The Speaker Still Doesn't Have the Votes

As events stumble along in Washington, I note again that John Boehner is the least effective House Speaker of my lifetime. I think these two sentences from the Post sum it up pretty well:

After a long day of trying with increasing desperation to cobble together a debt-limit plan that could win the support of 217 Republicans, Boehner and his top deputies gave up and abruptly canceled a scheduled vote on the measure. On Tuesday evening, they left the Capitol without further plan or explanation.

Increasing desperation. No further plan or explanation. As the government edges toward default, federal workers face a third week of furlough, and financial markets start to panic, all we get from Boehner is "good night."