"As Maine Goes, So Goes PORKULUS"

Since the 1840's Maine has been considered a bellweather state.

Until the mid-twentieth century, the state of Maine held elections for state-wide offices in September. Often, these results were considered an indication of where the country would go in the November elections.

After Maine went for Republican Benjamin Harrison in 1888, giving him an electoral college victory over Grover Cleveland despite losing the popular vote, an unknown journalist coined the famous phrase.

"As Maine goes, so goes the nation."

Forty eight years later, in 1936, only Maine and Vermont voted for Republican Alf Landon in the FDR landslide. This prompted FDR Campaign Manager James Farley to revis the old saying. His version went as follows:

"As Maine goes, so goes Vermont."

Fast forward now to 2009. 38 Republican Senators plan to vote no on PORKULUS. 3 -- Specter of PA, & Snowe and Collins of Maine -- have publicly stated they will vote yes on PORKULUS.

As only 40 votes are needed for the Republicans to maintain a filibuster and keep PORKULUS from coming to a final vote in the Senate, the math is clear. If Snowe and Collins of Maine join their Republican colleagues, PORKULUS can be successfully stopped with a filibuster.

The vote is currently planned for Tuesday.

This prompts me to revise the old saying about Maine as follows:

"As Maine goes, so goes PORKULUS."

If you would like to encourage Senators Collins and Snowe to do the right thing and VOTE NO on PORKULUS, please do the following 2 things today.

1. Take the #TCOT Challenge now. The #TCOT Challenge is simple. Will the personal economies of residents of Maine be better off if all income taxes in 2009 are cut in half, or if the wasteful PORKULUS bill passes?

2. Call Senators Collins and Snowe and report the results of the #TCOT Challenge. Cutting taxes will create jobs in Maine now. Porkulus will do very little now, and increase interest and debt payments dramatically in future years.