Redstate

Posted at 12:53pm on Jul. 9, 2008 Winning The Battle on Drilling

D Senators Can Read Polls Too

By Dan McLaughlin

Monday:

"There's clearly a dramatic shift across the ideological divide in America in favor of producing more energy here at home," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters.

"I can't imagine that the majority (Democrats in Congress) is going to ignore that indefinitely," McConnell added.

He cited a poll released on July 1 by the Pew Research Center that found that 45 percent of respondents who identify themselves as "liberals" said they favor expanded energy exploration, mining, drilling, building more power plants. In February, the figure was just 22 percent.

Tuesday:

A top U.S. Democratic senator said in a newspaper interview published Wednesday that he would consider supporting opening up new areas for offshore oil and gas drilling.

"I'm open to drilling and responsible production," Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin told The Wall Street Journal, adding that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could also support the move.

Your move next, Senator Obama.

Posted in Dick Durbin | Domestic Drilling | drill here | Energy | Mitch McConnell | mitchslap — Comments (7)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:24pm on Jul. 1, 2008 If it's Tuesday, it must be time for Reid to muck up energy policy.

Don't ever change, Harry.

By Moe Lane

Hi! I'm Harry Reid, and I'm a Senator!

In fact, my Party decided to make me Senate Majority Leader! It's a fun job! There's pie! And ice cream! And lobbyists! It's great! The only problem is, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell apparently has some sort of strange ability to take my body over, and make me say stupid things! He says that he only does when the country needs him to, though! Or when he's bored!

He was bored!

Registered voters of Wyoming, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Texas, Montana, Colorado, Indiana, Illinois, North Dakota, and Virginia, please note... as well as registered voters of Texas, Alaska, California, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Wyoming, North Dakota, Montana, and Kansas*. Enjoying those tax revenues your states are getting from coal and oil production? This guy doesn't want you to have them. Because coal and oil makes us sick.

Just ask Harry Reid.

Moe Lane

Posted in Energy | Harry Reid | Harry Reid Doesn't Understand A Whole Lot | Mitch McConnell — Comments (13)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:48am on Jun. 16, 2008 Time to Call Mitch McConnell

By Erick

Your must read of the morning is this editorial at the Wall Street Journal.

This week, the Senate takes up the Mortgage Bailout Bill.

We have known Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) received preferential treatment from Countrywide Financial.

We now know that the legislation will mostly benefit mortgage lenders like Countrywide Financial.

We now know that the two Senate leaders pushing this legislation, Chris Dodd (D-CN) and Kent Conrad (D-ND), received preferential treatment from Countrywide Financial, in addition to Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA).

Kent Conrad, on Friday, issued a statement saying he "never met Angelo Mozilo," the CEO of Countrywide Financial. But, the Wall Street Journal reports Senator Conrad now admits he "called Mr. Mozilo and asked for a loan. The result was a discounted loan on his million-dollar beach house and a separate commercial loan of a type that residential lender Countrywide did not even offer to other customers, regardless of the rate."

Call your Senator at (202) 224-3121 and tell him we should not be bailing out mortgagors as payback for Senators.

Call the Republican Leader, Senator Mitch McConnell, at (202) 224-2541 and tell him that in light of apparent Democrat indiscretions with Countrywide, he should not agree to limit debate on the mortgage bailout.

Posted in Chris Dodd | Congress | Corrupt Democrat Watch | Kent Conrad | Mitch McConnell | Mortgage Bailout | Nancy Pelosi — Comments (4)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:22am on Jun. 11, 2008 McConnell body slams Obama's support for "gradual[ly]" higher gas prices

By Soren Dayton

This morning on the Senate floor, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell drops the hammer on Barack Obama:

“Yesterday we heard the Democrat nominee for President suggest that rising gas prices aren’t the problem. Let me say that again: the Democrat nominee for President suggest that rising gas prices aren’t the problem. The problem, he suggested, is that they’ve gone up too fast. He said he would prefer a ‘gradual adjustment.’

I had somwhow missed that Obama supported higher gas prices. But it's true. Watch it:

Incidentally, I find it odd that Obama would say that "the President hasn't had an energy policy" when he voted for President Bush's energy bill.

McConnell's full statement after the jump.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Gas Prices | Mitch McConnell — Comments (53) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:04am on Jan. 23, 2008 Mitch McConnell Sets Tone & Agenda For 2008 Senate

By bluegrassredstate

In an op-ed printed in Human Events today, Senator Mitch McConnell
laid the groundwork for the work to be done in the Senate this year.

He commented briefly on last year's events, the Democrats' inability to do what they wanted to do last year, and how they tried to exlude Republicans from the legislative process. Then he said:

Posted in Congress | Mitch McConnell | senate — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:58am on Jan. 6, 2008 Cook Report: McConnell Nonsensical Target For Dems

By bluegrassredstate

The Senior Editor & Political Analyst of the Cook Political Report, Jennifer Duffy, seems to think that targeting the Bluegrass State for electoral votes might make sense, but that targeting Senator Mitch McConnell does not.

Duffy:

“[Democrats] have been working for months to put Kentucky in play. Now, Kentucky as a state -- that makes sense to me. McConnell as their target makes a lot less sense to me. He's got $10 million in the bank. He is as good a strategist as I have ever met -- I used to joke if i ever ran for office I would want him to be my campaign manager. He's just going to be really hard to beat, and pretty much everybody Democrats have approached to run against him has taken a good, hard look and walked away…”

Posted in Congress | Mitch McConnell — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 7:23pm on Jan. 4, 2008 Will Mitch McConnell Stab Us in the Back?

Kentucky senator lobbies against anti-earmark executive order

By Bluey

At a time when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell should be rallying his Republican colleagues around the issue of fiscal responsibility, the Kentucky appropriator is showing his true colors as a big spender intent on saving his pork-barrel projects.

President Bush appeared intent on issuing an executive order canceling lawmakers' earmarks in the wake of the $555 billion omnibus spending bill last month. But sources tell me that it's unlikely to happen as a result of an intense lobbying effort organized by McConnell and carried out by other Republican appropriators.

McConnell's behavior is somewhat surprising given his tough re-election bid this year and his promise to rebrand the GOP as good stewards of taxpayers' money. He has certainly done himself no favors with the conservative base and now threatens to further alienate members of his own caucus by standing in the way of Bush's order.

Although the situation does not look good for an anti-earmark executive order, conservatives are clinging to the slightest hope that McConnell will back down before Bush makes his decision public on Tuesday. Taxpayers' groups in Washington are planning to refocus their efforts on McConnell, viewing him as the linchpin.

For additional coverage, please read Phil Kerpen at National Review, Mike Franc at Human Events and Mark Tapscott at the Washington Examiner.

Posted in Congress | Congress | Earmarks | Mitch McConnell | President Bush — Comments (41)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:33am on Jan. 3, 2008 Earmark Fight Puts Bush's Legacy on the Line

Cancel Lawmakers' Pork Projects With Executive Order

By Bluey

RedState's Moe Lane yesterday called readers' attention to the growing concerns among fiscal conservatives that President Bush might bow to pressure from Capitol Hill appropriators and back away from a fight over earmarks. I echo the fears expressed by Moe, Captain Ed and other conservatives; the time is critical for Bush to issue an executive order canceling earmarks.

The president's tough talk about pork-barrel spending in the wake of the mammoth omnibus was a great boost for fiscal conservatives, but it also angered many earmark-loving lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including several Republicans. They would prefer Bush send Congress a rescission package, which would amount to a complete capitulation to Washington's big spenders.

Republicans can no longer just talk a good game of fiscal restraint; it's time to back it up with action. Take the Senate's top Republican, Mitch McConnell, who was among the first to boast about the earmarks he secured for Kentucky. His rhetoric about "protecting their wallets and spending their money wisely" was ridiculed by Louisville columnist David Hawpe, who saw through McConnell's doublespeak. Bush can expect the same kind of treatment if his words turn out to be hollow.

With so much media attention on the 2008 race, it would be easy for the president to back away from a confrontation. But to do so would cement his legacy as a big-government conservative. Instead, Bush has the opportunity to make a lasting impact on Washington by shutting down the favor factory and putting a stop to the corrupting influence of earmarks.

Posted in Congress | Earmarks | Mitch McConnell | omnibus bills | President Bush | The White House — Comments (2)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 5:57pm on Dec. 18, 2007 All I Want for Christmas Is a Continuing Resolution

By Bluey

House Republican Whip Roy Blunt with the 3,417-page omnibus. (Andrew Blasko)

Two weeks ago Sen. Jim DeMint outlined the end-game strategy Republicans in Congress should use when confronting 11 of the 12 unfinished spending bills and troop funding legislation. DeMint's idea wasn't revolutionary, but for anyone who cares about limiting the growth of government, it made perfect sense: forget the omnibus and pass a continuing resolution at this year's spending levels.

DeMint's idea would give conservatives a cause to rally around as Democrats negotiated the details of a mammoth omnibus bill. Unfortunately, the senator's own leadership decided it would rather bask in a few day's worth of bad headlines for Democrats instead of standing strong on principle. Republicans may be gloating today, but they should be ashamed if they support this atrocious omnibus.

It's hard to understand why Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was so shortsighted. In exchange for giving up his coveted earmarks, McConnell could have held the growth of government to 2% next year. Instead, it will increase between 4% to 5% under the omnibus. Even House Minority Leader Roy Blunt admitted today during a lunch with conservative bloggers that a continuing resolution would have been catastrophic for the Democrats in comparison to the omnibus.

During the same briefing with bloggers, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) seemed downright frustrated by his leadership's willingness to sign off on a bad bill. Short of keeping senators and staffs in the Capitol through Christmas, Coburn admitted there was little that could be done to stop the legislation.

As the Senate moves closer to voting on the half-trillion-dollar package, conservatives are making a final plea to slow down the process. The American Conservative Union, Americans for Tax Reform, Americans for Prosperity, Citizens Against Government Waste and Club for Growth have all voiced opposition to the omnibus. Senators like Coburn and DeMint will need all the support they can get with McConnell and other GOP leaders pressuring them to back off this fight.

For as frustrating as it is to watch McConnell roll over, what's even more disappointing is that President Bush is willing to sign a bill (assuming troop funding for Iraq is added) that violates so many of the principles he's been fighting for all year. The bill is nearly $20 billion more than Bush's top-line number when “emergencies” are factored in and comes nowhere close to slashing pork projects in half.

Just last week Bush signaled his willingness to accept a continuing resolution, as DeMint had suggested. But as the negative headlines continued to pop up over the weekend and into yesterday, even the White House toned down its rhetoric, claiming, for example, the explosion of earmarks in the bill wouldn't trigger a veto.

With a vote taking place in a few hours, there's little that can be done in the short term other than educating members of Congress about the deeply flawed provisions in the legislation. Unfortunately, it might take a Christmas miracle to open their eyes to this flawed bill.

Posted in Congress | Congress | Mitch McConnell | omnibus bills — Comments (5)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 3:54pm on Dec. 12, 2007 Color me confused...

...And finding no fault with the Senate Minority Leader in this case.

By Jeff Emanuel

As an aside before beginning, I have to say this: I really don't see how this issue speaks to a single moderate or conservative -- nor, in fact, to anybody who doesn't already hold the fringe-left view that all (American) war (carried out under a Republican president) is evil, and that (volunteer) soldiers are helpless and hapless victims (of being asked to actually do their jobs) who deserve support (but only when they shoot their officers).

That being said, it appears that an effort is being made to paint Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as a heartless chickenhawk Republican who thinks that soldiers' lives are not only expendable, but that, since they are volunteers, the lives of American servicemembers are worth less than if they were conscripts. This controversy (such as it is -- in my opinion, it's quite the manufactured bit of nothingness) stems from the following statement by McConnell:

"Our brave soldiers have protected us for six years successfully. If we brought all of them home today (terrorists) they would be back here, so we need to stay the course. It's gotten better and there is a dramatic decrease in causalities and we have begun to withdraw troops." said McConnell. "The polls are reflecting that there is a 15% increase in optimism in American's views about the war.

"I won't tell you everything is great in Iraq; it is not. But we want to keep a steady flow of funds so that we don't disrupt the military," said McConnell. "Unfortunately, most of our friends on the other isle are having a hard time admitting things are getting better; some days I almost think the critics of this war don't want us to win. Nobody is happy about losing lives but remember these are not draftees, these are full-time professional soldiers.

Read on, por favor...

Posted in Anti-war liberals | Democrats | Mitch McConnell | War — Comments (17)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 5:11pm on Nov. 5, 2007 Attacking Mitch McConnell With Made Up Sh. . .tuff

By Erick

In 1994, the GOP ousted House Speaker Tom Foley at the ballot box. In 2004, the GOP ousted Democratic Leader Tom Daschle from the Senate. Contrast that with the Democrats, who have never been able to oust a Republican congressional leader at the ballot box. The Democrats M.O. has been scandal, real or imagined.

They are at it again with an imaginary scandal involving Mitch McConnell. And, as usual, the media is directly complicit in the deal. Dan Riehl has the best overview. In essence, the Democrats are accusing Mitch McConnel of spreading false information about the 12 year old that did the Democratic address on SCHIP.

Who is spreading the information? A guy named Matt Miller. This is the same Democrat hack who leaked the Mark Foley story to the media, after having the knowledge for a year.

So, let's review:

The media is accusing McConnell of smearing Graeme Frost. The paper quotes Matt Miller. The evidence is an email from McConnell staffer Don Stewart. What did the email contain? Links to blog that recounted the SCHIP debate, some of which mentioned Frost.

WHAS-TV got McConnell on video saying there was no leak from his office about Graeme Frost. Now the lefties are saying McConnell is lying. He's not.

Now, let's go to the Lexington Herald-Leader. They are hitting McConnell on another fake scandal, completely misrepresenting the facts. The reporter, John Cheves, did a series of hit pieces on McConnell last year with research provided by a lefty interest group.

When McConnell wrote a letter to complain and set the record straight, the Herald-Leader edited the letter down to nothing. We've put Senator McConnell's letter below the fold.

Elephants in the Blue Grass has up a post showing that, not only is the story false, but John Cheves is channelling lefty blogs to write his story.

Oh, and naturally, John Cheves spent last year working for Ron Wyden (D-OR). That might be helpful for readers to know.

Below the fold, Senator McConnell's unedited letter.

Posted in 2008 | Kentucky | Mitch McConnell — Comments (8)/ Email this page » / Read More »