Never before have Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe had so much street cred in Washington.

The lady senators were two of only three Republicans who voted for the stimulus bill in the Senate – along with Sen. Arlen Specter, R-PA. And now, The Washington Post reports, Snowe and Collins (who aren’t exactly great friends, but get along well enough to get things done) have put Washington on notice that they – and the tiny state of Maine, which they represent – are forces to be reckoned with. Since the Democrats don’t have the 60 seats needed to prevent any Republican filibuster, it’s moderates like these fine ladies who can hold the keys to the legislative castle. They can help make things happen, or they can hold things up — and, to the Obama administration, that makes them extremely important people.

But if Obama or Congress hope to lean on Collins to help with unfreezing the credit markets, they should think again.

Collins told Capitol News Service in Maine that despite talk of there possibly being a future stimulus bill, "Congress has already appropriated $750 billion for that purpose and I have seen very little results." She won’t consider shoveling more money until she knows exactly how the current appropriations will be used in the credit markets.

"I voted against the second release of the TARP funds because there was not the needed transparency and accountability in how the funds will be used," she said. "The Obama administration is going to have to do far better than the plan sketched out by [Treasury Secretary Timothy] Geithner that really wasn’t much of a plan at all."