Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel readers, Emily Cain is not being honest with you.

A few days ago, Cain authored an op-ed making a host of claims (“Cain: Record on welfare clear,” July 22), but the actual facts and history don’t support most of the claims she made.

For one, Cain attacks Congressman Bruce Poliquin, R-2nd District, claiming “Wall Street special interests” are backing him. The fact is, Cain is the candidate who was exposed not long ago to be at a California fundraiser of billionaires, run by a Wall Street executive of Soros Fund Management. Her campaign’s response was simply that they were doing what they had to do to win.

Closer to home, Cain’s op-ed was rife with attempts to rewrite her own history of opposing welfare reform. I know, I have been watching her for years. The only way Cain ever votes for welfare reform is if she has no other option, and when she does, she wants the most watered-down, meaningless legislation that can be created.

The budget Cain tried to claim credit for, from which she attempts to claim credit for both tax cuts and welfare reform, was actually a budget she opposed vehemently. For nearly two years, Cain was one of the budget’s loudest critics. Only in 2014, when she decided to run for Congress, did Cain begin taking credit. Before that, she was most well-known for saying how much her caucus “hated” the tax cuts.

I will never forget the first time I saw her take credit for that budget — my jaw dropped. That budget passed in spite of Cain, not because of her.

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Furthermore, Cain’s record on welfare reform is anything but what she says. She claims to want to make sure welfare dollars only go to those in need, well here are a few of her votes:

• On a proposal to prevent food stamp users from purchasing junk food with EBT cards, Cain voted no. (L.D. 1411)

• On a proposal to close loopholes in the welfare system that allowed job-ready welfare recipients to dodge work search requirements to keep benefits, Cain voted no. (L.D. 1842)

• On a proposal to prevent Maine EBT cards from being used at Las Vegas casinos and Florida amusement parks, among other locations, Cain voted no. (L.D. 1822)

• On a proposal to require able-bodied adults to apply for work before receiving benefits, Cain voted no. (L.D. 1815)

I could go on and on. The only limit to this list is how many words I am allowed to submit for an op-ed.

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As if Cain’s dishonesty on tax cuts, welfare reform and which candidate is backed by Wall Street special interests are not enough, she quadrupled down on dishonesty with the claim that she is a “bipartisan leader” — she just isn’t. In fact, the Sunlight Foundation, a highly respected non-partisan group, ranked Cain as the fifth most partisan member of the Maine Senate during the 126th Legislature. That is in the bottom 15 percent for bipartisanship — not at the top.

The facts show, Cain is not a supporter of welfare reform and was not a supporter of common-sense tax cuts she now claims credit for. To make matters worse, she has been the one soliciting support and working with Wall Street special interests, and making false claims about her “bipartisanship.”

Maine deserves better than this. Emily Cain is out of step with Maine voters, and her newest round of claims published in this paper are even out of step with her own record.

Jason Savage is executive director of the Maine Republican Party.


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