Brown Stresses Jobs, Problem Solving
U.S. Sen. Scott Brown said this morning that the biggest problem he hears about from businesses is a lack of certainty about regulations and taxes.
"It's the fear of not knowing what's next," Brown told approximately 140 members of the Chamber of Central Mass South gathered this morning at Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge. "You're just not sure, so you're kind of holding back."
In an interview after his speech, Brown said he's thankful the national unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent in December, but he's not satisfied that millions of Americans are still jobless.
"We're still at record high unemployment numbers and a lot of folks have just stopped looking," he said. "A lot of folks who want full-time work are getting part-time work."
Brown, who will officially announce his reelection campaign next week in Worcester, faces a potential reelection challenge from Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard professor who was President Obama's first choice to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But her nomination faced fierce opposition from Republicans. Interestingly, Brown was the only Republican to support Obama's recess appointment of Richard Cordray last month to head the bureau, which seeks to be a watchdog over lenders and other financial businesses.
"I hate recess appointments, but it's something that's happened with every presidency," Brown said. "I think it's time to put the partisanship aside and get the agency up and running and see what it can and can't do."
It's not the only issue on which Brown has disagreed with his party.
In his speech to the chamber audience, he criticized both Democrats and Republicans for "hyper partisanship," which he said is helping stifle the job growth needed for an economic recovery.
"We need people down there who are going to be problem solvers, not rock throwers," he said.
He estimated that there are approximately 40 members of Congress who fit into the problem-solving category.
Brown noted that he has been more willing than perhaps any other senator to break ranks with his party, as he did in December when he criticized Republicans for their initial opposition to a payroll tax extension for 2012. Congress later voted on a two-month extension.
"I thought the House Republicans were acting inappropriately and I called them out on it," he said. "I said I'd go down there and be an independent voter and thinker. That's exactly what I'm doing."
Brown said he plans to keep pushing for a crowd-funding bill he introduced in November. It would allow smaller investors to buy shares of startup companies on websites before they go public. Investments would be capped at $1,000 and such companies could sell no more than $1 million in such stock per year.
Brown said the bill addresses tightened lending since the recession began.
"There are a lot of great ideas out there but there's no funding sources," he said.
But like many things in Washington these days, the bill is stuck in committee, Brown said.
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