Bill Straub: Count reasons for McConnell’s disdain for $2,000 stimulus checks; maybe 30 million of them

Any number of rational answers can be rightfully considered. But in this instance, stealing a notion from the great Conan Doyle, the reason can be found hiding in plain sight: Mitch simply doesn’t give a rat’s behind about what you or anyone else thinks.

And he doesn’t have to. It’s his indifference to right and wrong, and his willingness to play Snidely Whiplash, that has ironically provided him with the keys to the kingdom.

Think about it. In every instance, dating back to his time as minority leader during the Obama administration, McConnell has consistently taken the nastiest option, whether it be blocking the agenda of the nation’s first African-American president just because he could, to literally stealing seats on the high court with no regard to expectations of fair play.

He’s done it all in face of wilting condemnation, providing only a series of inane rationales for his underhanded achievements. And old Mitch has gotten away with it because he really just doesn’t care that people despise him from West Quoddy Head Light in Maine to Honolulu. In fact, he feeds off it, which is why he embraces and thinks it funny that folks refer to him as the Grim Reaper and Darth Vader.

Accepting, even celebrating, disdain is counter-intuitive, an unusual characteristic for any politician. Those in the profession generally seek to attract the love and support of their constituents, thus assuring them of a decent chance of retaining their positions after Election Day. McConnell could care less. He knows that Kentucky voters, with a long history of voting against their own self-interest, will return him to the Senate every six years. They’re not doing it because of his George Clooney good looks or his sparkling personality, they do it because he rails against abortion and promises folks they can keep their guns – even buy more – regardless of caliber or firepower.

It’s not hard to figure out. He’s been doing it since 1984.

And that is principally why ol’ Root-‘n-Branch has set the standard for the longest tenure as Senate Republican leader in the nation’s history. He can do and say things to incur the public’s wrath without a care in the world while protecting his fellow GOP lawmakers from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, all in pursuit of the only possession he holds dear – power.

Take the $2,000 question.

A vast number of Americans have found themselves in dire financial straits for better than nine months as a result of the COVID-19 spread that has cost going on 350,000 lives. There is legitimate suffering in the United States and elsewhere – the pandemic has caused the largest global recession in history.

Despite all that, McConnell, for reasons unclear, was lukewarm about a second economic stimulus as a follow up to legislation adopted last March. He was particularly unenthusiastic about any provision providing a direct payment to needy families, who could then use the cash to pay rent, buy groceries, make a car payment and address various financial obligations that have fallen into arrears.

The House passed a second stimulus in May but McConnell left it gathering dust on his desk throughout the summer and fall, finally conceding to the inevitable when the situation grew even more desperate. After much haggling, negotiators finally settled on a $600 government check for needy, qualified families.

It was apparent from the get-go that $600 would prove insufficient. A poll from Insider and SurveyMonkey backed that up, with 62 percent asserting the amount was too small, with $1,500 coming in as the favored amount.

So after both legislative chambers passed the negotiated agreement, President Donald J. Trump, aka Loser, who you may have heard lost his re-election campaign, decided to chime in, insisting the $600 was too stingy and recommending that Congress go along with the $2,000 stimulus.

Now there is, of course a back story to all this. McConnell has spent the past three-plus years playing pat-a-cake with our toddler of a president, going along with his imbecilic plans and whining in order to curry favor. That buddy-buddy system came to a screeching halt when Mitch, after weeks of delay, finally acknowledged that Democrat Joe Biden was destined to be the next president of the United States.

Trump, being the infant terrible that he is, took offense and started gnawing away at his former BFF, suggesting they ought to switch the deal and raise the $600 to $2,000. The Democrat-controlled House, which always wanted a higher stimulus check anyway, jumped on the proposal like, as my old friend Gary Webb used to say, a hungry dog on a bone.

That left the issue up to the Senate where skinflint Republicans, including Sen. Rand Paul, R-Bowling Green, wanted nothing to do with it. But several GOP lawmakers, fearing future political repercussions, jumped ship and expressed a willingness to play ball.

Naturally, ol’ Root-‘n-Branch stepped in to take the hit, objecting to calling the proposed increase to $2,000 up for consideration. That saved lawmakers with the disposition of Henry F. Potter from having to cast a negative vote on a popular piece of legislation while allowing others, with an eye on their future political prospects, to assure constituents they would have voted for it had McConnell not gotten in the way.

That includes two candidates involved in a Jan. 5 run-off for a pair of closely watched Senate seats in Georgia — Sen. David Perdue and Sen. Kelly Loeffler – who can now say without fear of contradiction that they would have supported the provision if given the opportunity.

By refusing to consider the measure McConnell denies Democrats an obvious victory. And all it cost was any positive public perception he might maintain, which already was in the toilet. But he gets to exercise his power – the only sacred thing – and receive the thanks of GOP lawmakers who didn’t want to tale a tough political vote.

His rationale was, of course, laughable. “The Senate is not going to be bullied into rushing out more borrowed money into the hands of Democrats’ rich friends who don’t need the help,” McConnell said on the Senate floor, adding that the proposal had “no realistic path to quickly pass the Senate.” 

Despite Mitch’s claim, it’s looking like the package could attract enough votes – 60 – to avoid a filibuster, with all 48 Democrats and independents going for it, the number of Republicans expressing support is approaching the magic 12, including Perdue and Loeffler.

Instead, McConnell has decided to play games. He introduced legislation on Tuesday tying the $2,000 proposal to a repeal of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects internet companies from legal liability for user-generated content and has nothing to do with providing aide in face of a pandemic. It also includes a study of voter fraud, which has emerged as Trump’s pet issue since his overwhelming defeat.

The $2,000 check proposal, according to the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, would result in a $5.3 billion boost to Kentucky economy, assistance for families in a commonwealth where 43 percent of the kids were low-income even before the pandemic and deposit $1.4 billion into the pockets of those making less than $19,600 a year.

Such an effort would be of great help to a state that features five of the nation’s 10 poorest counties – Owsley, Wolfe, McCreary, Jackson and Clay.

But don’t bother Mitch and his $30 million greenback friends. He just doesn’t care.