After having attended five Candidate forums in our district, I am certain that Jan Collins is our best candidate for the Maine Senate. She has a deeper understanding of the issues than her opponent and will be ready to tackle the difficult problems when she arrives in Augusta.
Jan Collins would do a better job serving the people of this district in 4 key areas:
1. Property Tax Relief: Jan knows the burden on towns has increased the last 8 years because the State has reduced revenue sharing to towns in this district by $10 million dollars in order to provide tax cuts to the wealthiest 3% of Mainers.
Her opponent voted for those reductions.
2. Health Care: Jan would support expanding MaineCare on day one which will help 70,000 Mainers get health coverage, help Franklin Memorial Hospital stay in business, and create thousands of new health care jobs. Her opponent voted 5 times to NOT expand MaineCare before he finally conceded that it might help us. His party has obstructed the will of the voters on this issue at every level of government.
3. Education: The state needs to honor funding 55% of local education which 72% of Maine voters approved in 2003. Instead legislators have shifted teacher retirement costs and school administrative costs to the local property tax to the tune of more than 50 million dollars this year alone. Relying heavily on property taxes to fund schools disadvantages rural schools, our students, and our future.
4. Infrastructure: Because of the tax cuts for the wealthiest and the dysfunction in Augusta, our roads and bridges are in disrepair and Maine ranks at the bottom when compared to other states in access to broadband and complete cell coverage. All of which are needed to support current business and attract new business. The highest income earners now have the lowest effective tax rate of any income group in the state… while the tax burden has increased for most of us.
The choice is clear. If you want change for the better, Vote for Jan Collins for State Senate.
Lisa Lisius RN
Farmington, Maine
Yes, and watch our taxes and debit go up if she is elected. Gov. LePage has worked very hard to cut
taxes and a lot of fraud from the state finances. If the democrats get in a place of power again they are
going to take three steps back! The economy is improving greatly and people are going to be able to help themselves instead of all of us constantly giving handouts. Yes, we need to take care of those who TRULY need help but not the ones who sit home all day, smoking, watching TV and don’t try to help themselves. Homes which are a filthy mess, with debris in the yard and yet have a big ATV or snowmobile in the yard. It doesn’t cost anything to keep your house clean and the yard tidy … it’s just laziness!
And as far as our education system … it’s pathetic! The children are not being taught the things they should be and part of it is the responsibility of the parents … but where are they? Where are the moral values … the right and wrong … the manners … are they being taught at home? They don’t have any respect for their teachers or each other. I cannot believe what has happened to my America. I never thought I would see the day that there would be so much disrespect, hatred, mistrust and greed between Americans.
I thank God for those men and women who fight and sacrifice for us and I weep for them as they are continually insulted by ignorant immature young people who have no appreciate for all they had done over the years.
Unfortunately, our country is in sad shape. Until people come to realize their need for the Lord Jesus Christ, our society is going further and further down the gutter … and why would God “want” to bless America?
Mame, you say that taxes will go up if Jan Collins is elected, but she is the candidate who can explain her strategy for cutting local property taxes. Those are the taxes that keep going up, and that will continue to as long as LePage and his followers are in office. As Ms. Lisius stated, the state has shifted huge expenses to local communities, and those communities have no choice but to increase local property taxes to cover those expenses. If the state paid their share of education, it would spread those expenses equally to everyone in the state, wealthy and poor alike, which benefits those who are less well off like our rural communities. Instead, LePage has decreased education spending while at the same time stealing money from public schools to give to charter schools and also forcing communities to pay for education costs like retirement that were always paid for by the state in the past. He has cut revenue sharing to communities, which also requires higher property taxes. Then he claims to have cut spending. If you buy that, you should have paid better attention in math class; if you make your kids pay for their own food, does that save money for the household? Unfortunately, Republicans have been fooling their supporters with those tactics for years. And for what? They scream about deficits, but use every opportunity to give money back to the wealthy through tax breaks, and sucker their supporters by dribbling a few crumbs to them.
Property taxes often target less wealthy people unfairly, hurting the poor and elderly. On the other hand, income taxes are extremely fair; if you make more, you can afford to pay more tax. If you know your history, this country was most prosperous when the top tax rates were much higher, and it didn’t “kill jobs”. Most countries in Europe, including Germany, have higher income taxes and business is booming.
It is time to stop believing the lies on talk radio, do your homework, and vote for candidates who can explain how they plan to make things better for real Maine people.
Well said Mame! I wholeheartedly agree.