The House failed to pass a particularly bad version of the Balanced Budget Amendment this afternoon. Good. Kudos to the four Republicans who voted against it (see vote breakdown here).

House Republicans wanted a vote on a BBA for political purposes. The GOP wanted to be able to present the Democratic “no” votes to voters as proof that those particular members aren’t serious about reining in the exploding federal debt. They probably aren’t, but Republicans who voted “yes” shouldn’t cite their vote as evidence that they’re serious about cutting spending unless they’re prepared to detail what all they would cut in order to bring the budget into balance.