Since last Friday, House Republicans have been engaged in a political stunt on Capitol Hill, staging fake sessions on gas prices while Congress adjourned for recess.
Over the weekend, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) urged Members to return to the Capitol, “although they themselves didn’t show up”:
“It’s not a request we make lightly. But the American people are suffering,” Boehner and Blunt said. “We’ve called on the Speaker to call Congress back into an emergency session this month and schedule a vote on the American Energy Act. We must continue to make a stand until the Speaker complies.”
Roll Call reports that Boehner is “perhaps arriving by the end of the week” but that didn’t stop him from issuing another stern warning yesterday to Congressional Democrats:
Congress doesn’t deserve a break — not while families and small businesses are struggling under the weight of sky-high fuel costs. It’s time for Barack Obama to put away the tire gauge and tell his Democratic leaders to return to Washington — today — to hold a vote on the American Energy Act.
But what has Boehner been doing while his comrades are fighting the good fight? Golfing. The Washington Post’s Ben Pershing reports:
Boehner also has found time to squeeze in a couple rounds of golf. Scores reported by Boehner himself to a United States Golf Association site show that he posted an 85 sometime this week at his home course, Wetherington Golf & Country Club in West Chester, Ohio.
Boehner was also spotted at another Ohio golf course this week raising money for his “Freedom Project” political action committee.
Perhaps Boehner’s absence on the Hill this week explains why his House colleagues have turned to former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) to lead the way. Regardless, when Boehner claims that “Congress doesn’t deserve a break” he apparently isn’t referring to himself.