Kentucky’s senior senator, Republican Mitch McConnell spoke on the Senate floor several times this week regarding the need to curb the federal government’s out-of-control spending problem, solve our nation’s debt crisis, and make it easier to create good jobs in Kentucky.
He said: “Yesterday, we learned that our economy contracted for the first time in more than three years. This news comes, of course, after President Obama spent an entire election promising Americans that a return to robust economic growth was right around the corner, and little more than a week after the President said in his inaugural address that ‘economic recovery has begun.’
“I’m not so sure the people of Kentucky would agree with that assessment, given that the unemployment rate there is still above 8 percent. But this isn’t the first or second time this White House has oversold the recovery. It’s not even the third or the fourth. A lot of us remember the ‘Summer of Recovery.’ A lot of us also remember when the Vice President promised that the stimulus would ‘literally drop-kick’ us out of the recession.”
The Senator continued: “The key to robust recovery is freeing the private sector to grow and create jobs. We can do that by making government more efficient, by reforming spending, and by eliminating programs that don’t work – which happen to be the very same things we need to do to get our fiscal house in order.
“Economic growth and debt reduction can go hand in hand, but only if we pursue the right policies. So, as a first step, let’s stop making things worse than they already are. Threatening families and businesses with even more job-killing tax hikes is clearly counterproductive, and so is trying to borrow more money from China to fund more failed stimulus packages.
“The President and his allies have had four years to put their ideas into practice; those policies have failed. It’s time for a new approach. And, if Democrats are ready to finally get serious – to end the blame game and pursue real pro-growth policies – then Republicans are here to show them the way forward to a stronger economy and a more secure future.”
Industrialized Hemp
On Thursday, Senator McConnell made the following statement regarding industrialized hemp and its impact on Kentucky:
"After long discussions with Senator Rand Paul and Commissioner James Comer on the economic benefits of industrialized hemp, I am convinced that allowing its production will be a positive development for Kentucky’s farm families and economy. Commissioner Comer has assured me that his office is committed to pursuing industrialized hemp production in a way that does not compromise Kentucky law enforcement’s marijuana eradication efforts or in any way promote illegal drug use. The utilization of hemp to produce everything from clothing to paper is real, and if there, is a capacity to center a new domestic industry in Kentucky that will create jobs in these difficult economic times that sounds like a good thing to me.”
Kentucky’s Agriculture Commissioner James Comer praised Senator McConnell’s support, saying, “When the most powerful Republican in the country calls to discuss your issue, that’s a good day on the job. Leader McConnell’s support adds immeasurable strength to our efforts to bring good jobs to Kentucky.”
Legislation to End Medicare Payment Gimmick in Obamacare
Senator McConnell joined Senators Tom Coburn and Clair McCaskill in sponsoring bi-partisan legislation to end preferential payments Massachusetts and New Jersey hospitals receive under Obamacare and funnel that money back to truly rural hospitals like those in Kentucky. This sweetheart deal gave Massachusetts hospitals $367 million in Medicare payments that were meant for rural hospitals in high-need areas by designating areas like Nantucket, Mass., as one of America's wealthiest zip codes, as "rural" and thus in need of extra government funds. Senator McConnell believes this unfair treatment of two states at the expense of all others should be repealed. He cites this as yet another example of the many faults included in Obamacare.
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