Sen. Collins: Vote against tax bill

Tue, 11/28/2017 - 4:45pm

Dear Editor: 

This is a very critical point in time for the common people – if the Senate passes tax cuts for the wealthy and huge corporations. Cutting taxes will require both radically increasing the national debt, as well as cutting services for pressing public needs, and important public investments.

At a time of accelerating climate change, driven primarily by excessive energy consumption, there’s nothing rational about holding back clean technologies like solar and wind just in order to give more tax breaks to billionaires and the companies they own. President Trump and the Senate’s budget, meant to pay for the wealthy tax cuts, would cut $800 billion over 10 years from a wide variety of domestic programs, including clean energy. The budget would cut funding for clean-energy development including renewable energy programs by over 70 percent.

There would be many other victims of the tax bill. The EPA protects our air water and land by regulating industries whose main goal is to maximize their profit. We need public resources for this and other pressing public needs. That’s why Sen. Susan Collins should vote against the big tax giveaway to the wealthy due up for a vote this week. Please contact Susan to let her know that we want her to stand strong against this terrible proposed tax policy.

Michael J. Mayhew, PE

Heliotropic Technologies

Boothbay Harbor