http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/328967-cruz-this-is-a-terrible-dealCruz: This is a ‘terrible’ deal
By Ramsey Cox - 10/16/13 07:05 PM ET
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Wednesday said the Senate deal to raise the debt ceiling and end the government shutdown is the embodiment of everything Americans dislike about the Washington establishment.
“This is a terrible deal,” Cruz said. “This deal embodies everything about the Washington establishment that frustrates the American people.”
Cruz also blasted his GOP Senate colleagues for not standing united behind House Republicans, which he said could have led to a different outcome.
“The outcome could have been different,” Cruz said. “To the American people, the United States Senate is saying you don’t have a voice in Washington.”
Cruz led the GOP battle charge to threaten a govenrment shutdown over defunding ObamaCare.
The strategy divided Cruz's party, with a number of Republicans warning it could hurt the GOP.
Polls have borne those warnings out, with some showing support for the Republican Party at a record low.
But Cruz, who has seen his 2016 fortunes improve during the showdown, was defiant on Wednesday hours before a Senate vote in which the deal he deplored, he said, would pass by a wide margin.
Cruz said he remained encouraged though because millions of people cheered him on during his 21-hour floor speech where he bashed ObamaCare.
“The way we’re going to stop ObamaCare … is the American people rising up,” Cruz said. “The answers are not going to come from Washington because Washington is broken.”
Cruz on Saturday won the straw poll at key conservative voter summit, suggesting his 2016 stock with Republican primary voters has jumped up as he becomes the face of the GOP's argument on the shutdown and raising the debt ceiling.
