Posted on 09/27/2013 11:04:31 AM PDT by Servant of the Cross
Senator Ted Cruz and the rest of his “defund” crew have consistently said that a vote for cloture on the House-passed spending bill is akin to a vote for Obamacare. But unfortunately for them, the much-anticipated votes are in and the news isn’t great. As it happens, the Senate voted, 79-19, to end debate on the spending bill all but guaranteeing that the provision explicitly defunding Obamacare will be stripped -- and the amended bill eventually kicked back to the House of Representatives.
Twitchy breaks down what just happened in simplistic and easy-to-understand terms:
There were many Republicans in the Senate who voted “yes” on the continuing resolution, which is essentially a vote against defunding Obamacare. Exceeding 60 votes means there will be no more debate on the spending bill.
Having gotten the 60 votes means that Harry Reid will now only need a simple majority of votes in order to put the funding for Obamacare back into the spending bill.
In other words, Obamacare won’t be defunded. Stay tuned for updates.
UPDATE: Senator Cruz released the following statement:
"Today's vote by Sen. Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats to fully fund Obamacare was yet the latest example of Washington not listening to the people.
"Obamacare is a 'train wreck,' a 'nightmare,' to use the words of its Democratic author and a union leader who previously supported the bill. It is the biggest job killer in America.
"As Teamsters President James Hoffa explained in a letter to Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Obamacare is hurting 'millions of working men and women ... and the families they support,' and it 'will destroy the very health and wellbeing of our members along with millions of other hardworking Americans.'
"Senate Democrats refused to listen.
"President Obama has granted exemptions for big business and Members of Congress, but Senate Democrats refuse to grant the American people the same exemption. Instead, they used political power to maintain their privileged position while doing nothing to respond to the pleas of millions of Americans.
"But this fight continues. Now the bill returns to the House. The House showed remarkable courage voting to defund Obamacare, and I hope and believe that the House will stand by their resolve and continue to lead the effort to stop the Obamacare train wreck.
"Obamacare is killing jobs, forcing people into part-time work, causing health insurance premiums to skyrocket, and threatening the healthcare of millions of Americans.
"Today, far too many Republicans joined Harry Reid in giving the Democrats the ability to fund Obamacare. When the bill comes back to the Senate, when the House yet again stands for principle and fights for the American people, I very much hope that Senate Republicans will rise to the challenge. We are stronger when we are united, and we can defeat Obamacare only if Senate Republicans come together, stand with House Republicans, and champion the millions of Americans being harmed by this disastrous healthcare law."
And from your URL, I quote:
“I noted that I had nothing against Enzi, and that I didn’t know much about him.”
Yea, that’s a real compelling argument made against Enzi right there.
See, the difference between me and a Ivy League law professor is that a) I actually live in Wyoming, and b) see/hear/read a lot more of both Enzi and Cheney that doesn’t make the national news.
Anyone who thinks Lizzie Cheney is an improvement over Enzi is smoking dope. Period, full stop, end of discussion. You have to be delusional to believe Cheney isn’t an establishment Republican. I find their desire for “another Cruz” and their support of Cheney to be a cognitive dissonance so huge, it causes my head to explode.
I read it. It’s an old article. It gives no valid reasons for electing an establishment carpetbagger Liz Cheney. If you’re so desperate to be rid of one of the 19 Senators who stood up to the Zero-Reid-McConnell bipartisan big government axis, why wouldn’t you be in favor of drafting Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis ? She actually is from Wyoming, not from inside the beltway of Northern Virginia.
More bashing of Enzi and no defense of the indefensible Liz. He’s a backbencher, yes I agree, that is a valid criticism.
Liz would be a GOPE frontbencher. You prefer that? I do not.
You ARE for Liz right?
Or are you for the 3rd candidate, that neo-nazi treasure hunter or whatever he is?
Now, as someone from Wyoming, I can say this: Ms. Lummis is a nice person. She’s OK in the House. She could be more aggressive there, but that’s not her style.
I think she’d be in way over her head in the Senate.
We can already tell from her emphasis and discussion points that Lizzie would be a younger version of John McCain, should she be elected. She’d be a raging war slut. She’s got the female equivalent of a Viagra 4-hour medical condition over the middle east. Yea, that’s just what we need: another senator who is chafing at the bit to send more people, money and reputation into the cesspool that is the middle east.
She’s buddy-buddy with Bill Kristol, the grand poobah, the veritable Hugh Hefner of all war sluts in the last 20 years.
Last I looked, we don’t need or want the Juan McCain we have now. Why would we need another one?
Then she'd be in fine company.
Well, that’s the truth.
Indeed. I guess the Lizbots have a good strategy, they can't refute criticism of her so they just keep bashing Enzi while not even saying her name!!!! Remarkable.
Good grief.
Are you that desperate for ANOTHER RINO who will be yet another vote for the homosexualist agenda ? And pimping her candidacy on Free Republic, no less !
Epic fail.
Sorry Charlie, you've got the license on that one. Pimping a back bencher, do nothing, higher tax and spend friend of Harry Reid as some kind of conservative.
Sickening.
Can you even say her name ? Y’know, the RINO pro-homosexualist you’re pimping ? What’s her name ?
a) he’s been an effective senator for Wyoming.
b) being “nationally known” is not a conservative bona fide. John McCain is nationally known. So is that poofter Linda Graham.
c) if proposing that the states be allowed to collect sales taxes on sales made within their borders is the issue that disqualifies Enzi to you, and you’re completely unconcerned that Cheney is a raging neo-con war slut, well then, we’re not going to agree on much of anything.
a) He's been totally ineffective, accomplishing nothing but proposing more taxes (yes, those are more taxes), "reaching across the aisle" to Harry Reid, and never fighting for conservative principles. You're on the side of who the establishment wants, a milque toast nobody who goes along to get along.
b) You pointed out nationally known RINO's, I prefer nationally known conservatives who fight like Cruz and Lee. You have a problem with that?
c) a raging neo-con war slut.......great argument skippy, you'll go far with that kind of logic.
Oh, and getting nothing done........
Glad you like that.....l.
What is your candidate’s name ? The RINO homosexualist ?
Do you notice in all of Lakeshart’s rantings, he seems to have a problem naming Mike Enzi’s opponent ? The one he is rabidly pimping for and can’t even say the name. Hilarious.
LIZ CHENEY IS WORSE THAN ENZI!!!!
Enzi and some nazi guy are the only others in the race so Enzi wins by default. Do you dig it brother?
Defend your girl and tell us why we're wrong about her or shut the hell up.
He’s been “ineffective” for YOU. Guess what? He represents me and other Wyomingites in the US Senate. You’re looking for some national savior in the US Senate, and most Senators aren’t looking to make a national name for themselves. They attend to their knitting, which is their state-level issues, and that’s what Enzi does. And, from our perspective in Wyoming, he does it well. Of our two senators, he’s the more conservative one. Barasso is a doctor, and he’s a bit less conservative.
Enzi, on state issues in Wyoming, is reliably conservative. He’s also accessible, answers letters and calls, and has a competent staff when you need something done. That’s more than I can say for the great majority of senators from any other state. He handles our local issues well. An example is that he just got the BLM to chop loose of a half-section of ground over near Powell for a shooting range. That’s the sort of thing that people in Wyoming remember.
OK, you’d like a Cruz or Lee. I can understand that. You’re not going to get that. Enzi isn’t going to become the sort of thundering voice from the pulpit you’d like, and that’s what you want.
But guess what? Liz Cheney is NOT from the Cruz/Lee mold. She never was and never will be. She’s a creature of the Beltway, her work experience is that factory of industrial-strength stupidity, the US State Department. She’s not a Tea Party Constitutionalist. Oh, she makes lots of noises like she is, but if you dig deep enough into her background, you’ll find out that she’s anything but a “small government conservative.” She’s not anything of the kind. So while she likes to listen to herself speak while in front of TV cameras, she’s going to sell you out. In a heartbeat. Just as soon as she wins any election, she’s going to pivot to the left.
As she travels this state, it is interesting to listen to and watch her speeches. She’s like a wind-up doll. Someone has programmed her with a whole bunch of sound bites and sent her off in front of a crowd, not much unlike the way Obama became famous for giving canned speeches. As soon as people start asking her deep questions about state issues, you can see her start to talk in generalities, avoiding specifics and betraying a very limited knowledge of the issues of this state. Enzi can talk to specifics of our state off the cuff.
Here in Wyoming, the single biggest issue looming over us is the Obama administration administrative jihad against coal. The Powder River Basin coal companies are some of the biggest taxpayers in the entire state, and if they take a large hit in production or prices, we’re going to take it in the teeth in the state budget. Cheney babbles about this topic, but it is clear that she really doesn’t know the coal business. She doesn’t know the players, she doesn’t know the mining business.
Enzi does - because he used to be mayor of Gillette, WY, around which the huge coal mines are located. He knows the players, the mine operators, et al - on a first-name basis. He knows the business well. He’s been a state rep, then was in the state senate. He paid his dues and got where he is because he does retail politics in a state which still rewards retail politics.
Cheney - she decided to plop herself down in Wilson, which is a very high-priced, exclusive neighborhood outside of Jackson on the very western edge of the state. It is relatively inaccessible to the rest of the state about half of the year due to weather. This signals that she intends to jet-set around, or hold lots of remote (ie, non-retail) meetings. That’s how she’s been giving interviews on local radio stations - she’s calling it in. Successful campaigners in Wyoming go to the radio station to be interviewed and take calls. Then they’ll go do a lunch or dinner in the town they’re visiting. She’s really big in the online media sphere, which is why she’s got traction with people who don’t live in Wyoming.
Enzi makes limited use of social media. He’s old-school. He (or his staff) show up in the small towns all over the state and he talks with you. In person. He talks on radio shows. He gives interviews to the press, whatever the press. Cheney, near as I can tell, is the darling of the national and DC press (she has, after all, spent most of her adult life in Virginia, not Wyoming), Sean Hannity and social media. That’s not going to cut it here in Wyoming, but boy oh boy, it sure does seem to whip up ‘conservatives’ from outside our state.
Guess what? All you guys whipped up by her use of social media outside our state can’t vote in our election.
I’ll say it again: She’s a war slut. She would dearly love to get the US embroiled in more and more conflicts in the middle east. Earlier this year, before the polling started coming out, she was hell-bent on intervention in Syria. She was a signature on a letter from the Foreign Policy Initiative and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (along with 55 other “conservative” leaders, including Karl Rove, et al) encouraging Obama to get involved in Syria’s civil war - in February.
Then this past month, she comes out and claims that she “would have voted against involvement in Syria.” Sorry, but she can’t un-sign that letter to Obama. Her complete 180 about-face hasn’t gone unnoticed here.
She was beating up Enzi on the topic of Syria and the middle east with radio and web ads here in Wyoming - that we needed better leadership from the US Senate on foreign affairs from Wyoming and all this pablum. We don’t need “more leadership” from the US Senate on foreign affairs. We mostly need Senators to STFU about foreign affairs, and have on foreign policy established for the US out of the executive branch.
Enzi was very wary of getting us into Syria from the get-go. He was telling people who were asking him about the issue wasn’t clear, that there were no reliable allies, etc. Basically, Enzi’s position was what polling started showing in late August and early September. Enzi didn’t need to do an about-face, because he wasn’t shooting his mouth off months ago on the topic.
Cheney reversed herself once the polling came out here in Wyoming and it showed that the residents of this state were not only against intervention in Syria, but they were of the “hell no!” level of polling against getting involved in Syria. When she’s talking at various GOP gatherings here in Wyoming, she keeps harping on foreign policy. Guess what? Most Republicans in Wyoming (and since most people in Wyoming are Republicans, that means most of the people in Wyoming) want to hear no more about foreign policy issues, especially after the last 10 years. Too many young people from Wyoming have gone off on these foreign mis-adventures, to no good end. Since most of the Democrats in Wyoming want nothing to do with any more foreign adventures Lizzie’s pro-war platform is falling on deaf ears.
The guys I talk to who here in Wyoming who have been in Iraq and Afghanistan all say two things:
1. They are/were proud to serve.
2. Nothing, absolutely nothing, we did was worth the price in the lives of their now-dead buddies or their own wounds.
And most of them say:
3. As soon as we pull out, it’ll all revert back to a shambolic mess. And that’s why it wasn’t worth the costs.
When this is all over, absent some huge gaffe on Enzi’s part (which I seriously doubt), he’s going to coast to a win in the primary. Enzi didn’t get to 70% approval ratings in this state by pissing people off. People like Mike Enzi, and he represents us rather well, which is why we keep sending him back.
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