Sad John Boehner
Last week, Republican House Speaker John Boehner confirmed that he plans to file a lawsuit against President Barack Obama for Obama’s use of executive orders. The reaction to Boehner’s lawsuit threat has been a combination of derision and ridicule for Republicans, and more money for the Democrats.
First, those with access to the facts demonstrated that President Obama has issued fewer executive orders per time in office than any President in 100 years. As Americans United pointed out in this video, Boehner’s taxpayer-funded lawsuit threat is also doubly hypocritical, both as to Boehner’s fondness for executive orders when Republicans are in the White House, and Boehner’s repeatedly stated disdain for “frivolous lawsuits.”
Then, President Obama’s supporters took over the #SoSueMe hashtag on Twitter to point out the absurdity of Boehner’s lawsuit plans. For example, @TomAdler wrote: “I have brought 50 straight months of job growth. #SoSueMe.” And your own @MessagingMatt wrote the following tweet that has been retweeted and favorited many times: “I inherited the Bush Recession and Osama bin Laden. I killed both while GOP sat on their hands. #SoSueMe.”
President Obama effectively joined in the ridiculing of Boehner’s planned lawsuit, pointing out that, if Republicans in Congress would only work with him on America’s challenges such as immigration reform, workplace equality and raising the minimum wage, he wouldn’t have to take executive action himself. Obama’s remarks feed into an important narrative that the Republicans in Congress are behaving like petulant children while the Democrats are the adults in the room. Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi reinforced this narrative last week when Pelosi expressed hope that Boehner will act like an “adult” and drop his lawsuit plans.
Then, at least two Fox News hosts confronted Republicans over the Boehner lawsuit idea. Neil Cavuto eviscerated Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann for supporting the lawsuit, telling Bachmann that she is “being silly” and that going after President Obama for issuing executive orders after George W. Bush used them frequently is “a waste of time.” Cavuto was followed by Fox colleague Chris Wallace, pointing out to Karl Rove, who served in Bush’s White House: “I think it’s fair to say you worked at a White House that took a pretty expansive view of executive powers, whether it was signing statements by President Bush when he was signing bills into law or the way that he waged the war on terror.”
A further unintended consequence of John Boehner’s announced lawsuit plans against President Obama has been a wave of fundraising for Democrats. Last Wednesday alone, using the Boehner lawsuit as fodder, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee posted its best fundraising day of 2014.
Given these results, it is tempting to encourage John Boehner and the Republicans to proceed with their lawsuit against President Obama. However, Americans don’t have the time or money to waste.
Illustration by Don Relyea, used under Creative Commons license. http://is.gd/fL99kN
