Do Nothing Congress on Recess Until the 10th of September

Will someone please explain to me why Congress gets so many days off?  Don't tell me it is to meet with their constituents as only a few Town Halls get scheduled every year.  Used to say it was a good thing for Congress to get out of DC but this group has accomplished so little, they should have stayed.

Congress Heads Out for Recess

First Read: "For those who have departed on their August recess, we salute you -- for going down as one of the most unproductive, contentious, and unpopular Congresses in modern history. So in addition to last summer's debt-ceiling debacle, the Super Committee's failure, and the near-government shutdown during 2011, Congress has failed to come together to pass a comprehensive farm bill. and Senate Republicans yesterday filibustered a cybersecurity bill." " 

So here's your current Congress: Republicans are working to block or dismantle laws; Democrats are focusing on protecting what's already law; and no one is getting stuff done. As we wrote earlier this week, one of the most profound changes on Capitol Hill is the job requirement. It's no longer about bringing home deliverables to your state or congressional district (like roads, bridges, or new schools). Instead, it's about scoring ideological points and waging partisan crusades."

How many of you are getting a 5 week vacation in August or have had the additional days that the House has had off in 2012?  Bet the answer to that is zero, zip, nada!  As you can see below the August recess is on top of a lot of other days off.  

The following chart is your tax dollars at work -- no wonder Congress gets an 11% rating which may be too high.  

Days in session are in red (graphical browsers) 

Total legislative days 102
Total calendar days 102

Source: Calendar of the House of Representatives

JANUARY 2012											FEBRUARY 2012											MARCH 2012
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat					Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat					Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
1	2	3	4	5	6	7								1	2	3	4									1	2	3
8	9	10	11	12	13	14					5	6	7	8	9	10	11					4	5	6	7	8	9	10
15	16	17	18	19	20	21					12	13	14	15	16	17	18					11	12	13	14	15	16	17
22	23	24	25	26	27	28					19	20	21	22	23	24	25					18	19	20	21	22	23	24
29	30	31									26	27	28	29								25	26	27	28	29	30	31
APRIL 2012											MAY 2012											JUNE 2012
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat					Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat					Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
1	2	3	4	5	6	7							1	2	3	4	5										1	2
8	9	10	11	12	13	14					6	7	8	9	10	11	12					3	4	5	6	7	8	9
15	16	17	18	19	20	21					13	14	15	16	17	18	19					10	11	12	13	14	15	16
22	23	24	25	26	27	28					20	21	22	23	24	25	26					17	18	19	20	21	22	23
29	30										27	28	29	30	31							24	25	26	27	28	29	30
JULY 2012											AUGUST 2012											SEPTEMBER 2012
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat					Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat					Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
1	2	3	4	5	6	7								1	2	3	4											1
8	9	10	11	12	13	14					5	6	7	8	9	10	11					2	3	4	5	6	7	8
15	16	17	18	19	20	21					12	13	14	15	16	17	18					9	10	11	12	13	14	15
22	23	24	25	26	27	28					19	20	21	22	23	24	25					16	17	18	19	20	21	22
29	30	31									26	27	28	29	30	31						23	24	25	26	27	28	29
																						30
OCTOBER 2012											NOVEMBER 2012											DECEMBER 2012
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat					Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat					Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
	1	2	3	4	5	6									1	2	3											1
7	8	9	10	11	12	13					4	5	6	7	8	9	10					2	3	4	5	6	7	8
14	15	16	17	18	19	20					11	12	13	14	15	16	17					9	10	11	12	13	14	15
21	22	23	24	25	26	27					18	19	20	21	22	23	24					16	17	18	19	20	21	22
28	29	30	31								25	26	27	28	29	30						23	24	25	26	27	28	29
																						30	31

The House is still holding up roads and bridges because they don't want to see jobs added before the November election in the states.  In Senate the GOP wants Repeal of the Affordable Healthcare Act by attaching it to the Cyber Security Bill which is a bill even the Tech community thinks we need.  As I have said before, what does the AHA have to do with Cybersecurity which is nothing.  It is part of the strategy of Minority Leader McConnell and his lapdogs except for a few to make sure no legislation is passed in the Senate that would help Obama in his reelection bid.  

This group of Republicans has used the filibuster more than anyone can remember by a lot.  They obviously don't care about doing the work of the American people as they do the work of Romney who is more important then the rest of us.  After all he is going to take out that evil President they have managed to demonize with lies, taking statements out of contexts, and mistruths to the stage, why would anyone believe what Republican leadership says in Congress?

Had to remove the quotes I had on this site attributed to Obama because the first ones when I looked  past the initial source, it turned out they were cherry picked by conservative sites to make his 'quotes' mean something entirely different then what he said as a whole statement.  Didn't bother wasting my time checking the rest.

Since January 2011, the whole purpose of the Republicans in the Congress has been to make sure they don't pass anything that would make Obama look good or add jobs so they can help Romney win.  They could care less about the American people especially the middle class, minorities, and women.  Republicans in the House are standing by their made up comments that the wealthy create the jobs which is not true today as the wealthy have sent jobs overseas so they can make more money with outsourcing.  Small business owners the majority of who makes less than $250,000 a year are the job creators today as manufacturing jobs have been outsourced.  House Republicans refuse to pass an extension of the Bush tax cuts for everyone making under $250,000 and for the first $250,000 for the wealthy who can take all kinds of deductions like Romney did for his dressage horse of $77,000 for expenses.  Wonder when I can figure out a way to take Chewie and Eddie off my income tax?  

Let's not forget that House Republicans have voted 33 times since taking over in January of 2011 to repeal Obamacare at a cost of $50 million.  What is a few million when you are doing the work of the Tea Party even though you know the bill is going to 'nowhere' just like the bridge to nowhere.

Then there is the issue of franking by members of Congress.   Remember how Republicans yelled at abuse of franking by Democrats to send out letters?  Now the Republican Conference has adopted the same waste of tax dollars to send out email if the letter received by my husband yesterday is any indication as it is nothing but a political advertisement disguised as form letter correspondence from the Congressman with his signature copied:

Obamacare*

• Creates $675 billion in new taxes
• Forces 3-5 million Americans off their employer-provided health insurance
• Cuts $500 billion from Medicare

The President's Economic Policy*

• Increases taxes by $4.3 trillion over the next 10 years if current tax rates expire
• Slashes defense spending by nearly $500 billion
• Increases spending by $1.5 trillion
• Adds $11 trillion to the national debt in the next decade

Legislation Passed by House Conservatives*

• Cuts spending by $5 trillion
• Approves the Keystone pipeline to create over 100,000 new jobs
• Reforms the tax code to eliminate unfair loopholes and keep American competitive
• Preserves vital defense capaibilities
• Eliminates unnecessary government regulations and costs that stifle job creation
• Lowers gas prices through an all-of-the-above energy strategy
• Repeals Obamacare to keep Americans in charge of our own health care decision
• Extends tax relief fo all American families and small business

*House Republican (Conservative) Conference

This little note appears at the bottom of the form letter in small print (my bold):

This mailing was prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense.
It is provided as a service to constituents

The remainder of the letter is just feel good words but noted that there is not one source they have linked for facts.  The information comes from the House Republican/Conservative Conference which is rhetoric.  Nothing linked to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) findings which are facts.  Yet I am supposed to swallow all of this because it came from a Congressman?  House Republicans IMHO are wasting my tax dollars sending this form letter out all across America.

Yet these same people are wondering why like longtime Republicans like me have had it.  Look no further then the topic 'Legislation Passed by House Conservatives' not Republicans but Conservatives.  No wonder members of the Republican Party who are not arch conservatives are leaving Congress.  They are not wanted as part of the Cantor/Bachmann Tea Party Conservative conference.  America needs to wake up and realize going too far left or right is not good for the Country.  Actually my rights as a woman are being abused more by the Conservatives in the House then by the Democrats.

Noted in this letter that the 'Conservative' Conference failed to mention the Keystone Pipeline for the southern part which was approved by Obama.  I would like to see the magic hat they pulled the info for Obamacare from as well as now seeing the Defense Department is down to $500B not $1 trillion to be cut.  I bet a lot of us could find $50B to cut out of the defense budget for ten years running with little trouble.  They also neglected to say they want tax cuts extended for the wealthy.  I could go on but you get the point -- House Republicans used taxpayer dollars to send out what is essentially a campaign form letter.  The USPS could have used the money.

The ethics and integrity of Republicans has been replaced by hatred of this President where it has become more important to stall bills that would help Americans find jobs in order to make President Obama look bad on the economy then it is to work for all their constituents.  This hatred of the President in the House has made them refuse to work across the aisle for the good of all Americans.

IMHO the blame for this economy today not recovering like it should be lies right in the laps of a lot of Republicans in the House and Senate who are stalling legislation to get people back to work so Romney can defeat Obama.  Excuse me as I should have said Conservatives not Republicans since they are touting the work of 'Conservatives' not Republicans in this House.  My question is very simple:

"Why would we vote to send this group of do-nothing partisans back to Congress?"