Within weeks of launching the new 501(c)(4) “Maine Momentum” and its subsidiary, the 16 Counties Coalition, attacks on Sen. Susan Collins have begun. Supposedly an “educational campaign” (which is legally prohibited from endorsing or opposing a political candidate), Maine Momentum is a thinly-veiled cover being used by Democrats to attack Sen. Collins.

In a guest column July 14, Jessica Ford, an organizer of 16 Counties, claimed Sen. Collins should be held “accountable” for donations she has received. But, apparently that accountability only flows one way.

Maine Momentum — operated by former spokespeople for state Rep. Sara Gideon and U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree — is funded by “dark money.” They fail to see the irony of refusing to disclose their donors while condemning donations to Sen. Collins’ campaign, which are publicly available on the FEC’s website.

Ford criticized Sen. Collins’ vote for the new tax law. In fact, according to the Tax Foundation, the average Maine taxpayer earning between $50,000 and $75,000 received a tax cut of $1,400 in 2018. The law is also putting more money in people’s pockets by contributing to historically low unemployment and the fastest wage gains in more than a decade.

Maine’s wage growth in the first three months of 2019 was the third-highest in the nation.

Oddly, Ford also opposed Sen. Collins’ vote to repeal Obamacare’s individual mandate. That unfair tax hurt many low- and middle-income Mainers, members of my family included, because Obamacare is, in reality, not affordable.

Mainers are too smart to be fooled by that kind of group. 

Diane Jackson, Oxford

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