This Pres Is on Fire

Yesterday, while Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner was screaming about Democratic President Barack Obama at a press conference and announcing he plans to sue the President for his unilateral delay of the Obamacare employer mandate, President Obama had a few words for Boehner at a speech in Austin:

So when folks say they're frustrated with Congress, let's be clear about what the problem is. I'm just telling the truth now. I don't have to run for office again, so I can just let her rip.

And I want to assure you, I'm really not that partisan of a guy. My favorite President is the first Republican President, a guy named Abraham Lincoln. You look at our history, and we had great Republican Presidents who — like Teddy Roosevelt started the National Park System, and Dwight Eisenhower built the Interstate Highway System, and Richard Nixon started the EPA.

The statement I'm making is not a partisan statement; it is a statement of fact. So far this year, Republicans in Congress have blocked or voted down every serious idea to strengthen the middle class.

...The best thing you can say about this Congress — the Republicans in Congress, and particularly the House of Representatives — the best you can say for them this year is that so far they have not shut down the government or threatened to have America welch on our obligations and ruin our credit rating. That's the best you can say. But of course, it's only July, so who knows what they may cook up in the next few months.

...Now, here's where it gets interesting. There are a number of Republicans, including a number in the Texas delegation, who are mad at me for taking these actions. They actually plan to sue me. Now, I don't know which things they find most offensive — me helping to create jobs, or me raising wages, or me easing the student loan burdens, or me making sure women can find out whether they're getting paid the same as men for doing the same job. I don't know which of these actions really bug them.

The truth is, even with all the actions I've taken this year, I'm issuing executive orders at the lowest rate in more than 100 years. So it's not clear how it is that Republicans didn't seem to mind when President Bush took more executive actions than I did.

Maybe it's just me they don't like. I don't know. Maybe there's some principle out there that I haven't discerned, that I haven't figure out.

You hear some of them — "sue him," "impeach him." Really? Really? For what? You're going to sue me for doing my job? Okay.

I mean, think about that. You're going to use taxpayer money to sue me for doing my job while you don't do your job?

Right fucking on! Lots of laughter and applause through this whole section of the speech.

Ball's in your court, Boehner.