Tagged: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell

In an unexpected move, West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller addressed the Senate today to speak against a resolution that would register objection to the Environmental Protection Agency's upcoming restrictions on mercury emissions from power plants.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell addressed the Senate this morning on the Environmental Protection Agency's Utility MACT (or Maximum Achievable Control Technology) Rule, which would require power plants to control emissions of mercury and other toxic substances. McConnell's press office's Twitter feed offered a preview of his remarks:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is waiting on presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to take the lead on President Obama's decision to stop deporting the children of illegal immigrants.

McConnell is one of the president's strongest and quickest critics, but the GOP leader is being unusually quiet until Romney makes his position clear. He says members of his caucus are "withholding judgment" until the former Massachusetts governor takes the lead.

From The Washington Post:

“I think we’re going to wait and see what governor Romney has to say, and we’re going to be discussing his views on this,” McConnell told reporters at the Capitol Tuesday. “I think many of us may have similar views. Others may not.”

McConnell said he was deferring to Romney because the former Massachusetts governor is “the leader of our party from now until November — and, we hope, beyond.”

In a House floor speech Tuesday, U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., slammed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for opposing legislation that would require Super PACs to disclose the names of their contributors.

Last Friday, McConnell told a conservative think tank that keeping donors names a secret is a First Amendment right, but Yarmuth says anonymity allows individuals to distort the truth without being held accountable by the voters.

Check it out:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is being scolded for flip-flopping on campaign disclosures after his denunciation of legislation requiring that Super PAC donors provide their names.

Speaking before the American Enterprise Institute last week, McConnell argued that contributors to third party organization have a right to remain secret and that the Disclose Act is threatening their free speech. But local and national critics point out that wasn't McConnell's position a few years ago when he was at the forefront of opposing campaign finance reform.

"Money is essential in politics, and not something that we should feel squeamish about, provided the donations are limited and disclosed, everyone knows who's supporting everyone else," McConnell told NPR's Talk of the Nation in 2003.

In a fiercely worded speech, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., accused President Obama of violating citizen's First Amendment rights and denounced legislation that would require Super PACs to disclose the names of contributors.

The conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute hosted McConnell on Friday, where he addressed First Amendment rights in light of the Supreme Court’s much argued Citizens United case. The decision rejects spending limits in federal elections for companies and unions.

McConnell has been supportive of the controversial 5-to-4 ruling  and has urged the justices to reaffirm the decision in the face of a pending legal challenge.

Democrats have pushed the Disclose Act in response to the ruling that would mandate third party groups reveal who donated to pay for election ads, but the measure has failed to move forward in Congress.

McConnell says the measure amounts to harassment and an attempt to intimidate conservative donors and organizations.

"What this bill calls for is government-compelled disclosure of contributions to all grassroots groups, which is far more dangerous than its proponents are willing to admit," he says. "Because if disclosure is forced upon some but not all, it’s not an act of good government, it’s a political weapon…This is nothing less than an effort by the government itself to exposes its critics to harassment and intimidation."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is pleading with President Obama to deliver new ideas on the sluggish economic recovery.

The president is scheduled to deliver a major economic address Thursday, which will be the first of the general election campaign and in the swing state of Ohio.

But observers expect Mr. Obama won't offer any new jobs proposals and instead continue to push lawmakers to pass his "to-do" list.

McConnell says Democrats are getting anxious about economic stagnation and the nearing election.

"We can expect more of the same: more government, more debt and higher taxes to pay for it all," he said on the Senate floor Wednesday. "Now, according to the news reports, some Democrats are starting to get a little wary of this approach. A number of folks who worked in the Clinton Administration have suggested something more positive. But others are pleading with the president to double down on the message that government is the answer."