Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) has found himself on the opposite side of his tea party supporters on more than one occasion since his unlikely ascension to the seat vacated by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D). On financial reform, the jobs bill, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal and several other laws, Brown has turned his back on the ultra-partisan right — and drawn their fire because of it.
But the if the House bill to repeal the health care reform law ever comes up for a vote in the Senate, Brown says he’s ready to march in lockstep with the frustrated conservatives that propelled him to office last January.
Brown told TPM today that he’d vote to repeal health care reform if he gets the chance, even if the legislation he’s co-sponsored with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) to significantly alter the reform package finds success first.
“I’m not going to get into hypotheticals,” he said when I asked him if he’d vote for a health care repeal. “I’m going to wait until something actually comes forth, so we can kind of figure it out.”
“But I would repeal it,” Brown added. When I asked if that position would change if his proposal — which would allow states to essentially opt out of the federal reforms three years earlier than the law currently allows — Brown shook his head.
Some have suggested that the Brown/Wyden plan would rescue the law from being overturned in the courts, should it come to that. But it seems that enacting his own plan still won’t turn Brown into a reform backer.
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