Boehner’s Bad Math: 195 Dems + 22 Repubs Doesn’t Equal Magic 217

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Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) keeps saying that he doesn’t have the votes to pass the “clean CR” that passed the Senate. Boehner refuses to prove that he doesn’t have the votes by putting it up for a vote.

There are now at least 22 Republicans (and a lot more if they’d make it a secret vote) who are willing to end this shutdown by voting for the clean CR, according to Jennifer Bendery at the Huffington Post. Her count:

The number of those Republicans hit 22 (a soft 23, including Rep. Rodney Davis) — surpassing the magic 17 votes needed to pass a clean funding bill if all 200 Democrats stick together and team up with them.

There are 195 Democrats who would vote for the CR (200 excluding five non-voting delegates) that is set at Republican spending levels, because Democrats are putting their country first. (Note: I don’t agree with this clean CR business, since it was set at Republican levels and the American people didn’t vote for that, but we’re ten steps down the hostage plank at this point.)

Someone needs to tell John Boehner that 195 plus 22 equals 217. Even in Republican Math.

Let’s recall that this all started because Republicans claimed that ObamaCare was destroying the economy. They never provided any proof of that claim. The CBO has repeatedly said that ObamaCare lowers the deficit, and Republican claims about ObamaCare creating a part-time economy were also discredited. If these things were really true, Republicans would let Democrats fall flat on their ObamaCare faces. Of course, the real problem is that Americans want their ObamaCare. The real problem is that once again, Democrats came up with a way to help average Americans and that makes Republicans look bad.

But really, none of this is even relevant because it doesn’t matter why Republicans object to ObamaCare.

Republicans don’t get to hold the economy hostage because they are out of power and they disagree with policy being set by the party that won power per the democratic process. Republicans have placed themselves in opposition to the country’s best welfare. They have made their position the party that will crater the economy unless it gets concessions. Logically this places them against the country – Democrats must entice them to keep them from destroying the country. This is not a good bumper sticker for 2014.

Cartoonists are already noting that Republicans have managed to do what Al-Qaeda couldn’t. At some point, it loses its cuteness, if it ever had any. If only the Democrats had a missile like Sarah Palin, they’d be accusing Republicans of working for terrorists.

Republicans are claiming they “stumbled” into this shutdown, but it was planned by conservative groups as soon as Obama’s second term started.

Republicans aren’t good at math. We know this. But can’t someone get Speaker Boehner a calculator?

Image Credit: AP/Susan Walsh

Sarah Jones

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