Oh For Dumb

Megan McArdle doesn't know what an unintended consequence is.  If a group or individual launch policy z in hopes of outcome a and they get not-a, not-a is an unintended consequence. Sort of like, if you argue that lower taxes for the rich, fewer limits on what the rich can do with their money and less oversight of what they do with their money will lead to a world in which everyone has a pony and, instead, it leads to an economic train wreak, the train wreak is the unintended, but not unforeseen, consequence. So when the good government types argued that earmarks were a form of bribery that enabled speakers to coerce legislators to vote against their or their constituents best interests and you have a situation were  Boehner's inability to bribe legislators to vote against their (incorrect, imo) understanding of their best interests , it isn't an  unintended consequence it is the intended consequence.