14 Ways Congressmen Have Failed Us This Year — So Far

Abortion rights are a contentious issue, but they should by no means be used as a joke. Unfortunately, that’s what happened between Missouri State Senators Bob Onder and Wayne Wallingford on April 5. Onder mentioned that “The St. Louis Zoo gets inspected once a year.” Wallingford then told his “hilarious” joke, saying, “Maybe we should send the people that want an abortion to the St. Louis Zoo, because we know it'll be safer." So funny!

Looks like more than one man forgot that it takes two people to make a baby. During a discussion over Obamacare on March 9, Republican Representative John Shimkus explained one of his issues with the law: "What about men having to purchase prenatal care? I'm just . . . is that not correct? And should they?" So, while some male lawmakers want women to keep having babies and forgo abortions, others would also like them to do it without prenatal care.

Apparently, Missouri lawmakers like to make a lot of inappropriate comments. Take a look at Missouri state Representative Rick Brattin, who on May 8 said, “When you look at the tenets of religion, of the Bible, of the Quran, of other religions, there is a distinction between homosexuality and just being a human being.” Yes, he stated that there’s a difference between the humanity of gay people and straight people.

Over in Texas, a state that continues to push anti-abortion bills, Texas state Representative Tony Tinderholt also forgot that it takes two people to make a baby. As he was pushing for a bill that would charge a woman with murder if she had an abortion, Tinderholt told The Texas Observer that it would make women “more personally responsible” when it comes to sex. Yes, somehow in Tinderholt’s mind, only women should be held responsible for sex — not men.

Domestic abuse is in no way, shape, or form a joke, but Republican Representative Tim Walberg decided to make it one anyway. During two town halls on Aug. 7 and 8, Walberg used a variation of “And when did I stop beating my wife?" as a response to questions. The crowd didn’t take to it well either time.

The proponents of abortion bills should really take some biology lessons, especially in the case of Oklahoma State Senator Justin Humphrey. In defending his proposed House Bill 1441, which passed the House and requires women to get permission from their sexual partner prior to having an abortion, Humphrey told The Intercept that pregnant women are “hosts” to fetuses. "I understand that they feel like that is their body. I feel like it is a separate. . . what I call them is, is you're a 'host.' And you know when you enter into a relationship you're going to be that host and so, you know, if you pre-know that then take all precautions and don't get pregnant." Somehow, we doubt pregnant women would like to be called hosts.

For Republican Representative Mike Moon, the only way to talk about abortion is to behead chickens. That’s right; on June 12, the congressman posted a video to Facebook of him beheading a chicken to express how necessary it was for the Missouri legislature to pass anti-abortion bills.

When Louisiana decided to take down its confederate monuments, it made a Mississippi state representative, Karl Oliver, extremely upset. Oliver became so incensed with the idea of a monument representing slavery coming down that he posted a now-deleted message to Facebook, in which he wrote that anyone who wants to “destroy historical monuments. . . should be LYNCHED!” He also compared the removal of these monuments to the book burning events that occurred in Nazi Germany. Needless to say, Oliver apologized for his post and his use of the word “lynched.”

Representative Markwayne Mullin from Oklahoma conveniently forgot that he’s paid by taxpayers for his job when he told a town hall on April 10 that “no one here pays me to go.” House Representatives, who are paid $174,000 a year, have a duty to serve their constituents and address their concerns. Mullin would do well to remember that next time.

Republican Representative Glenn Grothman thinks women can buy birth control at grocery stores — or so he stated a town hall on April 30. Sure, women can buy condoms as a form of birth control at grocery stores, but it’s not the same as the actual contraceptive pill. This thought, however, didn’t appear to cross Grothman’s mind.

Back when Republicans were trying to defend the healthcare bill, Representative Raul Labrador made the outrageous claim that “nobody dies” from not having healthcare. Labrador made the statement during a town hall on May 5 and constituents immediately booed him.

Republican Representative Pete Olson’s knowledge about biology isn’t great, as he tried to explain why he believed the Senate healthcare bill shouldn’t require men to pay for prenatal and maternity care. In an interview on June 23, Olson said, “We have what's called an X chromosome . . . which means we can't have a baby. Why do we have to pay for that coverage we can't use?" First of all, it’s the Y chromosome that causes men to be unable to have children, not the X. And second of all, it requires a man and a woman to create a baby.

The fate of net neutrality still hangs in the air, but one congressman thinks he has the solution for critics: just don’t use the internet. Republican Representative Jim Sensenbrenner told a town hall on April 13 that “Nobody's got to use the internet, at all. I don't think it's my job to tell you that you cannot get advertising for your information being sold. My job, I think, is to tell you that you have the opportunity to do it, and then you take it upon yourself to make the choice that the government has given you."

Republican Representative David Brat’s literal job is to listen to his constituents, but he found a way to turn that into a joke about his job. "Since Obamacare and these issues have come up, the women are in my grill no matter where I go," Brat said at a conservative event on Jan. 30. Imagine that; female constituents trying to hold their congressman accountable. Now five women are running against him for Congress.