Dear Editor,

Sen. Mitch McConnell has a column in the June 26 issue of The Advocate-Messenger that we would like to refute.

First off, let us say that, for the past year and a half, a group of progressive Boyle County residents have been trying to get a town hall or at least a meeting with McConnell but to no avail. The only constituents that he meets with are Republican contributors. Several of us have even offered to travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with him, but he refuses. Now to Mr. McConnell’s bragging points:

McConnell claims that increased military spending under Trump has made us safer. Under President Obama, U.S. Military spending was greater than the total of the next 8 countries. Under Trump, that figure has risen to the total of the next 10 countries. Do you feel any safer now?

McConnell brags about reducing “the complex web of overly burdensome federal regulations” that President Obama left behind. What he is referring to is Dodd-Frank legislation that was passed in aftermath of the 2007-2009 financial meltdown when the banks and financial investment entities came close to destroying the economy of the United States and precipitating another great depression.

The Republicans have succeeded in repealing much of Dodd-Frank, which may well result in another financial crisis. But this time there will be no Hank Paulson and Timothy Geithner to take measures to stop it as the Trump appointees are clueless and only interested in their own self-aggrandizement.

For the past 50 years, one of the underpinnings of the nation’s economy has been free trade. Trump has blown that up, imposing stiff tariffs on steel, aluminum, and imported automobiles. Unsurprisingly the other countries, including Canada, Mexico, the European Union and China have responded in kind.

If you are a Trump supporter who works for Harley Davidson, or who raises corn or soybeans, or who milks cows, you may not be happy with the results.

McConnell says that he is proud of his decision to “let the American People decide who they wanted to appoint the next SCOTUS justice.” Aside from the basic dishonesty of obstructing President Obama’s SCOTUS nominee when Scalia died a year before Obama’s term ended, let us remind one and all that Hillary Clinton received 2,834,000 more votes than Trump did.

McConnell is a man with no conscience and no ethics. His only goal is to win!

Jim & Linda Porter

Danville