When House Speaker John Boehner announced that he was filing a lawsuit against President Barack Obama because of the president’s executive actions, the news warranted either a snicker or an eyeroll. Well, a recent poll indicates that most Americans think the lawsuit is a costly waste of time.
According to Public Policy Polling, the majority of Americans in a sample of 1,161 saw the lawsuit as a “misappropriation of Congress’ time and money:” a common Republican malpractice as of late. Forty-one percent of Americans said the lawsuit was legitimate. However, the majority either said it was a political stunt or didn’t even bother wasting energy on having an opinion on the issue.
Fifty-eight percent also said that the lawsuit won’t benefit Americans, and 63 percent said that Congress should “prioritize jobs over the lawsuit:” again, another Republican malpractice. Furthermore, the lawsuit issue has been a bit polarizing within the conservative circle. Editor of RedState.com, Erick Erickson, said the lawsuit was mere “political theater and a further Republican waste of taxpayer dollars.”
Also, 2008 vice presidential loser Sarah Palin has gone back and forth with Boehner about the lawsuit, saying that impeachment would be a better idea. But “impeach Obama” has been on the lips of almost every Republican since the first few months of Obama’s presidency. Every attempt to assemble a case for the president’s impeachment has been a dubious farce at best. So, no dice there.
The 113th Congress has become the lowest-rated, most debacled Congress in American history. It’s run by obstructionist Republicans and Democrats with gelatin backbones. This lawsuit is the epitome of wasted manpower and an insult to the dwindling American democracy.
Josh is a writer and researcher with Ring of Fire. Follow him on Twitter @dnJdeli.