Category: Victoria Ekstrom
Snowe’s Health Insurance Bill Aims to Benefit Small Businesses
Small Business
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
4/2/2008
WASHINGTON – Small businesses are the intended beneficiaries of health insurance legislation introduced on Wednesday by Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, senior Republican member of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee.
“I can’t tell you how many people who run small businesses in the state have told me how much they want to offer health benefits to their employees and they can’t,” Snowe said in an interview on Wednesday. “This legislation is going to have a huge effect in Maine because Maine is a small-business state. That’s what inspired me. I heard from small-business owners directly.”
The Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) would make health insurance more affordable for small businesses through a tax credit to offset part of employers’ contributions to employee premiums.
The legislation also would encourage small businesses to become part of regional purchasing pools and, beginning in 2011, of national pools to lessen administrative costs.
Additionally, a lack of competition in the insurance industry has resulted in small businesses being “trapped,” Snowe said.
In Maine, four insurers control 98 percent of the market, Snowe said. “If you have no competition you have a rise in prices, a rise in prices means no health insurance, and that’s simply unacceptable and unconscionable.”
The purchasing pools give small businesses more health plan options, pushing competition in the health insurance industry and encouraging lower rates.
There are 124,000 uninsured people in Maine and there are more than 13 million people working for small businesses that are uninsured in the nation, said an October 2007 report by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, which researches economic security and employee benefits.
Most of these people are uninsured because of the cost, Snowe said, adding that the increasing cost of health insurance has been the number one concern for small businesses.
Individual coverage in Maine costs about $4,800 a year, a figure that Snowe called “atrocious.” Meanwhile, insurance premiums have increased by 78 percent since 2000, Snowe said.
The legislation will help the more than 41 million employees of the nation’s almost 6 million small businesses. Small businesses provide about two-thirds of the new jobs in America. In Maine, about 90 percent of businesses are small.
Snowe’s bill has received support from the National Federation of Independent Business, the Service Employees International Union and the National Association of Realtors, as well as Maine’s Bureau of Insurance.
“The SHOP Act recognizes the important protections that many states, like Maine, already have and sets a federal standard,” said Mila Kofman, superintendent of Maine’s Bureau of Insurance, in a letter sent to Snowe on Wednesday. “The SHOP Act is an important step forward. I applaud your efforts and commitment to Maine’s and America’s small businesses and workers.”
In the past, similar legislation was rejected under heavy pressure from the insurance industry, Snowe said. Now, she said, the industry supports her bill.
Snowe recounted in an interview a time before the 2006 election when she went into a shoe store and the man behind the counter dropped on the counter his Blue Cross and Blue Shield bill.
“It was staggering,” Snowe said. “I couldn’t help but think, here he is, struggling to keep his business together, a family-owned business, and there’s no justification for the inability of Congress to just let this happen.”
Snowe said that she can’t see “any good reason why this can’t be supported” because of a general sense in the Senate that it needs to get done; she said she believes the legislation will pass before the November elections.
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Homeland Security Responds to Baldacci’s Request
Baldacci Letter
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
3/26/2008
WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday it is working with Maine and is encouraged by the efforts of the state’s leaders to move forward with procedures called for within the Real ID Act.
“We want to make sure that at a minimum the states are moving forward in good faith to comply with the procedures called for in the Real ID Act, regardless of whether they want to say they are complying with the Act,” said Laura Keehner, a spokeswoman for the department “Some states are reluctant in calling it Real ID, but regardless of what they call it, we want them to move forward with the procedures.”
Of 18 procedures outlined in the act, Maine meets or partially meets 10 of the procedures.
The department’s response comes a day after Gov. John Baldacci sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff requesting that Maine residents not be penalized for not complying with the act.
The state legislature passed a law last year, signed by the governor, which prohibits the state from complying with the act.
“While the development of the rules, policies and procedures have taken longer than had originally been anticipated, the state of Maine has moved vigorously in the meantime to improve the security of its credentials,” Baldacci said in his letter, without directly saying the state would comply.
The deadline to request a waiver to give states more time to comply with the act is Monday, March 31.
Maine is the second state to send a letter requesting a waiver without indicating that the state will comply with the act. Montana’s Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer sent a similar letter and was granted a waiver last week.
South Carolina and New Hampshire also have not sought waivers. New Hampshire has asked to be exempted from the act, but the department has not yet granted the state an extension.
The department is reviewing Baldacci’s request for a waiver, Keehner said.
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Snowe Fights Internet Phishing, As The Scam Tops The IRS’s ‘Dirty Dozen’ List
Phishing
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
3/21/2008
WASHINGTON – Internet phishing – the name given to scams that trick people into revealing personal information through emails – topped the Internal Revenue Service’s “Dirty Dozen” list released last week of the 12 most common and costly tax scams.
With tax deadline approaching and citizens expecting economic stimulus package checks, scammers are enticing many to release information that they should not be sending over the internet.
“Many of these scams involve official-looking e-mail messages that try to trick the recipient into entering their personal information at a fake IRS Web site by stating in the email that they are eligible for a refund check,” Sen. Olympia Snowe, R- Maine, said.
Peggy Riley, a spokeswoman for the IRS, warns that citizens will get their economic stimulus check by filing an income tax form, not through email.
“We’re really working hard to warn people not to click any links that come to them through email asking for personal information,” Riley said in an interview. “Sometimes it looks too good to be true.”
To combat such scams, Snowe introduced legislation in February to end phishing and related practices, including the use of fraudulent or misleading domain names.
The Anti-Phishing Consumer Protection Act of 2008 clearly defines phishing as a deceptive practice. It gives the Federal Trade Commission more authority to penalize “phishers” and makes phishing a higher priority for the commission. Additionally, the legislation gives state attorneys general the power to fine the scammers.
“Phishing and other online fraud activities directly undermine the vital trust of online consumers,” Snowe said when she introduced her bill. “In a world that is growing more dependent on technology, we need to take every step possible to make the Internet safer and more reliable. This begins with restoring the trust and consumer confidence that has been eroded by the prevalence of deceptive emails and Web sites that are defrauding the American people.”
Coined in the late 1990s, the word “phishing” comes from the analogy that scammers are “fishing” for personal data from the sea of Internet users. “Ph” is a common replacement for “f” in hacker lingo, according to the Anti-Phishing Working Group, a global association focused on eliminating Internet fraud and identity theft.
There were more than 25,000 reports of phishing during the month of December, according to the group. Phishing scams and other forms of online fraud have increased by 57 percent from last year, claiming more than 3.5 million American victims.
Experts from the business, government, technology, advocacy and academic communities will gather in Washington on April 1 at a conference called by the Federal Trade Commission to discuss strategies to increase awareness of phishing.
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Advocates Push to Expand Freight Rail Infrastructure
Railroads
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
3/20/2008
WASHINGTON– Advocating for legislation to increase freight rail infrastructure, State Sen. Dennis Damon, D-Hancock County, co-chairman of Maine’s joint legislative Committee on Transportation, traveled to Washington last week to meet with Maine’s congressional delegation.
As part of “Railroad Day on the Hill,” Damon was joined in Washington by more than 450 rail advocates and members from Go21, a national advocacy group fighting to increase freight rail transportation throughout the country.
With freight rail demand expected to almost double by 2035, Damon asked the Maine delegation to support a 25 percent tax credit for private companies that invest in projects to expand rail systems. The credit used to be in effect but has expired.
“History has demonstrated that when those tax credits were in effect the railroads found it very advantageous to improve the industry,” Damon said in an interview.
But Damon expressed his opposition to a rival set of bills that its sponsors say would restore necessary regulation of the freight rail industry. He said he was not convinced that competition would result from the bills.
In Maine, Damon said, increased infrastructure would potentially allow passenger service to use freight rail tracks when available. He said he hopes that the new incentives would also help to further an expansion plan at the Port of Searsport to help products get to “America’s heartland.”
There are seven freight railroads in Maine, carrying more than 7 million tons of freight per year, according to 2005 data by the Association of American Railroads. Nationwide, rails carried more than 2 billion tons of freight in 2006, bringing in close to $54 billion in revenue.
“The tax credits are important not just to the industry, but to communities all over the country,” said Russell McGurk, vice president of Go21.
Because the demand for freight is predicted to grow 92 percent over the next 27 years and highways continue to be clogged with traffic, shipping freight by rail can benefit the public, McGurk said. The biggest impact would be on traffic congestion. One train can take 280 trucks off the road, according to Freight Rail Works, an advocacy group on rail issues.
There is also an economic benefit, as it costs less in fuel for goods to be transported by trains rather than trucks. A 2003 report by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials estimated shippers would save $25 billion per year. That number is now likely to be even greater as gasoline prices continue to skyrocket. Transporting by rail is also three times more fuel-efficient, and so shipping by train is better for the environment as well, Go21 said, citing Environmental Protection Agency statistics.
Some freight rail customers, however, have expressed concern about the proposed legislation and are pressing for adoption of legislation that would increase federal regulation of the industry.
“It is in our interest to have a healthy and viable freight rail,” said Scott Jensen, spokesman for the American Chemistry Council. “But we need a balanced relationship between railroads and shippers, and the best way to balance that is to improve competition.”
The council and other shippers have endorsed two measures: the Railroad Competition and Service Improvement Act, which is intended to reduce barriers to competition and enforce reasonable prices and efficient service; and the Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act, which is aimed at restoring competition to a rail industry that has been exempt from antitrust laws.
Jensen said he’s not against the tax credits if that’s what the industry feels it needs, but he fears, he added, that investment will go to improving rails in areas that already have a competitive environment,
Though 75 percent of the rails in the country are competitive, 25 percent of shippers have access to just one railroad. This has caused these “captive shippers” to experience high prices and poor services, said Bob Szabo, executive director for Consumers United for Rail Equity, a coalition of freight rail customers.
Kelly Donley, spokeswoman for the Association of American Railroads, said her group opposes the shipper-endorsed bills.
“It would limit our ability to maintain a vibrant business and expand rail capacity,” Donley said “This is a matter of a small group of shippers who consider themselves captive and want a better rate for themselves at the expense of others.”
Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, along with Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, support tax credits for freight rail companies. Snowe, Collins and Michaud have not taken a position on the antitrust and reform measures because they are still being discussed by their committees.
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Federal Election Commission Computer Error Results in Wrong Figures
FEC ERROR
Erin Kutz and Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
March 19, 2008
WASHINGTON— The Federal Election Commission early this month reported on its Web site incorrect campaign contribution numbers for all Senate candidates after making an error when transferring the candidates’ paper filings to an electronic version. The numbers have now been corrected.
The mistake occurred because of a coding error programmed by the commission within its data integration software, according to Bob Biersack, spokesman for the commission. Contributions of less than $200 and contributions of more than $200 are totaled on separate lines on the commission’s site and added together to form the total contributions. The mistake occurred when the under-$200 contributions were included in the total for the over-$200 contributions, causing the under $200 contributions to be counted twice.
The commission was informed of the error earlier this month when Boston University's Washington News Service, which covers Washington for a number of daily newspapers in the Northeast, discovered the error in reporting the Senate race in Maine between Sen. Susan Collins (R) and Rep. Tom Allen (D). The commission corrected the error within days of being notified, Biersack said.
Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics, said the error isn’t indicative of the FEC’s abilities.
“There is great potential for error when you’re working with campaign finance data,” he said. “It’s not as simple as balancing your checkbook. Mistakes get made.”
Biersack said the mistake had not occurred in the past and only the Senate campaigns were affected because the House candidates file electronically.
“We're very concerned about accurately representing the information that's provided to us,” said Biersack, who also said it would be easier if both the House and Senate filed electronically. “We've always encouraged the Senate to change their process and allow their candidates to file electronically.”
Kent Cooper, co-founder of CQ MoneyLine, an organization that analyzes campaign finances, said the problem could have been avoided with electronic filings by the Senate, noting that the chamber has followed the “status quo” of filing on paper since the 1970s. Any change would require legislative action on the Senate’s part.
He said the FEC’s computer error “is the kind of example that should open their eyes” and push the Senate to enact electronic filings.
Some senators have already pushed for that to no avail, though. In January of 2007, U.S. Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) introduced a bill requiring the Senate to file electronically. The bill has drawn the support of 40 co-sponsors, but the bill has not been voted on.
Stephen Weissman, associate director for policy for the Campaign Finance Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, said his organization is working to encourage the Senate leadership to schedule a vote. He noted that while computational errors in FEC reports are a concern, the graver issue in paper finance filings is that the information often cannot reach the public in time for an election or major vote.
“The people don’t have information about who has been giving contributions,” Weissman said.
Though the average voter doesn’t scour the FEC’s reports of candidate’s filings daily, errors in presenting the filings could have an effect on the numerous organizations and journalists who report on campaign finances, said Josh Israel , a researcher at the Center for Public Integrity.
“It’s vital that the information presented to [the public] be drawn from an accurate source,” he said.
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Legislative Leaders Call For More Cost Accountability Within the Electric Industry
Electricity
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
3/13/2008
WASHINGTON – Legislation that would force Maine’s electricity grid overseer, ISO New England, to provide reliable service at the lowest cost to consumers was introduced in the House March 6 by Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine.
“The proponents of utility deregulation promised lower electricity prices, but in far too many cases, the costs of operating the new regional market-based electric systems have resulted in billions of dollars in rate increases for consumers large and small, residential and business,” Allen said.
Electricity prices increased 55 percent since 1990 in Maine and New England, compared to a 35 percent increase nationwide, said a report by the Maine Public Utilities Commission, the state agency that regulates utilities for Maine. A majority of that increase occurred since Maine restructured its electric industry in 2000, according to the commission’s report.
ISO New England oversees the entire New England power grid, including generators and high-voltage transmission infrastructure. The cost of generation and most of the cost of transmission are shared by customers throughout the region, despite where they live. Maine’s customers pay an 8 percent share of the costs. So, if new transmission lines are built in Connecticut, for example, Maine taxpayers pay 8 percent of the cost.
ISO New England said this allocation makes sense because the new infrastructure helps assure the overall reliability of the system. Opponents argue that ISO New England’s price allocation unfairly places cost on consumers who don’t benefit.
“The way ISO New England is set up, Massachusetts and Connecticut need more generating capacity, but Maine is getting stuck with much of the costs, forcing the need for more accountability,” Allen said. “We don’t want unnecessary generating capacity to be built without understanding the cost. We want this agency to do what any other agency will do to balance the benefit and cost.”
The Consumer Protection and Cost Accountability Act would amend the Federal Power Act to require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to assure that electricity rates provide consumers with benefits that outweigh costs through a cost-benefit analysis submitted by the Independent System Operators (ISOs). The ISO also would be subject to biennial audits to assess its performance and to recommend ways to improve costs.
“ISO New England has increased rates to expand generating capacity, but hasn’t given a thought to consumers,” Allen said. “Whenever I travel around the state of Maine I find individuals who wonder why their electric bills are going up so quickly. The answer is complicated, but to put it simply, if Maine’s businesses are going to be competitive, we need to watch the electric prices.”
Rep. Michael Michaud, D-Maine, is a cosponsor of the bill.
Similar legislation was introduced in the Senate in February by Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt. Cosponsors of the bill include Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, as well as Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Sen. Pat Leahy, D-Vt.
“It is absolutely essential that we ensure that consumers’ resources are being economically maximized to ensure the lowest reasonable cost to our ratepayers,” Snowe said. “I believe this legislation will greatly assist in long-term planning for our nation's electricity grids.”
ISO New England views the legislation as “unnecessary,” spokeswoman Ellen Foley said.
“This proposed legislation is unnecessary because wholesale objectives already achieve the purpose of providing electricity at the lowest possible cost,” Foley said, and it “could jeopardize achievement of New England’s energy, economic and environmental policy goals.”
Foley said the system is very transparent, as ISO New England posts its prices on its Web site. She also said that any rising electricity costs must be attributed to an increase in natural gas prices.
Still, the commission and legislators said ISO New England lacked the incentive to provide cost-effective rates because its main mission is to assure reliability. But Foley said the competitive nature of the wholesale market assures the cost-effectiveness of the system.
“Wholesale competition is a marketplace similar to a stock exchange for electricity,” Foley said. “So the price is arrived at through the competitive nature of the marketplace. Generating companies place bids and ISO New England selects the bid with the least cost. So competition brings the least cost solution and we balance it with reliability.”
Because of the high costs Mainers have suffered under ISO New England, the Maine legislature asked the utilities commission to research solutions, suggesting that the best move may be to pull out of ISO New England.
The utilities commission came up with three solutions, according to its report to the legislature. Maine could pull out of ISO New England and create its own independent ISO or enter into Canada's electric grid. Both options the commission considered risky, but more cost effective. Or Maine could work to repair the current system. Allen's legislation is a step toward that goal, Kurt Adams, chairman of the commission, said.
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Members Express Gratitude to Soldiers, Opposition to Prolonged War
Iraq
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
3/12/2008
WASHINGTON – With almost 4,000 American lives lost, countless others physically and mentally wounded and half a trillion dollars spent, Maine’s members of Congress said that after five years of fighting in Iraq a change in course is necessary. But they said their support for the troops remains strong.
“We have nothing but inexpressible gratitude for the remarkable servicemen and women of our armed forces who are truly magnificent and unparalleled,” Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine said, echoing the gratitude of the entire Maine delegation. “They courageously place their lives at risk every day in heroic service to our nation at home and worldwide, and they remain at the forefront of our thoughts, prayers and concerns.”
Snowe highlighted the positives: Al Qaeda almost completely out of Anbar Province and a decrease in sectarian violence. She attributed these successes to the troops, but said that while the U.S. troops have done their job the Iraqi government has not.
“We are still conducting stability operations -- that cannot go on indefinitely,” Snowe said. “We have to transition to a point where the Iraqis are stabilizing themselves, and that can't and won't happen as long as we are doing it for them.”
“It is time for the Iraqis to step up to the plate,” Snowe’s Senate colleague, Susan Collins, R-Maine, said.
Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, also said a change is needed, as the strain on the armed forces makes the United States less able to react to other threats. He blamed the failed policies of “civilian leadership,” who “took our country to war, misled us and failed to plan for what would happen after the fall of the Hussein regime.”
More pointed in his attack on President Bush, Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, said, “I have been a consistent and outspoken critic of the President's failed Iraq policies,” he said. “I will continue to oppose funding for the war in Iraq that does not clearly include a responsible end to America's involvement in that country's ongoing religious civil war.”
Last year, Collins, the senior Republican on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and a member of the Armed Services Committee, along with Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., proposed a plan to drawdown troop levels by shifting the mission away from combat and avoiding a precipitous withdrawal, which she said would have “catastrophic consequences.”
“As we seek to chart a new course, it is my hope that leaders in both the House and Senate will put aside partisan politics and adopt bipartisan proposals to guide our policy in Iraq,” Collins said.
Allen, who is running against Collins for her Senate seat, said a firm deadline for withdrawal is needed.
While a new course must be drawn abroad, it is equally important to care for the soldiers who return, said Michaud, who serves as chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health. Last year Michaud sponsored the Veterans Health Care Improvement Act. It was passed by the House in July but it has not been voted on in the Senate.
“Great strides have been made over the last couple of years, but there is more that still needs to be done,” Michaud said while assuring veterans he would continue to fight to get them the healthcare and assistance they need “to live the American dream that they gave so much to defend.”
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Sources of Funds Signal National Importance of Collins-Allen Race
FEC MAINE
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
3/12/2008
WASHINGTON – Republican Sen. Susan Collins’ match-up against Democratic Rep. Tom Allen in Maine’s U.S. Senate race is drawing large amounts of money from out of state donors, a sign that the race is national in scope and competitive, said scholars, analysts and officials from both parties.
“I don’t think there is any question that this is one of the most competitive races in the country and I think contributions from across the country signify that,” said Nathan Gonzales, political editor of The Rothenberg Political Report, a non-partisan newsletter that focuses on campaigns. “We’re seeing donors from outside the state give because they realize this is a very competitive race and it’s a seat Republicans need to hold and Democrats have a chance of gaining.”
Collins, the incumbent, closed 2007 with a 20-point lead, according to a November poll by Critical Insights, a market research firm in Portland.
Collins also out-fundraised Allen in 2007 and had more cash in her campaign account at year’s end, the most recent reporting period. Allen raised $2.8 million in 2007 compared to Collins’ $3.8 million, according to their filings with the Federal Election Commission. She also began 2007 with a larger war chest and spent less money through the year. Collins ended 2007 with $3.9 million in her campaign wallet as opposed to Allen’s $2.5 million.
Overall since her re-election in 2002, Collins has raised about $4.5 million. Federal campaigns are required to ask for personal information – address and employer, for example – from donors who give more than $200. Collins had raised $2.6 million in such contributions through the end of 2007, of which about 73 percent -- $1.9 million -- came from out of state, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan, non-profit organization that collects and studies campaign contribution data. This placed her eighth among Senate candidates in terms of percentage of funds raised from out of state, according to the center. Allen, who was last reelected in 2006, raised about $1.8 million in chunks of $200 or more, of which roughly 66 percent -- $1.2 million – came from outside of Maine, placing him third on a list of House incumbents.
Any time candidates raise a lot of money from outside their state it’s an indication that the race is on the national radar, said Massie Ritsch, the center’s communications director.
“They have received these funds because of the national importance of this race,” said Sandy Maisel, director of Colby College’s Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement. “Influences outside the state of Maine – political candidates, interest groups, political parties – understand the importance of this race.”
Most of these supporters have Washington, New York or California zip codes, Ritsch said.
“Having an incumbent senator and a sitting member of the House both as candidates, they both have a large network to draw from when trying to get support,” said Gonzales from the Rothenberg Report.
Allen has received more contributions from party committees than any other candidate in the country, pulling in more than $40,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Allen also raised $54,000 from other candidates, including $10,000 – the maximum amount a political action committee can give – from the Hope Fund, Sen. Barack Obama’s leadership PAC, and $10,000 from the Searchlight Leadership Fund, the leadership PAC for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. A leadership PAC is a committee a politician establishes separate from their campaign PAC, primarily used to give contributions to colleagues.
The Democratic Party is sending money to Allen because Collins is a sitting Republican in a blue state in a region of the country where “Republicans are an endangered species,” Gonzales said. “Any Republican in a blue state is going to gain attention from the Democratic Party.”
As the Democrats funnel money to Allen, Republicans are trying to keep up. The Republican Party gave Collins more than $5,000 as of the end of the year. She also had received close to $280,000 – more than any other congressional candidate nationwide – from other politicians. Her benefactors included Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., the former Democrat who still caucuses with his former party and chairs the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, of which Collins is the top-ranking Republican. Lieberman contributed $10,000 from his leadership PAC, Responsibility, Opportunity, Community. Fellow Republican Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe contributed $4,000 from her personal campaign fund.
“Sen. Collins is very popular in the Senate and her colleagues want to bring her back,” said Rebecca Fisher, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “The Republican Party also doesn’t want to lose more seats and this has been considered a vulnerable seat, although Collins seems to have made the case that she doesn’t have one of the vulnerable seats anymore. She’s proven herself well as a candidate and is well liked. Voters in Maine don’t see her as a party – as a Democrat or Republican – they see her as a candidate who has advocated for them.”
In smaller states like Maine, candidates can’t rely solely on the financial support of their constituents because there isn’t much political cash to raise, said Ritsch; but while much of her money comes from out-of-state donors, Collins has received contributions from local Mainers, such as the recently deceased philanthropist Harold Alfond and Chris McCormick, the president of L.L. Bean, said Steve Abbott, Collins’ campaign manager. Both Alfond and McCormick donated $2,300 each, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Other major sources of largely out-of-state contributions for the two candidates are corporate PACs and advocacy groups. Collins ranked third among Senate candidates in the amount she raised from PACs, having raised close to $1.5 million. Her top five sources of funding were PACs, employees and family members of corporations, including defense contractor Raytheon, which contributing $22,250 in PAC and individual contributions, and Time Warner, giving $18,100, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Abbott argued that the PAC donations also represent contributions from individuals within a variety of different companies and industries.
Allen’s top contributor was the liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org, which encourages its members to donate directly to candidates. Through MoveOn.org members, Allen raised more than $36,000, said the center.
“Many thousands of MoveOn members reside in Maine, but these donations are coming from throughout the nation. They’re regular people who want change and see Tom Allen as a direct route to get change,” said Carol Andrews, spokeswoman for the Allen campaign, who said much of Allen’s contributions are coming in small increments, $20, $10, $5 or even $2. “It’s individuals who want to see change. They want to see our troops out of Iraq. They want universal healthcare. They want tax cuts for the middle class.”
Collins also receives small contributions, but for both campaigns the “bulk of the campaign is financed by major donors,” said Steve Abbott, Collins’ campaign manager. The Collins campaign raised 1,826 contributions of $500 or more, while the Allen campaign raised 1,580 contributions of $500 or more, according to data released by the Collins campaign.
Both parties do acknowledge that money isn’t everything.
“Money helps but there have been a lot of cases in the past where money hasn’t won the race,” said Fisher of the Republican Party.
In 2006, six U.S. Senate incumbents were defeated and in each case the winner raised less than the incumbent, said Matt Miller, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
With close to $4 million in Collins’ wallet and about $2.5 million left for Allen to spend, it’s safe to say both candidates will have enough to run their campaigns, said Gonzales of The Rothenberg Political Report.
“What’s important isn’t always the money, but the message,” said Miller.
The message coming from the Allen campaign is one of change.
“The Democratic Party really wants to see change and the road to that change goes straight through Maine,” said Andrews of the Allen campaign. “We’ll never raise as much money because she’s the incumbent, but we’re raising enough money to be competitive.”
This message of change is the “same message that we’re hearing from every other Democrat with a pulse,” said Gonzales.
“It’s laughable,” said Abbott of Collins’ campaign. “There’s a guy whose been running on a change theme for the past year and that’s Barack Obama, not Tom Allen.”
Both Abbott and the Republican senatorial committee’s Fisher said that a change message works when voters want a change in their representatives. But, Fisher said, “I think they like Collins as their representative.”
It’s also hard for Allen to stand on a change message because he works across the street from Collins on Capital Hill and they have been in office for the same amount of time, Fisher said. Allen is also now a member of the majority party and if Democrats want change it’s now up to them, Abbott and Fisher said.
Miller, of the Democratic Party, argued that it takes 60 votes to do anything in the Senate and that the Republicans keep blocking the Democrats from making any real change. While Democrats work to increase their majority to get closer to the 60-vote mark, Republicans work to maintain the seats they already have.
“Congressman Allen needs to make his case to the voters that Senator Collins needs to be fired. The majority of voters like the job she is doing and he needs to change how voters in Maine look at their senator,” Gonzales said. “Both candidates are going to have the money they need, now it’s just about which will have the message to prevail.”
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Senate Bill Would Provide Help for Consumer Product Safety Commission
Consumer
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
3/7/2008
WASHINGTON – Last summer, Downeast Concepts, Inc., a Yarmouth-based company, imported toy rakes containing dangerous levels of lead and distributed 400 of them to stores throughout the nation. The toys were manufactured in China and entered through Boston. The company discovered the problem on its own after it stepped up testing because of a series of recalls from big-name manufacturers, like Mattel.
The company reported the problem to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the federal agency that monitors product safety, but the process of getting the products off the market was slower than expected, Michael Perfetti, spokesman for Downeast Concepts, said.
The Senate passed a bill on Thursday that would increase staff and funding for the commission and provide stricter testing guidelines for inspection agents. The Consumer Product Safety Act also would make it more difficult for dangerous products to enter the country and make it easier for the public to learn about hazardous toys that land on store shelves.
The House version of the bill, which contained provisions sponsored by Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, passed in December. The House and Senate will now meet to reconcile the two versions before the bill heads to the President’s desk.
Key points to the Senate bill include a public database that will let consumers post product complaints online, while companies will be able to respond to the posts. The necessity for this database stems from numerous complaints that the Consumer Product Safety Commission has been sluggish in responding to complaints and issuing recalls. The database is similar to one already used by the Department of Transportation, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in an interview.
“The current system has failed at preventing toys from reaching American homes in the first place,” Collins said. “The system is backwards. Instead of detecting problems before they hit store shelves, we’re finding them after they reach millions of American homes. That’s where the commission has fallen short.”
In addition to leading an investigation of the toy recalls last summer, Collins sponsored a proposal in the Senate bill that would prevent “port shopping.” Port shopping is when importers whose products are rejected from one port try to sneak their hazardous goods through a different port. The Collins amendment, passed by the Senate, will require port authorities to seize and destroy products that fail initial inspections.
In addition to tightening the procedures for inspection, the bill directs the commission to develop more detailed guidelines for customs agents to use in screening products. The bill also increases the commission’s budget and staff and the penalties placed on companies that don’t follow the commission’s guidelines.
To prevent small businesses from being financially harmed through these strict guidelines, Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, proposed an amendment, which passed, to make the penalties proportional to the size of the company.
Snowe introduced two other amendments, both of which passed. One forces baby products to be tested and certified according to specific safety standards; the other increases the number of commission investigators sent overseas to inspect the production of U.S.-bound products.
But while The Consumer Product Safety Act was praised as a good first step, others believe it’s not tough enough.
“We support the bill and think the bill is a step in the right direction,” said David Arkush, director of the Congress Watch division of Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group. “But while it is stronger than the House version, I wish it was even stronger and we’re looking forward to working with Congress to make more reforms.”
Reform advocates also are pushing for stricter laws to prevent hazardous chemicals from being included in children’s products.
The Senate bill bans lead and phthalates, a chemical that can cause reproductive defects, from children’s toys, except for trace amounts.
But that’s not all they should ban, said Elisa Boxer-Cook, a Scarborough mother of a 5-year-old boy and a strong advocate for stricter product safety guidelines.
“The federal government is debating this bill, which is great, but they’re not considering any sort of disclosure of the harmful chemicals that are in these products,” Boxer-Cook said in an interview. She refers to chemicals like Bisphenol-A, which also causes cancer and hormone deficiencies even in small amounts.
“A dozen states are now considering bills to stop these chemicals from being put in toys or to disclose the chemicals,” Boxer-Cook said.
Maine is one of the states attempting to toughen safety laws. A bill that would help to protect children from toxic chemicals in children’s products by forcing public disclosure of the chemicals is being considered in the Maine legislature. The legislation may go as far as banning the most hazardous chemicals.
Boxer-Cook said she supports this legislation and hopes the federal government will take steps to strengthen its standards to match the high standards in Europe.
“It would be illegal for this teether to be sold in Europe, this teether which still has my son’s teeth marks on it,” Boxer-Cook told a legislative hearing in Augusta on Feb. 28. “Manufacturers overseas often make two versions of the same toy. The one with toxic chemicals in it goes to my child in this country, and the safe version, without toxic chemicals, goes to a European child.”
Banning lead and phthalates is a step closer to Europe’s standards, where toys must be marked by a “CE” to assure their safety.
“This is a big victory for parents of small children,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., sponsor of the federal amendment that bans phthalates. “Europe and California have already stepped forward to made sure that toys laden with phthalates are kept away from the hands and mouths of young children. America’s parents should be able to have the same peace of mind that the toys they buy for their children are safe.”
Perfetti, of Downeast Concepts, said he agrees with much of what the federal bill mandates, but would like to see additional guidance to prevent the confusion that results when different states adopt different laws.
“We'd rather dedicate our resources to complying with federal safety laws than trying to figure out the confusing patchwork of laws in all 50 states, many of which are inconsistent,” Perfetti said. “That's the best way to make sure that every company, large and small, knows what tests to perform and what certifications to obtain to ensure the safest products are sold to all of their customers.”
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Study Says Hunger Among Elderly is on the Rise
Aging
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
3/5/08
WASHINGTON— More than five million elderly citizens suffer from hunger in the United States, a number that is on the rise, according to a new study.
The study, produced by Meals on Wheels, a program that provides hot food to low income elderly and disabled citizens, spurred Democratic Gov. John Baldacci to announce Wednesday a new “March for Meals” campaign at the State House.
“This aging population presents many challenges for our state and our nation, including ensuring that no senior citizen be at risk of being hungry,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a member of the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging, which on Wednesday heard the results of the study.
“It is important that Congress anticipate the growing concern of senior hunger and continue to support programs, such as Meals on Wheels, the Food Stamp Program and the Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program, that are intended to combat hunger and ensure that some of our nation’s most vulnerable citizens have access to quality, nutritious meals,” Collins said.
By 2025, when all of the Baby Boom generation will be above age 60, almost 10 million American senior citizens will experience hunger, a figure that is 75 percent higher than in 2005, according to the study. That number may be even higher, as fuel prices and food and health care costs continue to rise, James Weill, president of the Food and Research and Action Center, a non-profit organization that works to strengthen public-private partnerships, told the senators.
“When people face this type of crunch, a ‘heat or eat’ dilemma or a ‘medicine-or-food’ choice, often good nutrition suffers,” Weill said. In return, these elderly citizens are more susceptible to diseases like diabetes and obesity, which can spur other health problems and additional costs.
“Knowledge of these issues is particularly pressing in order to best plan for the upcoming increase of seniors due to the aging of baby boomers,” testified James Ziliak, the director of the Center for Poverty Research at the University of Kentucky and the lead researcher for the study.
The number of elderly Maine citizens is growing faster than any other age group. From 1999 to 2025 there is expected to be a 97 percent increase in 65- to 74-year-olds and a 55 percent increase in 75- to 84-year-olds, according to a 2006 study by the Blaine House Conference on Aging. By 2025, one in five Mainers will be over the age of 65, reported a 2007 study by the University of Maine’s Center on Aging. The elderly in Maine had a poverty rate higher than 10 percent in 2000, the Blaine study said.
As Maine’s elderly population rises, the number of elderly Mainers going hungry is also increasing, Baldacci said as he kicked off the “March for Meals” campaign with the purpose of raising awareness of elderly hunger problems and encouraging more funding and volunteers.
“By providing meals and other nutrition services to those seniors, senior nutrition programs enable those individuals to live independently in their homes and avoid premature institutionalization,” Baldacci said.
Five agencies help to distribute the Meals on Wheels program in Maine, serving more than 5,800 senior citizens and disabled adults combined. The average age of customers served by Meals on Wheels in Maine is 80 years old, said Laurence Gross, director of the Southern Maine Agency on Aging, one of the five agencies that participate in the program. The majority of Maine’s elders live on incomes of less than $15,000 a year, according to Maine’s Office of Elderly Services.
“In addition to providing a well balanced and nutritious meal, seniors overwhelmingly tell us that the daily contact by the volunteer who delivers their meal is a great reassurance and welcome social interaction,” Gross told the senators. “Often the Meals on Wheels volunteer is the only person a homebound senior will see every day.”
Before Betty Goodwin and her late husband, of Bangor, signed up for the state’s version of the program, Meals for Maine, they needed to decide between food and medication. The $10 a month she received in food stamps was not enough and because she’s in a wheel chair she had trouble getting to the grocery store and preparing meals.
Since signing up for the program, Goodwin said, her health has improved and she has lost 50 pounds. The hot meal she receives from Meals on Wheels is the one hot meal she has each day.
“The meals are delicious,” said Goodwin. “The veal parmesan tastes better than what I could get at the Olive Garden.”
Goodwin also called the volunteers “wonderful.” She has three cats and the Meals on Wheels volunteers check on them as well. When Goodwin’s husband died, the volunteers were a “shoulder to cry on” in the days and weeks after his death.
“That meant a lot to me,” said Goodwin. “I can’t praise Meals for Maine enough.”
Despite the success Goodwin has had, the number of people helped by federally-funded nutrition programs declined by 800,000 from 1995 to 2006, said the Food and Research and Action Center’s Weill.
This decline is attributed partly to senior citizens’ hesitation in joining such programs. In order to encourage elderly citizens to sign up for such programs, legislators are considering changes to the food stamp program, which many elderly citizens use in conjunction with programs like Meals on Wheels. In 2005, 31 percent of senior citizens received food stamps, compared to the 60 percent for non-elderly adults and 88 percent for children, said Kate Houston, deputy under secretary of Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The food stamp program is a part of the Farm Bill, which is being discussed by Congress. Provisions in the bill would boost food stamp benefits for the elderly, make more seniors eligible and reduce barriers that impede eligible seniors from participating.
Some senior citizens don’t participate in the program because of the confusing paperwork required and because of a stigma associated with food stamps.
“Seniors have cited worries about how they might be perceived by grocery store staff and other shoppers, and about the embarrassment they might feel if family and friends knew they received benefits,” Weill said.
As the baby boomer generation ages, they may be more willing to accept help because they are more familiar with the programs and they have not confronted the Depression-era problems that their parents faced, said Ziliak of the University of Kentucky.
“The elderly by nature aren’t anxious to step up and say ‘I’m hungry.’ I have a mother who has much pride and her pride makes her resist help,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., a member of the Special Committee on Aging. “They still think they should be doing for others.”
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