Penny Wise, Pound Foolish

I've often said that the Republican party has a tendency to be penny wise and pound foolish when it comes to funding: complaining about funding basic government functions in the name of so-called "fiscal conservatism", but then spending freely on things that suit their agenda.

Now we have one of many examples that prove my point.

In Michigan, state Republicans have apparently decided that they're just too strapped to pay for infrastructure fixes. State infrastructure has gotten bad enough, however, that the Laborer's International Union has taken to driving around a school bus crushed by an errant bridge girder to drive that point home:

Source: http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2014/06/24/its-gone-beyond-repairs-state-rep-says-about-michigan-roads/

However, despite Michigan Republicans' claims of poverty, however, they've somehow managed to find $800,000 to give to a pro-life group:

An organization to help pregnant women in Michigan say “no” to abortion could see an $800,000 boost next year.
Under its newly passed budget, Michigan would expand its partnership with a faith-infused nonprofit group called Real Alternatives to fund “life-affirming” pregnancy centers throughout the state. Stocked with free diapers, toys and clothes, the center offers parenting classes and counseling on topics like adoption. Staff also advise women on how to tell their boyfriends and parents that they have decided to keep their baby.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/06/23/michigans-budget-includes-800000-for-abortion-alternatives/

Now, I'm not a Michigander, so I can't speak with authority about the state of infrastructure in that state. But if bridges and roads there are so bad that someone has to drive around a crushed school bus to call attention to the issue, you would think that infrastructure was a problem that needed to be addressed.

Priorities, priorities. Conveniently, Republicans are just strapped when it comes to paying for fixes to infrastructure that could hurt Michiganders that are currently living. But when it comes to anti-abortion groups, their generosity is enough to garner an $800K donation.

Penny wise and pound foolish, exhibit A.

The Wally Party

Today's Congressional Republicans remind me of Wally from Dilbert: they spend more time and effort trying to avoid doing real work than it would take just to do their jobs.

Take John Boehner. He's decided that Obama has created such a "constitutional crisis" with his executive orders that he's going to sue the president over it.

Asked to clarify by reporters today, Boehner had this to say:

“I believe the president is not faithfully executing the laws of our country, and on behalf of the institution and our Constitution, standing up and fighting for this is in the best long-term interest of the Congress,” Boehner told reporters.

Source: http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/boehner-lawsuit-obama

I must admit that this stupid bullshit has taken me from mildly disliking Boehner to thinking that he's a clown. This junk lawsuit - and make no mistake: it is frivolous - is a monumentally stupid waste of everyone's time.

Let's review the topic of executive orders. Compared to his predecessor, Obama has issued fewer executive orders - 168 over two terms in office as opposed to 291 from Dubya (source: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/orders.php). That's far less than the multiple hundreds of XOs our sainted elected officials would like you to think have been issued by an order of magnitude or more.

Furthermore, when you look at the average number of executive orders issued per day while in office, Obama is well below  both the average for Democrats and the average issued by Dubya. The Brookings Institute helpfully illustrated this in a chart that I suspect will be seen a lot in the coming weeks:

But even ignoring all of these statistics, the fact of the matter is that none of this would be happening if Boehner and his colleagues in Congress were doing their job! There is a reason Obama has decided to bypass Congress: because Republicans have decided that they're finished doing anything constructive - even projects like funding infrastructure that would arguably help the country - because they would prefer to act like pouty spoiled brats over losing the last two general elections.

This is why Rachel Maddow has long said that Republicans are in a post-policy phase: we elect these people in office to sit around and do nothing in office that will either help the country or the people that elected them in the first place.

Obama is sick of being blamed for Congress' intransigence, and who can blame him? He has a legacy to consider, and I'm sure he'd rather have a long line of successes equal to that of "Obamacare" after his name than endless bickering with Congress over doing the basics such as funding the government.

Boehner - and anyone else who actually advocates this junk lawsuit and/or impeachment, is a moron. As long as we keep clowns like this in office, the longer we're going to see the country burn as Congress - at least the Republican delegation - fiddles. How long are we going to continue putting up with this nihilism?