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House Republicans stuck in the past as they return to work

Speaker John Boehner’s do-nothing Congress has spent a whopping 84 days on vacation this year.
House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. during the committee's hearing on the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi (Photo: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. during the committee's hearing on the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi

Speaker John Boehner’s do-nothing Congress has spent a whopping 84 days on vacation this year. And so far in 2013, Congress' big accomplishment was to restore FAA funding so members can make it home on time to take more days off.

The House returned to work Monday, but they might as well have stayed on the golf course. This week's legislative agenda is a joke.

Our country faces major challenges like jobs, immigration, and gun violence, but House Republicans, for example, are still trying to stir up controversy 236 days after the September 11, 2012, attack on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi. On Wednesday, the House Oversight Committee will interview three State Department officials who will reportedly offer testimony at odds with what some officials were saying in public at the time.

We've been through these Benghazi hearings before. Back in January, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton thoroughly embarrassed grandstanding Republicans. But the GOP is still laser-focused on this attack because there is a chance they can make the president look bad and weaken Hillary Clinton as she considers a 2016 bid for the White House. And a good chunk of the Sunday talk shows were more than happy to go along.

"If the president said, at least in his debates, that in the Rose Garden, he called it an act of terrorism, then why is it they deny terrorism essentially rebuking the President of Libya on your show a few days later," said Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, of California, said on “Face The Nation.”

"We heard things, for instance, that there was no military option. There was no ability to get any military personnel there," Republican Rep Jason Chaffetz, of Arizona, told "Fox News Sunday." I think you're actually going to hear some testimony that says we did have some military options."

House Republicans also plan to waste more time on repealing Obamacare. Majority Leader Eric Cantor promised a vote in "the near future" to repeal the health care law. It will be the 34th time Republicans have wasted taxpayer time and money trying to repeal this law. For some reason, Republicans won't stop chasing this pink elephant. It's no wonder congressional approval is sitting at 13% right now.

Most middle-classers are focused on trying to survive. Wage earners are worried about holding on to their job, making the next mortgage and car payment, or even having enough money to fill the tank.

When Americans turn on the TV and see elected officials acting like clowns, it turns their stomachs. People hate politicians wasting time on another Benghazi witch hunt, or trying to repeal a law  which will save lives.

During President Obama’s commencement speech at Ohio State University on Sunday, he urged graduates to hold their elected officials accountable.

"At a bare minimum, that means voting, eagerly and often," Obama said. "It means knowing who’s been elected to make decisions on your behalf, what they believe in, and whether or not they deliver.  If they don’t represent you the way you want, or conduct themselves the way you expect—if they put special interests above your own—you’ve got to let them know that’s not okay. And if they let you down, there’s a built-in day in November where you can really let them know that’s not okay."

Sounds like the president is gearing up for the November 2014 mid term elections.