We love the way things are in Maine. The people are wonderful, the environment is beautiful and the pace of life is ideal. We live here because this is the way life should be.
I’m not running for U.S. Senate to change what’s great here. I’m running because I’m concerned about the future of Maine and what kind of state we’re building for the next generation. The gridlock in Washington threatens our way of life here at home. We’re the most prosperous nation on Earth, and we shouldn’t be facing continued job losses, reduced funding for basic services, limited access to health care and ongoing pay disparities between men and women. Our state deserves a senator who will take the lead on fixing these problems, and that’s what I’ll do when I get to Washington.
This election is really about what kind of change Maine wants — the kind that keeps what we love intact and makes new things possible, or the kind that makes even more people struggle to get by. I agree with the Mainers I’ve met all across the state who believe we need major new job creation investments, expanded health care access, a reasonable minimum wage, student loan reform, equal pay for women and increased Social Security benefits. I’m running to bring those kinds of positive changes to our state.
If we don’t make those positive changes ourselves, other people will make different choices for us. Washington Republicans have promised their own big changes if they take over the Senate. Their leader, Mitch McConnell, is an outspoken opponent of campaign finance reform and still wants to repeal the entire Affordable Care Act. He’s promised not to hold any votes on the minimum wage or student loan reform as majority leader. Instead, he’ll focus on reducing funding for the Environmental Protection Agency, health care services and financial regulators.
That’s the wrong future for Maine, and it concerns me that my opponent, Susan Collins, hasn’t said a word about it publicly. I’m running because our state needs leaders who represent working class interests, and right now we have a senator who votes with Washington Republicans to block progress over and over again.
My opponent often says the right things, but when it’s time to vote or make a choice, she sticks with her party. Just this year she voted against a minimum wage increase, against campaign finance reform that would have started to get big money out of politics, against equal pay for women and against a veterans benefits bill supported by nearly every veterans organization in the country. She endorsed Gov. Paul LePage and did not speak up when he vetoed the Medicaid expansion that would have brought affordable health care to 64,000 Mainers.
One of us will represent Maine next year in the Senate. The question is what kind of choices we’ll make for our state.
Do we want major new investments in our future, like universal broadband Internet access and cellphone service, or do we want to keep passing big corporate tax breaks and waiting for jobs that don’t come? You know what I choose. Collins voted in 2010 to extend the Bush tax breaks even for the very highest end of the income scale, essentially choosing to borrow money to give the richest 1 percent a tax cut. That vote didn’t bring new jobs to Maine. I will.
Do we want equal pay for women and men who do the same work, or do we want to force women to keep taking home 78 cents for every dollar a man is paid? You know what I choose. Susan Collins voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act despite the bill’s endorsement by the National Organization for Women and many other women’s and labor groups. That vote didn’t help end pay disparity. I will.
Do we want a reasonable minimum wage that increases working people’s take-home pay and creates new customers for goods and services around the state, or do we want to send them to food pantries for dinner because they can’t make ends meet? You know what I choose. Susan Collins voted against this year’s minimum wage increase. That vote didn’t help working Mainers. I will.
We all choose what kind of future we want. You know the future I’m fighting for. That’s why I ask for your vote.
Shenna Bellows is the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate.