Maine: Olympia Snowe

Good morning.

You can start your day - and hence your week - with this bracer by Paul Krugman:

As I read it, this dismissal - together with the continuing failure to announce any broad plans for bank restructuring - means that the White House has decided to muddle through on the financial front, relying on economic recovery to rescue the banks rather than the other way around. And with the stimulus plan too small to deliver an economic recovery ... well, you get the picture.

Sooner or later the administration will realize that more must be done. But when it comes back for more money, will Congress go along?

Republicans are now firmly committed to the view that we should do nothing to respond to the economic crisis, except cut taxes - which they always want to do regardless of circumstances.

WASHINGTON — During a speech in which Republican senators often remained seated while Democrats applauded, Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe stood up when President Obama referred to the passage of a $787 billion stimulus package. They and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Penn., were the only GOP senators to vote for the bill when it passed the Senate.

After the president’s speech Tuesday night, Snowe released a statement lauding Obama’s “aggressive and ambitious agenda,” saying bipartisan cooperation will prove even more important now given the challenges facing the nation.

Snowe singled out Obama’s plan to reform the American health care system, the details of which the president said he would outline as soon as next week, as a good idea to address a “mounting crisis” affecting more than 47 million uninsured Americans.

A Rasmussen Reports poll released Monday shows 38 percent of voters nationwide think the $787 billion stimulus plan passed by Congress will help the economy.

Almost more surprising is that 29 percent believe the plan will hurt the economy and 24 percent say it will have little impact.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to sign the measure today. Maine Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, two of the three Republicans to vote in favor of the stimulus, will be in Augusta today (Snowe) and Wednesday (Collins) to talk to editors at the Kennebec Journal about what's going on in Washington.

So what do you think? Will the stimulus help or hurt the economy?

Maine GOP Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe have made a huge national splash with their support for the economic stimulus package. But it's drawing mixed emotions from Republicans.

Case in point: Rep. Bob Nutting, R-Oakland, said today during a discussion at the Statehouse that he's getting a lot of e-mails from constituents.

The e-mails are "from people who want to support our Senators -- or hang them," he said.

Snowe and Collins voted today in favor of the Senate version of the $838 billion package. We'll see what happens once it comes out of conference committee.

So, what's your take on their support for the Obama plan? Are they doing good work on behalf of Mainers or are they selling out to the Democrats?