I hate to be the one to say it; but, I knew this was coming.
The Hill tells the story:
Newly-seated Republican Sen. Scott Brown (Mass.) on Monday joined Democrats in voting to move forward on their $15 billion jobs bill.
Brown crossed the aisle after Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) nixed an $85 billion, bipartisan plan in favor of a more narrowly-focused bill.
“I came to Washington to be an independent voice, to put politics aside, and to do everything in my power to help create jobs for Massachusetts families,” Brown said in a statement. “This Senate jobs bill is not perfect. I wish the tax cuts were deeper and broader, but I voted for it because it contains measures that will help put people back to work.”
Democrats needed to poach Brown and and least one other Republican to reach the 60 votes necessary. Centrist Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Olympia Snowe (Maine) also voted for cloture on the proposal.
Reitiring GOP Sens. George Voinovich (Ohio) and Kit Bond (R-Mo.) also voted for cloture.
The reaction across the Blogosphere is mixed:
Don Surber is feeling like a chump:
I feel like a sucker right about now.
We’ve been tea-bagged.
Brown/Biden 2012.
Dr Melissa Clouthier is trying to put on the brave face:
A Twitter friend said that he’s still better than Teddy Kennedy. Well. The only reason for a Republican Senator is to stop any sort of spending bills.
[…]
Now, I’m hoping that the next big spending bill that comes along Scott Brown body slams. That’s unlikely to happen before the midterms in November. Even Democrats are worried about big spending bills right now.
Dan‘s a bit more direct:
When Scott Brown starts crafting national health care legislation, or sounding like the liberal lion of the Senate, get back to me. Until then, it’s Massachusetts. We’re still a long way ahead on the deal.
Michelle Malkin is saying, “I told you so!”:
Yes, sigh, Scott Brown. Looks like he hasn’t taken up my suggested D.C. itinerary. But those of us who knew all along what we were getting — a game-changer who vowed to torpedo Demcare, but who was not an ideological conservative — are not surprised. And I pointed out Brown’s moderate record several times on Fox and on this blog during the campaign.
….and for a Final Touch, I received this private message from a Joe Santelli on facebook:
WHO CARES WHAT YOU FUCKING THINK….IT IS MA VOTERS WHO COUNT WITH HIM!
Scott Browns closet gay lover maybe? Hmmmm….Obviously, a Democrat. 🙄
Anyhow, this right here is why I was not falling all over myself to support this guy. Somewhere between the tea party movement and the Scott Brown campaign; the message became a bit muddled. What Scott Brown’s idea of real Conservatism is, and what actually fiscal Conservative values are, are obviously two different things. You have to the learn the language of politics, when a candidate says, “I am going to do the will of the people, who voted for me…” and it is regarding a bill that Conservatives traditionally oppose; that usually means that person is going to go against Conservative principles. Also, when someone says, “Well, the Campaign is over now…” and proceeds to change a position, that is usually a good idea that this person is going to break a campaign promise in a big way. It happened with Barack Obama’s Campaign and now it is happening again with Scott Brown. The bad part is, people were suckered into believing the hype on this guy. I always try and look past the hype, and see what the person is really like. Kind of like Ron Paul; once you get past the hype, there’s really not much there.
Ah well, live and learn, I suppose. Maybe the Tea Party movement can learn from this one. That you do not support someone, unless you REALLY know them first.
When you as a republican sit next to Harry Reid in a photo op, smiling and agreeing to vote with Harry Reid, that is called a rhino. To you who think Browns vote is only for MA, think again, Brown is not a state senator He is now US SENATOR, WHICH effects the rest of the country. Seems like these wantabe politicians from the NE tend to be Rhinos.
Told my husband from the start to watch out for Scott Brown, if you LISTENED to the man much like BHO he said what he would do. An obvious clue was his adoration of John McCain! Billie is right on, Brown said he would do what is best for MASS a TOTAL BLUE STATE he is a US Sen now and will often join with the Ms Rhinos of Maine in the future. Look back it was mainly Rhinos & hard liners praising his win. I was nervous and I unfortunetly was right. Research these candidates they affect the life of EVERY US citizen.
This is why I said on my site from the get-go that Brown winning is good but not great. He broke the super majority but in some ways it won’t even matter if he votes with Democrats.