General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAs government shutdown drags on, where is Senator McConnell?
U.S. President Donald Trump departs with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Vice President Mike Pence after addressing a closed Senate Republican policy lunch as a partial government shutdown enters its 19th day on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 9, 2019.
Showing no interest in defying his president and Trumps demand that triggered the shutdown for funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall opposed by Democrats, McConnell has kept a low profile. This posture, allies and opponents said, is about McConnell protecting himself, vulnerable Republicans and their control of the Senate ahead of the 2020 elections.
At the core of McConnells quiet loyalty to Trump, despite past friction between them, is a calculation that Trumps popularity with Republican voters makes standing by him, in the long run, politically wiser than responding to short-term worries about the shutdown, aides and experts said.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-shutdown-mcconnell-analysis/as-government-shutdown-drags-on-where-is-senator-mcconnell-idUSKCN1P52I9
dalton99a
(81,708 posts)just like Trump
Baitball Blogger
(46,780 posts)Their idiot supporters will see this as strength, when it's actually an act of desperate thieves and traitors.
manor321
(3,344 posts)Siwsan
(26,333 posts)malaise
(269,328 posts)bluestarone
(17,128 posts)Love it!!!
Siwsan
(26,333 posts)LakeSuperiorView
(1,533 posts)Siwsan
(26,333 posts)That's going into my 'saved images' file!!
malaise
(269,328 posts)Hermit-The-Prog
(33,564 posts)I'm pretty sure McConnell is some mutant form of the common snapping turtle.
hatrack
(59,606 posts).
bluestarone
(17,128 posts)Get up close and personal with this TRAITOR!!! He should not be able to go ANYWHERE without somebody there PROTESTING!!!!
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,564 posts)Somebody edited that photo to remove the collar and leash from McConnell.
tblue37
(65,552 posts)Buns_of_Fire
(17,217 posts)I swear, it's like The Bloated One just passed gas from last night's bean burrito and Mikey catches a whiff and thinks "Ummm... Violets and honeysuckle!"
dalton99a
(81,708 posts)January 8, 2019
PBGC Director Nominee Gets Kicked Back to Trump
Clock runs out on controversial nod for brother-in-law of Mitch McConnell, Elaine Chao.
Gordon Hartogensis
In May, Trump nominated Hartogensis to replace PGBC Director Thomas Reeder, who was nominated by President Obama, and whose term was set to end in 2020. In a release announcing the nomination, the White House praised Hartogensis as an investor and technology sector leader with experience managing financial equities, bonds, private placements, and software development.
However, the move was criticized for its apparent nepotism, as Hartogensis is the brother-in-law of both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. The 2018 legislative session ended without a formal vote on Hartogensis appointment, and as a result, Senate rules require the nomination to be returned to the president.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/17/mitch-mcconnell-know-run-agency-1033119
Want to run an agency? It helps to know Mitch McConnell
Trump's nominee to run pension agency has a thin resume.
By IAN KULLGREN
12/17/2018 05:10 AM EST
Gordon Hartogensis has little professional paper trail, and has largely just managed his familys sprawling investment portfolio after striking gold in a '90s startup and retiring by the time he was 29. But he is expected to gain Senate confirmation by the end of the year to run the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the troubled government backstop for people whose pension plans have become insolvent.
Hartogensis, 48, whos married to Chaos sister, will oversee an agency with nearly 1,000 employees that manages $100 billion in assets and handed out $5.8 billion to more than 861,000 retirees in 2018. Hell also have to deal with lawmakers as they contemplate a bailout plan that can avert a shortfall of tens of billions of dollars in the corporations cash reserves.
Hartogensis low public profile and his lack of government and management experience sets him apart from previous occupants of the job, who have typically worked in politics and at federal agencies such as the Treasury Department and the Office of Management and Budget before taking over. The nomination has drawn criticism for that reason.
Evergreen Emerald
(13,071 posts)She works for Trump. McConnell is compromised. He has abrogated his duty.
Bayard
(22,241 posts)(Not insulting gorillas!)
Turtle Man is hoping he can stay above this mess, and not show up in the Mueller investigation.