President Obama is slated to outline his plan to create jobs and boost the economic recovery during a joint session of Congress Thursday night, a date that was chosen after House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) objected to Obama’s pre-selected time Wednesday night. Republicans have provided different reasons for skipping the speech, whether it is to hold tele-town halls like Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) or because they’re upset Obama didn’t provide a written copy first, like Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC).
Louisiana Sen. David Vitter (R), however, has his own reason for skipping the speech, and it has to do with his beloved New Orleans Saints. The Saints open the National Football League season at 8:30 p.m. Thursday night. Obama’s speech is at 7 p.m., presumably leaving Vitter enough time to attend the speech and get to his office, a sports bar, or anywhere else with a TV without missing any of the game. But Vitter has instead decided to host a house party at his home in Louisiana, which he let everyone know about today via Twitter, Facebook and e-mail:
Vitter isn’t the first senator to try to use a sporting event to get out of the job he was elected to do. In 2010, then-Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) gave an angry floor speech because debate over an unemployment benefit extension caused him to miss a University of Kentucky basketball game.