Another Ridiculous Abuse of Taxpayer Dollars from House GOP

Instead of working to address the priorities of the American people, Speaker Boehner and House Republicans have decided again to waste taxpayer dollars on a ridiculous lawsuit against the President – this time claiming a so-called abuse of executive powers – the very same powers which were used MORE OFTEN by President George W. Bush and strongly supported by House Republicans and Boehner:

From ThinkProgress:

House Speaker John Boehner confirmed that he will file a federal lawsuit challenging the executive actions of President Barack Obama, despite supporting President George W. Bush's extensive use of executive authority.

President Obama has issued about 180 executive orders — a power that has been utilized by every president since George Washington…

But Boehner embraced the power of a Republican president to take action, even at times when he would circumvent Congress by doing so. President George W. Bush's issued hundreds of orders of his own over his eight years in office. In 2001 and 2007, Boehner strongly supported unilateral actions by Bush to prevent embryonic stem-cell research involving new embryos, saying the 2001 decision "preserves the sanctity of life and allows limited research that could help millions of Americans suffering from life-threatening diseases." He endorsed a 2008 Bush executive order to limit earmarks. In the final days of Bush's second term, he even wrote to the president asking him to use an executive order to exempt a historic steamboat from safety regulations after Congress opted not to do so.

As of February, Obama had issued fewer executive orders than all but one of the other presidents since World War II.

As Sally Kohn points out in a piece for CNN:

…President Ronald Reagan had 381. And President George W. Bush had 291. President Barack Obama has enacted 182 executive orders — yet the GOP accuses him of being an "imperial president," and Republican members of the House of Representatives are preparing to sue him for violating the Constitution.

…Speaker Boehner, it's as though the fog of extreme partisanship that has colored your dealings with President Obama since day one has suddenly turned into a full-on fever of irrationality…House Republicans are using taxpayer dollars to fund a lawsuit against a President who has literally done not only what every president before him has done but has done it less often and is doing so now only because House Republicans repeatedly refuse to even vote on legislation, let alone pass anything.

Even more frustrating is how your repeated attacks on the President fall factually flat. In your essay for CNN, you write: "After years of slow economic growth and high unemployment under President Obama, they are still asking, ‘where are the jobs?'" This is a particularly laughable assertion given last week's jobs report, which noted our economy added 288,000 jobs in June, marking 52 straight months of continuous job growth. Overall, under President Obama's leadership, the private sector has added 9.7 million jobs and an economy that was in free fall when he was elected is now in a steady recovery.

…Your "jobs" bills include legislation to repeal Obamacare, through which 20 million Americans now have health insurance, cut food stamps for poor Americans and reduce government regulations on fracking. Speaker Boehner…President Obama is simply exercising [the] inherent executive powers. Now please exercise yours and pass some laws to help America instead of wasting taxpayer money on a frivolous lawsuit that is nothing more than a flagrant partisan stunt.

Mr. Boehner, you are the Speaker of the House of Representatives – not the ringleader of a Republican circus.  The nation deserves better than another partisan and expensive abuse of taxpayer dollars from you and House Republicans.  It's time to take a page from the President and work to address the issues essential to the American people.