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Mitch McConnell was the man the Liberals love to hate, pretty much forever.
He is seen as austere, inflexible, and so fiercely partisan that he would do absolutely anything to give the GOP any advantage.
When Democrats think of the Republican Senate leader, they conjure up images of him swearing to make Barack Obama a single-term president. To refuse to grant a hearing to Merrick Garland while pushing Amy Coney Barrett before the Supreme Court. From Obama, at a press dinner, mocking the advice he had been given to improve relations with Hill: “Really? Why don’t YOU have a drink with Mitch McConnell?
But some in the media and on the left are reluctantly forced to reassess the man.
In short, McConnell is doing things to help his country.
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There’s even a CNN headline: “Mitch McConnell Does Something He Deserves A Lot Of Credit For.”
This something, recognized by Chris Cillizza, is trying to get the unvaccinated to get vaccinated. And McConnell is no newcomer to this campaign, he has been saying so from the start.
But with less than half of those vaccinated in Kentucky and Covid cases on the rise, the senator is now drawing on campaign funds to broadcast 60-second spots on 100 local radio stations, urging people to get vaccinated.
“We are trying to get people to reconsider their decision,” he told Reuters, “and get back on track to bring us to a certain level of collective immunity.”
President Biden praised McConnell in his vaccination speech Thursday.
On Wednesday night, the guy critics call Dr No voted yes in a test vote for Biden’s infrastructure package, one of 17 Republican senators to back the bipartisan compromise. McConnell is well aware that the press will be hailing the passage of the bill as a victory for the president, who has campaigned on his ability to work across the aisle. The thing has been said a dozen times, and the deal – with the bill not actually written down – could explode again. But McConnell allowed Senator Rob Portman, R-Ohio, to negotiate in good faith with the White House and supported him.
This is the Grim Reaper we’re talking about. When it looked like the GOP could finally strike a deal, Politico headlined “Pigs Fly; McConnell Weights Giving Biden A Two-Party Victory.”
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Of course, McConnell does nothing that is not in his personal interest. Republican voters also love roads, bridges, tunnels, and ports, which is why the bill votes well. Every GOP lawmaker for re-election can also claim credit for bringing the bacon home.
Plus, Mitch held on to what was important to him. Biden’s proposal to raise taxes on corporations and people earning more than $ 400,000 is gone. The same goes for the back-up plan to give the IRS more money to catch tax evaders, which was essentially a fig leaf.
Instead, what is billed as a trillion dollar deal is only $ 550 billion in new funds over five years, with the rest coming from other commitments.
The bill is basically paid by accounting tricks: delaying a Medicare reimbursement. Tightening of reporting requirements for cryptocurrency. Recover $ 50 billion in fraudulent unemployment benefits.
Good luck with all of this. Both parties are very good at these smoky and mirrored compromises.
But the bottom line is that McConnell, who has known Biden for decades, knows when to dig and when to step down, and his caucus wants those expenses.
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One person unhappy with the provisional agreement: Donald Trump. The former president tore up “the weak leadership of Mitch McConnell”, saying “he gives Democrats whatever they want and gets nothing in return. No deal is better than a bad deal.”
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McConnell’s real media review began in February when he voted against impeachment but berated Trump for the Capitol riot. He called it a “shameful and shameful dereliction of duty” and said “President Trump is practically and morally responsible for bringing about the event of that day.” It is not an easy thing to do against the most powerful person in your group.
Now McConnell is getting Strange New Respect from the press. One of the senator’s strengths has been his utter indifference to the idea of being criticized by the media establishment and opinion pages. Still, he could afford a smirk.
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