In light of the day’s miserable jobs reports, Rachel Maddow examined the GOP’s proclamations that jobs are their main priority.
Speaker John Boehner discussed his supposed number one focus at a closed meeting Thursday morning.
“Let’s call bullsh*t bullsh*t,” Boehner told fellow House Republicans. “This election is about jobs, jobs, jobs.”
Right after riling up the troops with this motivational jobs speech, Boehner dug into the day’s business: trying to pass an abortion bill. The Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA) sought to make it a federal crime to perform or force a woman to have a gender-based abortion. Gender-based abortions are common in some Asian countries, but not so much here in the U.S. of A.
Nobody was too surprised when the House rejected PRENDA, including the bill’s author, Arizona Republican Rep. Trent Franks. Before Thursday’s vote, Franks admitted to the Washington Post he knew the measure would probably fail, but that he believed Republicans were “doing the right thing strategically” by forcing Democrats to vote against it.
Excellent use of time. Even better? They’re not giving it up. Franks hinted the measure could come back up in the future under another order.
Rachel wasn’t impressed.
“Yesterday’s defeat of the big Trent Franks anti-abortion bill was all part of Republicans’ master plan to keep the focus of the Congress on jobs, by which I mean abortion,” she said.