Amidst Democratic excitement surrounding the inauguration of President Barack Obama, the Republicans have sent out a sobering reminder about the political road ahead.
To wit: the office of the Speaker of the House, Republican John Boehner, has released an infographic intended to illustrate the Senate’s inability over the better part of the past four years to pass a traditional budget instead of what the GOP considers stopgap measures to delay the shutdown of government.
The goal: to explain what else you can accomplish over the four years of Senate intransigence. According to Boehner’s office, it would have been possible to take 179 round trips to the Moon. Or, if you prefer terra firma, you could have made the cross-country trip between Key West, Florida and Seattle, Washington 684 times (and the helpful graphic even allows for the odd stop at an ATM along the way).
The infographic is nothing if not ambitious, reminding readers that (and we’re quoting directly from the source material and keeping their words in bold) “The United States declared war and led the Allies to victory over the Axis powers in less time than it’s taken Senate Democrats to pass a budget.”
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There’s more where that came from. Three Pentagons could have been built. Seventy-three circumnavigations of the globe in a hot-air balloon could have been made. You could have climbed Mount Everest 292 times — albeit “if you’re in peak physical (superhuman) condition,” the report clarifies. And all 1,179 miles of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline could have been constructed. Twice.
The point appears to be to reemphasize that while Boehner’s party has a majority in the House of Representatives, the Democrats still control the Senate. And what they do with their time, Boehner’s office seems to be saying, is everyone’s business.