Mitch McConnell Report Card
by Michael Greenwald
Welcome to our second Report Card! We give politicians letter grades on their International, Domestic, Economic, and Social policies. We do extensive research on their voting record and policy positions and fully discuss our findings in our Political Economist Podcast Case Study episodes. This week we’re diving into the most powerful Republican in the country: Mitch McConnell!
International: C
Mitch’s dedication to international free trade rounds out his otherwise abysmal foreign policy. He is a consistent advocate for international free trade by setting up trade deals with Hong Kong and Cuba and defending NAFTA and CAFTA. He has led Republican action on immigration by protecting DACA recipients in exchange for strengthening border security, humanely or otherwise. Where other leaders have floundered to tackle immigration reform, Mitch has proposed a non-wall solution, which we respect. Unfortunately, he is a walking coal spokesperson and has been pushing for more Arctic oil drilling, which is good for providing jobs, but may cause an irreversible environmental disaster and a potential war with China and Russia over the North Pole.
Domestic: D-
Mitch McConnell’s domestic policies only serve to garner Kentuckian votes and win reelection. They do little to help the entire country. He pushed the COPS program in the 90’s, federally funding mass hirings of police to combat peaking crime rates. While the program did successfully lower crime rates, it has been extended well past its intended use and has contributed to the oversaturation of police and the overall privatization of the prison-industrial complex. On top of this, he has criminalized drug sale and use, but seemingly hypocritically, supports tobacco. After wasting resources to fight the Affordable Care Act, he has recently dropped this battle. He is well known to be heavily lobbied by ISP’s, and has deregulated telecommunications companies. He is rated 0% by the League of Conservation Voters.
Economic: D+
Mitch McConnell bailed out big banks in 2008 while refusing to raise ultra-wealthy tax rates and opposing Obama’s proposed relief plan. He opposes tax reform and implemented President Trump’s jobs plan to reduce corporate tax rates. He attempted to privatize social security, essentially removing safety nets allowing those who can afford to pre-pay to profit immensely. Finally, he has flip-flopped on raising the minimum wage, voting to raise it in 2007 but opposing a raise in 2005 and 2020.
Social: F
Mitch has failed to protect the individual rights of all Americans. He supports sex education in schools, but only through teaching abstinence, a useless skillset when it comes to family planning. He has kept the country talking about abortion rights by being staunchly pro-life and has attempted to defund planned parenthood and any federally-funded healthcare institution that performs abortions under any circumstances.
Gangster: A++
While we can objectively say his policies do not help the majority of Americans, he has been addressing the short-term interests of his Kentucky constituents since being elected to the Senate in 1985. He has been fearlessly loyal to telecommunications executives, tobacco farmers, and big oil. Mitch McConnell is the most GANGSTER tortoise since Master Oogway.
1.0 GPA
Gangster or not, Mitch McConnell is obviously not helping Americans: he is profiting off of them. It takes some serious effort to score a GPA this low!
