BANGOR, Me.—Five people, including one from the Maine AFL-CIO, were arrested after a sit-in at Sen. Susan Collins’ office here
Dec. 4 to protest her support of the Republican tax bill. “This bill gives massive tax cuts to the rich on the backs of working people,” Nick Paquet, a 39-year-old electrician who was one of the five, told the Portland Press Herald. The other four were Jim Betts, a retired state worker and military veteran; Tina Davidson, a disability-rights advocate and veteran from Portland; Erin Oberon, a Bangor nurse; and Sarah Bigney of the Maine AFL-CIO. They were charged with criminal trespass, a misdemeanor. Collins (R-Me.) has said she has not decided whether she will vote for the final version of the bill, but put out a statement saying that she would be happy to let her constituents know that it would mean “a single mom with one child earning $35,000 would receive $1,100 back from the government, rather than owing income tax.” “A big part of this anger is the feeling that this plan will lock in inequalities for generations to come,” responded Maine AFL-CIO head Matt Schlobohm. “It’s an absolutely terrible bill.”
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