AFL-CIO Field Communications staffer Cathy Sherwin sends us this report.

Fed up with inaction and partisan-political game playing in Washington, Kentuckians gathered in Louisville to call upon Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell to stop the partisan politics and pass a budget that works for all working families, not just millionaire CEOs. They called out their senator for putting the 2012 elections ahead of the needs of his own constituents who would be impacted by deep cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

A delegation that included Rev. Charles Elliott, local voters and United Mine Workers (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts attempted to visit McConnell’s office, but when all but two were turned away by security,  Roberts joined the crowd marching around the federal building while Rev. Elliott and a local senior citizen met with staff.

In nearly 100 degree heat, the crowd prayed and sang, marched and rallied for a humane federal budget with sane priorities while the pair met with Sen. McConnell’s staff. Roberts said “It is time for the working class to have a voice in this debate.” He called upon McConnell as well as Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul to stop holding the economy hostage. Even as the rally was coming to a close, another round began arriving on their lunch hour, with signs calling for no cuts to the critical programs that Kentucky families need.

The Louisville rally was one of more than 100 in communities nationwide, events calling upon elected officials to listen to their constituents and take action that will benefit all Americans. After all, it wasn’t working people, the poor, or any of those that rely on the critical programs that are under attack that got us into this mess. It is past time for politicians like McConnell to stop giving greedy corporations and the richest few everything on their wish list while demanding painful sacrifices from the voters they are supposed to represent.