Blue Mass Group

[Cross-posted from the ProgressMass blog.  Like ProgressMass on Facebook and follow on Twitter.]

Our nation’s 236th birthday occurring on Wednesday meant an abbreviated political week, but that didn’t stop Republican Scott Brown from accruing some notable lowlights.

Republican Scott Brown won the Barclays Primary in a landslide.  Barclays is the most recent financial giant with deep fundraising ties to Brown to face major scandal, following Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.

ProgressMass filed an ethics complaint against Senator Brown for what appears to be a violation of the U.S. Senate’s ethics policy regarding gifts to U.S. Senators.

Republican Scott Brown is rapidly becoming defined as a single-issue candidate, seeking solely to take away the benefits of health care reform from Massachusetts’ families.  Clive McFarlane, columnist for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, has difficulty figuring out “just what does Brown stand for” besides denying Massachusetts’ families the benefits of health care reform.  Meanwhile, a coalition of grassroots organizations is urging Brown to abandon his crusade to take these benefits away from Massachusetts’ families.  Republican Scott Brown may find himself politically boxed in, though.  On one hand, Brown has made his opposition to health care reform a centerpiece of his campaign.  On the other hand, Brown’s desired goal will lead to Massachusetts residents losing many important benefits.

Of course, it’s been a common complaint that Republican Scott Brown has strived to distract from real issues, whether that distraction came in the form of a basketball shot, or TV ads focused on Brown pretending to fold laundry, or attacks on his opponent’s family heritage.  On that note, the following sentence, courtesy of New England Cable News, offered a bit of a chuckle: “Scott Brown didn’t want to talk about the issues on the Fourth of July.”  What makes the line chuckle-worthy is that one could substitute any date on the calendar for “the Fourth of July” in that sentence and it would still hold true.

Republican Scott Brown’s constituents from all across the Commonwealth took to their local newspapers this past week to voice their discontent with Brown’s “representation” in the U.S. Senate.
·    The Cape Cod Times ran letters from residents critical of Brown’s anti-woman record and his “robotic” Republican talking points in opposition to health care reform.
·    The New Bedford Standard-Times included a letter from a resident reminding us that Brown’s opposition to health care reform is particularly harmful to seniors.
·    The Wayland Patch featured a letter from a resident critical of Brown’s voting against major jobs bills, as well as other right-wing positions harmful to Massachusetts’ Middle Class.
·    The Gloucester Times ran a letter from a resident calling Brown out for being secretive about his corporate benefactors.
·    The Quincy Patriot Ledger featured commentary from a resident critical of Brown ducking debates.  The same topic was the focus of ProgressMass’ letter to the editor of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, a co-sponsor of one of the proposed debates that Republican Scott Brown ducked.

What does the upcoming week hold for Republican Scott Brown?  Stay tuned for the next “Weekly Scott Brown-d Up” to find out.