a job was saved by obama! I challenge you to prove that without obama, any one of those jobs would have been lost! Sure, you can point to someone who is working, but you have NO ability to know if that job would have been lost! To claim ‘jobs saved’ is nothing but liberal smoke-and-mirrors nonsense.
Look Briney, I realize that those of you on the Left absolutely NEED the government to take care of your every need, that without big government you would be completely lost. Just allow that some of us are capable of taking care of ourselves WITHOUT government intervention in every aspect of our lives. In fact, we find it refreshingly liberating.
What will it take to prove to you that a job was saved ? How about the 74,000 jobs that the GOP members of the house shut down in the airport safety and improvement program ? Overnight and in one fell swoop . 74,000 people laid off without warning. Just “Don’t report for work in the morning” notice.
Within two weeks, the Obama administration mobilized the Democratic political system in the House (and Senate). And the jobs were saved – ALL 74,000 ! If that was smoke-and- mirrors, I’d love to see the Alice-in-Wonderland world YOU live in.
Somehow the private sector who employed those folk was unable to save those jobs by themselves.
Of course people can live without government in their lives. Go for it. My uncle lived in the Maine woods, working as a scaler (you’re from Maine so you know what that job is), for 40 years. No government interference. But I wouldn’t want to live his life today.
So, live liberated. Just let the rest of us drive on government-funded roads, and take care of those less fortunate than us as a group (you know, government at work).
Your pompous pontificating fits your role as a member of the radical right wing tea party.
Unable to see the forest for the trees, give the republicans a break identify yourself with the party that threatens this country. The republicans used to a have a sense of responsibility to the country and, most importantly to its people. That is not to say they practiced it. The days of Ike and Maggie Smith have long since gone.
As a know-it-all tea party clansman you degrade everyone who speaks their mind and presents their argument. For instance, I do not and have not received government aid other than food, clothing and a weapon, when I served the United States of America for eight years. So stop trying to mop everyone up in your tea party – Koch inspired and insipid put downs.
Ah yes, BDN is still the bastion of Liberal propaganda I remember it to be! And all the loyal Leftists are still occupying their time posting their Progressive ramblings. Nice to know that the Left never changes. (Not that I ever thought they could!)
Combine the Ron Paul ‘youth’ movement with the older ‘Tea Party’ movement and you have a ‘winning’ coalition which will dominate this fall’s election and shape the Republican party for years to come.
The voters in the middle are reeling from Democrat scandals, crony capitalism, patronage xfers of party insiders to the University of Maine, and gun carrying ‘stalkers’.
Obama’s bloom has faded and he is now being ridiculed by the main stream media, who riddled his speech on the unemployment statistics with different critical perspectives….it happened so fast, it appeared to be a planned ambush….and the Obama White House was caught by surprise! WOW.
Gonna be an interesting fall election and the Republicans could emerge with even greater margins in the Legislature as more entrenched Democrats see the handwriting on the wall and decide to cash in their pension then suffer the indignities of being further marginalized.
I could be wrong, of course; a lot can happy but right now is isn’t.
first, you guys have to put Paul on the ballot and give us a choice. right now, I see Romney as the white Obama. No real difference except that Obama has more flavor.
“Flavor”??? Is that what you look for in a President? How about ‘experience’, ‘competence’ or ‘fiscal responsibility’? Wouldn’t they be good also?
What I was sarcastically trying to say is: I see no substantive difference between the two men.
Sorry, missed the sarcasm. Italics would be very helpful in such instances. Have to make do with capitals, I guess.
lol. some one needs to develop the sarcastica font so we can all understand each other.
Capital letters, in online talk, means I AM YELLING, REALLY LOUD AT YOU. most folks find them offensive.
sometimes I use the / key to denote sarcasm, like
/that’s fine mess you’ve gotten us into, stanley!
Some people need yelling at! And most of those are WAY too sensitive!
What can Romney offer the “people?” You know, those you scorn – the people who work damned hard to make a living?
All you’ve done is scoff and show scorn for the average American of which you are not. Your head is so far in the clouds – watch out, you might collide with Mitt.
Everyone should stand behind “Flip” Romney just as soon as we figure out where he stands.
Just go with (R)money anyway as he will eventually be on your side, of course he may not stay there for long but I guess the ( Rob)ulicans are fine with that. On second thought stay away from him!!!!!!!! What an empty suit.
We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats’ feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar
Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;
Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death’s other Kingdom
Remember us — if at all — not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.
T.S. Eliot
Check it out, this is what the Romney supporters are all about…..lies and deception….not much different from the current administration, eh?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcgOuuM1VkM
Webster and his Romulan minions are deceptive, dishonorable, and despicable human beings…
Senator Collins supported Obama more than not, so her rhetoric means nothing.
Funny, because since Maine has been Red, so have most of our business’s bottom lines. However, technically we are also a Blue state since a majority of Mainers voted Blue during the last Presidential election.
I have also noticed since Collins has been in the Senate we have lost all of our military bases and most of our businesses have moved out of state or gone broke.
Stay Red? Isn’t that Communist?
i own my own business and have the calluses on my hands to prove it. i work 50+ hours a week, pay my bills, look out for my grandkids and my family.
Then I go to the polls and support Democrats because they will help to keep my air and water clean and do not tell me what choices to make with my body, or who my neighbor can marry.
You tell him girl !
Are you advocating to put Romney on the ballot?
How is that a choice from Obama?
I don’t think the State of Maine, or any other state, actually “needs” to be red or any other color. Nor does it need tea.
and exactly, what jobs would you like everyone to get? the last out of work logger i met doesn’t know how to work a mouse. How convenient, since everything is going touch anyway.
The nuance I think that you are missing is this:
While we think social programs are for the people, they are in fact put in place to assure the populace doesn’t revolt and instead goes to work everyday and therefore support the status quo of corporate domination.
===
no one seems to get that idea: that social programs are for business, not for people.
—-
Nice try Ms. Collins, but your GOP TeaRadical Party is going to receive a world class POUNDING at the voting booth this November. Your GOP (Goofy Old Party) under the “leadership” of Charlie “The Fake Fraud Monger” Webster and LeBUFFOON has been an absolute disaster for this state, and Democrats and Independents will turn out in huge numbers to restore Maine values and SANITY to state government come November. So bye bye to the radical right wing.
I am so sick of this old bat.
She also needs a nose job real bad.
Collins, like her companion RHINO — who can no longer endure the scrutiny of conservative Mainers — has fallen in line to extol the virtues of the Republican party… even though it is contrary to every instinct that courses her political ideology. Who can ever forget that tender moment when the two senators were dangling from Obama’s hip like a brace of fallen partridges as they pledged fealty to an unconstitutional healthcare policy and more deficit spending. Ms. Collins may be a nice woman who has good intentions, but she has done as much to destroy America’s balance sheet and standing in the world by advancing socialism and other Obama-like notions on abortion and the institution of marriage as her fellow Democrats. Surely these must be trying times for Ms. Collins, putting on a face that matches the expectations of the current demographics even though the taste of this necessary repast is bitter and repugnant.
Keep dreaming and keep inhaling the lies of FAKE News, Rush OxycontinMan Limpmind,
and the rest of the lying liars you people listen to night and day. The former more rational Republican Party of Lincoln, TR, Ike, Rockefeller, and Margarate Chase Smith is dead and gone. The sickening right wing nearly destroyed this country, and Obama, a CENTRIST, by all measures (Ya, remember moderates? Those folks you’ve labeled RINOS and tossed out of your party.), has led to a restoration of the auto industry which you people wanted to kill thus taking us into a full Great Depression, has 26 straight months of private sector job growth with over 4 million new jobs, took out Bin Ladan whom your big hero Bush said he didn’t think about nor cared about, has approved two trillion dollars in deficit reduction the smart way over ten years, and as long as he is in the White House will not allow your disgusting band of right wing corporate-owned radicals to destroy Social Security and Medicare as they have been trying to do for years. Your party despises workers and it’s master plan is to transfer as much wealth as possible to the 1% and leave scraps for everyone else. Every time you pull a lever for one of your TeaParty Republicans, sadly, you are hurting yourself, the state, and the nation. Your party has been a pathetic disaster for this state, and they will be punished in a big way come November.
Ya, here you go again. Keep spouting the LIES you hear night and day on that brain-infecting crud you listen to on FAKE News and Rush Limpmind. Lies lies lies. All lies. Your corporate-owned GOPTeaRadicalParty has declared a war on women, a war on the middle class, and war on workers, and they exist to destroy this nation and anything good and fair about it. Here in Maine your goofball buddy party leader Charlie Webster is a pathetic joke, and your even goofier fool disgracing the Blaine House brings embarassment and SHAME to this state. Your Goofy Old Party will be pounded HARD come November. And underneath all your lies and delusions and right wing talking points, you know it.
since collins willdo what ever it takes to keep people like the tea party in power, i guess as a voter i will have to do my best to stop her. I have voter for her for years , this will no longer happen. with snowe leaving office i guess i will be pushed to vote for an independant or a dem. that should not matter since only about 40% of republicans consider them selfs moderates. but if only half of these people change how they vote the gop my have a problem.
Same old horsetwaddle coming from a horse’s behind.
We could do with less of Collins. What a farce, cheering on a man who is a discredit to the state.
Like all Bubble People who reside in Mythical City, Obama Care, or, drastic changes in medical care have to go. Collins, Snowe, and her fellow Bubble dwellers have the best medical care anywhere. It’s provided by the government, of which she wants to see less of. She has a fabulous salary with a great pension. When medical care is given to Congress by the government no one refers to it as “Socialised Medicine.” Yet, what is it?
Collins, Snowe and the rest of the Bubble People do not have a care in the world. Everything they need is provided, including free housing, fully staffed offices throughout Maine, free travel.
They live in the lap of luxury – just like Romney. Le Page is their hero. He’s attacking worker’s rights and attempting to kill off the Middle Class so that the Plutocrats rule. The Rich for the Rich.
Collins you are so out of touch with the people of Maine. You need to think about buying a place in Florida next to LePage.
When your ripe it’s time to go.
One day, when you find yourself older, somewhat wiser, and fighting ailments that usually come with age, you’ll perhaps wonder why you are broke, or, close to it.
You’ll find the people who have worked all their lives, saved a little, and paid into Social Security and Medicare, perhaps have a claim for medical care without being kicked onto Poverty Row?
Not everyone is a millionaire. The people you denounce daily as being communists, socialists, are nothing more than Americans, struggling to make a living and stay alive.
One day, and it will come, when you and your radical pals have to pay a bill for seeing a doctor, that is larger than your total monthly income, I hope you think back to these day when you called people Socialists and Communists because they didn’t have the money to pay you Ploutcrats.
Not everyone is rich. Not everyone owns a business. Not everyone serves in Congress where their Socialist system provides everything free of charge – huge salaries, medicine, free lodgings, offices, travel, retirement, and guaranteed treatment at the country’s best medical facilities.
The ordinary American, of which you are not, wants nothing more than a fair shake. Something that is impossible under the Tea Party GOP and its radical ideology.
p.s. you might want to sharpen your pencil the next time you do the math. Romney actually paid almost 14% in taxes in 2010 and over 15% in 2011.
What about all of the Cayman Island and Swiss accounts? Did he pay any taxes on the money he shipped over seas to avoid taxes? I seriously doubt it. What about all the other accounts he has hidden over seas? He still hasn’t released his last ten years of his IRS Returns, what is he hiding?
The so-called Obama Care is nothing more than a revised Romney Care package created – How? God only knows – by Mitt -dog on the roof – Romney.
You can slam us “socialist, Marxist, communists” all you want. We’ll ignore your neo-fascist Tea Party views that once promoted one dictator and ruined the world. Tea Party ideology attempts to destroy government which is paid for by the people to help the people. The resultant goal by the neo-fascists is a single control point – a dictatorship by the rich for the rich. A more favorable, or not so harsh term is Plutocracy. I.E. A Rich government by the rich and for the rich.
The new care package provided for by Obana has greatly helped families with many needs. Revised insurance rules forbid exclusion because of a prior existing condition. On the playing fields we call it fairness. A reduction in costs of medicines for older people is greatly appreciated. Small. But even a nickel saved helps when you’re cutting back on food to buy gas so you can get to work. Revising the greedy interest charges by banks on credit and debit cards, was a big help. There are a lot of other remedies. But the multi- billionaire Koch brother – financed Tea Party gang don’t want to upset pharmaceutical manufacturers, or, the bankers and the speculators who push oil and gas beyond the reach of many. But the only wailing from the radical right is “It’s all Obama’s fault.” In Congress he faces a stacked deck, where O’Connell and the rest of the radical Right have had one goal since Obama took office – to get rid of him.
Obama2012
Sounds like you need more fiber in your diet.
What this country in our government is unity. After all we are the United States. This red blue rich poor middle class stuff is all bunk. We need to come together and clean up our act. Some of the problems people complain about here are caused by both parties not just one. We are not socialists nor do we want to be. If government does not get to work and fix the things that are wrong with this country then we are destined for failure.
This Loser destroyed the Postal Service and is trying to destroy the lives of our college educated children by raising interest rates on student loans. She wants to make sure the Big Banks that pay her off make more money. She is corruption at its best.
I dont forsee the state of Maine staying a red state because of the loss of a bipartisan repubican like Susan and Olympia were. Todays republicans are so out of touch with the people of Maine and bend over backwards for corperate $$$.We The People are not happy!
Delete
Delete. Sorry – Disqus won’t put my comment where it belongs. (no response comment to this is required).