MAINE CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS 2014- INCUMBENTS AND CHALLENGERS AND WHERE THEY STAND: RUTH KING
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/maine-2014-candidates-for-congress-where-they-stand?f=must_reads
Primary: June 10, 2014
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To see the actual voting records of all incumbents on other issues such as Foreign Policy, Second Amendment Issues, Homeland Security, and other issues as well as their rankings by special interest groups please use the links followed by two stars (**).
U.S. Senate
Angus King (I) Next Election 2018
Susan Collins (R) Incumbent
http://www.susancollins.com/ http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/susan_collins.htm **
http://www.collins.senate.gov/public/
ISSUES
HEALTHCARE http://www.collins.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/important-issues?p=aging That is why Senator Collins worked for months with her colleagues in 2009 and 2010 to craft a bipartisan consensus bill that would help reduce the cost of health insurance for families and better enable small businesses to provide coverage for their employees. Senator Collins was disappointed that the President and Senate leadership chose to abandon this approach and instead enacted the partisan Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which does not do enough to rein in the cost of health care or to provide consumers with more affordable choices. In fact, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) concluded that this legislation will actually increase costs for many families and small businesses – the opposite of what reform should produce.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT http://www.collins.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/environment
Clean Air Act: Senator Collins is a long-time supporter of the Clean Air Act. The Clean Air Act remains landmark legislation that has helped protect and improve our nation’s air quality and public health. In 2011, Senator Collins voted against a significant attempt to roll back the Clean Air Act, which would have prohibited the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions forever, no matter what the health consequences are, no matter what future scientific research reveals, no matter the environmental impact. The amendment also would have prohibited new emission standards for motor vehicles beginning in 2017, essentially halting the tremendous progress that has been made in reducing vehicle emissions and improving fuel economy. She also voted against a Resolution of Disapproval that would have blocked implementation of the EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule.
Advancing Domestic Energy Technologies: Senator Collins has worked to advance legislation that would promote clean energy initiatives, such as accelerating research of plug-in hybrid technologies for heavy duty trucks, providing incentives for producing alternative fuels from biomass, and improving the energy efficiency of motor vehicles and appliances, among others.
Energy Efficiency: Senator Collins strongly supports efforts to improve energy efficiency, including the Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), which has helped families weatherize their homes and substantially reduce their heating bills. She serves as the Honorary Vice-Chair of the Board of the Alliance to Save Energy, a non-profit organization that promotes energy efficiency worldwide to achieve a healthier economy, a cleaner environment, and energy security.
Voted to approve the Keystone XL pipeline project and provide for environmental protection and government oversight.
HOMELAND SECURITY PRIORITIES
http://www.collins.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/homeland-security
Reforming national intelligence:
Strengthening cyber-security
Addressing homegrown terrorism
Improving disaster response
Preventing attacks through ports
Preventing attacks on chemical facilities
Supporting First Responders
Shenna Bellows (D) Challenger
Shenna Bellows served as Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Maine for the last eight years. In that leadership role, she developed a track record for building unusual coalitions with Republicans and Democrats alike to pass groundbreaking privacy and civil rights laws, making Maine a leader nationwide. She was a leader of Mainers United for Marriage, working for seven years to pass the freedom to marry for all loving and committed couples in Maine, and she co-chaired the 2011 Protect Maine Votes campaign to restore same-day voter registration. Most recently, she organized a successful privacy campaign to require warrants for access to private cell phone communications, and she led the opposition to warrantless drone surveillance.
Prior to her work at the ACLU of Maine, Shenna was the national field organizer at the ACLU in Washington, DC, organizing nationwide civil liberties campaigns including opposition to the Patriot Act, where she built broad coalitions that included librarians and gun owners alike.
http://bellowsforsenate.com/
Erick Bennett (I) Challenger
http://erickbennett.com/
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District 1
Chellie Pingree (D) Incumbent
http://chelliepingree.com/ http://www.ontheissues.org/house/chellie_pingree.htm**
http://pingree.house.gov/
•Rated +4 by AAI, indicating pro-Arab pro-Palestine voting record. (May 2012)
ISSUES
HEALTHCARE As Congress considered health care reform legislation, I met with hundreds of constituents, health care consumers, providers and business owners to hear what they felt was the right change for Maine. Thousands of Mainers wrote to me and called my office to share their thoughts and make recommendations about key elements of the legislation. The debate over health insurance reform was intense and passionate, and while we may not always agree on every issue, I have truly appreciated the opportunity to hear from people all across Maine who shared their concerns, frustrations, hopes, and personal stories with me.
I was proud to work with my colleagues in the House and Senate to strengthen the health reform package, and ultimately to vote in favor of this landmark legislation. While the bill is not perfect, I am confident that this is the right step forward for Maine. I firmly believe that this is the best opportunity we have had in a generation to lower costs for those who are already insured, improve the quality of care in this country, and finally provide guaranteed access to a choice of affordable coverage for every American family.
ENERGY
Clean, Affordable Energy Every time gas and oil go up by $1 dollar, Maine’s economy loses a billion dollars that it will never get back. That’s unsustainable for our state and our families. Maine has the natural resources to produce affordable energy here at home while producing jobs and being good for the environment.
Offshore Wind Power Off the shore of Maine there is enough wind to produce several power plants worth of electricity. Moreover, we can do it while creating jobs for Mainers and exporting energy instead of having to importing. I am a strong supporter of the University of Maine’s work to develop offshore wind turbines that would be made right here in Maine.
Tidal Power There are also some exciting developments in getting our ocean to power our state, but from the tides. Maine has some of the largest tides in the world, and one project is looking at how to harness it.
Energy Efficiency Our homes, businesses, and state have much to gain by cutting back on the energy we use. We can save millions in utilities by insulating and sealing our homes as well as using efficient appliances
Voted Against Keystone XL Pipeline without limiting amendments.
Isaac Misiuk (R) Challenger
http://www.misiukforcongress.com/ Isaac Misiuk is a second year political science student at the University of Southern Maine. During his time at USM Isaac served as the Director of Student Development, a newly created position within the Student Government Association. As the Director of Student Development, Isaac worked to build relationships with outside businesses and organizations in Southern Maine to aid graduating seniors’ transition into careers. Isaac also served as a Student Senator for the Student Government Association’s 41st Student Senate.
Richard Murphy (I) Challenger
http://murphyformaine.com/
District 2
Mike Michaud (D) Is Candidate for Governor in 2014
Emily Cain (D) Challenger
http://cainforcongress.com/
ISSUES
ENVIRONMENT Maine’s natural resources are second to none. Our state’s character and economy are rooted in the coastal waters, forests, rivers and fields across Maine.
Emily knows that protecting Maine’s pristine environment is critical for the long-term health of our communities and the strength of our economy. That’s why she has been an ardent supporter of land conservation efforts, raising awareness of toxic chemicals in toys and household products, investing in green technology jobs, and voting to cut greenhouse gases and address climate change in Maine.
Emily is proud to have a 90% lifetime rating from the League of Conservation Voters. In Congress, she will continue to fight to protect our environment and will partner with local stakeholders to protect Maine’s precious natural resources while growing our economy.
HEALTHCARE Quality health care should be accessible and affordable for all Maine’s families. Patients and their doctors should be the ones making critical medical decisions – not the big insurance companies.
Ensuring access to affordable health care has always been important to Emily. That’s why she sponsored legislation to provide health coverage for children with autism, increased access to dental care for low income families, and ensured cancer patients can get the treatments they need without going bankrupt. Emily also knows that providing health care to 70,000 Mainers through the expansion of Medicaid is an opportunity Maine cannot afford to miss. Emily has been an ardent supporter of MaineCare expansion, and has worked as a member of the Senate for its passage.
In Congress, Emily will work to fix the current health care reform law so that it increases health care quality, saves money, and puts you in charge of your health care. The Affordable Care Act is far from perfect, but it is an important step in the right direction. The law provides families and small businesses with more choices and options for purchasing health care coverage. It invests in preventative care that will significantly reduce long-term health care costs. And it fosters real health care consumer protections – like preventing insurance companies from denying care based on “pre-existing” conditions or discontinuing care when you get sick.
LABOR As a union member herself, Emily knows we have Labor to thank for so many of the rights and benefits that American workers enjoy today.
A member of the Maine Education Association, University of Maine Professional Staff Association (UMPSA), Emily has a 100% rating from the AFL-CIO and has been proud to earn the endorsement of Maine’s labor unions in every one of her five state legislative elections.
In Congress, Emily will continue to support collective bargaining at the state and federal level. She will also work to increase the minimum wage, pass equal pay for equal work, and support critical investments in worker training to ensure Maine’s workers are prepared to compete for the jobs of the future.
Troy Jackson (D) Challenger
http://www.troyjacksonforcongress.com/ http://www.troyjacksonforcongress.com/issues
Bruce Poliquin (R) Challenger
http://www.poliquinforcongress.com/
ISSUES
HEALTHCARE End Obamacare and Replace with Free Market Solution to Improve Health Care
Action Itema:
• Promote competition among insurance companies to lower monthly premiums
• Allow purchase of health insurance across state lines
• Help those who can’t afford coverage with subsidies
• End Obamacare exemption for Congress
It’s a bad idea for the federal government to take over our free market health care industry.
Although promised otherwise, millions of frightened Americans are seeing their health insurance plans cancelled because they do not include unwanted and expensive coverage mandated by the new one-size-fits-all health care law.
Why should a 65-year-old male be required to pay for pediatric and maternity coverage?
Millions of Americans are also losing their doctors and hospitals of choice because they don’t fit into the Obamacare-mandated health care systems. Others are suffering dramatic increases in their monthly insurance premiums, another broken promise from Washington.
ENERGY Recent discoveries of massive natural gas deposits in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia (the Marcellus Shale) offer exciting opportunities for our country. These vast resources are estimated to be able to produce at least a 100-year supply of natural gas. New technologies are extracting this energy in environmentally safe ways. Currently, we import less than 10% of our natural gas usage. It’s expected that the United States will become a net exporter of natural gas in a few short years.
Action Items:
• Fully develop domestic oil and natural gas resources
• Increase supplies to lower gasoline, diesel, and heating oil prices
• Approve construction of Keystone Pipeline
• Facilitate generation of safe, reliable, cheap hydroelectric and nuclear power
Less expensive and more reliable sources of energy will boost our economy and create jobs.
IMMIGRATION Support Legal, Not Illegal, Immigration
Action Items:
• Promote legal immigration; discourage illegal entry
• Secure our borders
• Ensure no unfair advantage for illegal immigrants
• Welcome those with specific skills to grow our economy
Legal immigration is good for America; illegal immigration in not. We should encourage individuals and families to enter our country legally, not the other way around.
Kevin Raye (R) Challenger
http://www.kevinraye.com/
Blaine Richardson (I) Tea Party Challenger
http://blaineforuscongress.com/
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The positions expressed in this roundup of the views of political candidates should not, in any way, be construed as the views of FamilySecurityMatters.org, or of the Family Security Foundation, Inc., in endorsing or rejecting any candidate or bill or law. The views espoused by the candidates in this series published in FamilySecurityMatters.org are those of the candidates, and no one else, and have been quoted from their campaign or web sites. These views therefore should not be construed as an attempt on the part of Family Security Matters, or the Family Security Foundation, Inc., to help or prevent the success of any political campaign for any public office.
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