Hey Mitch McConnell, don’t let the door hit you

| 10:00 pm EDT April 4, 2019
Dear Palmer Report readers, we all understand the difficult era we're heading into. Major media outlets are caving to Trump already. Even the internet itself and publishing platforms may be at risk. But Palmer Report is nonetheless going to lead the fight. We're funding our 2025 operating expenses now, so we can keep publishing no matter what happens. I'm asking you to contribute if you can, because the stakes are just so high. You can donate here.

House Democrats are busy working on the agenda items that swept them into power. There’s one problem: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. He will not even look at the proposals, let alone move them to the floor for a vote. This is obstruction at its worst, and McConnell needs to go.

Everyone remembers McConnell’s infamous move of blocking President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, who was not even a liberal judge. Research shows that his votes leaned liberal on some issues and very conservative on other issues, making him more of a moderate than anything else. Regardless of his record, McConnell blocked even so much as a hearing for Judge Garland for no reason other than to prevent President Obama from putting another judge on the Supreme Court. Yet McConnell was all for the disastrous Brett Kavanaugh simply because Donald Trump nominated him. McConnell has also twisted the rules to allow these nominations to pass through more quickly, using a “nuclear option” to change the Senate rules to a simple majority which will allow them to approve judges even faster. This is just wrong, and it needs to stop.

Our representatives are in Washington for one reason only: To protect and/or assert the interests of the constituents they represent. That’s not happening due to partisan politics. The Democrats have introduced a health care proposal, gun safety legislation, and voting reforms, all of which sit in McConnell’s hands, never to see the light of day. While Democrats are rapidly trying to follow through on the promises made in their dominant House takeover, Mitch McConnell does what he does best: block legislation.

The other Republicans are no better. Politico quotes Republican Senator John Cornyn as saying “We are the firewall. Most of that stuff is really easy for Republicans in the Senate to message against. We think a lot of the ideas over there are crazy.” Crazy? Crazy to enact laws aimed at preventing additional mass shootings? Crazy to fix voting so that Republicans can no longer cheat? Crazy to provide decent healthcare to American citizens? No, he and the rest of the Republicans are crazy.

It is clear from their words that the Republicans don’t even know what the Democrats are proposing. They won’t even look at the proposals, and instead merely say they “won’t work.” How do they know if they haven’t examined them? Think about it for a minute. The Republicans haven’t even bothered to look at these proposals but are dead set on blocking them. Why? Because the Democrats wrote them? This is partisan politics at its worst.

While the Democrats are trying to enact legislation that improves life for all Americans — not just those who voted for them — Mitch McConnell and the Republicans want to “give [the proposals] the Merrick Garland treatment,” as Politico quotes Democratic Senator Dick Durbin. This is despicable, and it needs to end in 2020. Democratic Senator Gerry Connolly said to Politico, “If all they do under McConnell’s leadership is block everything in a presidential turnout year, I think they really risk losing some of their seats like Maine, like Colorado, like Arizona.” It is our job as voters to ensure that Connolly’s statement comes to pass. It’s time to send Mitch McConnell and his gang packing.