The Republicans' 178-256 Majority, Part I

You might not know it, but Democrats control the House of Representatives with 256 votes (218 constituting a majority of the 435-member chamber). And yet, 256 votes notwithstanding, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she doesn't have the votes to pass the Senate's health care reform bill. This would be a critical move towards health care reform because it would avoid another Senate vote, which thanks to last week's Massachusett's Senate special election, no longer contains a filibuster-proof, 60 vote supermajority.

But even with a 38-vote majority House Democrats still can't pull themselves together to pass a bill that expands Medicaid and prohibits insurance companies from disqualifying people for pre-existing conditions.

This is just some very sorry crapola. It means that the Democratic Party's governing majority is dysfunctional and non-existent.

In Part II of this series I will expound upon some reasons why the Democrats, despite their clear House majority, can't pass health care reform.

Update: Andrew Sullivan has several posts calling for the Democratic House Majority to Pass. The. Damn. Bill.