Friday, December 21, 2012

Exclusive: Boehner Was 8 Votes Short on Plan B Vote

EconomicPolicyJournal.com has learned that House Speaker John Boehner cancelled the vote on his "Plan B" budget plan when he was 8 votes short of getting it passed.

When I asked a long-time Hill operative if Boehner was losing power or if it was just a close vote, he emailed me back with the comment below. Keep in mind this email is coming from a D.C. insider, so please take that into consideration when he says Boehner is in favor of "real economic growth".
Smart question! He was 8 votes short so I'd say it was a tough vote. Not a killer.
Never forget (which nearly everyone else does) that Boehner was a Kemp guy long before he ever ran for Congress. So he sees real economic growth as the cure to what ails the economy but these damn governmental hazards keep coming at him.

I know Ron Paul voted against him. That's OK. He's a principled man. Most of the other no votes were from weaker men.
There are currently 432 House members, with 3 vacancies . That means in order for a bill to pass the House 217 yea votes are required (if all members vote). With Democrats planning to vote in bloc against Plan B. it means Boehner would have needed to get all 217 yea votes from Republican ranks. There are currently 241 Republicans and 191 Democrats in the House. If Boehner was 8 votes short that means 32 Republicans were going to vote against the bill.

1 comment:

  1. Since the Senate would not have approved whatever Boehner could have passed, the failure of "plan B" has little significance even in the nonsense and deceit that passes for politics in D.C. Unfortunately, the Republican statist/crony caucus does not appear to be on the verge of crumbling.

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