I think we officially have an official analogy fad now, thanks to President Obama:

Although the resolution solidifying the revolt was approved by House Democrats Thursday “nearly unanimously,” in the words of sponsor Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), a handful of moderate members are already up in arms.

Rep. Dan Boren (Okla.), among the most conservative Democrats on Capitol Hill, said he’s “extremely displeased” that the White House-GOP deal might not come to the floor as it stands.

“A clear majority of the U.S. House of Representatives supports this plan,” Boren said in a statement. “We are allowing the liberal wing of the Democratic caucus to hold these critically needed tax cuts hostage.”

Democratic leaders, he added, “are either not listening to what the voters are saying, or they are not interested in doing what is best for the American economy.”

Some, like Nevada’s Shelley Berkley, wondered why Nancy Pelosi and the progressives are going through the charade.  The Senate will almost certainly pass the deal Obama made, and if the House tinkers with it, Republicans will simply block it in the conference report form.  The caucus vote is little more than a publicity stunt, since the House will eventually have to vote on the Senate version one way or the other, and there is more than enough support in the overall House to pass it.

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that the bill fails because of Pelosi’s obstructionism.  That will just mean that John Boehner will pass the bill in the first days of the next session of Congress when he has the majority, and that the Senate will pass it with its bolstered Republican minority.  The only difference will be that businesses will have to spend money redoing and then undoing withholding tables, and the first paycheck or two of Americans will be lightened as a result.  That would also underscore Obama’s inability to get support for his own proposals among his own party, a display of impotence that bodes very ill for Democrats in the new era of divided government.

On the plus side, the popcorn industry will get a boost … because we’ll keep passing it around.