Scott Brown got more than he bargained for when he came to Tia’s on the Waterfront in Boston last night for his $1,000-a-head “Young Professionals” fundraiser. [Clarification: the “private reception” was a $1,000 ticket; the “general reception” was $100. -ed.] In addition to his VIP donors, Brown was also greeted by a crowd of more than 500 Massachusetts residents with a question for their senator: Where are the jobs?
Hoping to avoid public scrutiny of his anti-jobs voting record, Scott Brown hasn’t held a single town hall meeting or open forum to give his constituents an opportunity to make their voices heard. So we went to the only place we knew we could find Brown — a fundraiser with corporate high-rollers.
We brought the voices of the unemployed to Senator Brown — crashing his waterfront party. Speakers told stories of their own difficulties finding a job and brought attention to Scott Brown’s consistent record of voting against jobs.
Speakers expressed outrage over Brown’s anti-job votes, including:
- His vote against a bill that would fund 7,000 summer jobs for Massachusetts young people
- His repeated votes against extending unemployment aid, even as tens of thousands of out-of-work Bay State residents are facing loss of jobless benefits
- His vote against $655 million in federal budget assistance to Massachusetts; funds to keep almost 3,000 teachers on the job in Bay State schools
With a brass band and chants of “Stop Voting Against Jobs,” Brown and his donors on the patio of the restaurant were completely drowned out. There’s no question about it — Brown heard us loud and clear. Whether or not he responds to his constituents is another question.
MASSUNITING is a coalition of neighbors, community groups, faith organizations and labor united in the fight for good jobs, corporate accountability and stronger communities. To learn more about MASSUNITING and receive updates on future events, visit our website.
You can see the invite here and a person could go for as little as $25
[http://www.scottbrown.com/young-professionals-scott-brown]
and this group is theoretically people under 40, so not exactly fat cats.
Also the rally was organized by people that are not going to vote for Scott Brown anyway, and certainly wouldn’t be going to a “town meeting” with an open mind.
the “private reception” was a $1,000 ticket; the “general reception” was $100. Not sure $25 would get you in.
I checked the link Merrimack Guy provided and it appears that you have a $25 option on the general donation page, but that is not linked to this particular event. The ticket/invitation to this event only lists $100 or $1000. The Democrats are usually different in a couple of relevant ways. First, their YP events often DO go for as little as $25 and second, even that is often indicated as a “suggested donation”.
Those people are all constituents of Scott Brown. Their role is not to have an “Open Mind”, that is Senator Brown’s job. He should have an open mind and open access for all his constituents. He has never done this and it is especially wrong for a freshman Senator who promised to run an open and transparent office.
Other Massachusetts representatives have run open town halls. Even though they were treated rudely by persons who disagreed with them, they still listened. They still were receptive to their constituents. This is a democracy and not an “Open Mind-ocracy.”
This will be a quick hit, but I did a little research on the individuals listed as co-chairs & host committee members.One co-chair is owner of Five Guys franchises in New England, worked for Bush/Cheney ’04, and attended U of Chicago Bschool. One of the Host Cmte members is in charge of Operations & Biz Dev (gov’t relations) for a private security firm called BOSS. His father (likely) happens to be a managing partner at same firm. The rest are pretty much rogues gallery of Brown political operatives & investment bankers. This gers. I find this list interesting and telling of who is backing this tool of the kleptocrat oligarchs.
So it’s hard to make this a haves vs. havenots situation.
There is nothing wrong with wealthy people supporting politicians they like, on either side. That was not the point of the post you are responding too.
The point is that these “moneyed interests” are greedy, maintaining a status quo for their wealth at the expense of the middle class. The Democrat “Moneyed Interests” do the very opposite of that, work for everyone to have a chance.
Look up “Gini coefficient” a measure of disparity in wealth. Ours has risen to one of the highest of all democracies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient THAT IS WHAT IS BEHIND SCOTT BROWN – the people who want more and more wealth at the expense of the middle class. That’s not “moneyed” that is “Unbounded Greed” that is what is behind Scott Brown. Most of his money is from the 5th and 6th richest men in the world, the Koch Brothers. I regard them as fascists.