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Stories tagged with “Scott Brown”

Election

Former Massachusetts Senator Suggests He Might Run In New Hampshire

By Jeff Spross on Apr 14, 2013 at 12:00 pm

Scott Brown, the Republican who served for two years as a Massachusetts senator, told Fox News Sunday he hasn’t ruled out retooling his senate ambitions to focus on the seat from the neighboring state of New Hampshire. Brown originally won the Massachusetts seat held by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) in a 2010 special election after Kennedy passed away, but was booted from office two years later with the election of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

Brown said “nothing’s off the table and nothing’s on the table” when he was asked about a possible New Hampshire run this morning by Chris Wallace, but not before fellow panelist Karl Rove was able to slip in an attempt to justify Brown’s dual-state loyalties:

CHRIS WALLACE Senator Brown, there is talk that you mighty make Senate run again in 2014. But not in Massachusetts, in New Hampshire. Why new Hampshire?

SCOTT BROWN: I’m not gonna comment on that obviously. I think it’s important to continue to do my job here and challenge people to do things better.

WALLACE: But you did say nothing’s off the table.

BROWN: Nothing’s off the table and nothing’s on the table. Right now I’m recharging the batteries and working hard.

KARL ROVE: This guy is a ninth generation New Hampshirite. That’s the dirty little secret. His mother lives there.

Brown’s current job is counsel and de facto provider of Washington contacts for the law and lobbying firm Nixon Peabody. (Senators may not engage in out-and-out lobbying for two years after leaving office, under United States law.) Among their clients is the Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs, which gave Brown $10,000 in PAC donations for the 2012 campaign cycle, along with over $100,000 more in contributions from the bank’s individual employees.

During his short stay in the Senate, Brown worked to water down and weaken the financial regulatory law Dodd-Frank, and earned the moniker of one of “Wall Street’s Favorite Congressmen” from Forbes Magazine.

Brown has since joined Fox News Channel as a contributor, and according to The Hill he owns a house in New Hampshire and has emphasized his family ties to the state.

Economy

After Watering Down Financial Reform, Ex-Senator Scott Brown Joins Goldman Sachs’ Lobbying Firm

By Josh Israel on Mar 11, 2013 at 3:45 pm

Former Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA)

Former Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA)

During his nearly three years in the U.S. Senate, Scott Brown (R-MA) frequently came to the aid of the financial sector — watering down the Dodd-Frank bill and working to weaken it after its passage — and accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign cash from the industry. Now, the man Forbes Magazine called one of “Wall Street’s Favorite Congressmen” will use those connections as counsel for Nixon Peabody, an international law and lobbying firm.

The Boston Globe noted Monday that while Brown himself will not be a lobbyist — Senators may not lobby their former colleagues for the first two years after leaving office, under the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 — “he will be leaning heavily on his Washington contacts to drum up business for the firm.” The position will also allow him “to begin cashing in on his contacts with the financial services industry, which he helped oversee in the Senate.”

Among the lobbying clients represented by Nixon Peabody is Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street behemoth that reportedly skirted the Dodd-Frank rules . Brown received $10,000 in PAC contributions from Goldman and more than $100,000 in contributions from its employees.

Brown was also the deciding vote against the DISCLOSE Act, which would have allowed voters to see which moneyed interests were funding secret political ads. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which reportedly received millions from Goldman Sachs, led the opposition to the bill.

Last month, Brown joined Fox News Channel as a contributor. In his first appearance in that capacity, he lamented that Congress is “dysfunctional and extremely partisan,” and promised to “stay involved” by being “part of the election process back home and other elections throughout the country.”

Alyssa

Why Fox News Psychiatrist Keith Ablow Should Run For John Kerry’s Massachusetts Senate Seat

By Alyssa Rosenberg on Jan 4, 2013 at 3:06 pm

In the next in a series of events that suggest 2013 is going to be a combination of exceedingly dispiriting and highly entertaining for me, Dr. Keith Ablow, the Fox News contributor who regularly comes on the network’s shows to put his psychiatrist training to absolutely ludicrous use, is considering running for the Massachusetts Senate seat that John Kerry will vacate if he is confirmed as the next Secretary of State.

It’s easy to get enraged about the causes in which Ablow enlists his medical credentials. This is a man, after all, who wished that Newtown teachers had been armed, who thinks working mothers are self-hating, thinks some adopted children are power-mad, gets viscerally disgusted at mentions of transgender people, thinks letting men veto abortions would solve a so-called absentee father crisis, and keeps alive the worst remnants of his profession, endorsing thoroughly debunked science about changing gay people’s sexual orientations. And that’s not even to mention his views, of particular interest to this blog, on the impact of violent media on children. These views are vile and in some cases actively damaging, and it’s shameful that Ablow would lend his psychiatric expertise to validating them.

But there’s an element of brilliant performance art to Ablow’s work, as upsetting as it may be. His role on the network is in keeping with Fox’s tendency to bait its opponents by hiring extreme figures like Mark Fuhrman, the former Los Angeles detective who plead no contest to charges he perjured himself during the murder trial of O.J. Simpson, to comment on criminal justice issues. There’s a double audacity to those assignments. It’s not just what people like Ablow and Fuhrman say. It’s that Fox treats them as credible experts at all, credentialing them through contracts and frequent airtime. And that’s exactly why I’d love to see Ablow run for Senate, and primary former Senator Scott Brown, who’s started his third attempt at getting or holding on to a Massachusetts Senate seat by calling into question Democratic contender Rep. Ed Markey’s residency eligibility to compete for the seat.
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NEWS FLASH

Republican Senator Who Received An ‘A’ Rating From The NRA Backs Assault Weapons Ban | Outgoing Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) told The Republican/MassLive.com on Wednesday that he now supports federal action to ban assault weapons after the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Brown, who lost reelection in November to Elizabeth Warren, was once a darling of the National Rifle Association, which awarded Brown a lifetime ‘A’ rating during his first senate campaign for 2010′s special election to fill the late Ted Kennedy’s senate seat. Brown had supported the state’s assault weapon ban but remained opposed to any federal action until last week’s tragedy changed his mind. “As a state legislator in Massachusetts I supported an assault weapons ban thinking other states would follow suit. But unfortunately, they have not and innocent people are being killed…As a result, I support a federal assault weapons ban, perhaps like the legislation we have in Massachusetts,” he told the news organization.

LGBT

Voters Preferred Full Equality Advocates Over Log Cabin-Endorsed Anti-Gay Republicans

By Josh Israel on Nov 19, 2012 at 1:35 pm

Marriage equality support Ann Kuster (D) unseated Rep. Charlie Bass (R) (Credit: David Lane / Union Leader)

In endorsing anti-LGBT Mitt Romney earlier this year, a spokesman for the Log Cabin Republicans explained that the group believes “we should never make the perfect the enemy of the good.” In endorsing a slate of 13 Congressional incumbents with an average Human Rights Campaign score of 38 percent, they lived up to that belief. But voters defeated six of those incumbents, replacing them with Democrats who are full-fledged supporters of marriage equality.

Just one Congressional Republican — Log Cabin Republican endorsee Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) — has endorsed marriage equality. Rather than just endorse her and other challengers who were willing to endorse equality, the group backed some candidates who were literally 0s on equality.

In the past, the Log Cabin Republicans have argued that “to attain substantial legislative progress, we need votes from both sides of the aisle — Republican and Democrat.” But these six defeats of so-called “pro-equality champions” show voters in moderate districts preferred candidates who support the LGBT community 100 percent.

The six defeated fair-weathered “allies” were:

1. Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA). Brown, who was among the ThinkProgress Anti-LGBT Dirty Dozen Senate candidates based on his opposition to same-sex unions and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, lost to Senator-Elect Elizabeth Warren by a 54 to 46 margin. Warren strongly backed marriage equality throughout her campaign and prominently featured her support for LGBT equality on her campaign website. Brown continues to oppose marriage equality even though same-sex marriage has been legal in Massachusetts since the 2003 Goodridge v. Department of Public Health ruling by the state’s Supreme Judicial Court.

2. Rep. Charlie Bass (R-NH). Bass, who earned just a 15 percent HRC score for his second stint in Congress, was defeated by Ann Kuster by a 50 to 45 margin. Kuster signed Freedom to Marry’s pledge to support marriage equality and noted on her campaign website that she believed the government should stay out of questions “including whom to marry, when and whether to bear a child and how to raise kind and compassionate children.” Bass has not backed marriage equality even though same-sex marriage has been legal in New Hampshire since the governor signed a marriage equality bill into law in 2009.

3. Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL). Biggert was defeated by former Rep. Bill Foster by a 58 to 42 margin. Biggert expressed in the campaign that she was “close to reaching for gay marriages” but did not yet support them. Foster hit her for her opposition, noting that he was “not ambiguous” in his support for equality. “She has not yet evolved. So, she’s crawling out of the swamp or something… I’m all dry, fluffed off and happy to be a hominid.”

4. Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-CA). Bono Mack, though supportive of her openly-transgender step-son, steadfastly refused to back marriage equality. She lost to Raul Ruiz, by a 52 to 48 margin. Ruiz frequently made his support for LGBT equality part of his campaign stump speech and highlighted on his campaign website: “I believe that no one should be discriminated against on the basis of who they love or their gender, religion, or race. I support the equal rights of gay and lesbian couples to marry who they love. We need to move our policies towards those which advocate fairness and equality for all.”

5. Rep. Bob Dold (R-IL). Dold, who voted for LGBT equality just 35 percent of the time in his lone House term, was defeated by Brad Schneider, by a 50.5 to 49.5 margin. Before the Chicago Tribune editorial board, Dold argued that marriage should be reserved for only opposite-sex couples. Schneider, on his campaign website page on LGBT equality wrote: “I believe that two people who desire to make a lifelong commitment to build a future together should have the right to do so, and it should be called ‘marriage,’ plain and simple. Only by extending the full and complete rights, benefits, and protections that flow from marriage can we claim that all people and families are truly equal. I strongly hold that all Americans should be entitled to the unconditional right to marry, regardless of sexual orientation.”

6. Rep. Nan Hayworth (R-NY). Hayworth, who refused to back marriage equality despite having an openly gay son and being a member of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus, lost to Sean Patrick Maloney, by a 52 to 48 margin. Though Hayworth’s home state of New York made same-sex marriage legal in 2011 through legislation, she continued to refused to back marriage equality. Maloney, who is openly gay, is a strong proponent of marriage equality who helped push for its enactment in the state legislature. Maloney attacked Hayworth for her lack of support for the state law and for her silence on the issue.

Polls now show the majority of Americans support marriage equality and voters in all four states considering the same-sex marriage questions on Election Day voted in favor of LGBT families. These six races show that voters in “swing” districts will no longer give a free pass to those who are occasionally for equality; when given the option to elect someone who stands firmly for LGBT rights, they are choosing perfect over mediocre.

Economy

Four GOP Senate Candidates Who Lost The Argument On Taxes

By Travis Waldron on Nov 7, 2012 at 11:00 am

Swing states across the American electoral map repudiated Republican candidates for the United States Senate Tuesday, sending many to defeat and allowing Democrats to strengthen their hold on the nation’s upper legislative chamber. One of the major arguments across key races was over the future of America’s tax code and whether the wealthy needed to pay their fair share or, in some instances, if they should instead receive another tax cut.

Here are four GOP Senate candidates who lost the argument over taxes last night:

1. Sen. Scott Brown — Massachusetts: Massachusetts’ junior senator lost his race to Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren (D) after being repeatedly hit for his opposition to raising taxes on millionaires and for his opposition to a payroll tax cut extension that would have largely benefited the middle class. Taxes were the “sharpest difference” between the two, according to the Boston Globe, and Warren ran ads against Brown’s filibuster of the payroll tax cut extension and in debates tied him to Grover Norquist, the anti-tax activist who authored a radical no-taxes pledge. While Brown opposed raising taxes on the wealthy, that policy was a “central plank” of the victorious Warren’s campaign.

2. Linda McMahon — Connecticut: McMahon, a former professional wrestling executive, released a tax plan that was virtually identical to presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s. And like Romney, McMahon pitched her plan as a tax cut for the middle class even as it provided massive tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations. McMahon often misrepresented the details of that plan, particularly when her opponent, Rep. Chris Murphy (D), challenged her in debates.

3. Tommy Thompson — Wisconsin: Thomspon also faced criticism from his opponent, Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D), for his support of Norquist’s tax pledge, which he seemed to misunderstand in one debate when he stated that it did not prohibit increasing taxes on the wealthy. While Baldwin was a sponsor of the Buffett Rule, President Obama’s plan to institute a minimum tax on millionaires, Thompson supported new tax cuts for the rich.

4. Josh Mandel — Ohio: Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) repeatedly hit Mandel for his support of Norquist’s tax pledge. “Signing a pledge to a fat-cat lobbyist like Grover Norquist is essentially giving away your right to think,” Brown said to Mandel during one of their debates. Mandel called for the elimination of the estate tax and reductions in investment and corporate tax rates, both giveaways to the rich. Mandel also called for a “flatter, fairer” tax code, the type of change that would almost surely raise taxes on low- and middle-income voters while giving the rich a huge tax cut.

NEWS FLASH

How Elizabeth Warren Should Handle Bobby Valentine’s Firing From The Red Sox | Totally unsurprisingly, after a dreadful performance by the team and continuing internal strain, Bobby Valentine will not be returning to manage the Red Sox in the 2013 season. Maybe now Massachusetts political pundits can switch to asking Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown who they’d like to see take over the helm next year. Hint to Warren: call for former Sox pitching coach John Farrell to return to Massachusetts from his stint managing the Blue Jays.

NEWS FLASH

Audience Boos Scott Brown For Naming Scalia As ‘Model Justice’ | Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) was booed by the audience at the second Massachusetts Senate Debate on Monday evening, after he named conservative Justice Antonin Scalia as his model Supreme Court justice. Upon hearing the crowd’s reaction, he quickly added Justices Anthony Kennedy, Sonia Sotomayor, and Chief Justice John Roberts to his list. “That’s the beauty of being an independent,” Brown quipped. Watch it:

Election

Chief Of Cherokee Nation Blasts Brown Staffers: ‘Downright Racist’

By Annie-Rose Strasser on Sep 26, 2012 at 12:15 pm

The Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation on Wednesday released a statement condemning the employees of Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) after a video surfaced of three campaign staffers mocking Brown’s opponent’s Native American heritage.

“The conduct of these individuals goes far beyond what is appropriate and proper in political discourse,” said Chief Bill John Baker in his statement, “The use of stereotypical ‘war whoop chants’ and ‘tomahawk chops’ are offensive and downright racist.”

Baker called on Brown to “apologize for the offensive actions of his staff and their uneducated, unenlightened and racist portrayal of native peoples,” and said, “A campaign that would allow and condone such offensive and racist behavior must be called to task for their actions.”

Warren’s Cherokee and Delaware Native American ancestry has been a frequent line of attack for Brown, with the campaign even running ads on the topic. The Senator did say Tuesday, however, that he did not “condone” their actions.

Election

Racial Politics: Scott Brown Staffers Mock Warren With ‘Tomahawk Chop’ And ‘War Whoop’

By Annie-Rose Strasser on Sep 25, 2012 at 10:55 am

As part of his re-election campaign, Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) has attacked his opponent for mischaracterizing herself as Native American. Elizabeth Warren does have Cherokee ancestry, but Brown claims she abused that to gain a professional advantage by listing herself as a minority.

Perhaps Brown’s sensitivity to the issue ends there. On Tuesday, a video surfaced of Brown staffers doing a ‘tomahawk chop’ and making ‘war whoop’ sounds at Warren supporters, an apparent allusion to the dust up over Warren’s heritage. The incident occurred outside of a pub in Boston on Friday.

Watch it:

According to News Center 5 in Boston, the video captures three Brown staffers: “Deputy Chief of Staff Greg Casey, Constituent Service Counsel Jack Richard, and GOP operative Brad Garrett.”

Warren’s mother is part Delaware and part Cherokee.

Update

Brown told reporters Tuesday afternoon that he did not support his staffers’ actions, but quickly turned the conversation back to an attack on Warren, saying that was “the real issue”:

“Well, I haven’t seen it, this is the first I’m hearing of it,” Brown told reporters. “But … if you’re saying that, certainly that’s not something I condone. It’s certainly something that if I am aware of it, I’ll tell that [staff] member to never do it again. But the real issue here is, and the real offense is the fact that Professor Warren checked the box. She said that she was white, and then she checked the box saying she was Native American.”

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