Is Olympia Snowe One Of The 375 Maine Millionaires She Voted To Protect?

http://www.commondreams.org/further/2011/10/20-5

Media Matters reports:

When Sen. Olympia Snowe explained her vote against the Senate jobs bill last week, she identified only one provision of the bill she disagreed with: the surcharge on taxpayers who earn more than $1 million in adjusted gross income. According to a study by Citizens for Tax Justice, only one-tenth of one percent of Maine taxpayers would be affected by the surcharge — that's only about 375 people. While the rest of Snowe's constituents struggle to survive bleak economic conditions, 375 Mainers are lucky to have a senator on their side.

But Snowe's opposition to legislation that would create two million new jobs and cut taxes for virtually all Maine income tax payers simply because it included a small tax increase for only 375 Mainers raises an obvious question: Would Sen. Snowe have been one of those 375?

With an estimated net worth between $12.6 million and $44.7 million, Olympia Snowe is the tenth-richest member of the Senate. She makes $174,000 a year as a U.S. senator. Though Snowe's most recent official financial disclosure form does not list specific income for her husband, John McKernan, it does indicate two income sources that likely push the couple over the $1 million threshold.

McKernan serves as chairman of the board of directors of Education Management Corporation, which is being sued for fraud by the U.S. Department of Justice and four states in connection with $11 billion in financial aid it received between 2003, when McKernan was chief executive, and 2011. Education Management's corporate filings describe a "McKernan Agreement" under which he is paid an annual salary of $330,000, plus a target bonus of $412,500. McKernan is also a member of the board of directors of BorgWarner, which paid him $328,000 in cash and stock awards in 2010, and he serves on the board of directors of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

More at the link --

Pretty pathetic...she'll probably be teapartied in the next election - I think her days as an "OK Republican for Democrats to vote for" are coming to an end , too. The McKernan-Snowes have done quite well, financially, in their public service. It really, really pays if you serve like a Republican.

I'm going to cross-link this post in the Maine forum....you never know who might stop in to check the local news.

The fact is that a vote for Senator Snowe is a vote for Senator McConnell as Senate majority leader.

it our priority to get rid of these selfish, bought and paid for Reps and Senators.