Barack Obama

Politicians And Regulators Tread Lightly Around JP Morgan Debacle

Brian Beutler | May 15, 2012, 5:00AM

Occupy Wall Street protesters outside a GOP event in Manchester, NH. January 07, 2012

The revelation that banking giant JP Morgan lost $2 billion making risky bets with depositor funds is only four days old, but early indications suggest that the financial industry's capture of American government successfully weathered the 2008 crisis, with nearly all the political and regulatory players invested in the consequences of this latest debacle treading lightly around the questions it raises.

It has, however, re-energized outside advocates of strengthening financial reform -- including a certain high-profile Senate candidate -- and left those who favor repealing the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law in an untenable position.

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Warren Buffett

Senate To Vote On Buffett Rule

Brian Beutler | April 16, 2012, 5:00AM

Harry Reid (D-NV) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

The Senate returns from a two-week recess Monday to tee off a fight over inequality, GOP anti-tax absolutism and the budget that will persist until Election Day.

After months of build-up, the Senate will vote on legislation that enshrines the "Buffett Rule" -- the principle that no one who makes more than $1 million a year should pay a lower effective tax rate than an average, middle-class American.

The bill is set to fail, on a party-line vote, thanks to a Republican filibuster -- and thus illustrate to voters where the two parties' priorities truly lie.

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Scott Brown

GOP Fractures Further Over Payroll Tax Mess

Brian Beutler | December 20, 2011, 3:23PM

Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

House GOP aides basically admitted this to reporters yesterday, but it bears repeating. The reason they fashioned a Rube Goldberg-esque procedural device to kill the Senate payroll tax cut compromise is that they know they're now in political free fall on the issue. By doing things the way they did, at least vulnerable House Republicans can say that they didn't vote against a tax cut for the middle class.

This was probably the only way House GOP leaders were ever going to get the minority of their caucus on board with the vote. And if you want proof, look no further than the handful of Republicans who defected from their leadership Tuesday. Or, better yet, vulnerable Senate Republicans who are in cycle in 2012.

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Payroll Tax Cut

GOP Goes To War With Itself Over Payroll Cut

Brian Beutler | December 19, 2011, 5:30PM

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) conducts a news conference along with fellow GOP members on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on November 30, 2011.

A civil war between House Republicans and their Senate counterparts had gone public over the possibility that the GOP will be held to blame if the current payroll tax cut expires on January 1. The Senators feel abandoned after having voted overwhelmingly on Saturday to pass a two month extension of the holiday -- only to have conservatives in the House GOP conference reject it publicly, and insult the legislation itself.

GOP Leaders on both sides of the Capitol are trying to contain the fallout, but with vulnerable Senate Republicans exposed, and the payroll tax cut set to lapse in less than two weeks, that's a tall order.

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Richard Cordray

GOP Filibusters Top Consumer Protection Nominee

Brian Beutler | December 8, 2011, 11:37AM

This post was updated at 11:55 a.m.

As they promised they would, the overwhelming majority of Republicans on Wednesday filibustered Richard Cordray, the uncontroversial former Ohio Attorney General whom President Obama tapped to be the director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- an agency tasked with mitigating fraudulent and dangerous financial products.

The final vote was 53-45, with one Senator, Olympia Snowe (R-ME) voting present and one, John Kerry (D-MA) not on hand to vote. GOP Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) -- running for re-election against the CFPB's godmother Elizabeth Warren -- joined the Democrats in supporting Cordray.

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Scott Brown

Massachusetts Dems Press Scott Brown To Abandon Norquist

Brian Beutler | November 21, 2011, 2:53PM

Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA)

Massachusetts Democrats are using gridlock on the Super Committee as an opening to drive a wedge between Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) and the GOP's leading anti-tax activist Grover Norquist.

"Scott Brown talks the talk on looking for bipartisan compromise, but he doesn't walk the walk," said Massachusetts Democratic Party Chair John Walsh, in a statement provided to TPM. "For Brown, asking the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share has always been off the table because of his blind allegiance to the Republican Party's agenda. Abandoning Norquist's extremist pledge that protects giveways to Big Oil and other special interests would go a long way toward showing that Scott Brown is serious about taking a balanced approach that asks the wealthiest Americans to share the burden of getting our nation's fiscal house in order instead of dumping it all on senior citizens and the middle class."

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Scott Brown

Report: Scott Brown Bucks GOP, Endorses Cordray CFPB Nominee

Brian Beutler | November 14, 2011, 5:19PM

Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA)

Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) is bucking his party and asking for an up-or-down vote for former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to run the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

"The senator supports the Cordray nomination and believes it deserves an up or down vote on the Senate floor," his spokesman John Donnelly told the Boston Globe.

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MA-SEN

Poll: Scott Brown Ahead But Under 50 Percent Against Elizabeth Warren

Eric Kleefeld | September 6, 2011, 12:08PM

Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren (D)

A new poll in Massachusetts find that Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) remains ahead in his race for re-election in 2012 -- but is well under 50 percent against former White House adviser Elizabeth Warren, a precarious spot for a Republican in this usually deep-blue state.

The new survey was sponsored by Boston's NPR station, and conducted by polling firm MassINC. The numbers: Brown 44%, Warren 35%. In match-ups against other Democrats, Brown led City Year co-founder Alan Khazei by 45%-30%, led Dem activist Bob Massie by 45%-29%, and led Newton Mayor Seti Warren 46%-28%.

In a positive sign for Brown, his favorable rating is a solid 54%, to only 25% unfavorable. On the other hand, Elizabeth Warren is at only 17%-13% favorable, with 24% undecided and a 44% plurality having never heard of her -- and Brown is nevertheless unable to reach 50% support in this Dem state.

The poll was conducted from August 30 to September 1, and has a ±4.4% margin of error.

Scott Brown

Scott Brown To Campaign Team: No More Anonymous Twitter Feeds, Guys

Evan McMorris-Santoro | August 25, 2011, 4:44PM

Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA)

Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) has told his staff to lay off the anonymous negative campaigning a day after adviser Eric Fehrnstrom admitted to being behind a Twitter feed that attacked one of Brown's potential reelection rivals.

"While it's clear Eric was seeking to inject a little levity into politics on his own time, I wasn't aware of what he was doing," Brown told the Boston Globe in a statement. Brown said to the paper he's "made clear to everyone on or associated with my team that this type of thing is not to happen again."

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MA-SEN

Khazei Calls On Scott Brown To Apologize For Fake Twitter Feed

Evan McMorris-Santoro | August 24, 2011, 3:26PM

Alan Khazei

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alan Khazei isn't letting the revelation that Sen. Scott Brown's (R-MA) campaign team is behind a fake Twitter feed that's been attacking him pass without making some political hay.

"Sen. Brown should denounce these tactics, immediately close the fake Twitter account and apologize to the citizens of Massachusetts," Khazei Chief of Staff Emily Cherniack said in a statement.

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Elizabeth Warren

Elizabeth Warren Launches Exploratory Committee

Benjy Sarlin | August 18, 2011, 12:24PM

Elizabeth Warren, Chairman of the Congressional Oversight Panel for TARP

Signalling a possible run for office, consumer advocate and Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren has launched an exploratory committee in Massachusetts.

The website, ElizabethForMA.com, went live on Thursday with a contact form for supporters interested in tracking her decision. According to the Boston Globe, Warren filed the paperwork for the new committee the same day. Warren has been heavily courted by top Senate Democrats to run against Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), who took office after winning the 2010 special election to replace the late Ted Kennedy. She gained a national following in her role as head of the Congressional Oversight Panel Chair for TARP and was a leading advocate for the creation of a consumer protection agency, a key piece of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law.

Warren has been on a "listening tour" of the state this week and recently published a post on liberal blog Blue Mass Group in which she sounded very much like a candidate.

"It is time for me to think hard about what role I can play next to help rebuild a middle class that has been hacked at, chipped at, and pulled at for more than a generation--and that that is under greater strain every day," she wrote.

MA-SEN

Gettin' Worried: Scott Brown Begs For Money To Help Fight Elizabeth Warren

Evan McMorris-Santoro | August 16, 2011, 5:38PM

Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) just might have a formidable opponent next year in former Harvard professor and progressive heartthrob Elizabeth Warren. And it looks like he's starting to get nervous about it.

On the heels of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee's $100,000 campaign cash haul on Warren's behalf, Brown's up with a new fundraising appeal begging supporters to help him before it's too late.

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Elizabeth Warren

Warren Moving Closer To Senate Run?

Michael R. Corjulo | August 12, 2011, 8:46AM

Consumer Affairs and Protection Bureau Director Elizabeth Warren

Rumours of an Elizabeth Warren Senate challenge to Republican Scott Brown (R-MA) grew Thursday as the champion of consumer protection penned a suggestive op-ed in the democratic blog Blue Mass Group.

Addressing Massachusetts voters, Warren gave a brief overview of her life story including a description of the fiscal constraints her family faced during her early childhood, her time in Washington establishing CFPB, and her desire to continue helping the middle class.

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Debt Ceiling

MA GOP Splits With Romney Over Debt Deal

Benjy Sarlin | August 2, 2011, 4:31PM

Mitt Romney Holds Campaign Event In Front Of Valley Plaza Mall in Los Angeles, July 20, 2011

It took a while, but Mitt Romney finally made up his mind and condemned the debt ceiling agreement on Monday, saying that it "opens the door to higher taxes and puts defense cuts on the table." His own state's Republican party, however, came down even harder on Democratic politicians who voted against it.

"Voting to send our country into default represents the height of irresponsibility, and these lawmakers owe their constituents an explanation for their incredibly reckless decision," Jennifer Nassour, chair of the Massachusetts GOP, said in a statement. "Massachusetts voters deserve more than blind ideology and a total refusal to compromise."

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Debt Ceiling

Democrats Eye Potential GOP Supporters Of Reid's Debt Limit Bill

Brian Beutler | July 29, 2011, 4:38PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

John Boehner's debt limit bill, dead-on-arrival in the Senate, is on autopilot for passage in the House this evening. If as expected he sends it over to the upper chamber to be killed, he will actually speed up the process by which the Senate can pass its final debt limit bill, for parliamentary reasons outlined at the bottom of this post.

So the great guessing game in the Capitol right now is figuring out 1). Which Republican Senators will ultimately support Harry Reid's debt limit bill, and 2). What changes will have to be made to it between now and midnight to make sure enough of them are on board so the bill doesn't go down in flames in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

Right now, Democrats are looking to about 11 gettable GOP votes: Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Susan Collins (R-ME), Bob Corker (R-TN), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Scott Brown (R-MA), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and Tom Coburn (R-OK). The last three were the Republican members of the Gang of Six deficit reduction group.

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Elizabeth Warren

Progressives Launch Draft Elizabeth Warren Effort, Immediately Raise $30K In Campaign Cash

Evan McMorris-Santoro | July 20, 2011, 6:05AM

Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel created to oversee the expenditure of TARP, Elizabeth Warren.

It was inevitable, given the strong feelings of support Elizabeth Warren inspires in the left: A matter of hours after President Obama appointed someone else to lead the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, the left is already hauling in thousands of dollars in campaign cash and begging Warren to run for Senate in Massachusetts.

The process is about to take the next leap, as supporters of a Warren campaign against Sen. Scott Brown launch an online ad campaign. For her part, Warren has not yet said if she'll run, though she's left the door open.

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MA-Pres

Poll: Romney Losing Massachusetts To Obama By 20 Points

Eric Kleefeld | June 10, 2011, 11:02AM

Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) and Barack Obama

Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty are gearing up to be major competitors in the Republican presidential primary race. And as it turns out, the two of them have something in common: According to new surveys from Public Policy Polling (D), they would both lose their respective home states to President Obama by serious margins -- though as the new numbers from Massachusetts show, it's much worse in Romney's case.

In the new Massachusetts survey, Obama leads Romney by a landslide margin of 57%-37% -- wider than the 51%-43% margin that Obama has over Pawlenty in Minnesota, and comparable to Obama's 56%-35% lead over the other likely Minnesotan candidate, Michele Bachmann, in that state.

As it turns out, Romney is actually the strongest Republican candidate in Massachusetts. Obama leads Herman Cain by 60%-27%, leads Newt Gingrich by 63%-27%, leads Sarah Palin by 63%-27%, and leads Pawlenty by 59%-28%.

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Medicare

Senate Republicans Vote Overwhelmingly To End Medicare

Brian Beutler | May 25, 2011, 5:52PM

Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

The GOP continued its bloody walk into the Medicare buzzsaw Wednesday, when 40 out of 47 Senate Republicans voted in support of the House GOP budget, and its plan to phase out and privatize the popular entitlement program.

The test vote failed by a vote of 57-40. But the roll call illustrates that Medicare privatization -- along with deep cuts to Medicaid and other social services -- remains the consensus position of the GOP despite the growing political backlash against them.

Voting with all of the Democrats against debating the plan were Sens. Scott Brown (R-MA), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) -- both 2012 incumbents -- along with Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). Rand Paul (R-KY) voted against it because it wasn't radical enough.

Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Pat Roberts (R-KS), and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) did not vote.

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Budget

Olympia Snowe Will Vote 'No' On House GOP budget

Benjy Sarlin | May 24, 2011, 3:34PM

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME)

Add Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) to the list of Republicans who plan to vote against the Paul Ryan budget when it comes up for a vote in the Senate this week.

"I am going to vote no on the budget because I have deep and abiding concerns about the approach on Medicare, which is essentially to privatize it," Snowe told The Portland Press Herald on Tuesday.

She added that the House GOP budget's proposal to block grant Medicaid and let states decide how to distribute the funds was also troubling.

"The states are the great laboratories," Snowe said. "But we also have an overall obligation to serve specific populations under Medicaid. We don't want to encourage a race to the bottom."

The Maine lawmakers joins Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Scott Brown (R-MA), and Rand Paul (R-KY) who have all declared their "no" vote early. Snowe, Collins, and Brown have cited its impact on seniors' Medicare benefits as their chief disagreement while Paul wants its overall cuts to go even further. Collins and Paul have made their position known for some time. Brown announced his position on Monday with an op-ed in Politico.

Medicare

Walkback Complete: Scott Brown Now Attacks GOP Medicare Plan He Recently Praised

Brian Beutler | May 23, 2011, 9:21AM

Senator Scott Brown (R-MA)

Within less than a month, Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) has gone from thanking God that Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) had proposed phasing out Medicare to penning a blistering op-ed explaining why he now opposes the idea.

Brown now says he'll vote against the House GOP budget when Democrats bring it up for a vote in the Senate, completing the walkback he began shortly after he said he'd vote for the plan. He explains his final views in a Monday Politico op-ed, becoming the first high-profile, moderate Republican to actively explain his opposition -- and his critique sounds an awful lot like the one Democrats are making.

"I cannot support his specific plan -- and therefore will vote "no" on his budget," Brown writes. "First, I fear that as health inflation rises, the cost of private plans will outgrow the government premium support-- and the elderly will be forced to pay ever higher deductibles and co-pays. Protecting those who have been counting on the current system their entire adult lives should be the key principle of reform."

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Medicare

Scott Brown: I Will Vote On The GOP's Medicare Privatizing Budget -- Not For It

Brian Beutler | May 20, 2011, 11:16AM

Senator Scott Brown (R-MA)

As Ronald Reagan might have said, prepositions are stupid things. And one of them got Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) into a heap of trouble after he told local business leaders in Massachusetts last week that he would vote "for" the House-passed GOP budget when it hits the Senate floor.

After a week's worth of blowback, his staff now says he meant to say he will vote "on" that budget -- but he hasn't yet figured out how.

"He was making the point that political games are being played in Washington, but was not saying how he would vote on the bill, which, as you know, has not come up for a vote in the Senate and is not scheduled to anytime soon," Brown spokesman Colin Reed said, according to the Newburyport Daily News.

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Medicare

Scott Brown: 'Thank God' Paul Ryan Laid Down Medicare Privatizing Budget (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | May 16, 2011, 1:03PM

Senator Scott Brown (R-MA)

Though he knows it's going to fail -- or more likely because he knows it's going to fail -- Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) says he'll vote for the House GOP budget when the Senate takes it up in the days ahead. But despite coming from a liberal state, and despite being up for re-election in 2012, he's not hiding this support for that plan.

Brown announced his intent to vote for the plan publicly Friday in front of state business leaders in Georgetown, Mass.

"The leaders will bring forward (Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's) budget, and I will vote for it, and it will fail," Brown said, according to the Newburyport Daily News. "Then the president will bring forward his budget, and it will fail. It will be great fodder for the commercials."

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Setti Warren

Setti Warren Launches Senate Bid To Take On Incumbent Scott Brown

Jon Terbush | May 9, 2011, 5:15PM

Newton Mayor Setti Warren (D)

Newton Massachusetts Mayor Setti Warren (D) formally added his name to the growing list of Democrats aiming to take on incumbent Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) when he seeks reelection next year in one of the nation's bluest states.

In a campaign video posted to his website, Warren talked at length about his parents' lives as civil rights activists, and how they founded in him a sense of "shared responsibility." Warren often returned to that theme throughout the five-minute video, taking some direct swipes at Brown along the way.

"I believe Scott Brown is an honorable man, but he has not been the independent voice in the Senate that so many expected him to be," Warren says in the video.

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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Republicans Make Power Play To Gut Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Brian Beutler | May 6, 2011, 4:11PM

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL)

On Thursday, while House Republicans were dealing with a small Medicare privatization snafu, their Senate counterparts laid down an impossible marker. Forty four of their 47 members have signed on to a letter threatening to filibuster any nominee to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unless it is dramatically weakened.

"We will not support the consideration of any nominee, regardless of party affiliation, to be the CFPB director until the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is reformed," reads a letter, co-authored by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), ranking member of the Banking Committee.

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EPA

Ads Hit McCaskill, Brown On EPA Votes

Melissa Jeltsen | April 29, 2011, 1:07PM

Sens. Scott Brown (R-MA) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO)

A Republican and a Democratic senator who both face re-election in 2012 are coming under attack for their votes to reduce the Environmental Protection Agency's regulatory power.

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Barack Obama

FLASHBACK: Obama Warns GOP That Its Rhetoric Will Make Compromising On Anything Impossible (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | April 8, 2011, 9:54AM

President Barack Obama

Just over a year ago, President Obama debated House Republicans at their retreat in Baltimore, Md. The session lasted about an hour and a half, and covered several issues -- particularly the health care bill, which was at the time imperiled by Republican Sen. Scott Brown's special election victory in Massachusetts.

About halfway through, Obama scolded Republicans for characterizing the legislation -- which was inspired by Republican policy ideas -- as a "Bolshevik plot." That was politics, but, he warned, overblown rhetoric like that would make it difficult for the two parties to come to an agreement on anything.

"[W]e've got to close the gap a little bit between the rhetoric and the reality," Obama said. "[I]f the way these issues are being presented by the Republicans is that this is some wild-eyed plot to impose huge government in every aspect of our lives, what happens is you guys then don't have a lot of room to negotiate with me."

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Scott Brown

Poll: Sen. Scott Brown Trounces Dem Challengers In Reelection Bid

Jon Terbush | April 7, 2011, 3:45PM

Senator Scott Brown (R-MA)

Despite being a Republican in one of the bluest states in the nation, Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) is wildly popular with his constituents, a majority of whom say the freshman Senator deserves to be reelected next year according to a new Suffolk University poll.

Nearly six in ten respondents in the poll of likely voters said they have a favorable opinion of Brown. And in hypothetical head-to-head matchups, Brown led all but one Democrat thrown against him by at least 15 points. Brown's only close contest, a five point lead, came against former Sen. Joe Kennedy, who has already ruled out a future Senate bid.

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112th Congress

Scott Brown Praises Paul Ryan, Says "Everything is on the Table" for Medicare

Benjy Sarlin | April 5, 2011, 1:53PM

Senator Scott Brown (R-MA)

House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan's plan to end Medicare and Medicaid as we know them might be slow to accrue supporters within his own party, but Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), a key swing vote in the Senate, indicated to TPM on Tuesday he was at least open to the idea.

"Listen, everything is on the table right now and the people understand everything is on the table," he said when asked by TPM if he had concerns about privatizing and cutting Medicare. "People recognize that we're in a financial emergency and as a result of that to say that something is not on the table is really irresponsible and I'm thankful that we have people like Congressman Ryan working and coming up with a plan."

Nonetheless, Brown suggested Republican leaders' efforts would be better spent preventing a government shutdown this week than debating new entitlement plans.

"I'm appreciative that they're finally taking debt and deficit and spending cuts seriously, but let's be real: we should be focusing on funding the government," he said. "It's great to talk about next year, but how about this week? How about getting the leadership together and just focusing on funding the government and doing what the American people expect us to do?"

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Scott Brown

Scott Brown: It 'Goes Too Far' To Cut All Planned Parenthood Funding

Jillian Rayfield | March 22, 2011, 12:08PM

Senator Scott Brown (R-MA)

Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) says he opposes the drastic cuts to Planned Parenthood passed by the House in February because "the proposal to eliminate all funding for family planning goes too far."

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Scott Brown

Poll: Scott Brown In Great Shape Heading Into 2012 Reelection Campaign

Jon Terbush | March 15, 2011, 8:37AM

Senator Scott Brown (R-MA)

Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) could drive his truck straight on to a second term in 2012.

A poll out this week from Wester New England College finds that a majority of registered voters in deep blue Massachusetts give Brown good marks on his job approval. In addition, Brown tops a couple of potential Democratic challengers in head-to-head matchups.

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'Obama's Wars'

McCain, Graham Lead Effort to Strip Holder of Detainee Authority

Susan Crabtree | March 10, 2011, 3:47PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

Six senators, led by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), are pushing for sweeping changes to the nation's laws governing detainees and the war on terror, including one that would strip Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department as a whole of the power to make decisions about where to try suspected terrorists.

The group of senators, which includes Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Scott Brown (R-MA), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), are working with Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee on a bill that would usher in comprehensive detainee policy changes and would, among other things, affirm the military's right to detain, hold and interrogate detains at its discretion without the involvement of the Department of Justice or Holder.

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Barack Obama

Panacea? Republicans Rejected Obama's Latest Health Care Entreaty Weeks Ago

Brian Beutler | March 1, 2011, 9:43AM

President Barack Obama

President Obama offered the governors of all states a grand bargain on Monday: Set up working, affordable, universal health care systems in your states in the next three years and we'll unburden you from the requirements of the health care law.

Republicans saw this coming, though, and rejected it as grounds for detente weeks ago.

"That doesn't give the states the option to opt out," said Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), at a press conference last month. "That just says they have to live under Obamacare, and they can then run it themselves."

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Scott Brown

Sen. Scott Brown Tells 60 Minutes He Was Sexually Abused By A Camp Counselor (VIDEO)

Megan Carpentier | February 16, 2011, 2:36PM

Scott Brown (R-MA)

Leslie Stahl will have a long interview with Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) on 60 Minutes this weekend, but they just released a preview in which Brown admits for the first time that he was sexually abused as a child.

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Lindsey Graham

GOP Sens Admit: Goal Of Changing Health Care Law Is To Kill It

Brian Beutler | February 1, 2011, 3:14PM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

We've reached a point in the health care fight where Republicans aren't even pretending that their efforts to tweak the bill aren't also intended to destroy it.

Case in point: A new GOP plan to allow states to opt out of the key provisions of the law is intended to undermine it and cause it to fail, its supporters admit.

"If you took half the states out of the individual mandate requirement, this bill falls, requiring us to draft something new, and quite frankly that is the goal," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. "To find a way to get the Congress to redo this bill.... We want this bill to come to an end."

Points for honesty.

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Health Care

Scott Brown: Even If I Alter The Health Care Law, I Will Repeal It

Evan McMorris-Santoro | January 25, 2011, 2:50PM

Senator Scott Brown (R-MA)

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.

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Scott Brown

Scott Brown: Forget The 'Itty-Bitty' R After My Name

Eric Lach | January 18, 2011, 9:46AM

Senator Scott Brown (R-MA)

Speaking at a Martin Luther King Jr. memorial breakfast in Boston yesterday, Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) expressed support for bipartisan seating at the State of the Union. The one-time Tea Party poster boy minimized the importance of political affiliation, saying "people need to forget about the little itty-bitty letter behind my name and other people's names."

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START treaty

Dems Close In On START Ratification

Brian Beutler | December 21, 2010, 10:12AM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama

At this point it's all but certain that the Democrats will be able to ratify the new START treaty before the end of the week. Yesterday was a breakthrough, as key on-the-fence Senators announced their support or near support. But the dam fully broke this morning when Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) -- the Senate's third-ranking Republican -- broke with his leadership team, including anti-START ringleader Jon Kyl, to announce his support.

"I will vote to ratify the new START treaty," Alexander said on the Senate floor. Even after the arms reductions the treaty demands, Alexander said, the US will still have enough weapons to blow "enemies" to "kingdom come."

He joins Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) as the most recent Republican to announce their intent to support the treaty; Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) is widely expected to solidify his support for the treaty as well.

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START treaty

Scott Brown Announces Support For START Treaty

Megan Carpentier | December 20, 2010, 4:59PM

Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA)

Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) today announced that he would both vote in favor of cloture on the START treaty and for its eventual passage, bucking GOP leadership. Many of his party's leaders have been complaining that they haven't had enough time to review the treaty, signed in April, and that last weekend's Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal vote "poisoned" the lame duck session.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs announced earlier today that the Administration expects the treaty to pass, due in part to Senators like Brown willing to buck party leadership on the legislation.

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Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Brown Downplays 'Yes' Vote On DADT

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 18, 2010, 12:19PM

Senator Scott Brown (R-MA)

TPM caught up with Sen Scott Brown (R-MA), one of six Republicans to vote for DADT repeal today. He seemed to seek to downplay his role in helping the ban end.

Asked if he was involved in pushing more GOPers to vote aye on repeal, Brown said "no."

"It's just another vote," Brown said as a staffer hustled him downstairs.

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