Sen. Brown will support START

I’ve done my due diligence, and I’m going to be … ultimately supporting the START treaty.  I believe it’s something that’s important for our country, and I believe that it’s a good move forward to deal with our national security issues.”

Sen. Scott Brown: I’m backing DADT repeal

Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown said Thursday that he will support a stand along bill aimed at repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

The Massachusetts Republican says he plans on supporting the stand alone bill, which passed the House on Wednesday.

Mr. Brown’s spokeswoman Gail Gitcho said in a statement Thursday that Brown accepts the Pentagon’s recommendation to repeal the policy.

The Massachusetts Republican voice support for repeal last week, before voting against it. Repeal was part of larger defense authorization bill.

Mr. Brown is the latest Republican to voice support for the measure. Alaska U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski and Maine Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins have also voiced support for repeal.

All three previously voiced support of the measure last week, before voting against it. The final vote on the measure was 57 to 40. Democrats need 60 votes in order to overcome the threat of filibuster.

Scott Brown May Present Only Bipartisan Chance To Change Health Care Law

WASHINGTON — Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore) on Tuesday defended his efforts to tinker with health care reform alongside Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass), calling it the one true bipartisan effort to alter President Obama’s signature domestic achievement.

The Oregon Democrat, speaking at an event sponsored by the conservative American Action Forum, repeated his past defense that a provision allowing states to essential opt out of the law (provided that they meet minimum standards) is smart, unobjectionable policy.

“This is the only major bipartisan effort in the United States Senate since the health bill was signed. There is no other, with respect to next steps on health reform, except this,” said Wyden. “We are going to get hit, there is no question, by folks on the ideological extremes of American politics.”

But, he added, “this is the ultimate in a reformer opportunity.”

Under the Wyden-Brown provision, states would be able to be granted a waiver from the national health care law as early as 2014 provided that they can insure minimum standards of coverage. Under the original law, that date was 2017.   Continue…

Sen. Scott Brown sees anti-establishment spirit still alive

By Associated Press

BOSTON – Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown tried today to stoke the anti-establishment spirit that propelled him to an upset U.S. Senate victory in January.

Wearing his trademark barn coat, Brown returned to blue-collar South Boston to stump for state treasurer candidate Karyn Polito. “Southie” proved to be a bellwether in his campaign against Democrat Martha Coakley to replace the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy in a historically Democratic state.

Brown also has been traveling coast to coast, campaigning for Republicans from Carly Fiorina in California to Marco Rubio in Florida before Tuesday’s midterm elections. The GOP is hoping to not only recapture control of the House, but possibly the Senate and take over several governor’s offices.

“There was a tremendous amount of energy in my race, and I’m noticing that in races where I’m campaigning across the country,” Brown said during an interview. “People are still angry, still hurting, and this remains one of the worst business climates in decades.”

Many Massachusetts businesses that are hiring are only doing so to replace critical personnel, he said. Others that aren’t expanding are actively comparing business costs in other states.

Brown’s victory in January gave Republicans a pivotal 40th vote to sustain filibusters and help shape President Barack Obama’s agenda ever since. He says he now hopes to no longer be such a decisive vote — which would happen if Republicans expand their Senate margin next week.

“People are finding they can get involved and make a difference, not only in their cities and towns, but all the way to the U.S. senator’s position,” he said.

Brown, a triathlete, wolfed down Eggs Benedict at Mul’s Diner after shaking hands with residents in one of the city’s most conservative neighborhoods.

“I’m one of those union members who votes Republican,” Dan Anton of Weymouth, a 50-year-old worker for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, told the senator as he left the diner.

Continue…

Police Victim Was ‘Designated Driver,’ Sen. Brown Says

BOSTON — U.S. Sen. Scott Brown is demanding an official probe into the shooting death of a college student from Massachusetts who was shot and killed by police in New York during the weekend.

Danroy “D.J.” Henry, 20, of Easton, Mass., was shot by police who were called to the scene of a bar fight at a Westchester County strip mall in Thornwood, N.Y. Witnesses at the scene and in Henry’s car said they were not part of the brawl. They said Henry was trying to comply with a police order to move his car out of a fire lane when officers shot him.

Brown said on WEEI-AM’s Dennis and Callahan show that Henry was the “designated driver” and was at the Thornwood bar to pick up his friends.

He swung around to pick up some people. Apparently, he had the big stereo system with the woofers, and he was parked in the fire lane. When the officer apparently knocked on his window, he took off, thinking that they wanted him to move, apparently,” Brown said.

The senator said Henry was a “good kid” with no record.  Continue…

Sen. Brown to stump for McMahon in Conn. Senate race

 

Linda McMahon

 

MILFORD, Conn.—Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown is making a stop in Connecticut to try to help fellow Republican Linda McMahon do what he did last January: win a U.S. Senate seat held by Democrats for decades.

Brown is scheduled to stump for McMahon Saturday afternoon at a rally at Milford City Hall.

McMahon, former chief executive of World Wrestling Entertainment, is locked in a tight race with Democratic state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Democrat Chris Dodd.

Brown will also be rallying support for Republican Tom Foley in Connecticut’s governor’s race Saturday morning in Glastonbury.

Sen. Brown on D.A.D.T. vote

The majority party, I feel, is using our men and women in uniform as a tactic to pass politically expedient legislation entirely unrelated to the defense authorization. It is in my view not appropriate.”

Senator Brown is opposed to allowing tax cuts for the wealthy to expire

By Donovan Slack, Globe Staff

Senator Scott Brown remains opposed to President Obama’s plan to allow tax cuts for the wealthy to expire while extending those for middle-income filers, even though the Republican leader in the House signaled yesterday that he is open to compromise.

House minority leader Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio said that if he had no other choice he would back Obama’s plan, paving the way for the measure to pass the House and placing the focus squarely on the Senate, where Brown could once again be called on to cast the crucial swing vote.

A spokeswoman for Brown declined to comment on whether he would be willing to compromise but said his stance has not changed since last week.

Tax increases will kill jobs and hurt the chances for an economic recovery,”  spokeswoman Gail Gitcho said.

That stance puts him firmly in the camp of Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, who told the Associated Press today that all 41 Republicans are opposed to Obama’s plan but declined to say if they planned to filibuster. McConnell has said he won’t pass it until cuts for the wealthy are also included.

The cuts, passed in 2001 and 2003, are set to expire at the end of this year unless Congress takes action.

Obama wants to eliminate the cuts for wealthier taxpayers — individuals making more than $200,000 per year and families with income totaling more than $250,000.

If the sides cannot reach agreement and all the cuts are allowed to expire, families in Massachusetts whose total income is between $66,000 and $97,000 would see an average increase in their tax bill of $1,831.

When Scott Brown Tweets, Almost 25,000 People Listen

When Senator Scott Brown wrote an Op-Ed for the Wall St. Journal regarding Iran’s nuclear program last week, he promoted it on his popular Twitter account.

That Brown tweets is no surprise. In fact, Brown is one of the top tweeters in D.C. Brown’s the fifth-ranked Congressional Twitterer with 24,833 followers.

The Globe says 62% of lawmakers use Twitter, most are Republicans.

Brown follows his own path in DC

Who was praising President Barack Obama last week for his handling of the drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq?

It was Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown commenting on the end of U.S. combat operations.

I think the president has done a good job on that,”

said Brown, who has also backed Obama’s surge in Afghanistan. However, they part ways on the president setting a timetable to consider withdrawal from Afghanistan next summer.

Brown, who has visited the war zones, said Massachusetts soldiers were successful in Iraq. “I’m very proud of our soldiers from Massachusetts,” he said.

Meanwhile, those wondering how much an impact Brown will have on the elections here in Massachusetts got an answer last week when “the people’s” senator returned to the state and stepped into campaign mode.

What Brown had to say could give a boost to Republican Charlie Baker’s campaign as well as Republican challengers hoping to win congressional seats …Continue