Hey, he’s got his book deal and a cushy new job. Why should he care about Massachusetts families who are hurting: they are not the out of state conservatives who funded his campaign and will try to push him through again in two years. As to health care, Senator Brown continues his long march to the Republican villages of Too Bad for You and Sorry, I Can’t Help You. Link to H.R. 4213. DNC email:
U.S. Senator Scott Brown voted Wednesday against legislation that would extend jobless benefits such as unemployment insurance and COBRA subsidies for families in Massachusetts who are struggling to find work. Senator Brown’s vote could have cost many families in Massachusetts unemployment insurance and health care, further hurting already-struggling folks in these difficult times.Please find below a statement from DNC Northeast Regional Press Secretary Michael Czin:
“It’s bad enough that Republicans spent eight years backing the policies that led to the current economic crisis, but now Republicans in the Senate like Senator Brown are slamming the door on Bay Staters by voting against extending unemployment benefits and health care assistance for jobless workers.
Earlier this month Brown, of course, first praised Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning’s one-man filibuster against unemployment benefits, then voted in favor of the bill Bunning was trying to block. Now I guess he is once again a member of the Solid South.
Discuss
9 Comments . Comments are closed.What?
I actually gave the Senator credit this morning when talking about this with some one. I can't find it now, but could have sworn I saw a report indicating that he had voted for it.
He may have voted for cloture
and then against the actual bill.
To be honest, if he keeps doing that, he'll be about my 50th favorite senator, and that ain't bad for a Republican!
I believe that was HR 4691
Link here. Perhaps he got confused, voted the wrong way, only figured it out when one of his daughters filled him in, and considers this vote a do-over. He's still new.
If anyone else has more information as we plumb the confusing world of being a "Scott Brown Republican" please comment.
A Road Map to Scott Brown's Positions on the Senate Jobs Bill
He filed and voted in favor of an amendment to cut the employee payroll tax and to have all unobligated federal stimulus money revert to the federal government. Link here. The amendment was unsuccessful.
AND
He voted against an amendment that would have brought $100 million funds to Massachusetts for emergency shelter, child care, and youth employment. Link here.
BUT
He voted to allow the bill come to a vote on the merits. Link here.
BUT
He voted against the bill on the merits. Link here.
Your Thomas link expired
Links on thomas.loc.gov often don't last long. I don't know why; it seems a dumb way to run a website, but it's true. So, a couple of solutions for you:
1) There's a way, on Thomas, to get perma-links. You can generally recognize them as they have the bill number in the URL. I don't trust Thomas links otherwise.
2) If you provide the bill and/or amendment numbers (e.g. H.R.4213 or S.AMDT. 3336), then others can find the bills.
3) Use a different site besides Thomas. I know, I know, Thomas is the site-of-record, but I personally find a site like OpenCongress.org to be much easier to use. For example, here is Scott Brown's voting record to date. Quick and easy; I got there with two clicks from the front page.
This is how it should be.
Not on the merits of this particular bill, mind you, but unless there is reason to keep debate going (and even that's rare considering 30 hours are still allowed post-cloture), legislation should come to a vote. Final passage is the appropriate place to express disagreement on the merits via a negative vote.
WTF?
There are what - 6 unemployed Americans for every job opening? And Scottie Brown votes against extending unemployment benefits? And no one -- in the press, the Coakley Campaign, the Democratic Party -- bothered to check into his background and find a sexual harassment claim? Somebody please wake me up from this nightmare.
Apparently baseless
The harassment lawsuit looks like vapor:
How is this man a moderate?
I keep hearing people over at RMG, and even mainline outlets like 538 and the cook report saying that Brown is so far voting like a Weld Republican. This vote certainly makes him look like a Bunning Republican, and it is ultimately hypocritical since I am sure many of his blue collar supporters rely on COBRA, and his mother was once on welfare. My mother and sister were once on welfare, and that fact alone keeps me grounded in the Democratic party no matter how much it pisses me off. Shame on Brown for forgetting where he came from and the people he was elected to serve.
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