GOP Realizes Impeaching Obama Is Impossible, Votes to Sue Him Instead -Meanwhile US Econ At 4% Growth.

Mississippi had the highest unemployment rate in July at 8%. Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

The United States economy rebounded strongly in the second quarter of the year, shaking off the negative effects of an unusually harsh winter and stirring hopes that it might finally be establishing a solid enough footing to put the lingering effects of the recession squarely in the past.

The Commerce Department, in its initial estimate for April, May and June, reported on Wednesday that the economy grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4 percent, surpassing expectations.



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On Wednesday, House Republicans gave Speaker John Boehner the approval to go ahead with a lawsuit against President Obama, alleging he overreached his powers in executing the Affordable Care Act. In an almost exact party-line vote, 225 Republicans voted in support and 201 Democrats voted against authorizing the federal suit. Democrats have accused Republicans of using the suit as a first step towards impeaching Obama, though Republicans have refuted this. Earlier Wednesday, Obama denounced the prospective suit as a “political stunt” and told Republicans to “stop just hating all the time.”

 

The lawsuit, which is likely to be thrown out of federal court on procedural grounds, focuses particularly on Obama’s decision to delay the employer mandate in the Affordable Care Act.The lawsuit comes as many conservatives have urged House Republicans to begin impeachment proceedings against Obama. Indeed, all five Republicans who voted against the lawsuit, including Paul Broun of Georgia and Steve Stockman of Texas, did so because they believe impeachment is more appropriate. While these calls have been limited mainly to marginal figures on the right such as former reality television star Sarah Palin, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise refused to rule it out in a television appearance Sunday.House Speaker John Boehner and many other leading members of the GOP, however, have opposed the possibility of impeachment, calling it a political misstep.

 

The lawsuit is viewed as an alternative that would appease the GOP’s base without alienating more moderate voters. In 1998, the failed Republican attempt to remove President Clinton from office redounded to the political benefit of Democrats. Impeachment proceedings likely would have the same effect this time, especially with the success that Democratic campaigns have had fundraising off of the specter of impeachment in recent weeks. And with 67 votes required in the Democratic-controlled Senate to convict Obama and remove him from office, successful impeachment proceedings may be impossible. (Even if Obama were somehow removed from office, conservatives probably wouldn’t be thrilled at the prospect of a President Biden). -