Maine’s two “moderate” senators have once again demonstrated that, when their votes actually make a difference, they follow orders from the Republican leadership.

Recently, they voted against a package that would have funded medical care for the poor and an extension of unemployment benefits for those out of work long-term as a result of Republican policies begun by former President Ronald Reagan and capped off by the Cheney/Bush administration.

They say it wouldn’t be fiscally prudent for a society to care for people out of work or employed by companies that can afford, but don’t offer, health benefits to most of their “associates.”

It’s a shame their concern for the debt didn’t surface when Dick Cheney and George W. Bush turned Clinton’s surplus into a massive deficit to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest, then added to it with bailouts for Wall Street for right wing pundits to blame on President Barack Obama.

If Collins and Snowe can cast a vote that doesn’t make a difference, they get all “mavericky,” vote in the people’s interest, and give themselves something to point to when they ask real Maine moderates to support them in the next election cycle.

Sadly, the tactic succeeds. And, just as sadly, gushing pundits heap praise on them and the voters of Maine for sending them to Washington — as if that proves how progressive we are.

If there is a particularly warm place in hell for ideologically dishonest politicians, it may be crowded, but there’s always room for a couple more.

Tony Nazar, Wilton