"Grim Reaper" Mitch McConnell Admits He is Preventing Votes on 395 Bills Passed by the House

The "Grim Reaper," is living up to his nickname. On Friday, Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell admitted on Fox News that he is preventing the Senate from voting on 395 bills that have passed the House of Representatives. Many of them are bipartisan and some had overwhelming Republican support in the House.

The stalled legislation includes the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, the Bipartisan [Gun] Background Checks Act, and bills to secure future elections, raise the minimum wage, lower prescription drug prices, protect those with preexisting medical conditions, make voting easier, expand support for veterans and many, many more.

And the day after Republican Senate Budget Chairman Mike Enzi announced that his committee won't even discuss Donald Trump's new budget plan, McConnell said that he won't try to pass a budget resolution this year.

The Hill: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced Tuesday that he does not plan to put a budget resolution on the Senate floor, which could subject vulnerable GOP colleagues up for reelection this year to tough votes on Medicare and other issues."

For all practical purposes, McConnell has shut the Senate down until after the Fall election. It has now become a legislative "graveyard," where good ideas go to die.

So, what is McConnell's strategy? In preventing the Senate from considering the House bills, he is trying to accomplish four things.

1. McConnell knows that many of the House bills would pass in the Senate if given an up or down vote. Much of the legislation is popular with the general public, even with many Republicans, but opposed by Senate conservatives. So, his only choice is to prevent the Senate from ever getting a chance to vote on the proposals.

2. McConnell doesn't want Senate Republicans on record as opposing the legislation. He is afraid that conservative opposition to the proposals would be used against them in the Fall elections.

3. He doesn't want Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats to get credit for passing laws that are widely supported by voters. McConnell prefers to allege that the House is spending all its time investigating the President.

4. He is protecting the President. McConnell knows that Trump opposes many of the bills, and would veto them if they passed the Senate. He doesn't want to put the President in that situation, especially in an election year.

Is there a solution to the problem? Yep, elect more Democratic Senators in 2020 and send McConnell packing.

#news #opinion #2020election #politics

By: Don Lam & Curated Content