It seems that the Republican Party at the national level is so adamant in their hatred for Obama that they are on a mission to convince anyone they can get to listen that he should be ignored.
The most recent incident involve a letter written by Mitch McConnell. Here, his issue with the president involves Obama ordering coal-fired power plants to eliminate as much greenhouse gas pollution as possible in the future. Mitch McConnell says the following: “Some have recently suggested that failing to comply with the EPA’s requirements would be to disregard the law. But the fact is, it is the EPA that is failing to comply with the law here[…]I hope you will carefully review the consequences before signing up for this deeply misguided plan. I believe you will find, as I have, that the EPA’s proposal goes far beyond its legal authority and that the courts are likely to strike it down.” He even goes as far as to say that state governments should ignore Obama’s order, and hopefully the national authorities will eventually acquiesce.
Brian Deese, who is Obama’s senior advisor, did not approve of this letter. He states, “What you have is the Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, going way outside the bounds of the position he was elected to.”
McConnell is thought to be acting largely because of his own vested interest in coal and keeping in good standing with the Kentucky coal mine owners who got him into power in the first place.