McConnell Criticizes President Barack Obama

{Lexington, Kentucky}...During a speech to Lexington civic leaders Thursday, U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell criticized President Barack Obama, saying he was trying to influence an upcoming Supreme Court decision on the federal health care reform law. In a Supreme Court hearing last week on the 2010 health care overhaul, conservative justices seemed doubtful of the law's constitutionality. The White House has struggled to explain Obama's statement from Monday that a Supreme Court reversal of the case would be "unprecedented." McConnell accused Obama of trying to "publicly pressure the court into deciding a pending case in the way he wants it decided." McConnell said the President was no longer trying to embarrass the Court after a decision, but rather, he tried to intimidate it before a decision has been made, and that should be intolerable to all of us. McConnell says he'll be disappointed if the health care reform law is upheld, but he'll respect the Supreme Court's independence and continue doing all he can to repeal the law through legislative channels. McConnell called for the president to back off.