AMERICAN LEFT HISTORY

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Monday, August 26, 2019

BERN NOTICE: Exposing McConnell's Corruption In Kentucky David Sirota

David Sirota<bernie@substack.com>

8/25/2019 4:44 PM

To alfredjohnson34@comcast.net

BERN NOTICE: Exposing McConnell's Corruption In Kentucky

Bernie is in Louisville today to spotlight how the GOP Senate Leader pays back his donors with legislative favors

Aug 25

Public post

Bern Notice is a production of the Bernie 2020 campaign. Please forward this on to your friends and tell them to subscribe. The views expressed here are solely of the bylined author.

When it comes to stopping the emergencies that are plaguing America and the world, Mitch McConnell has been the Obstructor in Chief on behalf of his big donors. And so Bernie is taking the fight to McConnell today in Kentuckyas part of his ongoing campaign against corporatist obstruction. Bernie is specifically demanding that McConnell “stop using his office to simply represent the wealthy and the powerful and billionaire campaign contributors.”

McConnell has made an art form out of raking in campaign cash and then doling out legislative favors to his corporate friends. Indeed, the list of McConnell’s top donors show exactly who he represents — banks, private equity firms, health insurers, pharmaceutical companies and coal corporations.

Here’s a quick summary of some of what those donors have received from McConnell during his career:

MITCH HELPS TRUMP’S EFFORTS TO HELP INSURERS FLEECE AMERICANS: Donors from Humana and Blue Cross are among McConnell’s biggest donors. Mitch has paid them back by helping Donald Trump try to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s provisions which require these companies to cover people who have pre-existing conditions. He is also paying them back right now by opposing Bernie’s Medicare for All legislation.

MITCH HELPS BIG PHARMA RIP OFF CONSUMERS: One of McConnell’s top contributors are donors from drugmaker Eli Lilly, the company that pays its CEO $17 million while tripling the price of its insulin medication. McConnell has returned the favor by blocking Bernie’s plan to let Medicare negotiate lower prescription drug prices, and blocking Bernie’s legislation to let Americans buy lower-priced medicines from countries like Canada.

MITCH HELPS TRUMP & BILLIONAIRE DONORS GET GIANT TAX CUTS: McConnell’s #1 donor are contributors from the private equity firm Blackstone. In all Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman — a billionaire Trump adviser — and his colleagues have given more than $10 million to McConnell and McConnell’s super PAC. Blackstone is the firm that takes over companies and then lays off workers. It is also right now facing a major lawsuit that alleges it bilked the Kentucky pension fund that provides retirement benefits for Kentucky’s firefighters, first responders and other public workers. McConnell has paid back Blackstone for its donations by blocking legislation to close a tax loophole that lets private equity billionaires pay lower taxes than everyone else. He also passed Donald Trump’s tax cuts, which massively enriched Blackstone. Within months of McConnell ramming the tax cut through the Senate, Schwarzman gave $5 million to McConnell’s super PAC.

MITCH IS WAGING A WAR ON COAL MINERS: One of McConnell’s top contributors are donors from Peabody, the largest coal company in the world. Mitch has returned the favor by blocking every serious legislative initiative to reduce carbon emissions and fight climate change. He hasalso blocked serious mine safety legislation. Additionally, as black lung disease has skyrocketed in Kentucky, McConnell has tried to repeal health care benefits to sick miners. And he has done the bidding of coal lobbyists by allowing coal companies to substantially reduce the amount they must pay into the disability fund for these sick workers -- a move that is now threatening to bankrupt the entire fund.

MITCH ENRICHES TOO-BIG-TO-FAIL BANKS: McConnell has raked in big money from the “too big to fail” — Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Citigroup — that destroyed the economy in the financial crisis. McConnell has paid these banks back by slashing financial regulations that protect consumers, and by giving them a trillion dollar bailout after they destroyed millions of Americans lives.

MITCH CAPITULATES TO THE NRA: The NRA has spent more than $1.2 million to support Mitch McConnell’s elections. McConnell is paying back the NRA right now by refusing to bring the Senate back into session to pass background check legislation that the House already passed and that is supported by the vast majority of Americans.

It’s worth adding that this is only the money we know about. In McConnell’s last Senate race, a mysterious group called the “Kentucky Opportunity Coalition” raised more than $15 million and aired more than 12,400 ads to support McConnell’s reelection. But the contributors are a secret. All we know is that 60 percent of the $15 million were megadonors.

Bern after reading,

Sirota