The ‘less-than-do-nothing’ Tea-Publican 112th Congress leaves work unfinished

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

A couple of items the "less-than-do-nothing" Tea-Publican 112th Congress, the "Worst. Congress, Ever.", left unfinished last night.

First, was Hurricane Sandy relief which has Northeast politicians from Rep. Peter King (R-NY) to Governor Chris Chrisitie (R-NJ) fuming today. Gov. Christie lambastes ‘toxic’ House Republicans over Sandy aid delay:

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) condemned House Republicans
Wednesday afternoon for failing to pass a $60 billion package of funding
for Hurricane Sandy relief. In the strongest terms, he accused House
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) of letting “toxic internal politics”
impede necessary storm relief. 

“There’s only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these
victims: the House majority and their speaker,” Christie said. “It was
disappointing and disgusting to watch.”

* * *

President Obama has called on the House to immediately pass the aid package.

The governor said that the lawmakers had failed to put the country
before their own political careers, showing “callous indifference to the
suffering of the people of my state.”

The package “could not overcome toxic internal politics of the House
majority,” Christie said. ”Shame on you, shame on Congress.” He went on
to criticize lawmakers who suggested there was  too
much unnecessary spending in the bill as “know-nothings” who “should
spend a little less time reading the political talking points put
together by their staff.”

Christie said he called Boehner four times late last night, and the speaker did not return his calls.

Update: Peter King says anyone from New York or New Jersey would be nuts to support House Republicans.

Second, was renewal of the Violence Against Women Act. Steve Benen reports, House GOP blocks Violence Against Women Act:

Back in April, the Senate approved
VAWA reauthorization fairly easily, with a 68 to 31 vote. The bill was
co-written by a liberal Democrat (Vermont's Pat Leahy) and a
conservative Republican (Idaho's Mike Crapo), and seemed on track to be
reauthorized without much of a fuss, just as it was in 2000 and 2005.

But
House Republicans insisted the bill is too supportive of immigrants,
the LGBT community, and Native Americans — and they'd rather let the
law expire than approve a slightly expanded proposal. Vice President
Biden, who helped write the original law, tried to persuade House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) to keep the law alive, but the efforts didn't go anywhere.

And
so, for the first time since 1994, the Violence Against Women Act is no
more. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the Democratic point person on VAWA,
said in a statement:

"The House Republican leadership's failure to take up and pass the
Senate's bipartisan and inclusive VAWA bill is inexcusable. This is a
bill that passed with 68 votes in the Senate and that extends the bill's
protections to 30 million more women. But this seems to be how House
Republican leadership operates. No matter how broad the bipartisan
support, no matter who gets hurt in the process, the politics of the
right wing of their party always comes first."

Proponents of the law hope to revive the law in the new
Congress, starting from scratch, but in the meantime, there will be far
fewer resources available for state and local governments to combat
domestic violence.

The GOP war against women continues unabated and unchastened by electoral defeat in November.

UPDATE: The media blitz by Northeast politicians today may have paid off, but not until the next Congress. House GOP Announce Sandy Relief Votes:

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor
(R-VA) issued a joint statement on Wednesday announcing that the House
will hold two votes on Hurricane Sandy relief in the coming weeks:

"Getting critical aid to the victims of Hurricane Sandy should be
the first priority in the new Congress, and that was reaffirmed today
with members of the New York and New Jersey delegations. The House will
vote Friday to direct needed resources to the National Flood Insurance
Program. And on January 15th, the first full legislative day of the
113th Congress, the House will consider the remaining supplemental
request for the victims of Hurricane Sandy."