I’ve been concerned, for a while, about Mitch McConnell’s role as Senate majority leader.  His desire to make Barack Obama a one-term President failed. Once Republicans were safely ensconced as the majority, in both the Senate and the House, Senator McConnell had the power to delay and obstruct as much legislation and judicial appointments as possible, to make things more difficult during the remaining years of Obama’s presidency.  We can disagree on what took place in Congress during those six years. Republicans across the country cheered Senator McConnell’s tenacity and praised him as a hero by opposing the Obama Administration. 

I found it fascinating, at the same time, Americans were angry with both parties in Congress because they felt nothing of substance was getting done.  McConnell was doing to Obama the opposite of what he is now doing to Trump. If the Senator thought a proposed bill might pass the Senate and House that he did not like, he refused to put it to a vote for President Obama’s signature.  Now, he is using (abusing?) his power by refusing to allow a vote on any bills that have been proposed to end the shutdown, if he thinks Trump will veto them.  It doesn’t matter if there may be enough votes in the Senate to override any veto and put 800,000 people back to work.

Mitch McConnell has played fast and loose with rules of the Senate to get the results he wants, whether it was to block Obama or to make things easier for Trump.  Senator McConnell has a tendency to ignore everything the majority of Americans want in order to secure his position of power.  In an article, written by Charles Homans, for The New York Times Magazine, which was published on January 22, 2019, one of the most interesting items I read, was the fact that Mitch McConnell has no aspirations to become President.  He is perfectly content to remain the Senate majority leader and make his mark in American politics from that position.  I found that to be rather enlightening and it made me realize how powerful the position really is.  The Senate majority leader has the power to make or break a President.  Yes, the President has ways around Congress, but as the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell has plenty of options to get around Congress and the President, to achieve what Mitch McConnell wants.

Over the years, our country has had many successful and poor Senate majority leaders.   If you take the time to study these leaders, you will understand the kind of power they hold on the success or failure of not just a presidency, but the future of our country.  This is why there are three branches of our government to provide checks and balances.  Government can function reasonably well, when the members of both parties decide to work together for the betterment of the people and the country.  Things can progress more smoothly when one party holds the majority in Congress and the White House.  That doesn’t always mean everybody is happy with the results. Gridlock can be avoided when people from both parties are willing to negotiate and compromise, in good faith, to obtain the best results for their constituents and the country.

As I write this, the shutdown is still going on.  The terms “negotiate and compromise” have become dirty words.  Democrats are more than willing to give Donald Trump money for border security, which would include more agents; repair of existing deterrents to migrants crossing in places other than legal ports of entry; money for new and enhanced technology for surveillance of the Southern border; and more judges to process the immigrants who are already in the country and those who are seeking asylum.  Many Republicans and Democrats supported the bills that were introduced before the new Congress was convened.  There are still numerous Republicans that support the bipartisan bills that have been negotiated in the current Senate and House that will fund the Federal Government, stop the shutdown and increase border security.  Congress understand the reality of Trump’s “Wall”, and their constituents who are also seeing his proposal as a black hole of funding that will never end, and will not accomplish what Trump promised it would.  It will not stop people from crossing our border illegally.

Democrats are not for open borders.  We understand the importance of legal immigration. Both parties are guilty of being unable to deal with the multitude of immigration issues that have become a complicated patchwork of bandages, in hopes that someone else will fix the problems, somewhere down the line.  Now is the time for Congress to stop shifting the blame, buckle down and work on viable solutions.  A “wall” of any kind will not fix the problems with legal and illegal immigration that we have been facing in this country for decades.

Mitch McConnell’s determination to refuse to allow any bills to come to the floor of the Senate for a vote that he “believes” the President will veto, is, at best, irresponsible of someone in his position.  It is his job to let the Senators do their jobs.  It isn’t up to him to determine what bills might be a “waste of time” to present to the President.  I understand it is becoming more and more challenging to know exactly what Donald Trump wants. He seems to be constantly changing his mind depending on what TV and radio personalities tell him what they think he should do.  Those people were not elected to run our country.  They have the right to voice their opinions, like all of us do.  It is concerning that the President will follow their advice instead of the Senators and Representatives from his own party.  Mitch McConnell may end up Trump’s scapegoat in this situation because Mitch is playing political games to bolster his own power without regard for government workers and the American people.