Bill Straub: If you find the present state of American politics deplorable, you have McConnell to thank

WASHINGTON – It’s been 10 years since Mitch McConnell stepped up to become the Republican leader in the U.S. Senate, providing sufficient time to assess, as the 114th Congress nears a close, whether his tenure has proved to be run-of-the-mill, Adam Sandler movie sort of awful or whether he has plumbed the depths of a ’62 New York Mets type of terribleness.

That Mets club, it should be remembered, produced an all-time worst record of 40-120, leading its manager, Casey Stengel, to plaintively ask, “Can’t anybody here play this game?’’ McConnell, the record proves, shows that no, he can’t.

No reasonable dispute exists. It was McConnell who devised the scheme to oppose President Obama at every turn, first as the leader of the minority and, over the last two years, heading the majority. McConnell has seen to it that the upper chamber has accomplished practically nothing, erecting roadblocks to such a degree that highway workers on I-75 in Northern Kentucky are envious.

If you find the present state of American politics deplorable, and most rational people do, a cogent argument can be made that Addison Mitchell McConnell of Louisville, KY, is the primary architect of that national dismay. He has his abettors, but his bullying and tone deafness have led the public to lose confidence in its own government.

Proof is in the numbers. A poll conducted by GfK Public Affairs & Corporate Communications, released by the Associated Press in mid-September, found that a scant 12 percent of those questioned approved of the way Congress is handling its job while an almost unbelievable 88 percent disapprove, the result of McConnell’s handiwork.

And old Mitch himself is frequently cast as the country’s most unpopular elected federal official.

In a recent interview with Jonathan Chait of New York magazine, Obama, who entered office in January 2009 facing an economic catastrophe that began under the watch of his GOP predecessor, George W. Bush, said he thought there would be “a window in which they (Republicans) would feel obliged to cooperate on a common effort to dig us out of this massive hole.’’

He determined he was mistaken early on when Republicans demeaned his recovery package before it was even unveiled.

“And I think we realized at that point what proved to be the case in that first year and that second year was a calculation based on what turned out to be pretty smart politics but really bad for the country,’’ Obama said. “If they cooperated with me, then that would validate our efforts. If they were able to maintain uniform opposition to whatever I proposed, that would send a signal to the public of gridlock, dysfunction, and that would help them win seats in the midterms.’’

McConnell pursued that second option “with great discipline.’’

“It established the dynamic for not just my presidency but for a much sharper party-line approach to managing both the House and the Senate that I think is going to have consequences for years to come,’’ the president said.

McConnell has proved himself reckless and the examples are vast. The 114th Congress, with McConnell leading the Republican majority, has confirmed fewer civilian nominees to key posts within the federal government than any Senate in modern history, according to the Congressional Research Service. As of mid-September, the upper chamber had confirmed only 248 nominees — half the average number confirmed over comparable periods in previous Congresses.

It’s McConnell’s job to schedule votes on presidential nominees. His untoward handling of these appointments has the effect of slowing the wheels of government, carrying an impact on those requiring its services.

But that’s only a drop in the bucket compared to what McConnell is doing to the judiciary. Everyone is familiar with the case of U.S. Circuit Court Judge Merrick Garland, Obama’s choice to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court. McConnell vowed to sit on the nomination, leaving the high court to address crucial issues facing the nation during most of its last term and likely all of the current term without a full complement of justices, leading to a series of 4-4 votes that fail to result in establishing precedents.

But the bigger story is his apparent desire to destroy the totality of the federal judiciary. Since Republicans regained the majority in the 114th Congress, the Senate has confirmed a measly 22 judges — the fewest since 1952.

As a result, the number of empty judge seats on the district and circuit court levels has doubled to 92 and judicial emergencies – where vacancies are leading to serious problems — have tripled to an outlandish 35.

“Right now there are scores of empty judgeships across the country and everyday Americans are being denied justice, and GOP Senate leaders have made it clear that they just don’t care,’’ said Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice.

McConnell, in that lighthearted way of his, dismisses complaints about his handling of judicial appointments by noting that President George W. Bush during his administration got fewer confirmations than Obama – 325 to 327 for Obama to date. That sharp analysis ignores the fact that Obama had more vacancies to fill – 418 to 359 for Bush, leaving Obama with 59 more openings. While Bush got about 91 percent of his judges confirmed, Obama has been limited to 78 percent because of GOP inaction.

And his record is no better on the legislative side. McConnell, who essentially helped run the congressional budgetary process into the ground while in the minority through filibuster and other forms of obstruction, promised to restore “regular order’’ to the system this year, allocating funds to the various agencies through passage of the 12 appropriations measures.

He started by refusing to hold hearings on Obama’s proposed FY 2017 budget, the only time the Senate has declined to even consider a president’s spending plan since 1975. Eventually, the Senate passed a single appropriations measure – the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs bill – only because it was attached to the continuing resolution that kept the government running beyond the beginning of the Oct. 1 fiscal year.

The remaining measures are slated to be addressed by Dec. 9 when the CR expires.

In other words, McConnell has relied on a continuing resolution to maintain governmental operations in each of the two years he has served as majority leader – a process he lambasted when he was in the minority. It meant that critical issues, like Zika virus research and aid for victims of Louisiana flooding, went unaddressed for months. And lawmakers still haven’t provided help for residents of Flint, MI, whose drinking water has been contaminated with lead.

Part of the problem may be the Senate schedule he constructed. The Senate remains on track during the second session of the 114th Congress to meet for 110 days — the fewest since 1956 – with the longest summer recess in memory.

“They’re complaining about the heavy calendar that they have, I guess,’’ said Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, of Nevada. “They owe taxpayers their time and they’re not giving that.’’

And there are the vital issues he has simply ignored. Legislation aimed at reforming the nation’s troubled criminal justice system – spearheaded by conservatives – carried substantial bipartisan support. The measure, which reduced federal mandatory minimum sentences, thus saving nonviolent offenders from long prison terms while saving tax dollars on incarceration costs, was destined for passage.

But McConnell got cold feet and killed it. Because of politics. He feared a split in the GOP caucus and was concerned about the law-and-order line of the party’s presidential candidate, businessman Donald J. Trump.

And then there are the bills he shouldn’t have considered. The Senate in late September passed a measure, with bipartisan support, that would allow the families of 9/11 victims to sue the government of Saudi Arabia for its alleged financial support of al-Qaeda. It was vetoed by Obama, who warned that, while well-intentioned, the proposal placed the U.S. and its individual citizens, including military personnel, at risk of being similarly prosecuted in foreign courts.

Both chambers of Congress ignored the warning and blithely overrode the veto, only to almost immediately begin expressing regrets.

“Nobody really had focused on the potential downside in terms of our international relationships,” McConnell said. “I think it was just a ball dropped.”

No kidding.

Amazingly, McConnell then blamed the Obama administration for failing to communicate its concerns about the bill, asserting that, “I wish the president — I hate to blame everything on him, and I don’t — but it would have been helpful had he, uh, we had a discussion about this much earlier than last week.”

The Obama administration expressed opposition to the bill, and promised a veto, when it was first considered. Senate Republican Whip Jon Cornyn, of Texas, the primary sponsor, even took to the Senate floor in April to complain that Obama was trying to kill it and that he should keep hands off. The administration issued any number of warnings, including the actual veto message, which were summarily ignored.

There is even an argument to be made that McConnell bears some responsibility for the rise of Trump, the most ludicrous, unqualified and dangerous presidential candidate ever offered up by a major party.

Several members of the upper chamber, Kentucky’s Rand Paul, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, sought the nomination that eventually – and tragically – went to Trump. One problem, and there were several, but one problem was none of the candidates from the Senate could point to any real accomplishments. During much of their tenures, with McConnell in charge, the strategy was to thwart Obama, not get anything done.

When pressed for their accomplishments, those contenders were empty handed. It opened a lane for Trump who could, accurately, portray them, and the rest of the members of Congress, as do-nothings who need to get out of the way so someone like him could get things done.

That’s what happens when obstruction is the key to the game and a party fails to properly cultivate a candidate the public can get behind. Ironic, isn’t it? Of course McConnell now embraces Trump, countenances his bigotry, and refuses in his usual snippy way to answer reporters’ questions when they ask him to react to the whacky actions of the man he endorsed.

So quite a record put together by our boy from Louisville. It was Confucius who said, “The hardest thing of all is to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if there is no cat.” He was wrong. It’s even harder to find something good to say about Mitch McConnell’s abysmal record.

Washington correspondent Bill Straub served 11 years as the Frankfort Bureau chief for The Kentucky Post. He also is the former White House/political correspondent for Scripps Howard News Service. A member of the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame, he currently resides in Silver Spring, Maryland, and writes frequently about the federal government and politics. Email him at williamgstraub@gmail.com.