GOP Loses Third House Vote in a Week

The conventional wisdom that Republicans are far more disciplined than Democrats might no longer be true. The House GOP leadership suffered its third embarrassing loss this week, failing to get the supermajority needed to pass a bill retrieving money already paid into a U.N. fund. It follows a defeat on extending provisions of the Patriot Act Tuesday night, in which 26 Republicans joined with Democrats. And leaders had to yank another bill from the floor the same day. Speaker John Boehner says the procedural fumbles are just the growing pains of the new GOP majority, but that isn’t stopping Democrats from crowing.