Republican Jackass of the Week

Former South Carolina Senator and current president of the far rightwing Heritage Foundation, Jim DeMint.

In Tampa yesterday, he continued his crusade to convince other Regressive republicans to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, claiming "the law is not about getting better health care. You can get better health care just by going to the emergency room."

Pure genius. See? That's going to be the official healthcare program of the USA if Regressives have their way: just run to the emergency room and let somebody else pay for your treatment if you can't afford it. And who might that be? Taxpayers? The hospital? Everyone who pays insurance premiums?

All of the above.

Funny that the current president of the Heritage Foundation would be so against Obamacare, since Obamacare was almost entirely written by... wait for it... the Heritage Foundation back in 1989!

Yes, the Heritage Foundation was lobbying heavily to mandate coverage through regulated healthcare marketplaces, which is the essence of Obamacare. It was what Romneycare in Massachusetts was based on. Back then rightwingers claimed the individual mandate would "force people to take personal responsibility" for their healthcare and prevent people from just showing up at emergency rooms for all their medical needs.

But now, since President Obama is for it, their own plan is suddenly "socialized medicine," "government controlled health care," and whatever else they claim. Hey, just go to the emergency room!

Luckily, the Regressives are not going to have their way. Obamacare isn't going anywhere. It was legally passed in the House and Senate, it was signed by the President, it was endorsed by the current rightwing Supreme Court, and even Orange John, the Speaker of the House, put down the bourbon long enough to proclaim, "it's the law of the land."

Jim DeMint, our Republican Jackass of the Week.

Republican Jackass of the Week

This time it's the entire Republican-controlled House of Representatives, allegedly run by Speaker John Boehner.

Today's their last workday, if you can call it that, before their 5-week summer vacation. Usually at this time of year, they tend to scramble to get things done before running out the door.

But not Bourbon Boehner's Bunch.

Today, they'll waste more time and taxpayer money voting, for the FORTIETH TIME, to defund the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, despite the fact that even the rightwing Supreme Court admitted it was Constitutional, and Boehner himself referred to it as "the law of the land."

Since the Democratically-controlled Senate is not in a million years going to agree to kill off Obamacare, and the President is certainly not apt to sign a bill destroying his own signature health care plan, this is just another circus act to placate the far rightwing radicals in the Regressive republican party. Now they'll be able to go home to their gerrymandered districts and beam with delight in bragging about their vote that accomplished, yet again, absolutely nothing.

They're calling this 40th attempt to defund Obamacare the "Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care Act." Cute.

Another waste of time bill passed this week is called the "Stop the IRS Act," which would mandate the firing of any IRS agent who "takes official action for political purposes." Of course, not a single IRS agent has been found guilty of such a thing, despite months of interrogations from car-thief and insurance-fraudster Darrell Issa. Even the Bush-appointee who was in charge of the IRS during this fake scandal said there was no political motivation and the Obama White House had nothing to do with scrutiny of some rightwing groups.

Were any jobs bills passed? Any infrastructure bills passed? Budget plans? A way out of the sequester? Transportation bill? Housing bill? Immigration reform? Efforts to reduce gun violence? Background checks?

No.

They haven't accomplished a single priority demanded by Americans according to most polls.

John Boehner remains the weakest, least-accomplished Speaker of the House we've seen in decades, a so-called leader who can't control the fringe element of his own party. And his Congress remains the least productive in American history.

But hey, enough about that.
It's vacation time, right John?