In a recent op-ed for the Boston Globe, Professor Charles Fried, a life-long Republican, writes that before he can give Senator Scott Brown his support in the next election, Fried needs to know what kind of Republican Brown is.
Fried writes: “Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell candidly stated that it was his goal to make Barack Obama a one-term president. House Speaker John Boehner and the Tea Party freshmen have been even more fervent in this goal. But the patriotic duty of all office-holders is to make the government succeed for the American people, not to wreck it so that they might win the next election. Nothing exemplified these Republicans’ attitude more than their explicit threat to see the United States default rather than allow any rise in taxes. …
At least Brown didn’t choose default over the budget deal forced on us by McConnell and Boehner. But will Brown accept the principle that there must be revenue increases – maybe some rate increases but certainly the elimination of loopholes and trimming of some deductions? Yes or no?”