In Congress, a discharge petition is an extremely rare tool. A majority of members can sign it to force a full vote on a matter, even if the leadership wants to keep it bottled up. For the fourth time, House Speaker Mike Johnson has had his hand forced by members of his own party joining with Democrats. This time, it’s to allow an up-or-down vote on resurrecting the tax credits that helped keep health insurance affordable for 20 million Americans. It’s only the latest sign of economic dysfunction from GOP lawmakers and the president, as we’ll show with some end-of-the-year Wisconsin numbers. Also: Grumpy president screams at TV cameras in a not-at-all unhinged “speech” about the economy.

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