McConnell Appoints “Moderate” to Senate Finance

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has appointed Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) to replace Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), who resigned his seat on May 3.  This appointment comes as a shock to many; and is considered a slap in the face to the Tea Party movement.
Burr was next in seniority for the plum post.  However, it was widely reported that Burr was not interested in the post.  Leading fiscal conservative Sen. Jim DeMInt (R-SC) was.
Movement conservatives and Tea Party activists had been campaigning for DeMint to receive the appointment.  FreedomWorks made a major push; directing thousands of calls to McConnell’s office.
Of course, the very reasons that conservatives wanted DeMint to be appointed to the Finance Committee are many of the same reasons that McConnell does not want to reward DeMint:

DeMint put pressure on McConnell in the 111th Congress to endorse a moratorium on earmarks, which the leader, a longtime member of the Appropriations Committee, initially resisted.
DeMint also took the unusual step of endorsing Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in the 2010 Kentucky Republican primary even though McConnell had publicly backed former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson. Senate observers said it was a breach of Senate protocol.

McConnell has never been a conservative.  If voters are serious about changing the country’s fiscal direction, a GOP Senate majority in 2013 simply isn’t enough. Perhaps the Tea Party should ask candidates to take a stand on whether they will support McConnell remaining leader if they are elected.