Mitch McConnell Is Accountable to Corporations – Not the People Who Elected Him
House Republicans and Senate Leader Mitch McConnell represent voters who are disproportionately struggling — yet they're blocking $2,000 survival checks. It's American politics in a nutshell.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks during a news briefing at the US Capitol on April 21, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
Last week, House Democrats attempted to call President Donald Trump’s bluff and increase the COVID relief bill’s survival checks to $2,000. House Republicans blocked the initial maneuver, and may today prevent the legislation from passing. If it does pass, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could kill the bill.
The spectacle of Congress continuing to stall $2,000 survival checks during an economic emergency spotlights Donald Trump’s erratic behavior, Democrats’ persistent austerity ideology, and the dysfunctionality of a government waiting until the last minute to hammer out 5,000-page emergency legislation in a matter of hours.
Most important, the antics of House Republicans and McConnell illustrate how — despite all of America’s paens to democracy — lawmakers ostensibly elected to represent us will routinely stomp on their own constituents.
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