Scott Brown Votes With Dems on Jobs Bill

Tea Party darling/tool of GOP obstructionism Scott Brown has cast an important procedural vote in support of Harry Reid’s jobs bill (Olympia Snow also sided with Dems — giving the 2nd GOP vote needed to avoid filibuster). Brown released the following statement:

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. This Senate jobs bill is not perfect. I wish the tax cuts were deeper and broader, but I will vote for it because it contains measures that will help put people back to work.

I was disappointed with the continuation of politics-as-usual in the drafting of this bill, as it was crafted behind closed doors, without transparency and accountability. I hope for improvements in that process going forward. All of us, Republicans and Democrats, have to work together to get our economy back on track. I hope my vote today is a strong step toward restoring bipartisanship in Washington.

Brown’s win in Massachusetts’ January election ended the Democrats’ 60 votes majority in the Senate — and Brown seemed game to help Republicans block Democrats’ policy. In this case though, he appears to have bucked GOP obstructionism (of course, Mass voters are not wing-nuts, and Brown clearly needs to paint himself as independent. As Lizmv points out in comments, “Brown IS a Massachusetts Senator. He knows damned well he has to run again in 20 months.”)

All that said: as Kos put it in his Twitter feed: “Scott Brown just voted for the jobs bill. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!”

(Update: 3 more Republicans voted to push through the bill: Susan Collins, George Voinovich, and Christopher Bond. Democrat Ben Nelson (Nebraska) voted against).