My wife has Alzheimer’s. I’m 70 and she is 78. I am her 24/7 caregiver. I get a break when she goes to a high-quality day program three days a week ($1,700 a month out of pocket). My wife is the best thing that ever happened to me and I love her. I’m not bitter or angry about the hand that fate has dealt us. I will keep her with me until the end, if I can.

What I’m angry about is that the U.S. senator elected to represent my interests in Congress, “a longtime advocate of Alzheimer’s research,” feels she needs to beg the Health and Human Services secretary to “work with Collins to preserve Alzheimer’s programs.”

The funds have been allocated. The senator should not be politely asking why research is being defunded. Asking why the department workforce is being reduced by 25% seems ridiculous, when she is responsible for the allocation of funds and how they should be used.

What I’m angry about is the naivety that Sen. Collins hides behind when she confirms people who are clearly unqualified. Of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., she said, “After extensive public and private questioning,” she believed that Kennedy would be supportive of vaccines and research on diseases.

Clearly Kennedy lied to her. Just like Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell lied to her. She can’t be that naïve.

It is time to replace our senator with someone who is not so gullible.

John Schaberg
Portland