Boehner tries to rebrand failure, defend Congress' ineptitude

By Steve Benen

This Congress is generally perceived as failing miserably when it comes to governing, and a few weeks ago, we learned this perception is quantifiably true: the 113th Congress is on track to pass fewer bills than any since the clerk's office started keeping track in the mid-1940s.

When a reporter asked House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) late last week about the institution's "historically unproductive" nature, the Republican balked. "That's just total nonsense," he snapped, before the question was even finished.

Over the weekend, however, Boehner reversed course, deciding that his unproductive tenure isn't something to be denied; it's something to be celebrated.

House Speaker John Boehner says Congress "ought to be judged on how many laws we repeal."

The Ohio Republican makes the comments on an interview aired Sunday on CBS "Face the Nation." He was responding to a question about how little Congress is doing these days.

Boehner says Congress "should not be judged by how many new laws we create."

Let's appreciate exactly what Boehner is trying to do here. When he and his Republican colleagues sought power, they told the electorate that they would work to find solutions to national problems. After having been unsuccessful, the Speaker of the House has decided to rebrand failure -- he wants credit for his record of futility and expects praise for the fact that he and his caucus have made no legislative progress since he took power three years ago.

Instead of finding solutions to ongoing challenges, Boehner believes Congress should be focusing on undoing solutions to previous challenges. By the Speaker's reasoning, we should probably change the language we use when it comes to Capitol Hill -- Boehner and his colleagues aren't lawmakers, they're lawenders.

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