Sen. Mitch McConnell Op-Ed in the Courier Journal
A senator parroting Pelosi and Schumer won’t get it done for Kentucky
Senator Mitch McConnell
Louisville Courier Journal
Serious times call for serious leadership, and to put it bluntly, parroting Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer’s priorities is not going to get it done for Kentucky. My opponent’s entire campaign message is derived in Washington by a committed group of left-wing liberals eager to eliminate Kentucky’s voice, and influence, from the national dialogue.
This pandemic has required a serious response, and under my leadership, the Senate reacted seriously by passing the biggest economic rescue package in U.S. history. The CARES Act immediately helped the struggling small businesses, hospitals and brave front line workers and families struggling to make ends meet. This rescue package secured critical funds for testing, schools of all levels and state and local governments. In Kentucky, the CARES Act has made a more than $12 billion impact, saving thousands of small business jobs and ensuring Kentucky did not see a budget deficit this year.
I am proud of the success of the CARES Act and how it has helped millions of Kentuckians, but more work needs to be done to help us through this recovery. My opponent in the November election recently took to these pages to criticize my efforts to help Kentuckians impacted by the coronavirus as well as to offer her own support of the radical liberal wish list supported by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer.
Instead of focusing on targeted assistance for Americans struggling to withstand the economic hardships this virus has bestowed, Speaker Pelosi and Senator Schumer used the opportunity to push their far-left agenda in the form of a 1,800-page manifesto. Their so-called plan was panned by the media as an unserious effort as soon as it was introduced. NPR said this bill “marks a long wish list for Democrats.” Politico reported, “Neither this bill nor anything resembling it will ever become law — it’s a Democratic wish list filled up with all the party’s favored policies.”
Even with the mainstream media admitting the Pelosi-Schumer wish list is no serious effort, my opponent believes it is the right direction for the coronavirus rescue and recovery mission in Kentucky. One look at the Democrat’s plan proves they truly do view the pandemic as an “incredible opportunity to fundamentally transform the country,” as former Vice President Joe Biden put it.
So what exactly is in this 1,800-page list of liberal demands? Chuck Schumer’s banner issue is a tax giveaway for my opponent’s millionaire donors in New York and California. Of the four Congressional leaders, I am the only one not from New York or California, giving Kentucky an out-sized voice at the table when decisions are being made. But with Speaker Pelosi and Sen. Schumer at the helm, Kentucky would lose its influential position. Just look at the Pelosi-Schumer wish list. It prioritizes tax cuts for millionaire liberal donors and even sets Kentucky up to receive less in rescue funds than Puerto Rico would.
A senator who bends to the wishes of Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer is not the kind of senator Kentucky needs.
It is widely agreed that America’s hardest-hit families and workers need another round of direct payments. I support giving targeted payments to those most in need, but my opponent stands arm-in-arm with Washington Democrats who want to use your hard-earned tax dollars to print another round of checks specifically for illegal immigrants. Kentucky families are in need, but once again, they are being cast-aside for the Pelosi-Schumer wish list.
In her piece, my opponent expressed grave concern with the security of the upcoming election. She contends the Pelosi-Schumer wish list holds the solution — ballot harvesting. Democrats are using the virus as an excuse to make sweeping changes to U.S. election laws, changes they’ve wanted to make for years.
Democrats are responding to the pandemic by pushing a nationwide mandate requiring ballot harvesting in every state. Instead of turning your ballot in yourself on Election Day, my opponent wants to pay political activists to go around collecting ballots, which would be accepted up to seven days after the election. Ballot harvesting is absolutely opposite of a safe and secure election, but Democrats want to force every state to adopt it.
As she advocates for weakening the integrity of our elections, my opponent is also advocating for more funding for election security. Securing our elections from outside influence is critical, and that’s why the Senate has allocated more than $800 million for states and localities to carry out secure elections.
What Washington Democrats and my opponent all want is not additional funding for election security, it’s additional funding to federalize our elections. That’s not going to happen with me as Senate majority leader.
My opponent’s first vote in the Senate would be to make Chuck Schumer of New York majority leader, replacing Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, which would be a dramatic loss of clout for our great commonwealth. Nowhere is this loss of clout more visible than in my opponent’s coronavirus rescue plan. I support funding direct payments for Kentucky families, expanding loans for small businesses and helping get students safely back in the classroom. But my opponent is more focused on Puerto Rico, New York and California millionaires, and ballot harvesting than she is on every day Kentuckians in the next coronavirus rescue package.
Mitch McConnell is a U.S. senator for Kentucky and Senate Majority Leader.