McConnell can’t hide Barr’s Berea blunder

I just laughed when I read Sen. Mitch McConnell’s recent column in the Herald-Leader about the mess Berea College finds itself in because of the newly passed Trump tax package.

McConnell erroneously posits that the problem was created by a Democratic war on Kentucky. Bull. It was created by the incompetence of Rep. Andy Barr not paying attention to the impact that President Donald Trump’s tax package would have on a key constituent in Barr’s backyard. For whatever reason, Barr’s primary attention was focused elsewhere.

McConnell is the grand poohbah of Senate rules and regulations. He had to know that his clandestine Senate patch to fix bungling Barr’s mess would automatically kick the Trump tax bill out of its reconciliation status into one that would require 60 votes to approve.

McConnell should quit bellyaching about Bernie Sanders and the Democrats. He and Barr messed up and got caught by someone who is just as familiar with Senate rules. We all know that if the roles had been reversed, McConnell would have pounced on the opposition just as quickly.

Barr and McConnell should spend less time billionaire-kissing long enough to quickly fix Berea College’s problem. It needs someone’s genuine help.

This story was originally published January 9, 2018 at 5:13 PM with the headline "McConnell can’t hide Barr’s Berea blunder."