Once again, the fate of the free world depends upon Maine’s two senators.

OK. Perhaps it’s not the fate of the free world, just the fate of Maine and other rural states. But Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins are at the center of a storm blowing around a budget resolution in the Senate. Their votes are crucial to protecting Maine – and other rural states – from draconian cuts in domestic spending being advocated by the Bush administration.

At stake are billions of dollars in funding for Medicaid, environmental protection, community and economic development and another round of tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy.

There is a movement afoot to amend the budget resolution to blunt – if not completely kill – some of its worst provisions. The first would strip the Senate resolution of the call to cut about $15 billion from Medicaid. The second would apply pay-as-you-go rules to both spending and tax cuts, and the third would strike reconciliation rules contained in the resolution that make it easier to force tax cuts through what might be a reluctant Senate.

All three amendments are attractive to moderates like Snowe and Collins and to true fiscal conservatives and might be able to win passage. Maine can only hope that a winning coalition can develop around the changes.

Otherwise, we could see more than $300 million in domestic discretionary cuts, with the biggest blow falling on the already strained Medicaid program, which is called MaineCare here. According to the Maine Center for Economic Policy, about $2 out of every $5 spent by the state comes from the federal government.

Even on the parts of the federal budget that are growing, Maine faces trouble. Counting both the budget and the emergency supplemental to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, defense spending is slated for double-digit increases. Unfortunately, Bush administration priorities undercut Bath Iron Works and planned base closings could affect both Brunswick Naval Air Station and the Portsmouth shipyard.

If this budget moves forward as is, it would be disastrous for Maine.

The pressure on Snowe and Collins will be intense. It’s tough to say no to the president. But our senators have done it before, and they should do it again.