Add this to the impressive list of falsehoods spewed into our consciousness by John of Orange last night.
One of the most influential conservatives in Congress says he's confident his own Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) will lack the votes to pass his plan to raise the debt limit in the House of Representatives.
TPM
Remember this from Boehner's whiny little attempt at a speech?
And this week, while the Senate is struggling to pass a bill filled with phony accounting and Washington gimmicks, we will pass another bill – one that was developed with the support of the bipartisan leadership of the U.S. Senate.
Guess what, John. That was a lie. You aren't going to pass it. You don't have the votes in your own caucus. And Steny Hoyer thinks it's a very funny idea that the Democrats will save you.
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said "very few" if any Democrats will join Boehner. "I don't want to give a number, but very few."
Normally I would think this epic fail by a Republican speaker would be funny. However, given that this means that the House simply cannot pass a debt ceiling increase - "Cut, Cap, Balance" did not raise the debt ceiling - we're in a world of hurt.
Look for the stock market to head south.
10:52 AM PT: More on the conservative revolt
Conservative Republicans on Tuesday balked at House leaders' pleas to stop whining and back their plan to slash spending and increase the nation's borrowing ability, throwing into doubt the GOP's proposal to rescue the nation from an unprecedented government default.
Yahoo!
Note that link is from the financial news pages. The business guys are starting to pay attention to this. I think up till now most of them assumed that Washington couldn't be that stupid.
BAD assumption.