Tornado Alley (PROG)

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David Brooks is bad at math

by Jed Lewison
Wed Sep 02, 2009 at 08:10:03 AM PDT

David Brooks [ http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/opinion/01brooks.html ]:

Some now argue that the administration should just ignore the ignorant masses and ram health care through using reconciliation, the legislative maneuver that would reduce the need for moderate votes.

This would be suicidal. You can’t pass the most important domestic reform in a generation when the majority of voters think you are on the wrong path. To do so would be a sign of unmitigated arrogance. If Obama agrees to use reconciliation, he will permanently affix himself to the liberal wing of his party and permanently alienate independents. He will be president of 35 percent of the country — and good luck getting anything done after that.

35%? Huh? On what planet does Brooks reside?

The 55 Senators (or, in the case of appointed Senators, their predecessors) most likely to support health care reform under reconciliation received [ http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/7/28/758546/-The-real-supermajority ] 79.8 million votes. The other senators combined received 46.7 million votes.

Put another way, pro-reform senators received nearly twice as many votes as anti-reform senators.

Brooks has got his math backwards.

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http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/9/2/775409/-David-Brooks-is-bad-at-math [with comments]