I notice a reoccurring theme every time Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R. KY) get outraged by something. If he's angry about something, chances are he used to be all about it:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) -- and just about every other politician on Capitol Hill -- slammed the Internal Revenue Service this week for targeting tea party groups applying for tax-exempt status.
But what McConnell left out was that he used to be deeply suspicious of groups that organized as tax-exempt "social welfare" nonprofits under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code.
"The activities that the IRS has now owned up to, and that were uncovered by their inspector general, are an outrage," McConnell said Monday in a Senate floor speech.
Early in his Senate career, however, the Kentucky Republican seemed to believe that such groups -- on the left and the right -- should be subjected to tougher scrutiny.
"There are restrictions now on the kinds of activities that, for example, 501(c)(3) and (4) organizations, charitable organizations, can engage in that are being abused -- not just people on the right, but most of the so-called charitable organizations who are involved in political activity in this country, who are, in my judgment, involved in arguable violations of their tax-free status and violations of the campaign laws, happen to be groups on the left," McConnell said in a 1987 interview. "So that is a problem." - Huffington Post, 5/14/13
You can watch his 1987 interview in the Huffington Post article. By the way, Turtle Man wants to probe the Obama Administration:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday morning that the White House needs to answer questions about what — if any — role it played in the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups.
“What we don’t know at this point is whether it jumped the fence from the IRS to the White House,” McConnell said on the Senate floor, according to a transcript. “But we do know this: We can’t count on the administration to be forthcoming about the details of this scandal — because so far they’ve been anything but.”
McConnell called for the administration to answer any and all questions related to the scandal.
Republicans have criticized the administration’s cooperation in the Benghazi investigation, suggesting that the White House has prevented some witnesses from testifying and hasn’t been completely forthcoming with its disclosure.
“So, this morning, I’m calling on the president to make available, completely and without restriction, everyone who can answer the questions we have as to what was going on at the IRS, who knew about it, and how high it went,” McConnell said. “No more stonewalling, no more incomplete answers, no more misleading responses, no holding back witnesses, no matter how senior their current or former positions — we need full transparency and cooperation.” - Washington Post, 5/14/13
Of course McConnell's bashing of the IRS and Obama has earned him some support:
http://www.politico.com/...
The Senate GOP leader on Tuesday won the endorsement of one of the groups targeted by the agency, TheTeaParty.net, a national tea party group. The endorsement will help the GOP leader defend himself back home as some tea party activists are still searching for a primary challenger against him during his 2014 reelection campaign.
“With the new revelations that the IRS has been targeting Tea Party groups, we need Sen. McConnell more than ever,” said Niger Innis, the chief strategist of TheTeaParty.net. “He was sounding the alarm about the government’s assault on our First Amendment rights years ago, even when it fell on deaf ears. We all owe Sen. McConnell a debt for his vision and courage.” - Politico, 5/14/13
But not everyone's sold on McConnell's recent actions:
http://www.wfpl.org/...
As the scandal surrounding the targeting of tea party groups by the IRS continues, some Kentucky tea party activists are upset with Senator Mitch McConnell's role in the process—even as the state party is asking them to support him.
In Kentucky, only the statewide 9/12 project has come forward to acknowledge that they were targeted and that they were rejecting the IRS' apology on the matter.
But that hasn't stopped Kentucky politicians, including McConnell, from consistently pointing to the issue. He's demanded a full investigation into the matter.
The Republican Party of Kentucky is circulating a letter to back up McConnell on his efforts, asking tea party activists in Kentucky to sign it.
But Kentucky tea party activist David Adams called the attempts opportunistic.
"Not before—no, but after, they put on a full court press, which is kinda funny but mostly just offensive," Adams, who works with several Kentucky tea party groups, including Kentucky 9/12.
McConnell's office says they were contacted by Kentucky 9/12's leader, Eric Wilson about their IRS problems before the current news cycle and referenced the issues with the 9/12 group in a 2012 speech. McConnell also sent a letter to the IRS on the group's behalf in 2012, when they were targeted.
McConnell also received an endorsement from TheTeaParty.net today, according to Politico.
Adams says he was approached by Team Kentucky, part of the Republican Party of Kentucky, to sign the letter supporting McConnell in the IRS matter. Adams says he offered to sign on—but only if McConnell apologized for his support of the Patriot Act, bank bailout, raising the debt ceiling and other issues.
Adams has been actively recruiting a challenger to McConnell for his 2014 re-election. He says no other prominent tea party groups have signed the letter to his knowledge. - WFPL News 89.3, 5/14/13
I hope Kentucky Democrats finally come up with a great candidate to take out this clown next year. Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes (D. KY) might have a winning strategy to unseat McConnell:
http://www.courier-journal.com/...
Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes could be a strong challenger in next year's U.S. Senate race if she runs as a Washington outsider against both Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and President Barack Obama.
University of Kentucky political scientist Ernie Yanarella said if Grimes decides to get into the race she will have to set herself apart from Obama, particularly on the coal industry that has proven so influential in Kentucky politics.
Based on Grimes' successful 2011 run for secretary of state, she appears to have support in the coal industry from both rank-and-file miners and wealthy mine operators. She received the endorsement of the United Mine Workers of America and collected maximum contributions from some of the most influential leaders in Kentucky's mining industry, including Alliance Coal chief executive officer Joe Craft and more than a dozen of his subordinates.
Even Heath Lovell, a mine executive who played a pivotal role in defeating former Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler last year by appearing in TV ads bashing the incumbent, made a maximum $1,000 contribution to Grimes in 2011.
"I think Alison is a strong candidate," said UMWA regional vice president Steve Earle. "I think she's got the passion and the fire to take on McConnell. They'll probably try to tie her to Obama, but I don't think they'll be successful in doing that. She's closer to Bill Clinton than Obama."
Grimes, 34, has said only that she's considering a Senate bid. She has given no timeframe for making a decision.
In heavily Republican North Dakota, Democratic U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp defeated a GOP opponent last year by criticizing Obama's policies she said were hurting her state's coal industry. In Kentucky, which is predominantly Democratic by registration, Grimes could do the same.
McConnell, a five-term incumbent, has made his opposition to Obama the focal point of his own re-election campaign. He criticizes Obama administration policies that have made it difficult for coal companies to obtain federal permits to open or expand mines. - Louisville Courier-Journal, 5/12/13
Hopefully Grimes will be making her decision very soon.