Scott Brown: From Hero to Zero
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Harrison
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benedict brown Economics republicans scott brown Spending stimulus wasteWell, that didn’t take too long. Scott Brown voted for the “jobs bill” and now he’s a turncoat and will be watching his back like Arlen Specter. It was an easy call made here on January 21, 2010:
Expect over the next 12 months for Scott Brown’s name to be less and less in the headlines as the Republicans tire of his opinions (much the way it went with Lieberman).
According to the Associated Press:
The four other GOP senators who broke ranks — Olympia Snowe andSusan Collins of Maine, George Voinovich of Ohio and Christopher “Kit” Bond of Missouri — also were criticized on Tuesday. But Brown was the big target on conservative Web sites, talk shows and even theFacebook page his campaign has promoted as an example of his new-media savvy.
When it came down to the final vote, 13 Republicans voted “yes” on the bill:
The full Senate passed it this morning by a 70-28 vote. Thirteen Republicans joined 55 Democrats and two independents in supporting it. As was the case on Monday, the lone Democrat to vote no was Ben Nelson of Nebraska.
Things are getting nasty already with the newest Republican senator being called “Benedict Brown.” Reasons for Brown’s vote (aside from him being a RINO) are that he stands for re-election in three years. And this is the problem. Many politicians vote “yes” for pork because their constituents might say they hate wasteful spending but really what they mean is they hate wasteful spending that goes someplace else.
The $15 billion “jobs bill” can’t really do much, anyway. After all, the size of the U.S. economy is about $14.3 trillion. When you’re dealing with such a big pool, $15 billion is but a drop in the bucket.
Of course, we learned about the 23 Republican senators who condemned Obama’s “stimulus” then touted the results in their home districts. The real problem is that not enough time has passed since voters tossed Conservatives out of power for them to truly reform their party. George W. Bush was no penny pincher as when he left office the Federal Government had more employees than when he found it.
The unfortunate result of “Benedict Brown” is that it shows the unreasonableness of Conservatives (much like the unreasonableness of Liberals) towards members of their own party.
Anybody who considered Scott Brown to be truly Conservative (whatever that means nowadays) was walking into the situation with blinders on. I would have liked Brown to not have voted to waste $15 billion of our money but the smell of bacon is too alluring to his constituents for him to pass it by.
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9:37 AM
While I understand the irritation with Sen. Brown,(I’m irritated myself), his job is not to please the Republicans or Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity or you or me. His job is to represent the people of his state. Remember his state is Massachusetts and they are very liberal there.
While I don’t like his “yes” vote on a bill I disagree with. The oath he took upon swearing in was to represent the people of his state, NOT his party line. Lots of Democrats and Republicans are admonished regularly for voting along party lines.
Once again his constituents ARE liberals. We must also not forget the a RINO is better than a donkey. I can only hope that his election represents the beginning of a shift away from liberalism though I doubt that shift will be swift but gradual.
In short, as much as I hate the idea he represented the people who put him there.
Good article Harrison, and definitely keep an eye on Sen. Brown and see where he goes from here.
.-= Cracked World´s last blog ..Politics CAN be Funny =-.
9:48 AM
Brown never said he was a die hard Conservative when he ran… he was merely more Conservative than his opponent was. My issue is more with his “supporters” on blogs and Facebook who don’t live in his home state and see him only as a pawn.
As I wrote when he won:
Brown might be a Republican but at his core he seems to be more Left-of-Right than people realize. Right now, Brown is only important for three things: taking Ted Kennedy’s seat away from the Democrats, giving the Republicans 41 votes in the Senate, and handing Obama his first taste of a major defeat. Brown himself is thus unimportant in the big scheme… his name and/or voting record could be replaced with any other Republican no matter how Liberal and the accolades would remain the same.
http://harrisonprice.com/2010/01/21/scott-brown-is-not-the-panacea-for-gop-revival/
9:47 AM
I can give Brown a pass on this one. Everyone involved with this jobs bill, both Republican and Democrat recognizes it won’t do jack squat for employment and only represents a bone-throw to the electorate that Congress is not nearly as dysfunctional as they truly are.
Harrison and CW both make the same good point. I forgot exactly how he said it but Linsey Graham (sp?) said something along the lines that one’s conservative chops are relative to one’s locale. To wit, were Brown a Senator from a red state like Georgia, that truly would be big news.
His vote(s) on matters like healthcare and cap and trade are what will matter. I have no problems with his yes vote on a $15 billion photo op.
9:49 AM
$15 billion here, $15 billion there and, pretty soon, you’re starting to talk real money!
11:50 AM
I most certainly don’t agree with the $15 billion bill. Thats just another $15 billion in debt that we don’t need.
They just can’t seem to figure out that they can’t spend there way out of this mess.
Lindsey Graham’s point is exactly what I was getting at.
.-= Cracked World´s last blog ..Politics CAN be Funny =-.
5:10 PM
This was like the smallest spending bill in Obama’s tenure. Brown is more likely to want to cut spending
.-= Matthew´s last blog ..The GOP Should Welcome Gays =-.