The House GOP don't do no readin' or writin', and they for sure don't know no stinkin' 'rithmetic

Over at TPM Election Central, Greg Sargent and Eric Kleefeld have gone where few mortals dare, and come away with comedic gold. They have -- listen to this! -- taken to reading press releases put out by House Minority Whip Roy Blunt! Whew-ee, talk about going above and beyond the call of duty.

Today it seems Whip Blunt was bursting with pride over a new House GOP initiative, called Regain Our Majority Program, or ROMP. Our intrepid researchers noticed, though, that of the eight candidates listed as receiving ROMP funds, only two of them are actually Republicans running against House Democratic incumbents. (And no, no open Dem seats are being challenged.)

However, five of the ROMPers are Republican incumbents trying to hold onto their seats, and the remaining Republican beneficiary is running for an open GOP seat!

Now technically it's true that if you are a minority trying to regain your majority, you have to hold onto the seats you already have. But wouldn't you think that any self-respecting Save Our Majority Program would take a stab at, you know, replacing their people with ours? The panicky incumbents, by the way, include some of the GOP's slimiest, like Florida's infamous Diaz-Balart brothers and Pennsylvania's unspeakable Phil English. Let's hope they all have good reason to feel endangered in November.

(The guys also note that the DCCC has its "Red to Blue" program, which amazingly is supporting 20 Democratic candidates challenging GOP incumbents. My God, what a concept!)
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