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Snowe Makes
Pitch for Bipartisanship in Washington
By: Bill Trotter
Maine's senior U.S. senator stood before a group
of hungry constituents Tuesday morning and let
them know she means business.
Olympia Snowe did not come across as gruff or
hardened and even joined in the collective
laughter when she accidentally was introduced by
Husson College President William Beardsley as
Maine's "senior citizen."
But when her remarks touched upon the divisive
political atmosphere in Washington, she made it
clear she feels that her centrist philosophy is
the best formula for getting things done in the
nation's capital.
"Ideology leads to a scorched-earth policy or to
political isolation," the senator said. "You've
got to work across the [political] aisle to get
things done."
Making references to Democratic Sens. John Kerry
and Joe Lieberman, Snowe said she's actively
pursued bipartisan solutions because it is
practical. By being part of the "Gang of 14" -
seven Democrats and seven Republicans in the
Senate who compromised on whether to use the
filibuster option to block President Bush's
court nominations -Snowe helped preserve both
the integrity of the Senate and of the judicial
branch, she said.
"You have to work and have to bring people
together," Snowe said. "Otherwise it becomes an
all-or-nothing proposition."
Aside from discussing the nation's business,
Snowe touted some of her proposals for helping
small businesses in Maine.
A proposed east-west highway that would link
Maine with New Hampshire, Vermont and northern
New York would benefit Maine's businesses, the
vast majority of which are classified as small,
according to Snowe. At her urging, $18 million
was included in this year's federal highway bill
for further development of this corridor, which,
with the support of Maine's entire congressional
delegation, was officially designated a high
priority, giving it access to $340 million in
federal funding for road and bridge improvement
projects.
She said the Associated Health Plan program
would allow small businesses to reduce their
health care costs by as much as 30 percent by
pooling their resources for group health
insurance purchases.
Snowe also promoted the HUB Zone program, which
she said was an underused program that helps
direct government contracts to small businesses
in eligible areas.
For the sake of the home crowd, the senator
repeated an explanation she has made several
times in the past couple of weeks about why she
defied her party last month by successfully
opposing some tax cuts proposed by her fellow
Senate Republicans.
Snowe, one of 11 Republicans who serve on the
20-member Senate Finance Committee, suggested
that the extension of tax cuts on capital gains
and dividends beyond 2008 would be fiscally
irresponsible. Snowe was the only Republican on
the committee who insisted the tax-cut
extensions be removed from the committee's
proposed tax package.
"The reality is we are in a very different world
than even just six months ago," she said. Higher
home heating fuel costs, cleanup expenses from
hurricane damage along the Gulf Coast, the human
and financial toll of the war in Iraq, and a
federal deficit projected to be $1.6 trillion
over the next five years collectively warrant a
more practical and fiscally responsible
approach, she said.
"Frankly, what's happening in Washington is this
fiscal shell game," Snowe said. "I would prefer
to consider what [tax cuts] should be made
permanent to our tax code and to make them
permanent."
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