Krugman: 'If Obama Called for Endorsing Motherhood Republicans in the House Would Oppose It'

If it's Sunday, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman must be "saying something really stupid or outrageous."

On ABC's "This Week," the Nobel laureate told host Christiane Amanpour, "If Obama called for endorsing motherhood, the Republicans in the House would oppose it" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

PAUL KRUGMAN, NEW YORK TIMES: Obama has an interesting problem, because I think that I, the way I think of it there’s three different things. There's what we should be doing. And what we should be doing is a huge public investment program. No better time to do it. Government can borrow money almost for free. Lots of unemployed workers.

Then there’s the question, but it's not going to happen, because the second question is what can actually pass Congress? And the answer is nothing. Nothing. If Obama called for endorsing motherhood, the Republicans in the House would oppose it.

Really?

As his own newspaper reported August 1, 174 House Republicans voted for an Obama-endorsed agreement to raise the debt ceiling. The previous month, the Times reported 229 House Republicans voted in favor of Cut, Cap and Balance. In April, the Times reported 235 House Republicans voted for Congressman Paul Ryan's (R-Wisc.) budget proposal.

Maybe Mr. Krugman ought to read his own paper from time to time for it's continually reporting bills House Republicans voted for.

And maybe if the President put something forward that actually made sense, House Republicans would vote for that, too. Better still, maybe he'd even get Democrat support.

Or does Mr. Krugman forget that the only budget actually proposed on paper by a Democrat in more than two years - the one Obama offered in February - didn't get one Democrat vote in the Senate?

Oh. That's right. That was the House Republicans' fault.