During that time, the issue has stymied talks not only with House Democrats, but also
with the Trump White House.
Observers expect that even if McConnell relents on the demand for now, he’ll pocket it for leverage in future negotiations under Joe Biden’s administration. …
In all, Kentucky nursing homes have received more than $180 million in federal coronavirus relief funds.
This issue, it turns out, happens to be of particular concern to one of McConnell’s most loyal and longstanding allies: a prominent businessman and Republican donor in Kentucky named Terry Forcht.
Forcht is the founder and CEO of Forcht Bancorp, one of the largest financial conglomerates in the state, and he casts a long shadow in Kentucky Republican politics. His empire, the Forcht Group, is the parent company of 95 entities and employs more than 2,400 people, stretching to commercial real estate, insurance, retail and radio stations. He has a sprawling horse farm just outside Lexington.
The self-made multimillionaire has thrown money at local, state and federal conservatives for years, racking up well over a million dollars in contributions in that time. But perhaps even more important than the cash is Forcht’s influence in the Republican stronghold of eastern Kentucky, home base to the Forcht enterprise, as well as his political connections to national heavyweights, including McConnell and legendary GOP strategist Karl Rove.
Forcht has been one of McConnell’s top backers for decades, and in 2014 the majority leader offered a tribute to Forcht on the Senate floor. In fact, the two men are so close that McConnell penned the foreword to a biography of Forcht published earlier this year, a propaganda piece co-written by the Forcht Group’s chief marketing officer. In it, the U.S. Senate’s leader lauded Forcht as “a model Kentuckian and indeed, a model American.” …
Two months later, however, McConnell attended his own campaign fundraiser at Forcht’s home.
Richard Beliles, chairman of Common Cause Kentucky, a group that advocates for accountability and equity in government, has stood opposite McConnell on most issues for decades, specifically campaign finance. He told Salon that Forcht and McConnell likely have a broader long-term goal, and may be trying to wrap otherwise untenable liability protections in the bunting of the pandemic.
“These liability protections might help someone like Forcht, but many more people who may be accidentally injured, they’re sort of out of luck,” Beliles said.
Indeed, McConnell wants the shield to last for five years, longer than even some of his Republican colleagues, though last week he appeared to back off. If Republicans and Democrats can’t come together on a package by midnight on Friday, the government will shut down, with only a month to go until President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
“I’m hoping that maybe now, with Biden coming in, [McConnell] can do everything right for this issue that affects the needy in this country,” Beliles said. “I know we really need it, the people of Kentucky need it.”
“I guess I sound like an optimist, in terms of cooperation between the Democrats and Republicans,” Beliles added. “But if we’re this close, I don’t want to offend him.”
Neither the Forcht Group nor McConnell’s office replied to Salon’s requests for comment.
