Tag Archives: Susan Collins

Gideon’s paid leave proposal is comedy gold — for Gov. Mills

The concept of a “straight man” is a bedrock comedy institution. A relatively normal, identifiable person is paired with an off-the-wall character, and the contrast between the two creates comedy gold. Laurel and Hardy, Burns and Allen, Abbott and Costello, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, the Smothers Brothers, all of these acts relied on the […]

Tax policy is not worth jail time

Here’s a waypoint I think everyone should be able to agree with: We need to be able to debate tax rates in this country without people getting arrested. Unfortunately, we’re not there at the moment. The over-the-top reaction to the tax reform bill now moving through Congress has shifted our public discourse into the most […]

The party that cried wolf, far too many times

The Republican National Committee is actively working to elect an alleged child molester to the US Senate. And the president of the United States is taunting a nuclear-armed dictator on Twitter with juvenile name-calling, while his associates receive subpoenas and indictments for their potential roles in Russia’s interference with our presidential election. Despite all this, […]

What if Chellie Pingree runs for governor?

Maine’s 2018 race for governor is shaping up to be a scrum. Roughly 20 candidates are expected to join the fray by the end of the year, and both the GOP and Democratic primaries so far lack clear frontrunners. Sen. Susan Collins would have dominated the field, but she announced last month that she’s staying […]

How not to lobby Susan Collins

If you want to influence Susan Collins on a key vote, the last person you’d enlist to help is Gov. Paul LePage. But that’s exactly what the Trump administration did when they flew Maine’s governor to Washington for a press conference on Friday. Looking like a nervous kid waiting in the principal’s office after spray […]

Collins, King offer alternative to executive-level lunacy

The contrast couldn’t be more striking. On one hand, there is the imagery of Anthony Scaramucci, President Donald Trump’s short time communications director, hair slicked back, reaching into a female reporter’s personal space over and over as he desperately attempted to bully a series of lies into reality. On the other, there is Maine’s senior […]