Mitch McConnel: GOP's top ratfucker

Interesting profile piece on how Mitch McConnell rose to become the top gun of GOP ratfuckery. If you wondered how he gets away with his transparent dirty tricks, this would explain it:

McConnell nevertheless manipulates the press masterfully, using methods that are head-smackingly obvious and yet still elude most politicians. He knows exactly what he wants to say, repeats it with emphasis, then stops. He will not be drawn out, and has no compunction about refusing questions. He would never make Boehner’s mistake, because he won’t entertain hypotheticals. “We don’t issue a whole lot of currency,” his spokesman says. What McConnell does say makes news.

At the press conference, reporters jockeyed to throw him off message and extract some further bit that might drive the story forward. His unvarying reply when asked about Boehner was: “It does not make sense to raise taxes in a recession,” a phrase he uttered nine times in barely as many minutes. The effect was like watching a swarm of mosquitoes encounter a bug zapper. After he wrapped up the proceedings, the reporters broke their huddle and scurried to button­hole individual senators. McConnell ignored them and walked off. The story soon dried up. No vote took place. And the elections were, as McConnell intended them to be, an unadulterated referendum on President Obama.

And speaking of manipulated, compliant media, Mitch whined on the Senate floor today about the lost comity of the world's greatest deliberative body.

"What have we become?" cried Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell during a lengthy floor speech Wednesday afternoon. The Republican leader lamented the "theatrics and the messaging wars" that he said have come to define and "cheapen" the upper chamber today.

"I'm absolutely certain of one thing: the Senate can be better than it is," he said.

"We've gotten too comfortable with doing everything we do here through the prism of the next election, instead of the prism of duty. And everyone suffers as a result," the Republican leader said.

No mention in the articles that Mitch is spewing pure bullshit and he's preemptively accusing Democrats of doing what he and his party are doing themselves. Nor mention of his own significant role in sabotaging the work of the people and destroying what little was left of the dignity of the Senate. But they transcribed this quote nicely:

"If Republicans are fortunate enough to be in the majority next year, amendments will be allowed," he said. "Senators will be respected."

As far as I know, nobody asked him if that included Democratic Senators and I suppose it wouldn't have mattered since he wouldn't have answered anyway. Funny how you never hear the insider media complaining about McConnell's lack of access. Too busy whinging about not being allowed to follow POTUS around when he plays golf. This is why we can't have an informed electorate.

Why Mitch McConnell really hates Obamacare

The propaganda doesn't sell as well once the people start signing up in droves for Obamacare. Like in Kentucky:

But in a state where the rollout has gone smoothly, and in a county that is one of the poorest and unhealthiest in the country, Courtney Lively has been busy signing people up: cashiers from the IGA grocery, clerks from the dollar store, workers from the lock factory, call-center agents, laid-off coal miners, KFC cooks, Chinese green-card holders in town to teach Appalachian students.

Not only that, but the rubes are discovering the GOPers have been lying to them.

Although she once had to dispel a rumor that enrolling involved planting a microchip in your arm, and though she avoids calling the new law “Obamacare” in a red state, most people need little persuading.

One person signs up successfully and tell their friends and family. The governor went all in on making the program work well. He clearly understands a healthier population saves the state money and it's just the humane thing to do. Now 60 year old people who have never had health insurance their entire lives are covered. Waiting for the tipping point where the lies just won't sell at all anymore and the GOPers start trying to take credit for the program. Only a matter of time.

Meanwhile, it will be too late for McConnell either way. He's led the vanguard against health care for his own constituents, so the newly covered rubes who once believed the lies won't vote for him now and the angry cons who won't ever sign up because, Dimmocrats invented it, won't vote for him because he signed off on a compromise or two. He's pretty well screwed.

Mitch McConnell's losing battle

The GOP's greatest fear is the success of Obamacare. Make no mistake, it will succeed over time. Indeed it's already surpassing expectations in the states where Democratic governors are actively trying to make it work. In fact, one of the biggest success stories so far is Kentucky, which brings us to Mitch McConnell's Obamacare nightmare:

As minority leader, and an in-cycle candidate with a primary challenger, he has to be leading the vanguard of Affordable Care Act opposition. But as a Kentucky senator, and a candidate with a general election opponent, he will soon be running on a platform of taking insurance away from tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of his own constituents.

Republicans went all in on anti-Obamacare arglebargle bullshit. Now they're racing the clock, working like mad to sabotage it before the electorate realizes they're better off with Obamacare than no reform at all. The GOP have pinned their strategy on raw hate and scurrilous lies. Thanks to a compliant insider press desperate for daily outrage, (real or invented), GOPers have been winning the day but even the rubes are beginning to see through their perfidy. We may actually live to see McConnell lose his cozy sinecure. Wouldn't that be something?

Hold your nose touting

How embarrassing for Mitch McConnell. Somebody managed to get a recording of a private telephone call made by his campaign manager.

In the recording, obtained by Economic Policy Journal, Jesse Benton — who ran Paul's successful 2010 campaign before joining McConnell's team — told conservative activist Dennis Fusaro that he has an ulterior motive in working the GOP leader's 2014 campaign.

"Between you an me, I'm sorta holding my nose for two years," Benton said in the recording, "'cause what we're doing here is gonna be a big benefit to Rand in '16."

And yes, it's real:

Benton confirmed the authenticity of the recording telling the Weekly Standard, "It is truly sick that someone would record a private phone conversation I had out of kindness and use it to try to hurt me."

I'm not comfortable with such invasions of privacy but must admit my extreme disgust with Mitch McConnell leaves me more amused by this than I probably should be.

Adding: Alec MacGillis was in Kentucky recently and discovered McConnell's trouble in Kentucky runs much deeper than just a reluctant campaign manager.

Ditching Mitch McConnell

Let's face it. We're talking about Kentucky. Electing a Democrat to the Senate won't be easy but Grimes looks up to the challenge.

Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes announced Monday she will challenge Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), giving Democrats their favored candidate and turning the race into one of the 2014 cycle's marquee contests.

She has a good pitch. Echoing the GOP's intention to use ageism as a weapon against Hillary, well, it could work both ways.

Lundergan Grimes stressed that she was Kentucky's "only female constitutional officer" and "the youngest secretary of state across the nation that is a female."

"Kentucky is tired of a senior senator who has lost touch with Kentucky issues, voters and their values," she said.

It's certainly not hopeless. The man is not popular.

"The Kentucky Senate race is now a toss up. Mitch McConnell is the most unpopular incumbent in the entire country. He is a relic of the past and a symbol of everything that is wrong with Washington. Kentuckians want a change," Cecil said, citing polling done for the committee that showed more than 60 percent of Kentucky voters disapprove of the senator's job performance.

All McConnell's got going for him is Obama Derangement Syndrome. He's going to play this as a vote against a rubber stamp for Obama. That could work for him but Grimes looks like a fighter and she has plenty of ammo. If she plays it right, she could capture the women's vote. Might be enough to swing a win. Stranger things have happened.

Mitch McConnell spins the scandals

Gotta give him some credit for wringing the most value out of pseudoscandal. Taking to the WaPo op-ed page, Mitch McConnell sees an opportunity to quash big money donor disclosure:

[R]ecent efforts to revive the so-called Disclose Act suggest that these tactics are alive and well in Washington. This bill, which would force grass-roots groups to make their member and donor lists public, may seem benign to some. But as a longtime defender of the First Amendment, I have always seen it for what it is: a backdoor effort to discourage those who disagree with the Obama administration from participating in the political process. [...]

Oddly, some on the left are now arguing that the IRS scandal is reason to revive the Disclose Act. But if this scandal has taught us anything, it is that Washington's ability to target individuals and groups is already too expansive.

You will recall the odious intimidation McConnell is speaking of here merely requires deep pocket donors who sponsor political attack ads to be identified so the public can judge the motivation of the groups flinging the dirt to muddy the discourse. It doesn't kick in until the donation reaches $10,000 or more.

Of course the majority of these groups are backing Republican candidates and causes and are financed mainly by a handful of very wealthy Big Business conservatives but I'm sure that has nothing to do with Mr. McConnell's great concern that millionaires and billionaires might be terrorized on the streets by the hoi polloi if the voters find out who's sponsoring the half-truths and outright lies on their TV.

Who is Progress KY

Serious question. While it's entirely possible they're just the world's most inept wannabe lefty anarchists, Progress KY feels more like a GOP front group every passing day. I mean, first the lame attack ads on the wife and then the lamebrain secret taping which they immediately bragged about pulling off. They're like Jimmy O'Keefe on whiskey and quaaludes.

Odd how everything they've done so far has been such a big help to Mitch.

The leak seems to have backfired, helping to strengthen McConnell in the state. Most of the focus has been on the FBI investigation into who bugged McConnell's office, and on Conway's comments about his discussions with Progress Kentucky's leaders.

The story has also given McConnell's allies a chance to tie the fringe group to Democrats in and outside of the state.

Moreover, they have no apparent talent for raising money, yet they managed to pay for the racist ads in the beginning and high powered legal counsel now. The investigation is likely to last until the 2014 election. The gift that keeps on giving -- to McConnell. Funny how that works.

Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell: Unnatural alliance

There's a reason they invented that old saw, politics make strange bedfellows. Rand and Mitch are natural born enemies. Mitch worked actively to shut Rand out but once his erstwhile opponent won, Mitch made Rand his frenemy because, good politics. As Mitch said himself after Rand's grandstanding filibuster, the kid understands the inside game.

This unholy alliance begets such mutual beneficence as this:

"What Rand was doing last week brought back a lot of memories of the early part of my career,” McConnell, 71, said yesterday in a telephone interview, recalling a 1994 filibuster he led that derailed campaign finance legislation. ...

Paul’s alliance with McConnell gives him access to wealthy donors who are usually essential to mounting a national campaign. ...

Five days after he praised Paul’s filibuster, McConnell e- mailed supporters urging them to donate to his Senate re- election campaign and to sign a petition declaring that they too “stand with Rand and Mitch.” ...

“We don’t agree on every issue but we agree on a lot of issues,” McConnell said. ...

For instance, McConnell has voted for Rand's cockamamie budget plan more than once. Not like there was any danger it would pass but good optics for the rubes back home. Which brings us to Mitch McConnell's biggest fear.

If the local Tea Party groups recruit a primary challenger, Paul said he will stand by his Washington colleague. “I am supporting Senator McConnell,” he said.

Rand's tea party creds are his strength in this ungodly pact. The true 'Murkins are unlikely to be pleased. Will be interesting to see how this bit of palace intrique plays out in real time.

[photo: Tom Eblen/Lexington Herald-Leader/MCT]

Flustered McConnell filibusters his own bill

This is the high comedy of the day on Capitol Hill. You'll recall when our country was teetering on the edge of an actual fiscal cliff during the last year's debt limit fight, Mitch McConnell came up with a brilliant gambit to allow everyone to win. The basic agreement was the President could raise the limit, Congress could say no but the President could override that and it would take a two thirds vote to override the President. Which would then trigger spending cuts. Or not. It never passed.

So this morning, Mitch, thinking Harry didn't have the votes, thought he was being quite clever when he offered to put that same bill on the floor. Harry said no at first, but changed his mind by this afternoon and said okay, let's have an up or down vote. Being unprepared for this development,McConnell was forced to block his own bill. Word has it this has never happened before:

“The Republican leader objects to his own idea,” Reid declared on the floor. “So I guess we have a filibuster of his own bill.”

Would love to see the youtube of that exchange. Hoping one of the whiz kids will come with it.

Meanwhile, "McConnell claimed he never agreed to hold a simple majority vote on the bill." Of course he didn't. The GOP's entire strategy for obstruction rests on requiring a super-majority for every damn piddly thing that happens in that chamber. Which makes a really good case for filibuster reform. [photo via Addicting Info]