In a move that really should have surprised fewer people, House Republicans fumbled and bumbled their way to an impasse on their “Plan B” tax plan. Shortly before 7 p.m., they narrowly won a vote on the “sequester replacement,” the bill that replaced defense spending cuts with cuts to social services. Having lost 22 members on that vote, unable to lose any more on the tax portion of the plan, they retreated into a conference meeting and basically gave up. Boehner prayed. Boehner cried.
I’ll have a longer piece tomorrow, about all the predictable #fail that went into this debacle. For now, I just notice that 22 Republicans voted no or “present” on the “sequester replacement,” the part of Plan B that was offered up to sweeten the pot for conservatives. Only three of them – Joe Walsh, Jeff Landry, and Ron Paul – are leaving Congress. The other 19 will be there to make fresh hell for Boehner.
