President Obama's interview with GSteph and the ensuing roundtable catfight on This Week should be the headline for the next six months. We've said it over and over and over again here -- Congress is the problem, not the President.
The president drew first blood with this:
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, you notice that he didn't specifically say what exactly he was objecting to.
I'm not going to apologize for trying to do something while they're doing nothing.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Even if you get sued?
OBAMA: You know, the suit is a stunt. But what I've told Speaker Boehner directly is if you're really concerned about me taking too many executive actions, why don't you try getting something done through Congress?
The majority of the American people want to see immigration reform done. We had a bipartisan bill through the Senate. It's sitting in the House.
Why haven't we gotten it done? And they're going to squawk if I try to take some parts of it administratively that are within my authority while you are not doing anything?
Then it went to the roundtable, where Matthew Dowd and Bill Kristol predictably tried to make it about an irresolvable conflict. That's convenient framing, but it ignores the realities of our present time: There is a group in Congress who simply refuses to do their job. If anyone should be sued, it's the House of Representatives.
Bloody Bill Kristol played the Republican fool with his 'outrage' over executive orders while ignoring the hundreds his pal Dubya issued during his reign of terror, ignoring the fact that Obama has issued less executive orders than any President in the last 115 years.
God bless Katrina Vanden Heuvel for saying it plainly:
VANDEN HEUVEL: John Boehner had no problem with George Bush's executive actions. The Republican Party has become a distraction machine. First of all, the Congress has no standing in this. And they don't have any jobs plan. They have no health care plan.
They're not doing anything to govern on behalf of the people in this country, no wonder the president is saying, we need some action. Let's get some minimum wage. Let's get immigration reform. Those are dead because of the relentless resistance to legislate, to compromise, to govern.
No one should be surprised by Obama's use of executive orders. He announced it during his State of the Union address earlier this year. He was plain about it then, and he's doing what he said he would.
I know these shows aren't watched by anyone but True Believers, but this one little clip should be played from now until Election Day for every idiot who thinks the problem is with the Executive Branch.
This is pretty simple, Americans. If you want to get things done, elect a better Congress. And for God's sake, don't give the Senate to Republicans or you'll be likely to see the end of our democracy. Voting rights, immigration, health care? They'll be gone for good.
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