Ready for a change in Washington, D.C.
By Shenna Bellows
I’m running for U.S. Senate this year to bring good-paying jobs back to Maine where they belong. There’s a simple way to do it: when Congress invests in better infrastructure, high-speed Internet access, and renewable energy projects, employment will go up and our state will prosper. I’m headed to Washington to lead the charge.
Investing in rural Internet access and a better transportation system will bring economic growth to every corner of the state, especially those where people would love to live and work but can’t because they’re not yet connected to the modern economy. These projects would create jobs right off the bat and pay long-term dividends down the road.
This isn’t just guesswork. The Energy Information Administration expects one-third of new electricity added to the grid in the next three years to come from renewable sources. Mainers are lucky to have the natural resources we need to take advantage of that opportunity. We should invest in solar, tidal, geothermal and properly sited wind energy to create jobs and protect the environment at the same time.
We can make these investments in a fiscally responsible way if we make the very wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share and ensure that revenue goes right back into projects like statewide Internet connections, clean energy, and road and bridge upgrades. It’s time to build an economy that works for everyone, not just a wealthy few.
With a pro-investment, pro-growth Congress in place, we can build a sustainable economy that benefits Maine for generations. I’m hoping you can help.
I’m walking across the state, from Houlton on July 20 to Kittery on Aug. 12, to meet people face to face and talk about what they want to see from Washington. Congress hasn’t moved the economy forward lately because our representatives aren’t listening to voters the way they used to. If you can come out to meet me on my walk, either in your town or on the road, I’d love to have a conversation about what we can accomplish when we invest in Maine’s local economies again.
Maine’s working class and retirees should be enjoying unprecedented economic security right now — after all, we’re still the most prosperous nation on earth. Instead we’ve seen too much of the wealth go to a small handful of well-connected people who know how to play the game in Washington. The status quo just isn’t working, no matter how well-intentioned people may be. Maine needs proactive economic leadership and an advocate willing to confront special interests and stand up for the working class. That’s the kind of senator I’ll be.
Right now, a lot of Mainers’ hardships are due to bad politics. Last year’s government shutdown — which my opponent, Republican Susan Collins, voted for twice — cost the economy $24 billion, according to the Standard & Poor’s ratings agency. We all remember when Acadia National Park closed, which the Portland Press Herald reported in March cost Mainers more than $16 million. That’s not protecting the public interest.
Neither is the big, arbitrary federal budget cut known as sequestration, which shrinks just about every program across the board without regard to how peoples’ lives are affected. Sequestration went into effect because of the badly named Budget Control Act, a law that has devastated community services like Head Start and Meals on Wheels and has cost our economy more than 900,000 jobs, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
I’m running a grassroots campaign because I believe making personal connections and giving straight answers, not raising millions of dollars in campaign contributions, makes for a good representative. We need fresh energy and working class representation to bring the focus back on our local economies again. I hope you agree, and I hope you’ll join me when I come through your town to talk about how we get back on track.
Shenna Bellows of Manchester is the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. She was the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine from 2005-13.