This week, I reached out to our Maine representatives regarding President Trump’s proposed budget cuts to public media. These cuts, along with all the other drastic, destructive and completely unnecessary hits to vital programs and departments of our government, they amount to war. A war waged by the Have-More-Than-Enoughs against the Have-Less-Thans.

These cuts are ridiculous too. Public programming only costs about $1.60 per person per year. At this rate, federal funding for public media delivers a bargain. It also ensures timely local emergency alerts, provides educational shows for kids, supports workforce development, preserves our culture and delivers trusted local information.

While I didn’t hear back from Sen. Angus King (other than an automated response saying he’d respond later), Rep. Chellie Pingree wrote to say she’d fight to stop the dismantling of this critical news source for Mainers. I’m hoping Sen. King will join her.

And, while I wish both of them would speak out more loudly and often about all of the dangerous chainsaw reactions of the Trump regime, Sen. Susan Collins’ response was disappointing — but typical. Though she supposedly shares my view that public broadcasting is a necessary resource, she ended with a tepid “As Congress negotiates federal spending legislation, I will keep your views in mind.”

Perhaps Sen. Collins doesn’t actually support these cuts — cuts that’ll hurt rural counties more than anywhere else. But all we have to go on are her words and actions. As always, her customary silence says everything we need to know about where she stands — lockstep alongside Trump.

Anne Rankin
Brunswick