You may not know this, but Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has a day job. She represents Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District. You might have forgotten this fact as she's been too busy running for President. She missed every single vote in Congress between August 1 and October 12, 2011.
Rep. Michele Bachmann, one of two members of the House of Representatives vying for the GOP presidential nomination, snapped her streak of consecutive votes missed at 88, ending a run that dated back to Aug. 1.
So I went to GovTrack and looked up her votes for 2011. There have been 782 votes so far this year in the US House of Representatives. Bachmann has voted in 58% this year. However since July 15, 2011 Michele Bachmann has missed 94% of votes in the House.
Yet, in Des Moines yesterday, she accused President Obama of being AWOL on the budget.
In a short press availability held this afternoon at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines, Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann unloaded on President Barack Obama’s handling of the budget.
“The president has for an [sic] intents and purposes been AWOL in any form of leadership in dealing with getting our budget together this year,” she said. “It’s really been something has been disgusting for a lot of Americans.”
The comments came amidst arguments in Congress today over an extension of the temporary payroll tax cut and a spending measure to keep the government funded beyond the end of the week.
[my emphasis]
The irony is, of course, that Bachmann isn't in DC to participate in the budget negotiations, she's in Iowa far too busy campaigning to be bothered.
I love her use of the phrase "for all intents and purposes." Because, unlike her, Obama has been at least physically in Washington, DC during the second half of this year. Furthermore, I wouldn't blame Obama for the GOP's unwillingness to negotiate in good faith.
I wonder what my employer might do if I didn't show up at work for two plus months?