Rangel’s argument: Congress’ past performance has set the bar so low we might actually look effective for once.

WASHINGTON — A prominent liberal House Democrat is calling on President Barack Obama to bring Congress back from its August recess, joining a growing list asking the president to put lawmakers to work now to fix the economy.

“There’s no question in my mind” that lawmakers need to return to Washington, Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) said on MSNBC on Tuesday.

“The president should call us back and to recognize that as important as re-elections are in the House and the Senate, the integrity of our country is far more important,” he said. “Just him bringing us together, saying that we are going to work to get jobs for the people and training for people.”

While skeptics are arguing that Congress won’t get anything done if it comes back from its vacation, Rangel said that the very fact that there’s skepticism underscores why his colleagues need to return to Washington before the end of the summer.

“If there’s no hope that we can do it, we’ve got to change our way of thinking about our country. Our country is not Obama, is not Pelosi, is not Boehner. It is a country with hope and vision,” Rangel said.

“We are the actors, the tools, that are supposed to present us as to what people are proud of, and when you lose confidence, you can’t buy it, you can’t elect it. Confidence is something that you feel.”

Making progress on efforts to cut costs and revenues would “give so much hope to people who have been without work for months and for some years,” he said.