Topic: CNSNews.com
Ron Meyer ("press secretary and spokesman for American Majority Action") dropped a bombshell in a Jan. 2 CNSNews.com blog post:
I have confirmed with a group of Congressmen that House Speaker John Boehner will not be reelected Speaker tomorrow.
He will either resign or be forced out tomorrow.
Only 17 members are needed to block Speaker Boehner's election tomorrow. A Speaker needs an absolute majority of all votes cast for a specific person.
If no one has a majority, the House is speakerless. I've confirmed these rules with the House Parliamentarian.
So much fail here. Let's start with his version of the election process. It's unclear where he gets the idea that "Only 17 members are needed to block Speaker Boehner's election," since all members of the House vote on the speaker. And it's simply false that the House would remain "speakerless" if no one gets a majority -- if Wikipedia is to be believed, votes are held repeatedly until one candidate has a majority.
If that wasn't enough, Meyer's post got overtaken by events. Boehner won on the first ballot, with three votes more than he needed to reach a majority.
If Meyer or CNS had any sense of shame -- or journalism -- corrections would be issued.
