Senator Brown Already Compromised

The fair-haired golden boy of the Conservative movement, Senator Scott Brown (R-MA), has within a few weeks of taking office already been a key vote on a bill that once again sees the government giving favors to certain sectors of the population at the expense of others.

"Brown and four other Republicans broke with GOP leaders to advance the measure. Most other Republicans opposed the bill because Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada stripped out provisions they had sought and wouldn't allow them to try to restore them.

The bill featured four provisions that enjoyed sweeping bipartisan support, including a measure exempting businesses hiring the unemployed from Social Security payroll taxes through December and giving them another $1,000 credit if new workers stay on the job a full year."

Even if this bill creates the 250,000 jobs that its supporters claim it might (and that, by the way, is highly, highly dubious), it really represents continued efforts of Congress and the Presidency to essentially create winners and losers via the tax code.

The sooner Senator Brown realizes that Congress should be focused on spending cuts that are not offset under pay-go rules with tax hikes, that a principled reform of the tax code is absolutely necessary to reduce its annual take and that it's not the job of Congress to either "stimulate" the economy or to decide which constituent is currently worthy of largess, the faster America can recover from the damage its politicians have created.