Clowning clowns clown clownily:
With support collapsing, a $44.1 billion transportation and housing bill was pulled abruptly from the House floor Wednesday, and top Republicans conceded it was a further sign that the party’s budget strategy is unraveling.
Putting the best face on the situation, Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s office said that the House will return to the bill after the August recess. But House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers bluntly said the chances of resurrecting the measure are “bleak at best.”
Rogers, who is rock-solid conservative, went beyond simply saying the measure's prospects were bleak. He took aim at his entire party, condemning them with words Democrats should throw in the GOP's face every single day from now until House Republicans finally get their act together—if they ever do.
“With this action, the House has declined to proceed on the implementation of the very budget it adopted three months ago,” said the Kentucky Republican. “Thus I believe that the House has made its choice: sequestration — and its unrealistic and ill-conceived discretionary cuts — must be brought to an end.”
For Republicans to refuse to pass a bill which met Paul Ryan's budget blueprint—a blueprint they voted for just a few months ago—is beyond incompetent. It's utterly insane. Don't take it from me—take it from Hal Rogers.
p.s.: For acronym geeks, here's where the THUD in the headline comes from: The bill funds Transportation as well as House and Urban Development.