{"id":2678827,"date":"2026-10-08T10:52:02","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T14:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dem-senate-candidate-troy-jackson-accidentally-attacks-himself-while-trying-to-score-debate-points-against-susan-collins\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T10:55:28","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T14:55:28","slug":"dem-senate-candidate-troy-jackson-accidentally-attacks-himself-while-trying-to-score-debate-points-against-susan-collins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dem-senate-candidate-troy-jackson-accidentally-attacks-himself-while-trying-to-score-debate-points-against-susan-collins\/","title":{"rendered":"Dem Senate Candidate Troy Jackson Accidentally Attacks Himself While Trying to Score Debate Points Against Susan Collins"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdem-senate-candidate-troy-jackson-accidentally-attacks-himself-while-trying-to-score-debate-points-against-susan-collins%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2678827&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>During a debate in Portland, Maine, Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson criticized incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins, claiming she is ignorant of federal and state law regarding Medicaid reimbursement rates. Collins responded by clarifying that Medicaid rates are set by the states, while Medicare rates are federal, and explained that Maine&#8217;s Medicaid costs are shared with the federal government, which covers about 67% of expenses. Jackson also questioned Collins\u2019 legislative effectiveness, citing her rejection of many bills, but Collins countered that bills frequently enough receive support from other lawmakers and pointed out Jackson\u2019s voting record on key issues. Jackson accused Collins of voting against measures that benefited Maine residents, such as the &#8220;Big Lovely Bill&#8221; and a War Powers Resolution regarding Iran, but Collins supported parts of the legislation and voted appropriately in other instances. the debate highlighted misunderstandings and partisan perspectives on legislative records and Medicaid policies.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson demonstrated how ignorant he is of both federal and state law while trying to attack incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins during a Tuesday night debate in Portland.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/susan-collins-gives-hilarious-answer-whether-bring-troy-jacksons-personal-life-maine-senate-race\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jackson<\/a>, who served as the Maine Senate president from 2018 to 2024, said, \u201cSen. Collins just brought up how [Medicaid] reimbursement rates are not high. She\u2019s been in Congress for 30 years. She touts how she\u2019s chair of appropriations. Yeah, it would be great if she actually worked on that and got that done, because we\u2019re not getting enough reimbursement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Collins fired back, \u201cMedicaid rates are set by the state. They are not set by the federal government. Medicare rates are set by the federal government. So it is Augusta [Maine\u2019s state capital] that is responsible for the inadequate reimbursements under the Medicaid program.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">This is becoming uncomfortable to watch.<\/p>\n<p>TROY DOESN\u2019T KNOW BALL https:\/\/t.co\/Fbts6ciPeA<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Graham Pollard (@GrahamMaineWire) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GrahamMaineWire\/status\/2107617023115321379?\">October 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Fact check: true.<\/p>\n<p>The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cms.gov\/training-education\/partner-outreach-resources\/american-indian-alaska-native\/ltss-ta-center\/information\/ltss-financing\/comparing-reimbursement-rates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">explains<\/a> on its website how states determine Medicaid reimbursement rates, as well as services covered by the program.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Medical Assistance (MA) rate is a state\u2019s standard reimbursement for Medicaid-covered services. Each state sets how it will reimburse Medicaid recipients. For example, some states reimburse for each service provided during an encounter (a face-to-face interaction between the patient and the healthcare provider), rather than setting a flat fee for each encounter,\u201d the website says.<\/p>\n<p>Further, \u201cThe amount of money Medicaid reimburses depends on individual state policies and other factors. However, reimbursement rates must fall between the federally established minimum and maximum payment limits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In other words, the federal government picks up costs to a certain level, and the states pick up the rest, and they can choose whatever limit they want.<\/p>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kff.org\/medicaid\/state-indicator\/federalstate--of-spending\/?currentTimeframe=0&#038;sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kaiser Family Foundation<\/a>, the federal government covers 67 percent of Maine\u2019s Medicaid expenses, with the state covering 33 percent, which is fairly typical of the cost-sharing breakdown.<\/p>\n<p>Collins had another zinger of a moment when allowed to ask Jackson a question directly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn your more than 20 years in the legislature, more than one-third of your bills were unanimously rejected in committee. You couldn\u2019t even find one Democrat on the committee to support a third of your bills,\u201d she began.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you can\u2019t find one person in your own party to vote for your bills when you were the Senate president in Maine, how do you think you\u2019re going to get things done in a closely divided Senate as the most junior senator?\u201d Collins asked.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Ouch. https:\/\/t.co\/0l4EkhnfdC<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Guy Benson (@guypbenson) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/guypbenson\/status\/2107616036954558611?\">October 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Jackson <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1u58uiW8IeM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">responded<\/a> that multiple people often put forward the same bill, and that he was a team player, letting other bills go forward.<\/p>\n<p>He then argued that he doesn\u2019t see what legislation Collins passed that has been helpful to the people of Maine.<\/p>\n<p>Jackson cited the \u201cBig Beautiful Bill\u201d and the Iran war as two examples of harmful votes.<\/p>\n<p>But Collins actually <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wmtw.com\/article\/maine-senator-susan-collins-vote-big-beautiful-bill\/65267776\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">voted against<\/a> final passage of the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/taxfoundation.org\/research\/all\/federal\/one-big-beautiful-bill-act-tax-changes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Big Beautiful Bill<\/a>,\u201d saying she would only back it if <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2026\/10\/06\/takeaways-maine-senate-debate-between-susan-collins-troy-jackson\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$50 billion<\/a> in funding for rural hospitals was added.<\/p>\n<p>The senator did support a procedural vote that allowed the legislation to be taken up on the Senate floor.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s actually a shame Collins voted against the \u201cBig Beautiful Bill.\u201d The law has provisions for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/tax-refunds-surge-millions-americans-take-advantage-trump-reforms-like-no-tax-tips-overtime\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">no tax on tips<\/a>, overtime, and Social Security, and increases the standard deduction and child tax credit to $2,200 per child, all of which allowed Mainers to keep more of the money they earned.<\/p>\n<p>Regarding the Iran war, Collins voted against a War Powers Resolution in March to halt the military engagement, but then <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/article\/2026\/04\/30\/senate-rejects-measure-to-curb-iran-war-hours-before-key-legal-deadline\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sided with Democrats<\/a> the following month to seek to force Trump to end the conflict.<\/p>\n<p>So even Jackson\u2019s criticism of Collins\u2019 record displays an ignorance, willful or otherwise, of her votes.<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #171717; display: flex;font-size: 16px;font-weight: 600;line-height: 1.5;margin: 24px 0;padding: 18px 20px 18px 30px;text-align: left;\">\n<div style=\"align-self: stretch;border-left: 3px solid #171717;flex-shrink: 0;padding-left: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/\">Choose The Western Journal as your preferred source on Google and never miss reporting that defends truth, protects freedom, and advances Western civilization<\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey == typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts = { \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs = [ 'name', '', 'message' ]; 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( opts[inputs[i]] = document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display = 'block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src = firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id'] = firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting = jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display = 'block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/body><\/html><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maine Senate candidate Troy Jackson showed his lack of knowledge about federal and state law while criticizing Senator Susan Collins during a debate. Jackson, who was Maine Senate president from 2018 to 2024, claimed that Collins had mentioned Medicaid reimbursement rates not being high enough. Collins responded by clarifying that Medicaid rates are set by the state, not the federal government, which is accurate according to official sources. The federal government covers a portion of Maine\u2019s Medicaid costs-about 67%-with the rest paid by the state. During the debate, Collins also questioned Jackson\u2019s legislative record, highlighting that many of his bills were rejected in committee and pointing out inaccuracies in his criticisms of her voting record on issues like the \u201cBig Beautiful Bill\u201d and Iran military engagement. Overall, Jackson\u2019s comments revealed a misunderstanding of how Medicaid funding works and an incomplete grasp of Collins\u2019 legislative actions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2678828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-10-08T094339.937.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[15571,45119,37906,34723,82490],"class_list":["post-2678827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-debates","tag-maine-politics","tag-political-blunder","tag-senate-race","tag-troy-jackson"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-10-08T094339.937.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2678827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2678827"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2678827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2678830,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2678827\/revisions\/2678830"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2678828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2678827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2678827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2678827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}