Mitch McConnell

Mitch McConnell is the senior U.S. Senator for the commonwealth of Kentucky. Senator McConnel is also current Senate Minority leader and represents the Republican Party. He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984. He is up for reelection in November of 2014.http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=53298

After the November 2010 elections, McConnell stated that the American people sent a message to President Obama and the Democratic Party as a whole.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/us-politics/8111199/Midterms-2010-Mitch-McConnell-says-Americans-scored-Obama-with-an-F.html He said that the Democrats "got a report card. They got an F."http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/us-politics/8111199/Midterms-2010-Mitch-McConnell-says-Americans-scored-Obama-with-an-F.html Since that time, President Obama has invited Senator McConnell, Speaker of the House John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to dinner.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/us-politics/8111199/Midterms-2010-Mitch-McConnell-says-Americans-scored-Obama-with-an-F.html When discussing the purpose of the November 18th dinner, Obama stated that it would "be a meeting in which I want us to talk substantively about how we can move the American people's agenda forward."http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/us-politics/8111199/Midterms-2010-Mitch-McConnell-says-Americans-scored-Obama-with-an-F.html

Senate Minority Leader McConnel released a letter on April 16, 2010 that was signed by all 41 members of the Republican Senate caucus. It stated that they were "united" in their "opposition to the partisan legislation reported by the Senate Banking Committee". http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/35926.html#ixzz0lIJrW93F The legislation in question was a banking and Wall Street reform bill, which cleared the Senate Banking Committee.http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/35926.html

Senator Chris Dodd, a Democrat from the state of Connecticut, released a memorandum from Republican political strategist Frank Lutz. He claimed that speeches given by McConnell in opposition to the banking reform legislation were a verbatim repetition of what was stated by Lutz in the memorandum.http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/16/1583442/whys-sen-mcconnell-going-ballistic.html Senator Dodd entered the document into the congressional record. Before this event, McConnel was criticized for meeting with several Wall Street executives prior to coming out publicly against the legislation that just cleared the Senate banking committee.http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/16/1583442_p2/whys-sen-mcconnell-going-ballistic.html

In February 2009, Senator McConnell proposed a plan to offer fixed government-backed, low-interest mortgages of 4% to "any credit-worthy borrower." According to McConnell, President Barack Obama's stimulus package did not fit with what he identified as the main problem. McConnell said he wanted to amend Obama's stimulus package to include his plan.http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/02/02/republicans-stimulus-address-housing-crisis/ The final version of the stimulus package did not include McConnell's plan.

• Voted to prohibit minors from crossing state lines in order to get an abortionhttp://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=53298

• Voted in favor of limiting death penalty appeals in 1996http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=53298

• Against a ban on oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refugehttp://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=53298

• Voted with the Republican Party 92.9% of the timehttp://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=53298

• Voted to authorize U.S. military force in Iraq in 2002http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=53298