7/20/2008 - McCain's Economic Policies Would Only Worsen Mainers' Struggles to Make Ends Meet, According to New Report
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SUNDAY, JULY 20, 2008
CONTACT: REBECCA POLLARD, 233-7380
NOTE: Interviews in response to McCain's visit available Sunday and Monday.
One day before McCain attends high-dollar Kennebunkport events, Mainers get evidence of how a McCain presidency would affect them
(PORTLAND, MAINE) - One day before Republican presidential nominee John McCain comes to Maine to raise money at the Bush compound, a new report by national nonprofit group Americans United for Change details how Mainers' checkbooks would be affected by a McCain presidency.
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The report states that for the cost of just two hours of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 5% of Americans - the same tax cuts that John McCain wants to keep in place (and that Susan Collins has consistently supported) - 46,000 additional Maine households could obtain help purchasing home heating oil. Those dollars could double the number of Maine households receiving aid from the Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) (about $26 million).
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And for the cost of two and a half hours of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 5%, the report states that we could cover 12,000 of Maine's neediest kids with health insurance. That figure (about $33 million) would double the number of Maine households receiving funds from the State Children's Health Care Program (SCHIP).
John McCain, however, has voted repeatedly to slash LIHEAP funding. And just last year, he voted to deny 12,000 Maine children health insurance. McCain says he will keep the Bush tax breaks for the super-wealthy.
"While the people of Maine are worried sick about how they're going to pay their heating bills this winter, John McCain is coming here asking for $5,000 to play golf," said Rebecca Pollard, spokeswoman for the Maine Democratic Party.
"The difference could not be more striking. But the truth is, John McCain represents more of the same."
"We simply can't have a Third Bush Term, and that's exactly what will happen with John McCain and his supporters like Susan Collins, who is the only member of the Maine delegation to support every one of the Bush economic policies-the same tax breaks McCain says he will extend."
"The kind of extravagance we'll see tomorrow in Kennebunkport is but a reflection of the McCain mindset on economic policy issues, and this new report is evidence of how those of us here in Maine would be affected by his policies. It's not a pretty picture."
Click here to view the report.
