Name: Tom Allen
District: Statewide election for U.S. Senate
Age: 63
Occupation: U.S. Congressman representing Maine’s first Congressional district, first elected in 1996 and re-elected every two years thereafter
Education: Early education in Maine public schools, Deering High School, Bowdoin College, Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar), Harvard Law
Political experience: City Council, Portland: 1989-1995; United States Congress: 1997-Present
Community service/volunteer experience: Over the course of my career I have served on a variety of non-profit boards, including the United Way of Greater Portland, the Portland Stage Co., the Shalom House and Bowdoin College.
Family: I met my wife Diana in seventh grade and we have been together ever since, dating for 10 years before marrying 40 years ago in 1968. We have two children, Gwen and Kate, and we recently welcomed our first grandchild into the world, named Charlie after my father.
Why are you running for office? I’m running for the U.S. Senate because I can’t stand what’s happened to our country in the last eight years and I know we can do better. Everywhere I go in Maine, people tell me about their struggles paying for food, fuel, housing, and health care. They are worried about saving for retirement and their children’s college education. There is a level of stress and anxiety in Maine that I haven’t seen in my lifetime. We need change, and that’s why I’m running for the Senate.
I opposed the Bush economic policies that were wrong for the middle class and wrong for Maine. Susan Collins was the only member of Maine’s delegation who supported all the Bush economic policies. Those policies enriched the wealthy and protected Wall Street, leaving the middle class behind and sending good jobs overseas. The Bush economic policies contributed to the financial market meltdown and brought us to the brink of economic recession. Now Mainers are paying the price.
The war in Iraq, which I voted against and Senator Collins voted for, is costing us $12 billion every month – valuable tax dollars that are needed to take care of people here in Maine. Forty-seven million Americans lack health insurance, leaving them an accident away from a financial nightmare. And after eight years of energy policies dictated by Big Oil, oil companies continue to earn record-breaking profits while people in Maine worry about how they will heat their homes this winter.
If my grandson Charlie lives to be 92, he will see the dawn of the 22nd century. I want Charlie and your children and grandchildren to look back on this election as a point where we came together and changed the direction of America.
Maine and the rest of the country face enormous challenges in the years ahead. If we want to change the direction of our country, we can’t send the same people back to Washington who set us on this path. If you want change, you have to vote for it. Maine needs a Senator who will focus on the middle class, and make the economy work for Maine families and small businesses. And that’s exactly the kind of Senator I will be.
What is the most concerning issue facing Mainers at this time? How do you propose to fix that? I believe that soaring energy prices and the sluggish economy, two interconnected issues, are causing the greatest anxiety in Maine. This winter is going to be tough for many families in Maine. Heating oil prices pushed us to the edge last winter, and with oil prices even higher now, people are worried about how they will heat their homes. As our economy struggles, the price of food, fuel, health care and college continue to rise.
For immediate relief, I’ve proposed a $2,000 refundable tax credit to help families pay their heating bill this winter and next. In the long run, we must invest in alternative energy sources to lower our dependence on oil from the Middle East. Investing in renewable energy technologies will create good jobs in construction and manufacturing, and additional investments in our roads, bridges and railways can offer people work right here in Maine.
I support middle class tax cuts for Americans making less than $250,000 a year to stimulate the economy from the bottom up. Congress should also create tax credits for companies that create and keep jobs here in America. It is clear that we can no longer afford unfair trade agreements and economic policies that give billions in tax breaks to corporations and the wealthiest Americans, hoping that the money will trickle down into the pockets of working families.
To read Congressman Allen’s plans and learn more, visit www.TomAllen.org or contact the Maine Democratic Party’s field office in Presque Isle at 769-2008.
