Oh Senator Scott Brown, how soon we forget.
Throughout the 2010 special election in Massachusetts, Brown portrayed himself as an independent voice who “drives around in a truck.”
He advocated for fiscal responsibility, become the 41st republican to eliminate the filibuster-proof senate, and to try terrorists in Guantanamo.
His campaign fueled a tidal wave of conservative and Tea Party activism. People from around the country, and thousands of citizens in Massachusetts campaigned and donated for Brown. And Brown gladly welcomed them.
As a result, Brown won the election in the bluest of blue states.
Brown sat down with Barbara Walters and reasserted his fiscal conservatism and promise not to push forth legislation that will affect the paycheck of the people he represents:
And make no mistake, I am a fiscal conservative. And when it comes to issues affecting people’s pockets, and pocketbooks, and wallets, I’ll be with the Republicans if they are in fact pushing those initiatives.
(Check 1:28 in the video)
After the glitz and glam of media adulation, and a tour of the senate grounds in Washington with Sen. John McCain, Brown reached across the aisle and voted for cloture of Harry Reid’s “Jobs Bill” which is essentially another spending bill costing $15 billion.
Brown surely got attention. He got the love from the media types like Diane Sawyer. Conservatives are claiming that the Jobs bill is actually small in comparison to other legislation passed, excusing Brown’s vote. I’m sorry, but when was $15 billion chump change? Isn’t congress spending enough of our money already?
Another excuse is that Brown is from Massachusetts so he needs to ingratiate himself with the democrat party once and a while. What? Brown campaigned as a fiscal conservative, and Massachusetts is not the only state whose taxes will get affected by this. He is a US senator, not a state senator. People voted for him because of what he campaigned for.
This Jobs bill is a boondoggle. Sure it has some tax credits, but on the other hand Obama is proposing massive taxes, that will make these credits nonexistent.
However, conservatives around the country did not stand idly by. Brown got blistering rebuke from Tea Party activists and conservatives around the country online, via phone calls to his office, and e-mails. And rightfully so.
Veronique de Rugy of National Review Onliine has a great piece on why this vote by Scott Brown reinforces Glenn Beck’s assertion that progressivism is still infecting the GOP.
This bill won’t have much effect on the economy. Shouldn’t Republicans grasp that, at this stage? I understand that the bill featured four provisions that might sound appealing to Republicans, and to anyone who doesn’t understand basic economics, including a measure exempting businesses hiring the unemployed from Social Security payroll taxes through December and giving them another $1,000 credit if new workers stay on the job a full year.
I recommend you read the rest.
No person in Washington should be immune to criticism. It is up to the American people to protest and object, praise if need be, to their representatives in Washington.
Enough with the status quo.