Follow the money, which leads to Susan Collins | Letter 89%
By Deb Sayer91%
8/1/2026, 2:00:00 PM
Topics: Elections, Political Funding
BS Summary: This article contains 23 faulty reasoning types, including Negativity Bias, Politically Left Leaning Bias, and Appeal to Authority, with Confirmation Bias as the most egregious example at 71.4% saturation with 135 hits. Analysis detected 940 faulty-reasoning hits from 189 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 78.3% and a BS Rank of 89% (2,813 of 25,279 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 88.90% of the article peer group.
If people consider nothing else in the November election for our U.S. senator, it’s worth pausing to carefully consider the findings of an investigation by the Maine Monitor, published in the Portland Press Herald (“Nearly 100 billionaires and their spouses have donated to reelect Susan Collins,” June 12).
Between January 2025 and May 2026, at least 79 billionaires — 97, including spouses — donated $9.8 million to Collins’ campaign network.
Not one is a Maine resident.
These billionaire donors supporting Collins have a net worth of $888 billion, or nearly nine times Maine’s entire economic output in 2025.
CQ Roll Call found our so-called “moderate” Senator voted with President Trump 94.6% of the time in 2025.
These billionaires backing Collins aren’t investing $9.8 million by accident.
So voters are entitled to ask: Why are all these out-of-state billionaires supporting Susan Collins?
What do they get out of it?
The answer is clear: billionaires want what Susan Collins will deliver to them — and 94.6% of the time in 2025, that meant supporting Trump’s plutocratic agenda.
Nancy Fannon
South Portland
Confirmation Bias
71.4%Confirmation Bias
OverallThis article
71.4%AuthorDeb Sayer
10.8%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
2%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Anchoring Bias
11.6%Anchoring Bias
OverallThis article
11.6%AuthorDeb Sayer
3.1%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Availability Heuristic
23.3%Availability Heuristic
OverallThis article
23.3%AuthorDeb Sayer
3.2%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Representativeness Heuristic
3.2%Representativeness Heuristic
OverallThis article
3.2%AuthorDeb Sayer
1.2%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Hindsight Bias
0%Hindsight Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorDeb Sayer
0%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Overconfidence Bias
0%Overconfidence Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorDeb Sayer
1%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
1.3%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Framing Effect
9%Framing Effect
OverallThis article
9%AuthorDeb Sayer
14.9%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Loss Aversion
0%Loss Aversion
OverallThis article
0%AuthorDeb Sayer
1%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Status Quo Bias
0%Status Quo Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorDeb Sayer
2.7%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Sunk Cost Effect
0%Sunk Cost Effect
OverallThis article
0%AuthorDeb Sayer
0%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Optimism Bias
0%Optimism Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorDeb Sayer
0.8%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Pessimism Bias
19.6%Pessimism Bias
OverallThis article
19.6%AuthorDeb Sayer
2%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Negativity Bias
62.4%Negativity Bias
OverallThis article
62.4%AuthorDeb Sayer
13.7%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
3.5%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Self-Serving Bias
0%Self-Serving Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorDeb Sayer
0%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Fundamental Attribution Error
5.3%Fundamental Attribution Error
OverallThis article
5.3%AuthorDeb Sayer
2%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Actor-Observer Bias
0%Actor-Observer Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorDeb Sayer
0%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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In-Group Bias
0%In-Group Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorDeb Sayer
2%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Out-Group Homogeneity Bias
0%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorDeb Sayer
1.1%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Halo Effect
0%Halo Effect
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0%AuthorDeb Sayer
0.7%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Horn Effect
0%Horn Effect
OverallThis article
0%AuthorDeb Sayer
1.6%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Dunning-Kruger Effect
0%Dunning-Kruger Effect
OverallThis article
0%AuthorDeb Sayer
0%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Recency Bias
9.5%Recency Bias
OverallThis article
9.5%AuthorDeb Sayer
1.4%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Primacy Effect
11.6%Primacy Effect
OverallThis article
11.6%AuthorDeb Sayer
3%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Blind-Spot Bias
0%Blind-Spot Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorDeb Sayer
0%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Ad Hominem
0%Ad Hominem
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0%AuthorDeb Sayer
3.9%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Straw Man
0%Straw Man
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0%AuthorDeb Sayer
2.8%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Appeal to Authority
34.9%Appeal to Authority
OverallThis article
34.9%AuthorDeb Sayer
8.2%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
3.7%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
False Dilemma
6.9%False Dilemma
OverallThis article
6.9%AuthorDeb Sayer
0.8%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Slippery Slope
0%Slippery Slope
OverallThis article
0%AuthorDeb Sayer
0%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Circular Reasoning
0%Circular Reasoning
OverallThis article
0%AuthorDeb Sayer
0%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Hasty Generalization
16.9%Hasty Generalization
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16.9%AuthorDeb Sayer
6.3%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Red Herring
5.3%Red Herring
OverallThis article
5.3%AuthorDeb Sayer
0.4%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Bandwagon
0%Bandwagon
OverallThis article
0%AuthorDeb Sayer
1.2%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Appeal to Emotion
25.9%Appeal to Emotion
OverallThis article
25.9%AuthorDeb Sayer
9.6%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
3.8%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Begging the Question
7.9%Begging the Question
OverallThis article
7.9%AuthorDeb Sayer
3.8%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Post Hoc (False Cause)
23.8%Post Hoc (False Cause)
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23.8%AuthorDeb Sayer
1.6%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Tu Quoque
0%Tu Quoque
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0%AuthorDeb Sayer
0%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Burden of Proof
25.4%Burden of Proof
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25.4%AuthorDeb Sayer
2.3%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Appeal to Nature
0%Appeal to Nature
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0%AuthorDeb Sayer
0.4%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Composition/Division
0%Composition/Division
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0%AuthorDeb Sayer
0.3%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Anecdotal
0%Anecdotal
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0%AuthorDeb Sayer
3.3%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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No True Scotsman
0%No True Scotsman
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0%AuthorDeb Sayer
0%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Ambiguity (Equivocation)
25.9%Ambiguity (Equivocation)
OverallThis article
25.9%AuthorDeb Sayer
3.2%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Gambler’s Fallacy
0%Gambler’s Fallacy
OverallThis article
0%AuthorDeb Sayer
0%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Middle Ground
0%Middle Ground
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0%AuthorDeb Sayer
0%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Personal Incredulity
0%Personal Incredulity
OverallThis article
0%AuthorDeb Sayer
0%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Special Pleading
5.3%Special Pleading
OverallThis article
5.3%AuthorDeb Sayer
0.4%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Genetic Fallacy
0%Genetic Fallacy
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0%AuthorDeb Sayer
0%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Unattributed Quote
0%Unattributed Quote
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0%AuthorDeb Sayer
0%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Quote-first Misdirection
0%Quote-first Misdirection
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0%AuthorDeb Sayer
1.8%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Biased Writer Voice
27.5%Biased Writer Voice
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27.5%AuthorDeb Sayer
19.4%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Indoctrination
19.6%Indoctrination
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19.6%AuthorDeb Sayer
9.8%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Politically Left Leaning Bias
45%Politically Left Leaning Bias
OverallThis article
45%AuthorDeb Sayer
12.7%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Politically Right Leaning Bias
0%Politically Right Leaning Bias
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0%AuthorDeb Sayer
2%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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Attempt to Sell a Product or Service
0%Attempt to Sell a Product or Service
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0%AuthorDeb Sayer
2.3%PublicationThe Portland Press Herald
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189 words analyzed.
Analysis
Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.