2 snarky opeds on the smaller senator : )

[MBS]

1. today's Boston Globe (Metro section, local columnist Yvonne Abraham). . . "Scott Brown's Golden Touch". .dripping with sarcasm
Here're some excerpts
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/07/01/scott_browns_golden_touch/

Now more than ever, it truly rocks to be Scott Brown.
The freshman US Senator, a Republican, is this blue state’s most beloved politician — more popular than even the president, according to a Globe poll this week. Our pollster didn’t ask how Brown’s favorables compare to God’s, but my bet is it would be a pretty close call.
. . .
Five months on the job, and already he’s parting legislative seas.

With all of that love and power, you can’t blame Brown for getting a big head. And as an interview he gave two of his fans on WEEI last Friday made clear, it is pretty darned big.

“So, last night I got off the plane and I’m driving through Wrentham saying, ‘Man, I just can’t believe I’m a United States Senator,’ ’’ he crowed to his adoring interlocutors. “And then Tim Geithner calls me on the phone and says, ‘Scott, I just wanted to go through some things that we’re working on right now . . .’ He just called me a minute ago, too . . .

“Obviously, I am the key vote. They know they have to keep me in the loop.’’

No matter what Brown does, he’s a populist hero.

For example, repeatedly voting against an extension of unemployment benefits for laid-off workers, and for extra money to preserve services for the mentally disabled, makes him a hero because he’s holding down the deficit, saving the Average Guy taxes down the line.

Nobody seems to care that lots of folks, including some respected deficit hawks, think that’s a shortsighted, destructive stance in a recession.. . .

Voters sent Brown to Washington partly because he promised an end to backroom dealing. But it turns out he’s rather an ace at it himself: Holding his vote over Democrats’ heads, he got them to weaken restrictions on the kinds of risky bets that led to the financial crisis.

Having secured that gift for banks and hedge funds, Brown voted for the Senate version of the bill — even though its cost would add to the deficit.

Then, after House and Senate negotiators found another way to pay for the bill — namely, $19 billion in charges imposed on the biggest financial institutions themselves — Brown jumped ship. He wasn’t protecting banks, Brown said. It’s just a coincidence that they hated the charges. He was looking out for the Little Guy, since the banks would just pass along the $19 billion to customers in higher fees.

It didn’t matter that the new rules would make it harder for banks to raise those fees. And it didn’t matter that any other way of funding the new system would also use taxpayer money, only more directly.
Brown’s balk was praised as another heroic, populist move. . . .

2. Gail Collins, in today's NYT--mostly about John Boehner (and secondarily on Reid) , but there's this delicious paragraph on the smaller senator.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/01/opinion/01collins.html?_r=1&hp

(Reid) is trying to get a commitment on finance reform from the newest Republican senator, Scott Brown of Massachusetts.

Brown ran as a sort of populist man of the people, but in April, he told The Boston Globe that he couldn’t support the then-current version of the bill. When asked what he wanted changed, Brown said: “Well, what areas do you think should be fixed? I mean, you know, tell me. And then I’ll get a team and go fix it.”

It was at this point that we began to suspect that Massachusetts’s junior senator is not a deep thinker. (:rofl: -ed.)

Brown came around and voted for the bill when it passed the Senate. Then he backed away when it came out of conference committee because the conferees had added a tax on big banks.

Which Brown claimed he could not support. This was at the same time that he was refusing to give the Democrats a final critical vote on extending unemployment benefits. We have here a populist man of the people playing the role of friend to the big banks while not being particularly helpful to the long-term unemployed. What can I tell you? The guy is extremely popular in Massachusetts. Maybe it’s because he drives a truck.

[Mass]

1. Good for her, The Globe has an editorial on Brown which is once again trying a balancing act

calling his BS on financial reform (BTW, why does the dont his BS on unemployment benefits, but also trying to preserve his image as a moderate.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2010/07/01/brown_forces_new_finance_bill_now_he_must_support_it/

More than his Republican colleagues, Brown has tried to steer a moderate course on financial reform, accepting the need for closer regulation while looking out for the concerns of local employers such as MassMutual and Fidelity. But the final vote on the financial bill will present him with a stark choice: Impose reforms that reassure the public and promote sound markets, or go back to letting Wall Street do whatever it wants.

[ladym55]

2. Really like Abraham's piece

It's a nice counterbalance to the gushing about Senator Pickuptruck I see elsewhere.

BTW ... Can anyone answer this for me? I'm currently on Cape Cod ... and I saw not ONE but THREE Scott Brown bumperstickers at the local supermarket. Huh???? Have the people on the Cape lost their collective minds???? With their frequent high unemployment, REALLY???? You support the good-looking dummy who hearts Wall Street???? How is HE going to help you???

[MBS]

3. the Cape is pretty conservative

depends on where you are, but , for instance, Chatham, etc, is very Republican. Parts of Falmouth are pretty right-wing, too (actually, Falmouth is kind of bimodal--lots of liberals, too. .).
Lots of retired people, ups the conservative %. . .

[ladym55]

4. I'm in North Eastham

I guess I'm used to seeing lots of Kerry signs during election time and rainbow flags and peace flags. I also kept my son in great anti-Bush t-shirts for 8 years from Provincetown. :) I guess I thought the Outer Cape was a bit more progressive. That will teach me, I guess.

I'm only here a few weeks a year, so it's hard for me to get a handle on things here politically.

[MBS]

6. our family stayed in Eastham for a few days one fall

and that experience was exactly what I had in mind when I made my comment about "Chatham" (same general area, at least : )). I could just feel this vibe, you know? (hypersensitivity to "red" districts, arising from my childhood in a neighborhood dominated by far-right Republicans)

Sure, Provincetown is something else altogether!
At some point I saw a map of how various MA districts voted in 2006 and/or 2008. .the Cape was a patchwork of red and blue, with red taking up a pretty big area. There are 2 or 3 areas of MA with notable concentrations of Republicans, and the Cape (or parts of the Cape) is one.

[ladym55]

8. Good idea to look at an election map

I think I'll check into that and see which areas are red and which blue. Thing is we own a house in North Eastham that we inherited ... now we are getting close to retirement (at least my husband is) and we are beginning to think future. One big thing for us is to get someplace progressive. We live in purple Ohio, which offers Sherrod Brown (yay) and John BOehner (ewwww).

[MBS]

10. well, the progressives aren't far away

. . plenty in neighboring towns (I could even introduce you to some), and, believe me, compared to some of the places I've lived, Eastham is downright pinko ; )

[MBS]

5. RE “BROWN outpolls Kerry"- 4/4 LTE's take on Globe; JK mentioned

They are good, they are unanimous. Satisfying. : )
#1 "Star treatment affected results"
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/letters/articles/2010/07/02/star_treatment_affected_results/

. . Of course Senator Scott Brown polls better in this state. The Globe has made him a rock star with its coverage of his every move. His picture is even published when he goes to a ballgame.

Devote the same attention to Senator John Kerry and his voting record. He, and your readers, deserve better coverage of both sides of the aisle.

Paul Russo, Malden

#2-#3 "It's just another bubble that will burst" (excerpts)
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/letters/articles/2010/07/02/its_just_another_bubble_thatll_burst/

Scott Brown convinced the voters of Massachusetts that he would represent their interests and change politics in Washington. Our truck-driving senator has won the contest for most popular politician in Massachusetts, but I wonder how long this popularity will last when voters find out who Brown really represents.

In the same week that he voted with Republicans to block an extension of unemployment benefits, Brown made a backroom deal to exempt financial firms . . . from the Volcker rule and then pulled his support for financial reform altogether. Like his Republican cronies, Brown has chosen to represent the interests of Wall Street over the interests of his own constituents.


Brown’s support of the Republican filibuster blocked extended unemployment benefits for thousands of his own constituents, and 1.7 million Americans nationwide. This number will rise to more than 3 million Americans by the end of July. I will lose my benefits if nothing is done to restore the extensions.

Senator, fiscal responsibility means holding financial institutions accountable for their actions, not punishing the unemployed. . . . Your popularity with voters will not last if you fail the people.

Sara A. Scott, Somerville

SO SENATOR Scott Brown is the most popular politician in Massachusetts. I guess “the little guys’’ must appreciate all those taxes he has saved them from paying . . ..

But . . his intransigence about the financial reform bill, which would prevent bank and Wall Street executives’ recklessness from plunging the nation into another economic meltdown, Brown objects to the $19 billion tax the industry would pay . . . He argues that the industry would “pass the tax onto consumers.’’

While his claim is dubious for several reasons, what is certain is that if the industry doesn’t pay what amounts to annual executive bonus money — chump change for the necessary monitoring — the taxpayers will.
. . . when Brown says he cares about taxes and deficits, it appears it’s the puny taxes on the richest corporations and what might detract from their profits that he’s most concerned about.

That shouldn’t be surprising. We’ve had Republicans promising to balance budgets, while cutting taxes for the last 30 years. It hasn’t worked yet, but “the little guys’’ never seem to notice or care. And so the Brown popularity bubble will continue to inflate until it bursts. . .
Rudy Termini, Cambridge

#4 "He's no Robin Hood"
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/letters/articles/2010/07/02/hes_no_robin_hood/

IN THE 1930s, Oklahoma was home to a law-breaker called “Pretty Boy Floyd,’’ known both for robbing banks and for his generosity to ordinary folks. Massachusetts is now home to a lawmaker whom I’ll call “Pretty Boy Brown,’’ known for his generosity to the big banks whose reckless behavior has robbed the nest eggs of ordinary folks.

Floyd was quite popular in Oklahoma; Brown is quite popular in Massachusetts. Go figure.

Stanley Spiegel
Brookline

(edited to add url's)

[ladym55]

9. And Globe readers deserve better than the Globe

The LTTE's are thoughtful and well-informed most days I'm reading them. The rest of the paper is getting more and more disappointing.

[ProSense]

7. Thanks for these.

Brown's only purpose is hogging the spotlight. That is why he positions himself as the 60th vote on every issue.

Well, Maria Cantwell has decided to vote yes, and his vote is likely no longer needed since Collins and Snowe are on board. Who knows Grassley could vote yes and be number 61.

[Mass]

11. Thanks, I notice Matt Viser is at it again touting the role of the senator centerfold

in the financial reform.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/07/04/politics_gives_birth_to_uncommon_partnership/?page=1

[MBS]

12. Editorial cartoon, "Scott Brown to the Rescue" : )

Dan Wasserman has been on a roll lately

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/outofline/2010/07/scott_brown_to_the_rescue.html