Katie Porter blasts McConnell for giving corporations a “license to kill” in relief bill
Congresswoman Katie Porter (D-CA) may not be a member of the Senate, but she has a lot to say about that legislative chamber’s Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), none of it particularly flattering to the tortoise-faced Machiavellian obstructionist.
Representative Porter went on the attack against McConnell during the past 24 hours, initially in a brutal social media thread posted yesterday evening, then later in a televised interview on MSNBC.
In both instances, Rep. Porter took on the responsibility of exposing “corruption in real time,” denouncing the GOP’s most powerful legislative voice for prioritizing the “imaginary need” of corporations and billionaires over the more pressingly immediate requirements of a population of everyday Americans devastated by the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Let’s start with her Twitter thread, which excoriated McConnell for his dogged attempts to torpedo the newly negotiated $908 billion bi-partisan pandemic relief bill that was already a significant step backward from the $3 trillion economic stimulus bill passed by the House of Representatives months ago and sitting fallow on the Senate leader’s desk ever since.
It reads as a jeremiad on McConnell’s stubbornly misplaced priorities and his heartless disregard for the plight of anyone without a few billion dollars in their pockets ready to contribute to GOP campaign coffers.
When I came to Congress, I knew I had a responsibility to pull back the curtain for the American people and expose corruption in real time. So, I’m filling you in on Senator McConnell’s attempts over the last 8 days to tank a *bipartisan* COVID relief bill. (THREAD)
— Rep. Katie Porter (@RepKatiePorter) December 9, 2020
Everyone at the negotiating table—including Senate Rs—has agreed to a compromise. Except one. Mitch McConnell is refusing to bring it to the floor unless it wipes away all COVID-related lawsuits filed that “allege injury or death” due to corporate negligence. (3/5)
— Rep. Katie Porter (@RepKatiePorter) December 9, 2020
The same McConnell who said that President Trump is “100% within his rights” to pursue baseless lawsuits alleging election fraud is now refusing to pass urgently-needed relief unless it strips those same rights from the most vulnerable among us. This must be exposed. (5/5)
— Rep. Katie Porter (@RepKatiePorter) December 9, 2020
Add your name to tell Trump: You Lost! Concede!
While Porter is not saying much that those who have been observing the GOP Majority Leader’s obstructionist tactics since the Republicans took control of the Senate didn’t already suspect, her confirmation that it is McConnell’s single-handed refusal to allow a penny of relief to flow to needy citizens without first absolving corporations of any liability for putting their employees in harms way through their negligence or deliberate flouting of known safety protocols— a refusal that is preventing quick post-election action on pandemic relief — is all the more reason to fight for both Democrats to win the Georgia Senate runoff elections in January.
Congresswoman Porter reiterated many of the same points when she made an appearance on MSNBC today but added a pointed explanation that the reason that Senator McConnell has been able to act as the virtual personal lobbyist for corporate America is the corrupt and distorting nature of America’s campaign finance system which allows deep-pocketed corporations to donate unlimited funds to a bottomless pit of compliant politicians who then are at their beck and call.
According to Rep. Porter, “this is about Senator McConnell holding out, kind of basically giving a license to kill to big corporations that engage in reckless behavior to endanger workers and employees and Americans.”
You can watch Congresswoman Porter’s MSNBC interview in the video excerpt below.
Until a constitutional amendment is passed reversing the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision that treats corporations like people when it comes to political donations, America should consider itself lucky to have real patriots like Katy Porter looking after our interests.
She’s not yet a member of the Senate, but many citizens of her home state of California certainly are hoping that Governor Gavin Newsom is giving serious consideration to appointing Porter to the seat being vacated by Senator Kamala Harris once she takes over the vice-presidency.
There is no one who could do a better job in the Senate than Congresswoman Katie Porter, where she could rejoin her former law professor Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
Please, Governor Newsom!
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