Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell. June 19, 2014. (Reuters/Yuri Gripas)

Last week, in an interview with Politico, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) outlined his plan to shut down President Obama’s legislative agenda by placing riders on appropriations bills. Should Republicans take control of the Senate in the 2014 elections, McConnell intends to pass spending bills that ‘have a lot of restrictions on the activities of the bureaucracy.”

What McConnell didn’t tell Politico was that two months ago, he made the same promise to a secret strategy conference of conservative millionaire and billionaire donors hosted by the Koch brothers. The Nation and The Undercurrent obtained an audio recording of McConnell’s remarks to the gathering, called ‘American Courage: Our Commitment to a Free Society.” In the question-and-answer period following his June 15 session titled ‘Free Speech: Defending First Amendment Rights,” McConnell says:

‘So in the House and Senate, we own the budget. So what does that mean? That means that we can pass the spending bill. And I assure you […]