Mitch in a Ditch? (Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell)

Wall Street Journal ^ | 12 June 2008 | Staff

[shrinkermd]

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell dropped by our offices in New York this week. Republicans face potential electoral disaster this fall, but he says a few issues could turn out to be lifesavers. Case in point: Gas prices, at more than $4 per gallon for the first time in history. Mr. McConnell notes that a new poll shows Americans now favor drilling for oil in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge 57% to 41%. That's up from a nearly even split before consumers were getting socked at the pump. Asks Mr. McConnell: "At what point does the hammerlock the Sierra Club has on the Democrats come off? Is it $5? Is it $6?"

Mr. McConnell is a veteran lawmaker who knows how to play the game in Washington while still appealing to voters back home in Kentucky. He tells us one of his proudest moments was to defeat the Democratic idea of taxpayer-funded congressional elections with an all-night filibuster in 1994. This year he's facing a tough re-election fight himself – his Democratic challenger Bruce Lunsford, a wealthy nursing-home operator and film producer, leads by 49% to 44% in a Rasmussen Poll taken late last month. And unlike previous challengers, Mr. Lunsford can expect considerable financial help from the national Democratic Party. Mr. McConnell reminds us that Bill Clinton carried Kentucky twice. "It's not going to be a coronation," he says, "but I will win."

Complicating matters

[shrinkermd]

Yes, Senator McConnell has a better take than Senator McAin on drill here issue. I would hope that Senator McCain would alter his emphasis or even his opinion on the issue very shortly.

It is hard to justify letting some freeze or suffer to keep the caribou happy. Also, remember you can't even (from shore) see the drilling platforms on the continental shelf.

The holdback by the RATs is a function of their environmental religion. This is a crucial belief for them; they are apt to go down with it just like they have previously gone down with guns, crime, etc. Liberalism itself is a religion in that it gives meaning and purpose via government edict to otherwise empty spiritual lives.

Actually, this issue is emblematic of the underlying problem--the RATS want high oil prices to punish SUV owners and those in exurbia who consistently reject bigger government.

Just look at the maps with red and blue states!

[Reaganwuzthebest]

Gas prices and the democrat intransigence regarding oil drilling is THE issue the GOP should be hitting this fall. Americans typically vote primarily for the economy and nothing hits home more than this.

[taildragger]

Actually, this issue is emblematic of the underlying problem--the RATS want high oil prices to punish SUV owners and those in exurbia who consistently reject bigger government.MD....

The SUV wasn't and isn't evil, but the night news, Greenpeace and the Sierra Club made it so.

Michigan has enough self inflicted wounds as well as the big three shooting themselves in the foot.

But at times it feels like this was intentional to destroy the auto industry, again that dysfunctional destroy what we are mentality, that drove Clinton in the Lewinsky mess. Add CAFE to the mix from the same folks that won't let us drill, and you wonder from who, what and why they get their campaign contributions.

[ChildOfThe60s]

"It's a tough environment," says Mr. McConnell.

Yeah, well Mitch, it's past time for you Senate Republicans to grown some Nads and Spines.

Even if we might lose, could we just for once, be willing to risk it for a principled stand?

A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice.

Thomas Paine

[muawiyah]

The caribou/reindeer (all same thing) occupy and use 1/4 of the Earth's land surface ALL FOR THEMSELVES.

That little touch of land there in ANWR isn't even a percentage of the stuff already set aside just for the reindeer.

[Red_Devil 232]

Fuel prices Will Be the biggest issue in Nov. And if a candidate is not the first one to jump on the Drill Here - Drill Now band wagon then he can (hopefully) say goodbye to D.C.

[JoanneSD]

I agree, the first Candidate to jump on drilling now.. will be the next POTUS,

[TheThinker]

GO MITCH! That’s my senator, right there. I’ll be voting for him again in November. The libs in Jefferson County, KY hate him with a passion. Hopefully, they will be disappointed yet again.

[DLfromthedesert]

What’s interesting is that the Democrat reply to the President’s weekly address was given by as eighth grade teacher in NYC taliking about gas and food prices, and how the Dems were so much better on these issues because the UNDERSTAND the problems of working Americans trying to make ends meet.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

Fuel prices Will Be the biggest issue in Nov.

They need to show Dick Durbin over and over making excuses why there shouldn't be any more drilling. It's the perfect opportunity for the GOP to actually make some gains.

[American Quilter]

For the truth about what the proposed ANWR drilling site is like (the liberal fantasy of a beautiful wilderness is completely wrong), read Jonah Goldberg's article, "Ugh, Wilderness!", written after he made a trip to ANWR to see for himself in 2001.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

The democrats are a joke. I can see the commercial by the GOP asking voters if they were better off two years ago than they are now.

[KevinJohnson]

“his Democratic challenger Bruce Lunsford, a wealthy nursing-home operator and film producer”

That alone could provide plenty of ammo for Mitch.
Nursing home operators are notorious for carrying out abuses in these nursing homes.
As for his opponent being a film producer, what kind of movies does he produce?
Micheal Moore types?
On a more serious note, the gas price issue and the Democrats blockinbg of drilling in ANWR and off the American coasts, could be a Godsend for the Republican Party. The higher the price of oil and gas goes, the more vulnerable the Democrats become. Its up to the Republican candidates to totally hammer the RATS on this issue.

[nathanbedford]

To those of us who have been predicting electoral disaster since before the 2006 election, it is stunning that the Republican party and John McCain in particular have so fumbled this issue. I agree with everything you said in your post probably because I have said it myself. Here is one example which I published here some months before the 2006 at a time when Republicans still controlled the House:

6. The house should pass every conceivable energy measure such as drilling in Anwar, drilling offshore and around Florida etc. providing for refineries, providing for nuclear power plants and let the Democrats and the Rinos oppose them and create a climate in which the people can direct their rage about gas prices at the Democrats.

7. The reality is of course is it's all too late for this and any other intelligent policies which might have saved the Republican Party from the disaster which is facing us. Many of our problems have been brought on by Iraq and there too we could have done much better in a public-relations sense. Alas it is all too late now. There is nothing left but to go the polls and vote for the most conservative man on the ticket who has a chance of winning. Let's fight the good fight and go down like soldiers.

The Republicans did not listen then and are only beginning to awaken now but John McCain has painted himself into the wrong corner on this issue. Let's see if he can reverse his field in time.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

No more pats on their little vacuous heads and telling them, we know you mean well now run along and play Save-the-Earth, we're busy.

I hope to live long enough to see the psychotic ones, the enviro-nut "Bring it all down, man" ideologues get their just deserts and I don't care if it's hanged from lamp posts or simply being run out of town and Country.

[Red_Devil 232]

"... could be a Godsend for the Republican Party."

The key word is "could"!

McCain needs pull his seat straps tight and grab the eject ring between his knees and pull it now! His bone headed stubbornness and his reaching across the aisle on "Drill here - Drill Now" has to be altered! Pull That D-Ring Now McCain Or Go Down In Flames!

[ArchAngel1983]

”Mr. McConnell notes that a new poll shows Americans now favor drilling for oil in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge 57% to 41%.

It’s about dammed time…ANWR is about as “pristine” as the dark side of the moon and just as environmentally worthless.

[samadams2000]

Go home Mitch. Get off the stage. Remember citizen government? Youve done nothing for the conservative cause but line your families pockets. Quit the tough guy act it way too late.

[Recovering_Democrat]

Frankly, from what I understand, Mitch McConnell has been one of the few stalwarts in the Senate. He and James Inhofe.

[red irish]

That’s my senator as well. Any time I called his office for a complaining session I was always called back with the information and treated with down to earth respect.

[Cicero]

McCain was one of the people most responsible for defeating Bush’s energy bills, back when Bush was making sense on these matters.

And he’s still on board the global warming train. Nor did I notice him speaking out against the Cap and Trade bill.

So, Mitch, how is this going to be an issue in the coming election?

[gidget7]

Thinker I hope you will, because you must, rally all those you know down there, to support McConnell! It's imperative you keep KY from going blue. My family down there will be doing just that. They are in Harden,LaRue counties, close to Ft Knox, and that is a very conservative area. But they are concerned with the influx of libs to the state, seeking to change it.

[Amos the Prophet]

McCain is an empty headed appeaser with a keen desire to court the left while paying infrequent lip service to 1 or 2 conservative issues.
He has a better chance of satisfying Obama’s goal of unifying the country than does Obama.
Under McCain unity will come at the cost of aggravating the right. Under Obama unity will come at the price of imprisoning the right.

[ChildOfThe60s]

I’m not saying he’s bad. But he seems (to me) to go wobbly sometimes when he shouldn’t need to be pushed.

I point to the Dream Act drama as an example. He took a long time to make public his position. It certainly appeared to me he was wavering and needed thousands of very firm calls and faxes to keep him on the right side. I felt he could have done a lot more to slow it down and make the public aware of what was going on. Rally the troops, etc.

Why in the world did he have to be really pushed into just voting against it? It should have been a no brainer from the get go.

[MNJohnnie]

Yeah, well Mitch, it's past time for you Senate Republicans to grown some Nads and Spines

91% of votes for US Energy Independence came from Republicans. 87% against came from Democrats. So of course we will spend all out time sniping our own side in the back until we can look at what a 60 seat Democrat Senate will do. How about the Always Complaining Choir finally, after all these years, discover something to complain about in the Left?

[MNJohnnie]

91% of votes for US Energy Independence came from Republicans. 87% against came from Democrats.

So, of course, around Freeper land we will spend all out time sniping our own side in the back until we can look at what a 60 seat Democrat Senate will do next January.

[Recovering_Democrat]

I trust you on that; I don’t remember the specifics.

[WOSG]

“Yeah, well Mitch, it’s past time for you Senate Republicans to grown some Nads and Spines.”

Mitch Mcconnell was one of the few who ALWAYS HAD the spine and the ‘nads. Mcconnell single-handedly delayed CFR for years through his filibusters, and has done yoemans work on behalf of conservative causes his whole career.

It breaks my heart to see freepers beat up on a good conservative over the sins of others.

Losing McConnell would destroy what little conservative leadership we have in the Senate. We have to help him win in the fall. I will send him some money.

Rasmussen Markets data shows that McConnell is given a 53.0 % chance of keeping his job.

[WOSG]

“91% of votes for US Energy Independence came from Republicans. 87% against came from Democrats. So of course we will spend all out time sniping our own side in the back until we can look at what a 60 seat Democrat Senate will do. How about the Always Complaining Choir finally, after all these years, discover something to complain about in the Left? “

Thanks for the reminder. PING for truth!

[cquiggy]

More about Bruce Lunsford’s nursing home days.He filed false claims for military healthcare. He destroyed the life savings of everyone who had invested in his crooked companies and he has yet to apologize.

Lunsford was the founder of Vencor in 1985. He also served as Chairman of the Board for Ventas, Inc. A civil claims suit in 2001 outlined that Vencor knowingly submitted false claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE, the military’s health care program. The largest settlement under the civil False Claims Act based on failure to provide adequate health care at long term care facilities - part of the overall settlement with the government - was announced on March 19, 2001 by the Departments of Justice (DOJ), Defense (DOD), and Health and Human Services (HHS). Vencor Inc. - one of the nation’s largest nursing home chains - and Ventas Inc. - a related real estate investment trust - were ordered to pay $104.5 million to the the United States. Failure of care claims accounted for more than $20 million of the $104.5 million False Claims Act settlement. The failure of care claims included false claims relating to inadequate staffing, improper care of decubitus ulcers, and failure to meet resident’s dietary needs. The remaining portions of the $104.5 million settlement include more than $54 million for improper claims made on Vencor’s hospital Medicare cost reports and more than $24 million for over-billing for respiratory care services and supplies. This settlement is the second largest False Claims Act settlement in a nursing home case. The Louisville, Kentucky-based health care provider and Ventas was to pay the government $25 million to resolve certain administrative non-fraud based Medicare claims. Vencor was separately to reimburse Medicare for other overpayments of approximately $90 million. The full Department of Justice Memo can be read at [1].

Vencor filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1999; while many investors lost a great deal of money, the company’s future was salvaged when a federal Judge, Mary Walrath, approved the company’s plan to restructure. The release of Vencor from 18 months in Chapter 11 bankruptcy paved the way for the company’s future under a new name — Kindred Healthcare Inc. The restructuring saved a company at the time still operating 295 nursing homes in 31 states and 56 hospitals in 23 states, caring for 35,000 patients, with 53,000 workers.[

[Straight Vermonter]

Excellent flash movie about drilling in ANWR. Send it to your friends!

http://www.anwr.org/Video/View-our-ANWR-Flash-Movie.php

[Ann Archy]

OMG!!! The DEMOCRAT CONGRESS will NOT let us DRILL....will NOT let us REFINE.....have passed ETHANOL legislation that makes our FOOD SO DAMN EXPENSIVE and that has made our GAS PRICES go up since the DeMOCRATS TOOK OVER!!!

If the REpublicans can't NAIL the DEMOCRATS for the MISERY going on in this country, then they deserve to FAIL and WE DESERVE TO BE LEAD BY WUSSES!!!

[Reaganwuzthebest]

Have to agree with you, I’d hate to see McConnell lose. When push came to shove he stood with us against amnesty and at this point we can’t afford to lose anymore seats to “comprehensive immigration reform” democrats.

[ChildOfThe60s]

How about the Always Complaining Choir finally, after all these years, discover something to complain about in the Left?

I don't need to discover anything to complain about the left. More likely I would have to search to find something they did that I agreed with.

My complaints with Republicans are fairly simple and straight forward. Always have been. The Senate more so than the house.

-Too willing to give in to the Dems under the guise of "compromise"
-No idea how to play hardball politics. i.e. they tend to lead with the chin
-Too many ersatz (liberal) Republicans in the Senate
-They develop backbones intermittently and only temporarily, and it never lasts
-Their responses to liberal insults and vulgar slanders are usually milk toast
-They don't challenge the lies of "news" people or Dems. Or when they do it is usually pathetic and whiney

**Yes, you can find occasional exceptions to my statements. But for the most part they are pretty accurate.

As far as my attitude (complaining?) is concerned, I've never voted for a Democrat in 36 years. I have never missed or sat out an election. Damn straight I think I have a right to criticize. I've been far more consistent and loyal than they have.

[ChildOfThe60s]

See my post # 34.

I’m not going to abandon McConnell when I vote. But I will not quietly suffer BS compromises and backsliding from the Senate Republicans.

The real base, the backbone, of the party has been far too uncritical for far too long. We are losing the culture war, and we must hold our legislator’s feet to the fire on every issue.

[Cicero]

No, but if it wasn’t for people like Lincoln Chaffee and John McCain, we could have gotten a decent energy bill through congress before the Republicans lost control of it. ANWR only missed by a single vote.