of the RRRepublicans
(Tip o' the hat to DUer Pirate Smile for finding the story!):The payoff is in the fourth paragraph so I'll let youi click through to TPM for the rest.
When House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) heard Republicans were going to hold a vote on the extremely conservative Republican Study Committee budget, a lightbulb turned on in his head.
"I thought to myself the Republican leadership is probably thinking we're going to defeat it for them," Hoyer told me in a phone interview Friday. "I said to myself I'm not interested in seeing that happen. I want the Republicans to show what they believe. And if a majority of them believe that that's the kind of budget the American people need to know that."
The RSC is a very large bloc of conservative Republican House members. They introduced a 10-year plan for America that makes the already far-reaching House budget look fairly moderate. It was supposed to be a symbolic vote -- one that allowed conservative members to go on the record in support of slashing $9 trillion in spending knowing full well it would never be adopted as the official position of the House and the Republican Party. Hoyer figured them out.
More at TPM:
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/04/how-democrats-railroaded-republicans-into-almost-passing-a-budget-too-conservative-for-them.php?ref=fpa