As to read this... recall, he has a re-election campaign as well as a potential 2012 run to consider.

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Brown should seize the chance to be a uniter, not ‘Mr. 41’

Globe Editorial, February 20, 2010

SCOTT BROWN campaigned for the US Senate as a problem solver who values good ideas more than partisan labels, and he should make good on that vow in the debate over a bill to create jobs. What began as an ambitious package of business tax breaks and other incentives has given way to a timid $15 billion measure that will have only minor effects on unemployment. Brown could end an impasse - and dispel profound mutual distrust between Democrats and Republicans - by signaling a serious commitment to help develop and pass a more ambitious jobs bill.

The current political dynamics on Capitol Hill all point toward paralysis. Congressional Republicans have shown little willingness to let the Obama administration claim any domestic-policy successes, and their celebration of Brown as a filibuster-upholding “Mr. 41’’ bespeaks a continuing desire to block any and all Democratic initiatives. For their part, Democrats - including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who faces the Nevada electorate in November - seem paralyzed by the fear that they’ll be tarred as big spenders by voters wary of yawning federal deficits.

Democrats have yet to secure any Republican support for a $15 billion jobs bill, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Thursday.

“I don’t think anyone has committed to voting for the package, but there are a number of people who say they are interested in looking at it,” said Schumer, the third-ranking member of Senate Democratic leadership.

Schumer also did not say if the entire Democratic Conference would vote on Monday to call up the legislation sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

“Do we expect every Democrat to vote for this bill?” he posed. “I don’t think a whip count has been done, but I know it has very broad support.”

Democrats no longer have a filibuster-proof majority in the chamber. Absent support from at least one Republican, along with a unified Democratic Conference, the measure will go nowhere.

The difficulty in securing the necessary 60 votes comes after Reid scaled back an $85 billion jobs bill by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and ranking Republican Chuck Grassley (Iowa) to focus on a narrower package of tax cuts and infrastructure spending. The Baucus-Grassley proposal had bipartisan support and was endorsed by the White House.

The centerpiece to Reid’s bill is a $13 billion tax credit, which employers can claim for hiring employees who have been out of work for more than 60 days. Schumer and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) drafted the tax credit. But while Hatch’s staff said he supports that provision, he won’t commit to Reid’s bill.

More . . .

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-- Edited by Sanders on Saturday 20th of February 2010 12:54:03 PM