Millionaire Congressman: Shutdown ‘My Idea Of Fun’

His name is David Schweikert, Republican congresscritter from Arizona’s 6th District. And he genuinely needs to learn how to manage his mouth. I wonder if, say, kids who are not receiving cancer treatments from NIH due to the government shutdown are having as much fun as he is:

As 800,000 federal employees were set to be furloughed due to a government shutdown on Tuesday, a Republican lawmaker with a net worth of around $6 million was positively cheerful about the situation, telling NPR that it was his “idea of fun.”

Following an impasse that resulted in Republicans failing at both delaying President Barack Obama’s health care reform law and stopping a government shutdown, Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) insisted to NPR that the GOP had used the right tactics.

“It’s been fascinating because in some ways we had to go through — I don’t want to refer to it as dance — but this process for a lot of the American people to actually start to tune in and understand what we were talking about and where the concerns were and where we thought — actually, the way the health care law was written is damaging the economy and creating sort of a part-time kind of America,” he declared.

Schweikert asserted that using a government shutdown to try to stop a law was “nothing new.”

“The process is actually designed where you expected the Senate to throw back an offer and you expect the House to do its dance,” he continued. “You’ve got to understand, the previous shutdowns — what is it, 17 of them, at least during my lifetime — have all been in some subject about funding.”

The NPR host pointed out that a “silent majority” of House Republicans now reportedly thought that the shutdown was not in the best interest of the country.

“Well, I think there’s always a sense that it’s very uncomfortable when now you’re up against a government slowdown,” Schweikert remarked. “I see a division even on the left side. Even look at some of last night’s votes, where we had Republicans voting no and Democrats voting yes.”

“This is my idea of fun,” he added in conclusion.

Watching this heartless pink boy get defeated by a Democrat next November would be our idea of fun. We know it isn’t likely, but when he says things that are impolitic and just plain heartless, you never know.

By: dave-dr-gonzo

David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.

* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.