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Small misdeeds, conducted again and again, can lead to massive disasters in the end ...
Just check the misdeeds of self-proclaimed “Grim Reaper” — Moscow Mitch McConnell:
Mitch 'The Grim Reaper' McConnell: Meet the Man Who Ruined the Senate
The Republican Majority Leader from Kentucky has made the Senate a legislative graveyard
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As Senate Minority Leader, McConnell’s use of the filibuster to obstruct Senate action hit full stride during President Obama’s first term.
According to The Atlantic, “In 2009, there were a record 67 filibusters in the first half of the 111th Congress — double the number that occurred in the entire 20-year period between 1950 and 1969.” By the time Congress adjourned in December 2010, “the number of filibusters had swelled to 137 for the entire two-year term of the 111th Congress.”
According to The Atlantic, during the 111th Congress, “over 400 bills that had been passed by the House of Representatives — many with broad bipartisan support — died in the Senate without ever having been debated or voted on because of the inability to obtain the 60 votes required by Rule XXII.” McConnell turned what in earlier decades had been a little used super majority requirement to end a filibuster into the operating rule for the Senate.
A study by the Congressional Research Service in 2013 found that of the 168 cloture motions that had been filed on presidential nominations in all of American history, 82 of them, almost half, were undertaken by McConnell during the Obama presidency.
As Majority Leader, McConnell has continued his decades of obstructionism, using his scheduling powers instead of the filibuster rules.
Since January, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has prevented over 100 bills that have passed in the House from even coming up for a vote. His actions obstruct and ignore legislation that millions of Americans backed by electing a Democratic House majority in 2018.
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A full 53% of votes cast in 2018 supported a Democratic agenda, versus 45.2% for Republicans. Democrats had a popular vote majority of more than 8.6 million votes, the most in 44 years (since right after Nixon resigned).
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The McConnell-engineered logjam includes popular legislation like H.R. 1, the "For the People Act," which included a number of anti-corruption measures, as well as enhanced rules and guidelines to increase voter participation.
The House also passed the "Paycheck Fairness Act," which makes it easier for women to challenge pay discrimination, as well as the "Background Checks Act," which protects children and families by expanding background checks for gun purchases.
McConnell Blocks Election Security, Takes Checks From Voting Machine Lobbyists
Donald Shaw, Sludge; truthout.org — June 12, 2019
In 2016, Russian hackers targeted voting systems in 21 states and, according to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report, breached systems in Illinois and two counties in Florida, gaining access to information on millions of registered voters. In his report, Mueller described the Russian government’s interference in the 2016 elections as “sweeping and systematic.”
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Three years later, security experts warn that not enough has been done to address vulnerabilities in the U.S. election system. [...]
In fourteen states, some 2018 midterm voters submitted their votes on touchscreens that did not produce paper trails necessary to verify their votes or audit election outcomes. [...]
Several Democratic and Republican members of Congress have submitted legislation to shore up election security. [...]
But all the bills have hit a roadblock. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has reportedly told his colleagues that he will not allow the Senate to vote on election security legislation this session.
McConnell, with GOP Senate leaders, just "stands there and twiddles their thumbs and almost says, ‘Come on Putin, let it happen," the minority leader said.
by Rebecca Shabad, NBCNews — June 18, 2019
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Tuesday slammed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for blocking legislation that would protect U.S. elections from future interference, including by foreign governments.
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“The Republican Senate, Leader McConnell just stands there and twiddles their thumbs and almost says, ‘Come on Putin, let it happen,'” said Schumer, who added that any leader in Congress who doesn’t work to protect the nation’s elections is “abdicating their responsibilities to our grand democracy.”
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Second, Democrats plan to press McConnell to allow votes on amendments for the 2020 defense policy bill that the Senate will consider this week that deal with election interference, which Schumer called a “national security issue.”
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“It’s hard to come up with any good reason why anyone should block this,” Schumer said.
H.R.2500 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020
Has passed the House. We shall see. If we shall follow the bouncing ball of “abdication” …
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There is an alternative to the Grim Reaper … Moscow Mitch:
secure.actblue.com