Since John Boehner succeeded Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House in 2010, our Representatives in Congress have never had more time off, literally. By design when the House has been in session, Boehner and his minions Eric Cantor and Kevin McCarthy have made certain to give members one week off a month to go back home to their local districts and have town hall meetings, fund raise and presumably find out the pulse of the voters.
In his three and a half years in power, the House has also produced very little work product. The 112th Congress elected in the Tea Party wave of 2010 had the least productive session since the U.S. House Clerk started keeping records, and the 113th Congress currently underway is threatening to break that record.
But Boehner apparently takes that as a badge of honor, as he told CBS' Bob Scheiffer on Face The Nation Sunday morning.
Showing his strong sense of self preservation, Boehner also punted when asked his own personal views on immigration reform.
This article appears in Jul 18-24, 2013.