Thanks to Mitch McConnell, U.S. now has no functioning election commission

[Uncle Joe]

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) — intended to be a group of no more than three Democrats and no more than three Republicans overseeing the federal campaign finance system — has been operating with just a bare quorum of four for the past 18 months. With the resignation of Vice Chairman Matthew Petersen, at the end of the week, the commission will be virtually paralyzed.

(snip)

But while the commission has often deadlocked along party lines — especially in recent years — it still has played some role in issuing fines, auditing campaign filings, and investigating corruption. With just three active members, it will be able to do none of that.

(snip)

McConnell has dubbed himself the “grim reaper,” blocking virtually all legislative action in the United States Senate and focusing almost exclusively on confirming Trump’s nominees. But the Federal Election Commission has been a notable exception.

Back in 2010, President Barack Obama’s first nominee to the Federal Election Commission — John J. Sullivan — withdrew from consideration despite strong bipartisan support, after waiting more than a year for a vote in the full Senate. Two senators demanded that other expired seats be filled at the time, but this did not happen due to lack of agreement from then-Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

https://thinkprogress.org/thanks-to-mitch-mcconnell-america-now-has-no-functioning-election-commission-42c5b3aeb758/

[maxsolomon]

1. He continues to govern as he sees fit.

He's been eating our lunch for 10 years.

[malaise]

2. It is deliberate

Get thee to the greatest page

[Uncle Joe]

3. I believe the FEC "investigating corruption" are the key words.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

4. Moscow Mitch pleases his owner, Putin, and covers his own corruption

[Duppers]

5. K & R

[dalton99a]

6. Moscow Mitch has to hold the door open for Master Putin

[uponit7771]

7. K&R, McConnels give-a-damn-meter is stuck on -3 ... Media needs to focus on him as an enabler

[CrispyQ]

8. I hate McConnell most of all.

If we get Trump out but McConnell remains, especially if we don't get the senate, we're still fucked. He's as nasty a piece of shit as Trump, only smarter & more devious.

He's bragged about making generational changes to the judiciary.

Before he became #MoscowMitch, McConnell forged his legacy: Reshaping the federal courts

https://www.salon.com/2019/08/14/before-he-became-moscowmitch-mcconnell-forged-his-legacy-reshaping-the-federal-courts/


snip...

This multi-generational shift in the federal judiciary has resulted in the least diverse bench in modern history, with not a single black, Latino or LGBT appointee. More than two-thirds of those confirmed are white men, with a median age is 47.5 years. Federal judges serve for life, ensuring that Trump’s legacy will be imprinted on the federal judiciary for the next three to four decades.

Several have exhibited open hostility to immigrant rights, reproductive freedom, voting rights and LGBTQ equality. Among the new circuit court judges is Steven Grasz, who defended a “partial-birth” abortion ban in front of the Supreme Court and was confirmed despite receiving a “not qualified” rating from the American Bar Association over concerns he would be “unable to separate his role as an advocate from that of a judge.” Another is Amy Coney Barrett, who was confirmed despite calling Roe v. Wade an “erroneous decision” and reportedly belonging to a private religious group where women are literally described as “handmaids.” John Bush, who once compared abortion to slavery on an anonymous blog, is also now a circuit court judge.

If Trump and McConnell are re-elected next year — the latter faces a potentially tough battle in the Bluegrass State — they will likely be able to appoint and confirm more than half of all sitting federal judges by 2024.

McConnell has blatantly been willing to let a hostile nation meddle in our elections, but he's so much more than #MoscowMitch. He has remade the federal judiciary to his own design, with the help of a corrupt and ignorant president. That will seal his legacy as the Senate’s master manipulator.

It will be decades cleaning up the shit they've spewed.