It’s a given that nearly 50 percent of folks pay no income taxes and that Maine is a rural state that has a large low-income population, and yet Sen. Susan Collins supports the expansion of Medicaid in the state of Maine. Such an expansion would cost taxpayers large sums that she has not disclosed. Collins has been a U.S. senator for decades. So why hasn’t she resolved the economic problems of our low-income population? Is the motivation to keep people poor and dependent on these programs so she can get them to vote once again for her?

I’ve seen manufacturing leave our state, high-income people leave our state due to high taxes, and little has been done on her part to help improve incomes in rural Maine.

Gov. Paul LePage has helped hold the line on expanding Medicaid in Maine, and thanks to President Donald Trump, some manufacturing will return to the U.S. In the event that Collins wants to run for governor in Maine, we’ll have to remember all the opposition that she has supported against the Trump economic agenda and the lack of results she has accomplished for us living in the low-income areas of Maine.

Rather than expanding Medicaid, Collins should focus on making economic improvements in rural Maine, which could in turn eliminate the need to expanding Medicaid and creating additional tax liabilities. Maine taxpayers who are a shrinking population are carrying enough tax loads without Collins adding to it.

Ronald Currier

Norridgewock


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