Ted Cruz, the outspoken Senator for the Great State of Texas has undertaken an epic filibuster (17 hours and counting) on the spending bill placed before the Senate, because the Democrats have the audacity to take out the de-funding for the Affordable Care Act with a simple majority vote in the second round. Apparently, dear Ted didn't initially know that this was standard procedure, until he was called out by Chris Wallace on Fox "News."
There seems to be a lot of things Ted doesn't know, like the overwhelming majority of Americans oppose a government shutdown over "Obamacare," which is what would happen were Ted actually able to stall a vote on the spending bill. I guess his unspoken hero is Wendy Davis, who was able to beat the clock on an anti-abortion bill in Texas, only for the state legislature to reconvene and pass the bill anyway. One can only assume he too is wearing a catheter. But, the reality is this fake filibuster has no consequence on the vote.
Mitch McConnell and other ranking Republicans had asked Ted to cease and desist in his folly, but Ted refused to back down. He saw how Rand Paul's filibuster last Spring vaulted him to the top of the Teabaggers' Presidential Ball, and he wants to join this dance before it is too late. But, even Rand seems to be sitting this one out.
All this grandstanding leads one to ask what the Republicans are hoping to accomplish by defunding the Affordable Care Act, gutting food stamps and slashing education. It's like no Republicans are on the dole or need public health and education. They seem to exist in an alternative reality, like the town of Pleasantville where everyone pulls his own weight and women are tame housewives and children cite the Pledge of Allegiance and the Lord's Prayer before the start of each day of school.
But, Ted is a Harvard grad and obviously knows a thing or two. He's no innocent, that's for sure, but a shrewd, calculating politician who has his eyes on the top political prize in 2016, knowing that Teabaggers love nothing more than a Congressional martyr, and he seems more than willing to carry their cross if it will give him the Republican nomination.
The most amusing part of this fake filibuster is that it was pre-arranged,
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and a vote for cloture will take place at noon irregardless of his pointless harangue. It's like Reid said to him, if you want to make a fool of yourself go ahead.
In case you were wondering why I called him the Cruz missile,
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj9M34DzAKo
That was very weird. He's also been called Carnival Cruz which also seems apt.
ReplyDeleteEveryone keeps acknowledging how brilliant he is and I'm sure he is, but listening to part of his diatribe made me wonder if he might also have a screw or two loose.
I have a feeling this whole thing is going to blow up in the Republicans' faces, especially now that Cruz and Lee are actually trying to block the spending bill and cause a shutdown. This Tea Party has become nothing more than anarchists of the worst kind, totally devoid of any principles and determined to create a crisis in this country. Cruz seems to be their all too willing agent.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, many in Washington are hoping they do shut down the government to let some of the steam out of the system. Hardly what I would call a reasonable alternative, but I guess many believe Cruz et al. will let the U.S. default which will be even worse.
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