New Congress set to uphold legacy of bigotry and failure

As the 112^th Congress is finally shown to the door with the notable track record of being one of the least productive and most hated in U.S. history, one would think its successor would aim for more substantive legislation and less meaningless posturing. With that in mind, what are some of the very first actions of the nation’s brand-new legislative body?

Well, for starters, House Republicans are already planning to sink even more taxpayer money into their perennial defense of institutionalized anti-gay discrimination:

House Republicans may have complained loudly during the "fiscal cliff" debate about the need to rein in government spending, but that didn't stop them from agreeing Wednesday night to sink even more money into defending the federal ban on recognizing gay marriage.

A GOP source told The Huffington Post that, during a closed-door meeting of the House Republican Conference, lawmakers gave a green light to including language in the 113th Congress rules package that authorizes the House legal team, known as the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG), to keep paying outside counsel to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court. The proposed House rules package also states that BLAG continues to "speak for" the House in its defense of DOMA.

Meanwhile, tragically-not-ousted Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) continues her endlessly futile crusade to undo President Obama’s efforts to overhaul the U.S.’s shambled healthcare system:

The 112th Congress gaveled to a close on Thursday afternoon without passing a relief package for victims of Hurricane Sandy or reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, but Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) isn’t too concerned about finishing what Republicans had left undone. Instead, at 12:00 PM she introduced the very first piece of legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which states are now busily implementing.

House Republicans have unsuccessfully voted 33 times in the last two years to eliminate health care reform and wasted at least 88 hours and $50 million, while failing to pass a single piece of job creation legislation in the last session of Congress.

Because when you’re renowned for setting the standard in gross incompetence, the next course of action is obviously to continue down the exact same failed path.

Promising, isn’t it?

(via Joe. My. God.)