Maine Owl

I hate to have to post this


Maine 1st District Representative Tom Allen voted for the Wall Street bailout. In doing so, he voted for the biggest economic hosing the President George W. Bush Administration has ever devised. In doing so, he said Republican policies are okay, the policies of Susan Collins are okay after all, and the taxpayer just cleans up Republican messes. The vote said he even approved the top Bush henchman to be in charge.

Candidate Tom Allen could have made some hay against Senator Susan Collins by taking a real stand against her and Bush that the ad suggests he does. Alas, no. No alternative ideas from Tom. He joined the rush to approve the Bush economic takeover. Shameful.

Update: What Gerald said. I just got through listening to Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank repeat mantras of the phrase "protect the taxpayer" in a replay from the afternoon Capitol news conference. Who are they kidding? It's pathetic. (Gerald also pointed me to THIS very interesting report on the Treasury conference call for bailout analysts. What's happening inside is not reflected on the outside, that's for sure.) Meanwhile, here is Gerald's litany of Tom Allen's failing "Mr. Niceguy" program:

• Not challenging Collins as she cried, "Victim!" to the MoveOn.org ads.
• Not hammering Collins on her record of not investigating the fraud, theft and malfeasance that has defined the reconstruction of Iraq (a total that is not far from $700 billion).Not challenging Collins as she cried, "Victim!" to the MoveOn.org ads.
• Not hammering Collins on her record of not investigating the fraud, theft and malfeasance that has defined the reconstruction of Iraq (a total that is not far from $700 billion)
• Not challenging the lies of the anti-union and anti-EFCA ads until it was too late
• Not hammering Collins on her votes for the AUMF Iraq, the USA Patriot Act, tax cuts for the super wealthy, against habeas corpus protections (and explaining their import), retro-immunity for the telecoms that illegally spied on millions of Americans, and confirming to the SCOTUS John Roberts and Sam Alito.

It's a pretty serious indictment. We can add "not challenging the bailout when doing so was a perfect opportunity to re-energize voters for his candidacy--especially in Mike Michaud's district." Shameful, shameful, shameful.