The Briefing Room
General Category => Politics/Government => Topic started by: sinkspur on February 13, 2014, 03:40:20 pm
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http://www.dallasnews.com/news/columnists/todd-j-gillman/20140212-ted-cruz-s-debt-ceiling-filibuster-puts-heat-on-cornyn-other-gop-senators.ece
Ted Cruz's debt ceiling filibuster puts heat on Cornyn, other GOP senators
Todd J. Gillman
tgillman@dallasnews.com
Updated: 12 February 2014 11:44 PM
WASHINGTON — Anyone who thought last year’s government shutdown left Sen. Ted Cruz chastened, mellower or more of a team player got a harsh dose of reality Wednesday.
The tea partier from Texas made a lot of enemies in the Senate — on his own side — by forcing an uncomfortable and avoidable vote on increasing the federal government’s debt limit.
His filibuster put party leaders in a bind, not least among them fellow Texan Sen. John Cornyn. With 60 votes needed to ensure the measure passed and a catastrophic default was avoided, a few Republicans had to join with Democrats.
Then, Cruz piled on everyone who dared to cross him, denouncing “establishment politicians from both parties” and warning darkly of political consequences.
“Sometimes, come November, the people remember,” he said.
The term “quixotic” isn’t in Cruz’s lexicon, and he’s clearly not angling for “Most Popular” in the nation’s most exclusive club.
One could argue, as Cruz has, that the shutdown paid dividends for Republicans by shining a harsh spotlight on Obamacare’s rough edges.
It was hard to see any such upside in Wednesday’s events, other than for Cruz and fellow tea partiers.
The Senate would have raised the debt limit exclusively with Democratic votes, a political point Republicans could have exploited. In the end, in fact, that’s what happened, but only after the filibuster was quashed.
Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell were determined not to let the GOP suffer the blame for roiling the world’s economy. Both voted with Democrats, even though both have primary challengers as they seek re-election.
Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Clear Lake, accused Cornyn of using Cruz’s back as “his own personal cutlery holder.”
That stings, but so does casting a damaging vote on a lost cause.
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More clown car antics from the Senator with the biggest, floppiest shoes in Washington.
Cruz doesn't know what "pissin' in the ocean" means.
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There's no reason for us to accept pronouncements from the Lords in the most exclusive club in Washington. 100 trillion in unfunded liabilities, 17 trillion in debt and we're supposed to just shut up and sit down. No. Not just no – but, hell no!
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There's no reason for us to accept pronouncements from the Lords in the most exclusive club in Washington. 100 trillion in unfunded liabilities, 17 trillion in debt and we're supposed to just shut up and sit down. No. Not just no – but, hell no!
I've never found it useful to fight battles I knew, going in, that I was going to lose.
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I've never found it useful to fight battles I knew, going in, that I was going to lose.
And you have known going in that you were going to loose all of them haven't you Sink! Go cower in the corner while the rest of us try to save what's left of our country!
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And you have known going in that you were going to loose all of them haven't you Sink! Go cower in the corner while the rest of us try to save what's left of our country!
I've won more than I've lost, bub.
You aren't saving anything. You're just making a lot of noise and mistaking that for action.
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Fighting Washington bloat will be difficult, agreed, but not impossible. But, I also don't think we can get it done through the system as currently configured. We've got to shake things up! People need to hear from as many voices as possible in as many venues as possible that business as usual won't save the republic. It's got to start now.
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I've won more than I've lost, bub.
You aren't saving anything. You're just making a lot of noise and mistaking that for action.
As usual, you don't know what you are talking about!
Now go back to your corner and hide!
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And you have known going in that you were going to loose all of them haven't you Sink! Go cower in the corner while the rest of us try to save what's left of our country!
Bigun...just because one is against the tactics doesn't mean that he/she doesn't want to fight.
Wasn't it you that suggested that before you can mop up the water, you first had to stop the leak? While the analogy was used in discussing border security/immigration reform, it can also be used here.
I love that Cruz went to the podium again. But that doesn't mean I didn't realize it was not going to change the vote outcome.
The real fright here is that a sound strategy being deployed....letting the DEMS hang themselves for the mid-terms...is not guaranteed, because we have a president that isn't abiding by the 3 Branches of Government rules.
Delaying the employer mandate for THREE YEARS...on the heels of saying, "......I can do whatever I want".
They should immediately draft Articles of Impeachment and go after him hard. Is it a losing proposition? If you're looking for a conviction, perhaps.
But it sure would slow him the hell down.
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There's no reason for us to accept pronouncements from the Lords in the most exclusive club in Washington. 100 trillion in unfunded liabilities, 17 trillion in debt and we're supposed to just shut up and sit down. No. Not just no – but, hell no!
Hear! Hear!
:amen: :amen: :amen:
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Bigun...just because one is against the tactics doesn't mean that he/she doesn't want to fight.
Wasn't it you that suggested that before you can mop up the water, you first had to stop the leak? While the analogy was used in discussing border security/immigration reform, it can also be used here.
I love that Cruz went to the podium again. But that doesn't mean I didn't realize it was not going to change the vote outcome.
The real fright here is that a sound strategy being deployed....letting the DEMS hang themselves for the mid-terms...is not guaranteed, because we have a president that isn't abiding by the 3 Branches of Government rules.
Delaying the employer mandate for THREE YEARS...on the heels of saying, "......I can do whatever I want".
They should immediately draft Articles of Impeachment and go after him hard. Is it a losing proposition? If you're looking for a conviction, perhaps.
But it sure would slow him the hell down.
I have no problem with disagreement at all and never have but I DO have a big problem with childish behavior!
I have long been an advocate of impeaching the bastard simply because it is the RIGHT thing to do and to hell with whether or not the senate sees fit to convict him! (We know they won't)
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The thing about Cruz is that the difference between "wining" and "losing" at this point in time for the GOP may more Ted Cruzes, not less.
More Ted Cruzes would shift the political strategy of the GOP to something akin to the DNC's grand design of rather base, populist, class politics designed for today's equivalent of the occupants of the maenianum secundum in legneis level in the Roman Colosseum.
Gentility and complex strategy may be counterproductive -or even disastrous- in today's political ambiance, and the GOP's old guard may not be in tune with that. It could very well be that what the GOP needs is a little bit of a plebeian insurrection across the heartland of this nation to counter the inroads made by the coastal army of lipstick progressives, well-healed, guilt-ridden (because it's fashionable) avant garde metro sexuals and wealthy Socialist elites that's out there herding the racial and ethnic minorities into a mindless, thoughtless, stampede of "the TEA Party is racist because Rev. Barber said so" true believers that the DNC is aiming all their marketing efforts toward.
Great omelets begin with broken eggs, and the GOP needs to start breaking some eggs.
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I have no problem with disagreement at all and never have but I DO have a big problem with childish behavior!
I have long been an advocate of impeaching the bastard simply because it is the RIGHT thing to do and to hell with whether or not the senate sees fit to convict him! (We know they won't)
I am a huge advocate of reversing suffrage, but advocacy is cheap, and action is difficult and complex.
The left's ENTIRE political strategy is based on advocacy of humanitarian ideals.
The problem with that is that advocating to end poverty is NOT the same as ending poverty... which is impossible. But so long as you advocate it, you are seen as a compassionate, caring individual and leftists and morons (that's a bit redundant) vote for you.
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The thing about Cruz is that the difference between "wining" and "losing" at this point in time for the GOP may more Ted Cruzes, not less.
More Ted Cruzes would shift the political strategy of the GOP to something akin to the DNC's grand design of rather base, populist, class politics designed for today's equivalent of the occupants of the maenianum secundum in legneis level in the Roman Colosseum.
Gentility and complex strategy may be counterproductive -or even disastrous- in today's political ambiance, and the GOP's old guard may not be in tune with that. It could very well be that what the GOP needs is a little bit of a plebeian insurrection across the heartland of this nation to counter the inroads made by the coastal army of lipstick progressives, well-healed, guilt-ridden (because it's fashionable) avant garde metro sexuals and wealthy Socialist elites that's out there herding the racial and ethnic minorities into a mindless, thoughtless, stampede of "the TEA Party is racist because Rev. Barber said so" true believers that the DNC is aiming all their marketing efforts toward.
Great omelets begin with broken eggs, and the GOP needs to start breaking some eggs.
Hear here! :amen:
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I am a huge advocate of reversing suffrage, but advocacy is cheap, and action is difficult and complex.
The left's ENTIRE political strategy is based on advocacy of humanitarian ideals.
The problem with that is that advocating to end poverty is NOT the same as ending poverty... which is impossible. But so long as you advocate it, you are seen as a compassionate, caring individual and leftists and morons (that's a bit redundant) vote for you.
Again I agree but vehemently disagree that what the left advocates is humanitarianl! It is, in fact, quite the opposite if you examine the EFFECTS of what they advocate!
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Again I agree but vehemently disagree that what the left advocates is humanitarianl! It is, in fact, quite the opposite if you examine the EFFECTS of what they advocate!
Ergo advocacy is an effective political ploy, after all, when you say that your political position is to give money to some who may not have all the money they want/need, the effects of the machinations involved in moving the monies from pocket "A" to pocket"B" is of little concern to the owners of the receiving pockets.
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Sinkspur wrote above:
[[ I've never found it useful to fight battles I knew, going in, that I was going to lose. ]]
In war, you don't get to pick the battles you know you can win.
You have to fight them all. The ones you can win, the ones where victory may be in doubt -- and even the battles where the outcome looks grim.
What's going on in the country now is "cold civil war". And it's going on in the halls of Congress, as well.
Mr. Cruz is something akin to the South's Nathan Bedford Forrest. A scrapper of the first order.
If you were hiring generals, Sinkspur, they'd all be named McClellan.
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Sinkspur wrote above:
[[ I've never found it useful to fight battles I knew, going in, that I was going to lose. ]]
In war, you don't get to pick the battles you know you can win.
You have to fight them all. The ones you can win, the ones where victory may be in doubt -- and even the battles where the outcome looks grim.
What's going on in the country now is "cold civil war". And it's going on in the halls of Congress, as well.
Mr. Cruz is something akin to the South's Nathan Bedford Forrest. A scrapper of the first order.
If you were hiring generals, Sinkspur, they'd all be named McClellan.
goopo goopo
If you don't fight it's really easy to sit baclk and toss stones at those who do. At this point it is either fight to save this country in every way possible or support the establishment who are destroying it - and they are in both parties.
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Sinkspur wrote above:
[[ I've never found it useful to fight battles I knew, going in, that I was going to lose. ]]
In war, you don't get to pick the battles you know you can win.
You have to fight them all. The ones you can win, the ones where victory may be in doubt -- and even the battles where the outcome looks grim.
What's going on in the country now is "cold civil war". And it's going on in the halls of Congress, as well.
Mr. Cruz is something akin to the South's Nathan Bedford Forrest. A scrapper of the first order.
If you were hiring generals, Sinkspur, they'd all be named McClellan.
Shove your condescension.
Cruz is a prima donna who's running for president. He could care less about actually getting anything done; he just wants to fire up the tea partiers so he can keep those cards and letters with cash flowing in.
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"... he just wants to fire up the tea partiers so he can keep those cards and letters with cash flowing in.
So, which politicians and/or political party is NOT doing that?
Certainly they all strive to strike a note with a specific portion of the body politic in order to "keep those letters and cash flowing in" for their OWN purposes.
As Friedman pointed out in that video, political self-interest is not by a long shot somehow nobler than financial self-interest.
In the end, with very few (if any) exceptions, financial self-interest is the flip side of political self-interest for all politicians, because they need the money to be politicians.
I am a registered Republican, and I get more mailers asking me for money from the GOP than possibly from the sum total of every other organization out there asking me for a donation to their cause.
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I keep waiting for a sign, something, anything, to indicate that this scurvy bunch is doing anything but pissing on us and passing us over.
I am definitely a member of the POPO club.
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Texas is danged lucky to have Senator Cruz... I'm stuck with two assholes here in AZ since Kyl retired and McCain's mini-me ran in his place.
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So, which politicians and/or political party is NOT doing that?
I am a registered Republican, and I get more mailers asking me for money from the GOP than possibly from the sum total of every other organization out there asking me for a donation to their cause.
Do those mailers attack the GOP? Because that is what Cruz is doing. "Well ya know, It is remarkable in the 13 months I've been in the Senate, it has become apparent to me the single thing that Republican politicians hate, and fear the most, and that is when they are forced to tell the truth." Senator Cruz on his failure to filibuster the debt ceiling hike.
Rules for Radicals
Rule 4 “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.”
Cruz has picked his enemy and it ain't the rats.
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Do those mailers attack the GOP? Because that is what Cruz is doing. "Well ya know, It is remarkable in the 13 months I've been in the Senate, it has become apparent to me the single thing that Republican politicians hate, and fear the most, and that is when they are forced to tell the truth." Senator Cruz on his failure to filibuster the debt ceiling hike.
Rules for Radicals
Rule 4 “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.”
Cruz has picked his enemy and it ain't the rats.
Anyone who thinks that the only enemies of liberty in Washington are those with a "D" beside their name is a complete idiot!
Ted Cruz is right on the mark and I wish we had more like him! I'm working hard on seein that we do real soon!
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Anyone who thinks that the only enemies of liberty in Washington are those with a "D" beside their name is a complete idiot!
Ted Cruz is right on the mark and I wish we had more like him! I'm working hard on seein that we do real soon!
Exactly, Bigun. Both parties jettisoned constitutional principles of governance along time ago.
There are precious few politicians who care more about the future of the country than their team jersey. And from my perspective here in the Peoples Republic of New York City, Ted Cruz appears sincere in his efforts to do the right thing.
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Do those mailers attack the GOP? Because that is what Cruz is doing. "Well ya know, It is remarkable in the 13 months I've been in the Senate, it has become apparent to me the single thing that Republican politicians hate, and fear the most, and that is when they are forced to tell the truth." Senator Cruz on his failure to filibuster the debt ceiling hike.
Rules for Radicals
Rule 4 “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.”
Cruz has picked his enemy and it ain't the rats.
I'm guessing from the selective manner that you rebuilt my quote that we're in agreement about the portion of it that didn't make it to your response.
There are two lines of thoughts prevalent in politics. Once says that the elected officials are beholden to the political party that they belong to, and the other one argues that they are beholden to the people who elected them to represent their interests in DC.
I'm with the later, and while I fully understand the idea of party unity, I expect the individuals who I sent to DC to represent me, to speak up and make noise if they believe that things are happening which are not in my best interest.
Insofar as whether or not those mailers attack the GOP...
I am a fairly well-informed political junkie in recovery, and I pay close attention to what's going on in all levels of government.
The GOP, and the GOP media support infrastructure have been attacking Cruz mercilessly for quite sometime. If I were one of the people of Texas who sent Cruz to DC, I'd have some rather serious doubts about putting a check in the mail to support the GOP.
To a great degree, the TEA Party movement was instrumental in helping the GOP regain the House, and once those TEA Party delegates got to DC, the GOP establishment demanded that they walk away from the principles which got them to DC, and "play ball" nicely with the establishment's play book.
THAT was never going to work.
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You guys would laugh if you heard Cornyn's political ads in Texas. He paints himself as a Chuck Norris or Batman like figure fighting Obama at every turn.
To paraphrase his theme, it goes something like...
Texas is the land of manly men and good Christian people.
Obama has gone too and we hate him together.
You have to vote for Cornyn to defend Texas from Obama.
If you didn't know any better, one would think Cornyn is Cruz by just listening to his ads. It seems that Cornyn is running on Cruz's record and behavior, while simultaneously stabbing him in the back. There is nothing a politician will not do to win.
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Thanks for that perspective, 240. Politicians are a hoot!
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You guys would laugh if you heard Cornyn's political ads in Texas. He paints himself as a Chuck Norris or Batman like figure fighting Obama at every turn.
To paraphrase his theme, it goes something like...
Texas is the land of manly men and good Christian people.
Obama has gone too and we hate him together.
You have to vote for Cornyn to defend Texas from Obama.
If you didn't know any better, one would think Cornyn is Cruz by just listening to his ads. It seems that Cornyn is running on Cruz's record and behavior, while simultaneously stabbing him in the back. There is nothing a politician will not do to win.
We have the same thing here in Kentucky with Mitch McConnell - his ads are all "I'll stand up to Obama!" He is absolutely dispicable.
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You guys would laugh if you heard Cornyn's political ads in Texas. He paints himself as a Chuck Norris or Batman like figure fighting Obama at every turn.
To paraphrase his theme, it goes something like...
Texas is the land of manly men and good Christian people.
Obama has gone too and we hate him together.
You have to vote for Cornyn to defend Texas from Obama.
If you didn't know any better, one would think Cornyn is Cruz by just listening to his ads. It seems that Cornyn is running on Cruz's record and behavior, while simultaneously stabbing him in the back. There is nothing a politician will not do to win.
Yep! But WE know better don't we will be voting for Dwayne Stovall!
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It's not about battles and losing battles. It's more like taking a battering ram and knocking down the palace gates. You just keep at it until something gives. Stay relentless and don't give up. And don't be afraid to go after every keeper of the palace gates, either, regardless of who they are.
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It's not about battles and losing battles. It's more like taking a battering ram and knocking down the palace gates. You just keep at it until something gives. Stay relentless and don't give up. And don't be afraid to go after every keeper of the palace gates, either, regardless of who they are.
:thumbsup2: :thumbsup2: :thumbsup2:
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".. by forcing an uncomfortable and avoidable vote on increasing the federal government’s debt limit."
awww, poor babies. Made them uncomfortable.
Somebody get a rope.
Vampires never can stand the light of day.
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It's not about battles and losing battles. It's more like taking a battering ram and knocking down the palace gates. You just keep at it until something gives. Stay relentless and don't give up. And don't be afraid to go after every keeper of the palace gates, either, regardless of who they are.
Yep.
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More clown car antics from the Senator with the biggest, floppiest shoes in Washington.
Cruz doesn't know what "pissin' in the ocean" means.
Oh, I bet he does. He knew it would go nowhere. Leaving him safe to "show off" for the camera's. He can say he sticks to his principles.
He's in it for the money. And his father is making a nice profit from it too going around being a $***stirrer.
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".. by forcing an uncomfortable and avoidable vote on increasing the federal government’s debt limit."
awww, poor babies. Made them uncomfortable.
Somebody get a rope.
Vampires never can stand the light of day.
That's the money quote of the entire debacle.
EVERYONE in government KNOWS that the Federal debt is an uncontrollable runaway train that's headed straight into a trackless cliff end to its run.
They are clueless and powerless to stop it, and because of that, they want as little light shining on it as possible.
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Once-Ler wrote above:
[[ Cruz has picked his enemy and it ain't the rats. ]]
He's right on target.
The rats are the enemy that makes no bones about "being the enemy".
The Vichy Republicans are the enemy that tries to cloak their true nature behind a veil of deceit. They are the the worse of the two.
Go get 'em, Ted !!
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You guys would laugh if you heard Cornyn's political ads in Texas. He paints himself as a Chuck Norris or Batman like figure fighting Obama at every turn.
To paraphrase his theme, it goes something like...
Texas is the land of manly men and good Christian people.
Obama has gone too and we hate him together.
You have to vote for Cornyn to defend Texas from Obama.
If you didn't know any better, one would think Cornyn is Cruz by just listening to his ads. It seems that Cornyn is running on Cruz's record and behavior, while simultaneously stabbing him in the back. There is nothing a politician will not do to win.
How silly. Cornyn is ten times the conservative Republican that Cruz is. Cruz is a showboater, like Obama, who's biding his time in the Senate until 2016. Taking the same path as Dear Leader. No executive experience but lots of mouth.
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Yep........ Ac and Bigun......... and frankly, I am sick of people supporting people simply for having an R behind their names when they are doing exactly what the Democrats are doing.. sick of giving people a freaking pass in this country because of the party they "claim" allegiance to.
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Once-Ler wrote above:
[[ Cruz has picked his enemy and it ain't the rats. ]]
He's right on target.
The rats are the enemy that makes no bones about "being the enemy".
The Vichy Republicans are the enemy that tries to cloak their true nature behind a veil of deceit. They are the the worse of the two.
Go get 'em, Ted !!
I agree completely! :beer:
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Vichy Pubbies. I like it.
Best description I've heard yet.
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Exactly, Bigun. Both parties jettisoned constitutional principles of governance along time ago.
There are precious few politicians who care more about the future of the country than their team jersey. And from my perspective here in the Peoples Republic of New York City, Ted Cruz appears sincere in his efforts to do the right thing.
I thought de Blasio told you to get out. Good thing he can't sign executive orders.
http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/gingrich-obamacare-shutdown/2013/10/13/id/530774
"Ted Cruz is a very aggressive articulator of a hard-line position that probably 20, 25 percent of the country agrees with," Gingrich said.
I think that 20-25% figure is way too high. I base this on the fact that there are so few elected representatives in Congress that are acceptable to the far right. But I'll concede to Newt.
From my perspective taking on a war with 75% to 80% of the political spectrum is suicidal no matter how valiant or principled. Do you believe the rest of the country will be led by shame of how your only concern is the future of our country and not the party? Sorry not working for me. Of course you do have your claim to the Constitution on your side. Ask the 1.2 million babies constitutionally aborted last year about the Constitution. Constitution didn't save me from Obamacare. The Constitution means nothing if the people are ignorant of it or apathetic about it. The people have the power not the paper.
I believe you think our country would be much better off if our government was way more conservative. I think it would be too. I believe you think our country would be better off if our government was way more conservative tomorrow. I do not, because the voters are not conservative and the representatives would be voted out in the next election.
The people have spoken and 75% to 80% of the country believes it has the right to decide for themselves. They will not be bullied and they are unpersuaded by besmirchment or attention antics like government shutdowns. The shutdown is a perfect illustration of why you need to convince the voters first. Had Cruz agreed to the first extension and made his grand stand at the recent debt limit increase he might have had a shot of stopping Obamacare. After the cancellations and website failure. Sen Cruz wanted to skip persuading the people and just lead them where they don't want to go for the own good.
But Cruz shot his load too soon. Fortunately Obamacare looks like such a grand failure that the GOP will have good fortune in Nov. I like to picture this scene...The GOPe returns fire on the Club for Growth http://www.primarymycongressman.com/ and the Senate Conservative Fund http://www.senateconservatives.com/site/post/2481/replace-the-speaker. McConnell wins, Cornyn wins, Graham wins in fact the whole GOPe win their primaries. That would be a good time to pass amnesty...I mean before Obama makes them legal by executive order and takes all the credit. Then the GOP takes the Senate despite the efforts of real conservatives. I'm getting a patriotic feeling. :patriot:
From my perspective as a party before all else GOPe-er it would be more pragmatic to jettison the weight of the far right ideologues and focus on converting DINO voters into RINOs. Each rat voter converted to GOP counts as two votes. One taken away from the rats, and one added to the GOP. A disaffected far right voter returning to the GOP only adds one vote to the GOP total. It more trouble than it is worth.
When asked why he agreed to a shutdown he didn't believe in Boehner said a leader without followers is simply a man taking a walk. I submit it doesn't matter if Sen Cruz is correct if a majority of the people don't support him no matter how forcefully he speaks the words his followers want to hear.
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From my perspective taking on a war with 75% to 80% of the political spectrum is suicidal no matter how valiant or principled.
I realize getting fiscal and monetary sanity from two similar parties – both irresponsible spenders and taxers – is difficult. It will take time. But a long and difficult journey begins with the first step. I'm hopeful enough disaffected Democrats and country club Republicans will come along.
I stand (and walk) with Ted Cruz.
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I realize getting fiscal and monetary sanity from two similar parties, both are irresponsible spenders and taxers, is difficult. It will take time. But a long and difficult journey begins with the first step. I'm hopeful enough disaffected Democrats and country club Republicans will come along.
I stand (and walk) with Ted Cruz.
I'm right there with you on all points! We didn't get where we are overnight and neither will we get to where we need to be overnight! But we WILL get there if we get behind folks like Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, and Ran Paul and keep our shoulders to the wheel!
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:amen: Bigun and Aligncare.
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Once-Ler wrote above:
[[ Cruz has picked his enemy and it ain't the rats. ]]
He's right on target.
The rats are the enemy that makes no bones about "being the enemy".
The Vichy Republicans are the enemy that tries to cloak their true nature behind a veil of deceit. They are the the worse of the two.
Go get 'em, Ted !!
I like Cruz, as Lincoln once said about U.S. Grant, "he fights".
I can't support him for POTUS because he is ineligible to hold the office under Article II, Section 1 of the US Constitution.
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http://washingtonexaminer.com/angry-at-ted-cruz-republicans-should-remember-what-he-represents/article/2544006
Angry at Ted Cruz, Republicans should remember what he represents
By Byron York | FEBRUARY 13, 2014 AT 10:46 PM
Republicans have a good chance to win control of the Senate this November. Democrats are on the defensive over Obamacare, the president is unpopular, and history suggests second-term mid-terms are nearly always unlucky for the White House.
Given that, why is there so much division, backbiting, and bad blood among some Senate Republicans? Last seen during the government shutdown fiasco, the GOP malady returned this week with a debt ceiling mini-fiasco, and it threatens to revisit the Senate any number of times before Election Day.
There is at least one common thread in the shutdown and debt ceiling incidents, and that is Sen. Ted Cruz. For whatever reason, the Texas freshman has at times goaded his party to dysfunction, embarrassment, and defeat. (Not quite singlehandedly; others, like Sens. Mike Lee and Rand Paul, have also been done their bit.)
Many in the GOP believe Cruz is just out for himself. But even if that's true, they have to remember that he represents more than just Ted Cruz. There are a lot of Republicans -- it's not clear how many, but a significant portion of the party's base -- that cheers Cruz on when he battles with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. They want to see a Republican throw a wrench in the Washington spending machine, even if it creates chaos and damages the GOP's standing with independent voters. And it is that conviction that is really behind the party's problems; it is why Republicans would not enjoy smooth sailing even if Cruz were to retire tomorrow.
What was remarkable about the brief debt limit fight is how small the stakes were. Republicans, burned by recent failures, did not propose to add some huge fiscal reform -- a restructuring of entitlements, for example -- to a measure to raise the debt limit. Instead, they discussed more modest measures, like reworking the cost-of-living adjustment for veterans that was part of the recent bipartisan budget deal.
When the week began, Senate Republicans expected the House to attach something small to the debt limit bill that would be sent to the Senate. They were taken off guard Tuesday morning when House Speaker John Boehner announced that wouldn't happen -- that the House, relying on mostly Democratic votes, would instead pass a bill to raise the debt limit with no strings attached.
Senate Republicans met in their weekly lunch a few hours after Boehner's announcement. The short version of events is that McConnell urged colleagues to allow a vote on the House debt limit bill. If the GOP did not object, it could be passed with a simple 51-vote majority, and since there are 55 Democrats in the Senate who would vote for it, every Republican could vote against it and it would still pass. Problem solved; there would be no more default talk, and Republicans could go back to slamming Democrats over Obamacare.
Then Cruz stood up and said there was no way in the world he would stand by and allow a debt ceiling increase to be passed with just 51 votes. Cruz insisted on a 60-vote threshold, which the rules allowed him to do. That meant at least five Republicans would have to join Democrats for the debt limit to be raised.
It would be an understatement to say that many of Cruz's GOP colleagues were righteously ticked off at him. Nobody wanted to vote to raise the debt limit, but many believed strongly that a losing fight over spending would damage the party. Besides, Cruz didn't even have a plan for what to do had his Republican colleagues improbably decided to go along with him.
So after some testy exchanges at the lunch, and a lot of negotiating in the afternoon, McConnell and other leaders decided to vote for the debt limit increase. Then several other Republicans, mostly those in unthreatened seats, agreed to vote along with them to provide cover. The bill passed with 12 Republicans joining all 55 Democrats.
Cruz, of course, voted no and accused lawmakers who voted yes of "not listening to the American people." He even suggested those who are up for re-election — a group that very prominently includes McConnell himself — might soon pay a heavy price. "Sometimes, come November, the people remember," Cruz said.
In the end, the gambit accomplished nothing for Senate Republicans. Some GOP lawmakers who already disliked Cruz now dislike him even more. But the episode did remind the Republican leadership, as if it needs any reminding, that there are conservatives around the country who are deeply frustrated by the GOP and want it to show some fight.
To them, Cruz represents that fight. Maybe they've been misled. Maybe they're living in a fantasy land. But that's what they believe. Republican leaders have to keep them in mind as November approaches.
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And you have known going in that you were going to loose all of them haven't you Sink! Go cower in the corner while the rest of us try to save what's left of our country!
:thumbsup:
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I've never found it useful to fight battles I knew, going in, that I was going to lose.
Like the American Revolution?
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I like Cruz, as Lincoln once said about U.S. Grant, "he fights".
Gen. Lee thought Pickett was a fighter too. Don Quixote was a fighter.
I like Cruz's goals. I'll grant he is intelligent, but he's not intellectual. He is incredibly lacking in self-awareness. Often assuming to speak for the American people. He has no conception how he appears to moderate voters and a growing number of right of center Republicans much less Democrats. He is a lousy spokesman for the GOP. Definitely not universally respected. http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/14/politics/gop-cruz-control/index.html?hpt=po_c1 ...and it doesn't appear he can think further than 16 day into the future.
That being said if the primary voters picked him in 2014 I'd vote for him. He'd be worlds better than any rat. But the GOP primary voters will never nominate him for President. He doesn't unify the party.
The GOPe, or what I like to call the grown ups, will not let him embarrass the party further. In 2 weeks the first tea party challenge to take down Cornyn will fail.
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Gen. Lee thought Pickett was a fighter too.
Yeas, well... history settled this argument.
BTW, I'm actually paraphrasing Lincoln on Grant when I say that.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/ulyssessgrant (http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/ulyssessgrant)
He is incredibly lacking in self-awareness. Often assuming to speak for the American people.
I don't know of a single politician in the Federal government who doesn't assume the mantle of spokesman for the American people.
That being said if the primary voters picked him in 2014 I'd vote for him. He'd be worlds better than any rat. But the GOP primary voters will never nominate him for President. He doesn't unify the party.
I won't.
He does not qualify for the office under Article II, Section 1, Clause iv of the Constitution.
The GOPe, or what I like to call the grown ups.
That's funny!
We all have our nicknames for them I guess.
I like to call them either The Other Democratic Party, or the "Los Lost Cojones Gang" (http://boilingfrogs.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/los-lost-cojones-make-a-stand/).
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He does not qualify for the office under Article II, Section 1, Clause iv of the Constitution.
I happen to agree with you on that point but it mystifies me that the founders laid out special qualifications for the office of President yet identified no method of vetting candidates for that office to ensure compliance! At least none that I am aware of.
Who will do that and HOW will they do it?
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The only thing the "grown-ups" are is complicit in federal government expansion.
Other than protect and defend the Constitution (and all amendments), national defense (covers NASA and sciences related to defense), and regulating interstate commerce I can't think of a single thing that is constitutionally required of the federal government – yet, their hand is in everything. They're spending money like there's no tomorrow!
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The only thing the "grown-ups" are is complicit in federal government expansion.
Other than protect and defend the Constitution (and all amendments), national defense (covers NASA and sciences related to defense), and regulating interstate commerce I can't think of a single thing that is constitutionally required of the federal government – yet, their hand is in everything. They're spending money like there's no tomorrow!
I'd add one thing - and not a popular thing in conservative circles. Art grants.
Now before you haul out p*ss Jesus or paintings done with the artists own fecal matter, hear me out. Art is not what some snobs drinking inferior wine in a loft in New York says it is. It's a way of looking at the world and actually thinking about the world. Making others think about the world too. You know it when you see it.
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I'd add one thing - and not a popular thing in conservative circles. Art grants.
Now before you haul out p*ss Jesus or paintings done with the artists own fecal matter, hear me out. Art is not what some snobs drinking inferior wine in a loft in New York says it is. It's a way of looking at the world and actually thinking about the world. Making others think about the world too. You know it when you see it.
I agree in this sense. State schools in New York City when I attended included the arts in addition to academics. They engaged us in music, song, learning instruments, theater and dance, drawing, painting, sculpture. I mean, it was full bore, every student involved. School was well-rounded – physical fitness was also on our plates.
I don't think that's happening today.
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I agree in this sense. State schools in New York City when I attended included the arts in addition to academics. They engaged us in music, song, learning instruments, theater and dance, drawing, painting, sculpture. I mean, it was full bore, every student involved. School was well-rounded – physical fitness was also on our plates.
I don't think that's happening today.
I know the physical fitness aspect is not - at least not here, and not from the people I know well with children in the US. One of my grand daughters has an inhaler. Asthma, anxiety triggered. She is not permitted to do PE at school. So she comes home and we do a little training together before she goes off to her karate class.
The art aspect though .... it horrifies me. I am all in favor of kids being creative. You can't stop them, so use it! But they get little exposure to the arts.
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I know the physical fitness aspect is not - at least not here, and not from the people I know well with children in the US. One of my grand daughters has an inhaler. Asthma, anxiety triggered. She is not permitted to do PE at school. So she comes home and we do a little training together before she goes off to her karate class.
The art aspect though .... it horrifies me. I am all in favor of kids being creative. You can't stop them, so use it! But they get little exposure to the arts.
Do it in school not through grants...a. the grant system is overly abused and b. Not the federal government's job... schools and what is taught in schools should be returned to the states and only the states. Jimmy Carter's Federal take over of schools here is ad big a disaster as every other Federal program.. They use it to push their progressive agenda on our children.
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Do it in school not through grants...a. the grant system is overly abused and b. Not the federal government's job... schools and what is taught in schools should be returned to the states and only the states. Jimmy Carter's Federal take over of schools here is ad big a disaster as every other Federal program.. They use it to push their progressive agenda on our children.
Teaching wise - yes. It should be as much a part of the core as reading and math. But in terms of creating art - I don't mind shaking the moths out of the wallet to support it. May not LIKE it, but that means very little. There were a lot of people hated the Sistine chapel, too.
Don't support the arts? You wind up with America's Got Talent and Honey Boo Boo. Art rarely pays.
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Teaching wise - yes. It should be as much a part of the core as reading and math. But in terms of creating art - I don't mind shaking the moths out of the wallet to support it. May not LIKE it, but that means very little. There were a lot of people hated the Sistine chapel, too.
Don't support the arts? You wind up with America's Got Talent and Honey Boo Boo. Art rarely pays.
Then use private grants... not public tax money. This is where our societies differ, EC... over here we think these things are not our governments business yo pick and choose funding social programs...even charities.. it should come from the individuals and private sector. Frankly our schools need yo return yo the state and teaching the three Rd, science art or music and mandatory phys ed... but again under the states not the Feds.