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In his weekly podcast, Mitt Romney said over the weekend that President Obama is dealing "passively" with pressing issues, including the looming automatic spending cuts and tax increases. There's certainly some passivity on display, but I think Romney is looking at the wrong end of Pennsylvania Avenue.
Get ready to say "adios" to the House.
Majority Leader Eric Cantor announced Friday that the House would not hold scheduled votes the first week in October, pending the Senate vote on the continuing resolution. That means the House won't be in session again until after the election; the next House votes are scheduled for Nov. 13.
The House will only be in for three days [this] week; Wednesday through Friday. Likewise, the Senate is expected to cancel its October session after it passes the CR.
In fairness, it's not unusual for the House to wrap up early, especially in an election year, but heading home in mid-September is unusually early. And given that this Congress, arguably the worst ever, hasn't actually done anything meaningful, and has an important list of undone tasks, it's hard to defend Cantor's new schedule.
And what's pending? Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) noted the farm bill, the Violence Against Women Act, sequestration, postal reform, and the fiscal cliff. There's also the Veterans Job Corps Act and the soon-to-expire wind tax credit.
There is, in other words, a lot for Congress to do, and all of it is being pushed off until the lame-duck, post-election session. Someone's dealing with pressing issues "passively," but it's not the president.
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As if the repubs haven't been doing this for the last two years. They don't take care of business anyway. That's what they do. What difference does it make if they aren't taking care of business in Washington or at home?
They're just being freeloading red-staters sucking at the federal teat with their Congressional salaries and benefits. The irony is that these same people are accusing their fellow citizens of doing exactly what they actually DO do but who, through no fault of their own, have been crushed due of the mismanagement of the country due to conservative ideas and policies of the last 30+ years. It's a favorite tactic of Republicans: attack others for you do. We've seen it over and over again.
This would be a good time for a graph of GOP jobs bills as opposed to abortion, anti ACA and other unhelpful votes.
Actually this would be a good time for the DNC to work up an add for all of the accomplishments of this Congress - that is a complete list of all of the post offices they've named.
They complain about programs for the poor of this Nation, in particular Welfare, what about Congressional Welfare. Getting a pay check for doing nothing and/or sitting at home watching Game Shows. Perhaps we should start cutting Welfare programs from the top: 1. Corporate Welfare 2. Congressional Welfare and here let's start with Cantor, Ryan, Boehner and McConnell.
It might be for the best that this GOTea disaster of a legislative body is calling it quits. Who needs more anti-choice and anti-ACA votes? Who needs to see more deregulatory bills passed off as jobs bills? Who needs to watch the GOTea dream up another hostage-taking situation to get yet another credit downgrade? Who needs to watch Boehner and is idiotic pleading, tearful "press" conferences? Who needs to watch the GOTea idiots try to convince people Solyndra was all about cronyism or the energy grant program is not the successful program it is?
Then again, maybe it would help irresponsibly inattentive Americans see just what a mistake was made in 2010 should they decide to actually learn what their decisions in 2010 produced.
Wait until Wall St figures out that we will go over the fiscal cliff, indeed, we have to, for any deal to be reached. They won't understand it as how politics works and will throw the world's costliest hissy fit, which will no doubt endear Congress even more to the hearts of 401K investors. It will be a riot.
This would be the perfect time for Obama to ramp up his campaign against a do nothing Congress. The bully pulpit will work if Obama makes their early adjournment an issue for the public. He can lambaste the Republicans for failing to complete the nation's business and refusing to pass a jobs bill, particularly when there is high unemployment.
Campaign ad: Clips of Cantor, Boehner, and every other congressional republican saying they're going to focus on and create "Jobs, jobs, jobs"...followed by Cantor announcing they're going home early. Followed by the 'jobs scoreboard' showing a big fat zero jobs created by Congress, with no votes or even debate on Obama's Jobs Act.
Then show how Obama's Jobs Act would put a million or two back to work, rebuidling our infrastructure, improving our educational system, lowering crime, etc. Then cut back to the GOP's jobs plan (crickets chirping).
good riddance
This is all Obama's fault - he "removed the work requirements" for people to get a check from the gub'mint, and now Congress is taking advantage of it.
/sarc
Can you imagine what your boss would say if you decided to just walk out and stay home for a few weeks?
Such lazy louts. Their excuse? Government is inherently evil, so, we don't have to lift a finger...
they just need more time fundraising for their campaigns.
This is going to hurt Mittens in Iowa! This is reality to those folks, not some petty little ideologic game playing. Add in Mittens position on wind power subsidies, and you end up with a guy pushing unpopular positions. Only someone with personality can get folks to vote against themselves...
Hopefully Christie Vilsack can leverage this to beat Steve "batcrapcrazy" King. We only need to send King back to DC if we think we need more bills to make English our official language and to vote down the ACA a couple dozen more times. Such productivity.
No work, no pay.
You mean they aren't going to have any more anti abortion votes? Really?
Didn't they just get back from vacation, and this is what the Republicans are suppressing the vote for, a do nothing Congress. This is a kick in the butt for hard working Americans, also those who have lost their jobs. . a spit in the face by the GOP.
They no longer even pretend to be working for Americans.
All election, all the time! That is all that matters to them (well, the House is in Republican majority, so I can't say the Democrats are doing it).
The 'pubs are completely despicable. Only vote on political baloney, they learned women can't stand their b.s. anti woman legislation so it's the welfare twisted pretzel, with extra twists.