Thread by @TiffanyBond

Ready for my Senator-less town hall.

#mesen #mepolitics #townhallmaine

For those of you not in Maine, follow along to see how town halls go when Susan Collins doesn't show up.

Here is he live feed:
facebook.com/37398144679597…
#townhallmaine #mesen

I'm not fixing that typo.

😂

While we are waiting, this event is put on by @townhallproject and @16Coalition.

They did not know I would be here this evening.

I'm here as a rando citizen, flip flops and all.
#townhallmaine #mesen

@townhallproject @16Coalition My phone does not like this room.

I missed the first question.

Second question was re: opioids, discussion included real lack of access to treatment and resources.
#townhallmaine

Tax bill came up - good discussion about origins of tax reform being good since we had a very high tax rate, but extremely low effective tax rate.

Next to gun violence, the first rousing applause of the night.
#townhallmaine

Judges - why do you profess to be prolife when you vote for Judges that clearly are not.
Dr. McDonald: getting in the middle of the Dr/patient relationship. For years Collins was $ conservative, socially liberal...now, not.

Omg - I was called on trying to tweet. I thought they were not going to use my question 😂

Backtracking - fundraising with the "Judge whisperer", how much did you raise? What did you talk about? How do you feel about abdicating the decision-making?

#townhallmaine

Tax bill - why did you undercut the ACA by voting for that bill?
Marcus Hutchins: we used to receive about 1/3 of the government in things done for us (parks, roads, services), not it's 17%
#townhallmaine

Opioids - why has she taken $ from 5/6 companies causing this problem?

Immigration (my rambling question)
Dr. McDonald: the conditions at the border are creating adverse childhood events that will impact DNA and change these children for life on a biological level
#townhallmaine

Title 10/gag rule question, missed part of that answer while catching up

Climate change - the frog is boiling
Hutchins: even if we are wrong, what would that look like? Is acting prudently harmful?
#townhallmaine

Why do you substitute the judgment of constituents who have giving you meaningful feedback over the convoluted opinions of those in DC?
#townhallmaine

Moderator: @SenatorCollins we need more of your time. We can't rely on bumping into you somewhere.
#townhallmaine

@SenatorCollins Last questions...
How did the tax cuts impact Mainers, and how will it impact us going forward?
Hutching: increases the odds of recession, $ has gone into equity shared (used to be $500b/year, now $800-900b/year since tax cut). Like a financial opioid crisis.
#townhallmaine

@SenatorCollins Human rights - do you think any state which discriminates on the basis of race, religion, etc can be fully democratic? Can you take $100k from a lobby and think honestly about these issues?

#townhallmaine

@SenatorCollins Ok, here is my attempt at answering the questions that I did not write down. Forgive me if I get them wrong.

I missed the first question. I think it was about pharma and altered foods - I'm pro-let's-not-poison-ourselves.
#townhallmaine

Opioids - I'm combining a few questions.

It's going to be really hard to control this problem as long as there is so much profit in both sales and recovery, and as long as those setting policy are getting massive amounts of money from the drug industry.
#townhallmaine

We need to stop criminalizing addiction, promote development of neuro inhibitors that help remove dependency, provide a range of treatment options that anyone can access...and for funsies, maybe elect people who aren't conflicted financially on this topic.
#townhallmaine

Tax bill - also combining the questions.

We need to look at both short and long term consequences of bills. This bill may have started out with good intentions, but it was swiftly consumed by favor and poor economic theory.

#townhallmaine

Instead of "fixing" the corporate tax rate to bring the effective rate and the stated rate closer into alignment and into the realm of reasonable, we just gave a gift to the wealthy and massively increased our debt...which was absolutely predictable and predicted.
#townhallmaine

Judges -
We should not EVER be outsourcing the vetting and our judgment for judicial and other appointees to outside groups or political parties. This is an important part of the job of Senate...maybe that means slow it down a bit. That's ok.
#townhallmaine

Fundraising -
You all know how I feel about this.

If not, go here: bond4.me/maineraising
#townhallmaine

Immigration -
Someone suggested I was a conspiracy nut for stating that we have a perfect set up for getting rid of people that aren't "wanted". These are perfect, absolutely predictable conditions to spread disease.
#townhallmaine

If I tell my kids that eating all of their Halloween candy will give them a stomach ache, and then they do it, and they get a stomach ache...it's pretty hard to not recognize they had been told a completely obvious fact and did it anyway, either by plan or desire.
#townhallmaine

Gun Violence -

A lot of gun issues are going to be solved at state level due to the nature of what's being addressed. However, there is room for discussing what can be done at a federal level, and making funds available to support state efforts.
#townhallmaine

Birth control/gag rule/abortions -

WTF is our government doing meddling in our medical decisions. No seriously, WTF. It's ridiculous we have legislators that think this is their role, PARTICULARLY at the federal level.

#townhallmaine

Climate change -

We have *got* to take our plans on this more seriously and turn them into action. We have one habitable planet and all of us need it.
#townhallmaine