Tagged: Mitch McConnell

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has released a robocall in Kentucky criticizing President Obama’s gun control proposals. In the pre-recorded call, McConnell accuses the President of trying to “restrict your constitutional right to keep and bear arms.”

The call goes on to say McConnell will do everything in his power as Senate Minority Leader to protect Second Amendment freedoms.

The robocall was first reported in the online political journal Politico.

The President announced last week a set of wide-ranging gun control proposals, including a call for Congress to improve the federal background check system used to screen gun buyers. The White House also wants a ban on military-style assault weapons and a limit on the size of gun magazines available for purchase.

The debate over gun limits and Second Amendment rights was put on the front-burner after the December school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, in which 20 children and six others were murdered.

Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are reportedly engaged in negotiations over the use of the filibuster. The online journal Politico says Reid is weighing whether to change the filibuster rules with a 51 vote majority, instead of a two-thirds majority.

Democrats, who control the Senate, have long complained about what they consider Republican abuse of the filibuster. It’s become common for members of the Senate to effectively kill legislation and block judicial appointments by just threatening a filibuster.

Both Reid and McConnell say the Senate isn’t functioning as it should, but McConnell says the problem isn’t GOP use of the filibuster.

Some Senators, like Tennessee Republican Lamar Alexander, are nervous about changing the rules that govern filibusters.

The negotiations between the Senate leaders is expected to continue Wednesday, with Reid saying he hopes to have a deal in place by Thursday.

Actress Ashley Judd has been the subject of political rumors for months, with supporters encouraging her to run against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2014.

In an interview with Politico ahead of The Kentucky Society of Washington’s Bluegrass Ball in Washington, Judd said while she is honored by the support, she has yet to decide on a possible Senate bid.

Judd says there is no "time frame" concerning her decision.