Pelosi Goes Full Badass On McConnell For Obstructing Legislation

By
Carissa House-Dunphy
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While Congress was deeply divided and unable to get much work done during the presidency of Barack Obama after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) declared on the first day he took office that his primary goal was to prevent him from winning a second election (and McConnell failed to make that happen), the infighting and obstructionism under Donald Trump after the American people voted in Democratic lawmakers to the House is simply unprecedented.

On Friday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) blasted McConnell for his comments about being the “grim reaper” of Democratic legislation. With no sense of irony whatsoever, decried Democrat obstructionism and made calls for bipartisanship in the same voice he uses to praise himself for obstructing the will of the voters who put Democrats in charge of the House of Representatives.

Legislation being put in front of the Senate right now after passing in the House is too critical to ignore. According to the Speaker’s website, bills that have been passed in the House with bipartisan support include:

• H.R. 1 – the For The People Act to restore confidence in our democracy;

• H.R. 8 & H.R. 1112 – the Bipartisan Background Checks Act and the Enhanced Background Checks Act, commonsense gun violence prevention measures;

• H.R. 7 – the Paycheck Fairness Act, to ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work;

• H.R. 1585 – Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, a strong improvement and long-term reauthorization of VAWA;

• H.R. 1644 – the Save The Internet Act to restore vital Net Neutrality protections.

McConnell, however, fails to regularly allow legislation from the House to be voted on in the Senate. As a result, another do-nothing Congress now sits on Capitol Hill thanks to the leadership of McConnell.

CBS News reports that McConnell recently told a crowd of supporters in Kentucky that:

‘If I’m still the majority leader of the Senate after next year, none of those things are going to pass the Senate. They won’t even be voted on. So think of me as the Grim Reaper: the guy who is going to make sure that socialism doesn’t land on the president’s desk.’

Pelosi slammed McConnell’s obstructionism, saying that he is undermining the will of working-class families who want change. Proposals like universal healthcare have massive public support, and yet the country cannot get its leaders to work together to make change.

‘Leader McConnell has declared himself the “grim reaper” of these House bills to make progress for working families. We will show him that these bills are alive and well with the American people. The middle class and America don’t want the Senate to be a legislative graveyard for so many of these important issues – they want action.’

As the country moves into the 2020 election cycle, it’s important to remember what’s at stake. For anything to get done effectively, voters must elect leaders willing to work for the will of the people. Upcoming legislation includes:

• The Protecting People with Pre-existing Conditions Act and other legislation to lower health costs by reducing prescription drug prices;

• H.R. 9 – the Climate Action Now Act to preserve the Paris Climate Accord and lay the foundation for more action;

• H.R. 5 – the Equality Act to end discrimination against LGBTQ Americans;

• H.R. 6 – the American Dream and Promise Act to protect Dreamers, TPS and DED recipients.

Featured image via Flickr by Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license



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