Americans overwhelmingly support ideas Mitch McConnell is killing in the Senate

Americans overwhelmingly favor progressive, Democratic positions on a host of issues, according to a new poll released Monday by NPR/PBS Newshour and Marist.

Support is high for the very agenda Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has threatened to obstruct, as Democrats in the House pass bill after bill that Americans support.

For example, 56% support raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, which the Democratic-controlled House voted to do last week, with almost no support from the GOP. It is unlikely to get a vote in the Senate.

The Green New Deal, which McConnell has locked arms with Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in lambasting, sports 63% support in the poll. Respondents say it’s a “good idea” to invest “government money in green jobs and energy efficient infrastructure.”

Trump unilaterally disengaged America from the Paris Climate Agreement, but 53% believe America should once again be a global leader on carbon reduction by re-joining the process.

Gun safety legislation enjoys massive support, with 89% saying they want “background checks for gun purchases at gun shows or other private sales.” The “gun show loophole” has been repeatedly cited by Democrats as a safety issue that needs to be addressed, prior polling has shown that it is not a partisan issue, with a majority of Republicans, gun owners, and even members of the National Rifle Association supporting such legislation. Despite overwhelming support, Republicans in Congress, backed by the NRA, have continued to block legislation that would close the pathway.

There is also strong support for an assault weapons ban on guns like the AK-47 and AR-15, the tools of choice for mass shooters, with 57% supporting such a ban.

On health care, Republicans are also at odds with the majority: 70% of people back “Medicare for All,” a policy proposal that would see millions of Americans get access to greatly increased insurance coverage by combining public and private plans.

Republicans have spent nearly a decade attacking the coverage gains in Obamacare and have pushed for the return of the preexisting condition to the insurance industry. A majority of respondents in the new poll oppose efforts to repeal Obamacare.

When it comes to prescription drug prices, 67% want the government to regulate industry to respond to skyrocketing prices. Republicans have touted efforts to deregulate industry, which would lead to less of an ability to affect drug prices for individuals.

McConnell has bragged that he has turned the Senate into a “legislative graveyard” for popular proposals passed in the House by Democrats, and he has taken to proudly calling himself the “Grim Reaper.” He has promised that even if a Democrat defeats Trump for the presidency in 2020, he will continue to block votes on popular issues.

This latest poll shows, as others have previously done, that McConnell and his fellow Republicans are at odds with the American people, and they’re standing in the way of the progress the majority of the country wants.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.