u/Large-Welcome4421

"U.S. Sen. Susan Collins joined Senate Republicans on Wednesday in blocking a Democratic effort to restore consumer protections rolled back under Pres. Donald Trump, marking the second time in just over a year that she has sided with banks over efforts to limit predatory charges.

The votes targeted a series of policy changes made by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau since the Trump administration took over the agency in early 2025. Those changes weakened oversight of major financial institutions and stripped away protections for consumers, military families and people dealing with medical debt.

Wednesday’s vote continued a broader pattern for Collins on banking issues. In March 2025, she voted to overturn a separate CFPB rule that would have capped overdraft fees at $5. Her votes come as she has accepted nearly $2 million from finance sector donors this election cycle, including more than $500,000 from private equity and investment firms.

One of the resolutions would have restored a Biden-era CFPB policy requiring banks to get a customer’s affirmative consent before charging overdraft fees. Republicans voted the measure down 47-53, with Collins voting against it.

“The Trump Administration is hell-bent on destroying the agency,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee."

"Graham Platner and Troy Jackson will join U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, at rallies in Portland and Orono over Memorial Day weekend.

The rallies at the University of Maine in Orono on May 24 and Brick South at Thompson’s Point in Portland on May 25 are part of the Vermont senator’s Fighting Oligarchy Tour.

The three progressives formally announced the events on Thursday.

Sanders was early to endorse Platner, an oyster farmer and the presumptive Democratic nominee in Maine’s U.S. Senate race; and Jackson, a former Maine Senate president who is vying for a gubernatorial primary win.

The Vermont independent rallied with the two candidates on Labor Day in Portland. Both Platner, 41, of Sullivan, and Jackson, 57, of Allagash, have carried a message similar to Sanders’ throughout their campaigns, positioning themselves as outsiders taking on the political establishment.

The May 24 rally at UMaine will be held at the Collins Center for the Arts, where doors will open at 4:30 p.m. and the rally is to kick off at 6 p.m. Doors will open at 4 p.m. for the Portland rally, which is set to officially begin at 7 p.m. May 25."

"It seems especially fitting in this election year to remember a decision that reshaped the lives of women in Maine and across the country: Sen. Susan Collins’ vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court.

In the months following Kavanaugh’s nomination hundreds of people, mostly women, protested and implored Sen. Collins to vote “No” on his appointment. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford had contacted Sen. Dianne Feinstein in July 2018 to report that she had been sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh years earlier. Given the crude attitudes toward women held by the president who nominated Kavanaugh, the report by Dr. Ford caught the attention of hundreds of Maine constituents and women nationwide.

In September of 2018, protesters packed the hallways and office of Sen. Collins’ Portland office to emotionally share their own stories. We sat and listened to the stories, often moved to tears by the bravery the women displayed and the trauma they had suffered. At 5 p.m. on the day of the protest, the staff asked people to leave. Two minutes later, the staff directed the Portland Police to arrest us, which they did. We were handcuffed, escorted out and charged with criminal trespassing. Others were arrested in her office in the following days.

Dr. Ford courageously testified before Congress on Sept. 27 in a hearing reminiscent of another hearing — that of Anita Hill during the confirmation hearings for Clarence Thomas. Brave women speaking their truths before dismissive powerful men. Powerful men being anointed with lifelong seats on the highest court in the U.S.

At the same time, the stakes were clear. Advocates warned that Kavanaugh could help overturn Roe v. Wade, ending federal protections for reproductive rights and rolling back decades of progress. That warning proved correct and set the status of women back to the last century.

Protests continued throughout October with hundreds of constituents flooding Sen. Collins with demonstrations, emails and phone calls. Unable to speak directly with the senator in Maine, protesters travelled to Washington to ask Collins to hear them in her D.C. office. Many were arrested.

During her speech on the House floor when she was casting her vote Sen. Collins said that she had spoken with thousands of Mainers about Brett Kavanaugh. It may be true that thousands contacted her urging her to vote no. Saying that she actually spoke with them is laughable.

We know that she did speak with Kavanaugh and believed him when she said he would follow precedent regarding Roe v. Wade. He did not and here we are, and the consequences are undeniable: women dying, unable to access healthcare, being relegated to second class citizens unworthy of even emergency care in some cases. 

When Mainers go to the polls this November they should remember the catastrophic impact Susan Collins’ actions have had on the women of Maine and this country. Vote her out before more damage is done."

The North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters endorses Platner.

Platner: “Power in society comes from two places, organized money or organized people and we all know that the money is organized and it has bought our political system.”

COURT DOCUMENTED DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ABUSER AND FAILED HEALTH COMPANY CEO JONATHAN BUSH WANTS TO PRIVATIZE MAINECARE AND USE AI TO DENY MAINERS MAINECARE

"On Friday, Maine Secretary of State and Democratic candidate for governor Shenna Bellows took aim at health corporation CEO and Republican candidate for governor Jonathan Bush’s support for privatizing Medicaid in Maine.

“Medicaid has made health care accessible for thousands of Mainers. Bush’s plans are a death wish for them and for rural hospitals,” Bellows said. “Jonathan Bush is showing just how out of touch he is and how he and MAGA are always going to put profit over Mainers.”

In a debate last month, Bush declared that he wanted to “get Augusta out of the Medicaid delivery business. prune it back like an invasive species, like the knotweed that it is.”

In a radio appearance on WLOB, he described Medicaid privatization as his top health care priority.

“So first thing we do is cut that back,” Bush said. “Focus the government programs on helping people get back, and then the rest goes to the free market. Then we prune, we go back and we say no more government-run Medicaid.”

Unlike most states, Maine does not contract with a private insurance company to run its Medicaid system, also known as MaineCare. Federal data shows states with privatized systems have average administrative overhead costs of 12.54%, while states with publicly-managed systems have average overhead costs of 4.9%.

In addition to increased costs going to middlemen, insurance companies running state Medicaid systems also have incentives to maximize their own profits by limiting enrollment and denying care, with several studies indicating these practices have led to significantly worse health outcomes for residents of those states.

A recent study published in the journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology found that in the four years following the de-privatization of Medicaid in Connecticut, early-stage cancer diagnoses increased by 4% compared to neighboring New Jersey, which maintained its insurance-company run Medicaid system.

In the same radio appearance, Bush also proposed using AI to deny Medicaid coverage for Mainers.

“You could have an AI agent go through everybody’s circumstances and say, these don’t meet the criteria,” Bush said.

Bush was CEO of private health company Athenahealth until he resigned in 2018 amid domestic violence and sexual harassment allegations. He now serves as CEO of Zushealth, which describes itself as a “next-generation shared health data platform.”

The two largest contributors to the PAC supporting Bush (and attacking Republican front-runner Bobby Charles) are health insurance corporation CEO Todd Park and private equity fund manager Sumir Chadha, who serves on the board of both a health insurance corporation and a "healthcare AI platform."

Bellows also criticized the other candidates in the Republican primary for their silence on the issue, which she framed as tacit agreement with Bush’s statements.

“The fact that every candidate isn’t pushing back is proof that they care more about tax breaks for billionaires than whether Mainers can get the care they need,” Bellows said."

“Federal immigration enforcement appears to be on the rise in Maine, immigration rights advocates warned Monday.

The Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition said that there has been a recent increase in reports of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detentions and encounters in Maine to the coalition’s Immigrant Defense Hotline.

Mufalo Chitam, the coalition’s executive director, said the increase in reported activity began around Patriots’ Day weekend, roughly three weeks ago. She said reports of arrests have been somewhat sporadic — none one day, up to two or three the next — but more consistent than they have been since the end of the ICE’s January surge of operations in Maine, during which about 200 people were arrested in just a few days.

Data show the vast majority of the people arrested during the late January surge, which the agency dubbed “Operation Catch of the Day,” did not have criminal convictions or charges, despite officials claiming they were targeting the “worst of the worst” criminal offenders.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not directly answer questions on Monday about whether agents have been making more arrests and how many people have been apprehended in Maine in recent weeks.

“ICE agents uphold our nation’s immigration laws in all 50 states, seven days a week, 24 hours a day,” the DHS spokesperson responded, before listing four members of the department’s “worst of the worst” list who were arrested in Maine.

Chitam said the increase in activity in Maine aligns with an uptick in ICE’s presence across the country, citing a recent USA Today article. Records included in that report show ICE aims to set up more workstations across 40 states, including Maine — specifically in Portland, Scarborough and Caribou.

“That confirms what we’ve been seeing because we were wondering why, all of a sudden, every day or two days there’s an arrest,” Chitam said.

Many of the reports of ICE arrests have come over the weekends, Chitam said, and most have taken place in Lewiston and Greater Portland.

While the number of recent reports to the coalition’s hotline is tame in comparison to the January surge, Chitam said immigrants and advocates should take extra precautions.

For immigrants, Chitam said that includes familiarizing oneself with their rights, keeping immigration documents handy and ensuring family members are aware of where they’re going and when they should be expected home.

During the surge, many advocates volunteered to escort families to and from school and work and to deliver food, as many immigrants avoided leaving their homes alone or at all during the surge in late January.

 “People still have to go to work, people still have to go to the hospital or get food,” Chitam said, and it may be time to “adopt some of those practices we were doing during the surge.”

Chitam said the timing of the increase in reported ICE activity is also alarming in itself, as more people will be looking to get outside as the weather grows warmer.

“It just creates a very unsafe summer, and communities may not have the summer that they’ve been looking forward to,” Chitam said. “It was a long winter … hopefully this doesn’t last long.”

For more information on the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and the resources that the network of organizations offers, go to maineimmigrantrights.org“

"I am supporting Graham Platner for the U.S. Senate because he understands that one of the major problems facing our country is its extreme income inequality. Thanks to over 45 years of failed government policies, by 2020 roughly $50 trillion had migrated from the middle class to the richest Americans.

Average Americans can look at what is going on in Washington today and see that it is only getting worse. The fat cats have gotten disgustingly obese at our expense.

As a result of these policies, we have created a country of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich. They have essentially taken over our government using the influence of their money to rig the system in their favor. Supreme Court appointments, tax codes, social services, safety regulations, and environmental protections have all been skewed in their favor at great detriment to everyday people. I believe these few ridiculously rich individuals and their bought and paid for politicians like Susan Collins have no grasp of what everyday life has gotten like for us average Americans struggling to get by.

We need a leader who lives among us, understands what our lives are like, and understands the challenges we face. I think Graham Platner, the oyster farmer from Sullivan, is that leader. He knows that government policies got us into this mess and that the right government policies can get us out of it.

If you are like me and want a fair tax code and a government that protects the people, not the fat cats, then join me in voting for Graham Platner for U.S. Senate."

Jonathan Bush physically assaulted his first wife:

"After their older children left for school, Bush assaulted his first wife in a hallway while she held their 1-year-old son in her arms, according to court documents that also say she filed for divorce a few months before the November incident. Bush “screamed” into her face, calling her a “whore” and “disgusting person” while pushing her into a wall and “repeatedly slamming his closed fist into her sternum,” with his hand landing “just inches” from their baby.

In filing an emergency motion to make Bush leave their home, Selden Bush said the conditions in the home had “deteriorated dramatically” between June and November 2005, adding that the health and safety of her and the children were at risk. She also alleged Bush struck her on “numerous occasions” and once gave her a black eye, per court records.

Bush admitted to the November 2005 incident during a deposition the following year. He testified he was “unsure of where his hands had come in contact with” his first wife but said he “intended to touch her.” He also admitted on two other occasions to throwing a “small telephone” and “salt shaker” at her, putting holes in the wall."

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, ducked a question Wednesday on whether she supports a move from her fellow Republicans to use $1 billion in public money for President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project.