For some reason the online Left has decided to go bonkers on Senator Collins about the Swine Flu scare. Aside from the usual lunacy of the folks that brought you 'General Betray-Us' and a whopping 38% of the vote for Tom Allen last year, there seems to be a ton of coordination in this effort:

RedState:

This wave of netroots nonsense is being led by Media Matters, the George Soros-funded organization started by notorious journalistic hitman David Brock, perhaps best know as the author of books attacking
the personal lives of Anita Hill and Bill Clinton. Brock’s group is circulating a video which attempts to connect Senator Collins with the Swine Flu outbreak. Brock and his netroots cohorts are claiming the removal of flu preparedness money from the stimulus package somehow relates to the current scare.

The Portland Press Herald is knocking back the claims:

Collins right to have pushed flu funds out of stimulus
The blogosphere has already started to buzz with recriminations aimed at Sen. Susan Collins in light of the international swine flu outbreak.

Maine's junior senator stood tough in negotiations over the federal stimulus bill, insisting that some items that belonged in the regular budget process come out of that legislation.

Among these was more than $800 million to beef up the government's ability to respond to a flu pandemic. As a moderate Republican and ranking member of the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Collins got her way.

But the senator never said the United States didn't need a better plan for a flu pandemic. Collins' point – and it was a good one – was that the economic stimulus package wasn't the place for new federal programs that didn't have a direct impact on economic growth.

AsMaineGoes has a discussion going on this also:

gee ....could it be it was looked at for a cut because it was not going to stimulate the economy or create jobs which is what the stimulus was supposed to do??
"Another complicating factor: Not all Democrats are certain to vote with the White House. Sen. Ben Nelson (D., Neb.) is working with a dozen or more moderate Democrats to find ways to scale back the package. The senators have identified more than $50 billion in projects they contend don't meet the test of near-term job creation, including $122.5 million for new and renovated polar ice breakers. "

Here's Democratic Senator Schumer talking about pandemic flu preparedness:

And here's a link" to Senator Collins' official statement on this issue:

"As Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Senator Collins has led hearings on pandemic flu preparedness, worked on "bioshield" legislation and funding, and helped strengthen our nation's preparedness for a pandemic flu.

"Claims that she is opposed to increased funding for pandemic flu research are blatantly false and politically motivated. In fact, in December 2008, Senator Collins joined in a letter to Senate leaders requesting a $905 million increase for the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund at the Department of Health and Human Services.