Posted on 09/20/2013 3:37:47 AM PDT by nikos1121
Even among Republicans, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas is one of Washington’s most divisive figures. Activists love him, but leadership staffers and many of his colleagues can’t stand him — especially his latest effort to connect a government-spending bill with the defunding of Obamacare. After a Senate luncheon on Tuesday, several Republicans told me they’re tired of Cruz’s campaign, and one senator, after rolling his eyes, called it a “Passion play.”
The internecine tensions spilled over to the House on Wednesday, when a group of Republicans knocked Cruz on Twitter for appearing to back down from the defunding fight. Speaker John Boehner had just decided to bring a Cruz-inspired bill to the floor, and instead of rallying the Senate, Cruz issued a statement that left the burden of defunding Obamacare squarely on the lower chamber. “Harry Reid will no doubt try to strip the defund language from the continuing resolution, and right now he likely has the votes to do so,” Cruz said. “At that point, House Republicans must stand firm, hold their ground, and continue to listen to the American people.”
Of course, Cruz’s acknowledgement of the near-impossibility of passing a defunding bill through the Democratic-controlled Senate is an accurate reading of political reality. But House Republicans didn’t care; they were apoplectic with Cruz not only for laying the responsibility for defunding on them, but for making them seem weak. “If Cruz doesn’t help us in the Senate to pass a defunding bill, we’ll end up having to pass a normal CR,” complains a veteran House Republican. “It’ll be pathetic, but I expect him to slam us for it.”
House insiders say a handful of House Republicans cursed Cruz in the cloakroom on Wednesday, and a leadership source says angry e-mails were exchanged among GOP staffers who consider Cruz to be a charlatan. “Cruz keeps raising conservatives’ hopes, and then, when we give him what he wants, he doesn’t have a plan to follow through,” an aide fumes. “He’s an amateur.” Another aide says, “Nancy Pelosi is more well-liked around here.”
Cruz, however, tells me House Republicans are wrong to be infuriated. In an interview, he says his goal was never to whip together votes in the Senate for a defunding bill; it was always to inspire a grassroots uprising that would rattle Congress and President Obama, and hopefully defund Obamacare.
“I’m convinced there is a new paradigm in politics — the rise of the grassroots,” Cruz says. He cites Senator Rand Paul’s filibuster on drone policy, and the debates on Syria and gun control, as recent examples of how an “overwhelming” number of phone calls and e-mails from constituents can force the president to buckle.
“And on Obamacare, I’ve said, from the start, that if typical Washington rules apply, we can’t win this fight,” he explains. “If the forums in which we make this case consist of the smoke-filled rooms of Washington, the votes aren’t there. The only way this fight will be won is if the American people rise up and hold our elected officials accountable.”
Cruz says he “salutes” Boehner and House Republicans for moving forward with a vote on defunding, but he stands by his belief that one vote this week isn’t enough. “When I say the House needs to stand strong, it’s because the fight will be won or lost in the House of Representatives,” he says. “I can’t win this fight, and Mike Lee can’t win this fight,” but he believes the House GOP can.
Cruz’s advisers agree, and Chip Roy, his chief of staff, has pushed back hard against Cruz’s House critics. “Senator Cruz is doing what he said he would do when he came to Washington,” Roy tells me. “He promised to do everything he can to stop Obamacare before it begins hurting real people and further harms our economy.”
“His staff is working with whomever we can to achieve that goal, including House and Senate staff,” Roy adds. “For every story about a staffer grumbling behind the scenes, there are dozens of staffers who tell us how excited they are Senator Cruz is standing up to business as usual.”
For the moment, though, the divide between Cruz and his fellow Republicans is growing. House Republicans will pass their defund-CR bill on Friday, and it will head to a quick death in the Senate. Cruz may shrug off his detractors, but as the deadline for government funding nears, he has become a top target — not just for Democrats, but also for Republicans who want to pin the mess on him.
— Robert Costa is National Review’s Washington editor.
Go Ted!
Run Ted Run!!!!!!!!!! We’re all behind you!!!!!!!
obama wins both ways. If the government is shut down he’ll win the public oppinion war PLUS he will eventually get his way and the economy will collapse. If obamacare goes through now the economy will collapse a little sooner. In about a year we’ll be in the biggest depression we’ve ever seen. Thus he destroys America. GOPe and democrats know this and for some reason are all in.
What I love about it is Cruz is forcing the rinos to finally prove who’s side they’re own.
Your screenname is very appropriate ... methinks.
I think that the Republicans now need to develop a list of large wasteful-spending items to counter the inevitable attacks by the Dems about killing kids and Grandma (eg., no re SS payments, programs for children, et., etc.) by showing where money can be cut to pay for any “missing” dollars in popular programs. It should be a target-rich environment, given O’s boondoggles like green-energy, DHS spending on ammo and troop carriers, etc.
I say bring it on. Most Americans are complacent and brain dead. They need to feel some pain, some loss of freedom. They need to put the two together, that loss of jobs over the past five years is the result of Liberal theology in our gov’t.
Once people fee the inconvenience, pain, loss, financial hardship they will wake up, and realize that Ted Cruz was right.
This makes no sense to raise the debt ceiling, fund Obamacare when Congress and businesses are given an extension and people are penalized...
Run Ted Run!
Yes, nro.
Ted Cruz is expecting, and in fact everything rests on a grass roots uprising from Americans who will make their voice heard.
I think it would be cool, to send letters while Ted is filibustering, just like in the movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
Do you happen to know the address, fax or email address for Ted Cruz in Washington?
I stand with Cruz. Those who are poo-pooing the defund Obamacare effort don’t understand the importance of fighting and making a stand. It is up to them if they want this to be a mere passion play or a stand your ground moment. Obamacare is right this minute directly responsible for literally thousands of people being laid off. It is directly responsible for huge increases in the cost of health care. It is responsible for people with great health plans having those plans dropped or modified to be a pale comparison to what they were. If the GOP can’t make a stand on this tell me exactly what they will make a stand on?
This is an issue that resonates with the people. Their real problem is that it doesn’t resonate with the people in Washington which is why many in the GOP leadership are so out of touch and incapable of taking advantage of Democrat vulnerability and weakness on this and other issues. Many of them don’t want to see Obamacare repealed they just want to modify it and make it their own. We need to identify these types and cut them out of the party otherwise we will always find ourselves being compromised by an enemy within who is just as happy about big govt and big spending as the Democrats with the only different being they believe they are better at managing it.
He’s right. I think Cruz needs to do all he can in the Senate including filibustering and being dragged off in handcuffs if necessary. But it’s really up to the House.
The stakes are very high. We’re not just talking about deathcare, we’re probably talking about national divorce.
If deathcare is implemented, the seceshers are going to start gathering supporters and momentum. I disagree with it intently, but that’s where I see this heading.
There’s a process. First there is denial. Then comes anger. Then there’s sadness. Hopefully someday things will turn around and the mourning will be over.
What happens during a government shutdown
SUMMARY
1) Workers in all three government branches are at risk of being furloughed.
2) Furloughed workers could receive pay retroactively. in every past instance where the government did shutdown, furloughed workers were given retroactive pay
3) Federal contractors will stop being paid
4) The court system would continue to operate, with judges, key staff member—including probation officers—not facing a furlough.
5) Social Security and Medicare payments will still go out, but experts say a shutdown could bring delays. During the last shutdown, CSR reports, the Social Security Administration kept fewer than 50,000 workers to help provide existing benefits.
6) Non-government workers might not even feel the effect of a closed government. [LOL]
7) “National parks will close and the places people like to visit in Washington, D.C., will be unavailable.
8) Veterans could face holdups with receiving services regarding health and welfare and finance.
9) New passport applications could be delayed
10) travelers could face longer lines at customs when re-entering the country.
11) there are lots of non-profits and for-profits that are dependent on federal grants.
12) The country’s 368 national parks will shutter
13) The National Institution of Health will likely stop enrolling new patients
Cruzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
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