This week, editorial page readers commented on the U.S. Senate race between Susan Collins and Tom Allen and the financial crisis. To participate in the discussion or to see more of the answers to this week’s questions go to bangordailynews.com, pull down on the Opinion tab and look for ClickBack. Look for more questions on Tuesday.

Should Maine stay the course with Susan Collins, or put Democrat Tom Allen in the Senate?

Collins has voted over 80 percent of the time with what the Bush Administration wanted. If you want more of what Bush has done to this country then you need to vote for Collins. I, for one, think the country is in much worse shape after almost eight years of Bush and his supporters, and that sure includes Collins. I don’t consider Tom Allen very liberal – just a better choice than Collins.

– towerwatcher

As a young Mainer, I am constantly looking at the struggles that lay before us in the future. I want someone in Congress who is going to work hard for Maine, someone who will help us secure energy, good jobs, health care and a sound financial structure. I am voting for Susan Collins. She crosses the aisle to get things done in Washington. She represents us the way we need to be represented, keeping Maine values at the forefront of her policy decisions. The real question is, why fix something that is not broken? Susan Collins deserves six more years in Washington.

– AshleyLamoreau

She works hard, he doesn’t. She thinks things through, he voted 98.3 percent of the time with Nancy Pelosi. Sen. Collins has consistently voted for what is best for Mainers, regardless of who sponsors the bill – Democrat, Republican or independent. We need her to stay in Washington, fighting for us.

– Danielle

I liked Susan Collins when she was a staffer to Bill Cohen, and she is one of the few moderate Republicans left in Congress. She has always been gracious when I have talked to her and as a native of The County, I have an affinity for her.

But that is not good enough in 2008, if for no other reason than the country cannot tolerate another neo-conservative appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, a court that any fair observer can see has pushed a radical activist agenda and is centralizing power in the executive branch. Our freedoms – constitutional rights – are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Tom Allen needs to be elected if only in order to support better Supreme Court appointments.

– Pokeyboy

In spite of what some want you to believe, Susan Collins does not vote the way W wants her to. She votes the way she wants to. Her voting record for following the party line isn’t even close to Tom Allen’s near-perfect record of voting as the Democrats want him to, regardless of what’s in the best interest of Maine and its people.

– dishsoap

Two words not found in the same sentence: Allen and effective. He has not gotten a single bill passed that he has written. Certainly you must agree that at least part of his job is getting meaningful legislation written and signed into law. If that is one of the benchmarks for a lawmaker, then Tom Allen has been a failure.

– DonW2008

Does our banking system need more regulation?

We are on the verge of having Democrats in charge of everything. There will be regulation regulating regulation.

– ShawnDaily

Deregulation is like the electric vibrating football games some of us who are dating ourselves used to have as kids. They never worked either. The players just used to bunch together or head in the wrong direction. Congress should reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act, repealed in 1999, which kept regulated and FDIC insured commercial banks from becoming riskier investment banks too. A football game with no rules is a melee.

– Keith132

What do you think? To share your thoughts on these and other issues, participate in ClickBack at bangordailynews.com