Sowell slips up
Posted on 02/19/2014 4:18:55 PM PST by servo1969
A leading tea party intellectual has turned against the tea party movement’s favorite senator.
Economist Thomas Sowell, who has long been revered among conservatives, has slammed Sen. Ted Cruz in his last two columns, accusing the Texas Republican of being self-serving and comparing him to President Obama.
“Freshman Senator Ted Cruz says many things that need to be said and says them well,” Sowell wrote in his syndicated column Tuesday, before going on to compare Cruz to President Obama. “Moreover, some of these things are what many, if not most, Americans believe wholeheartedly. Yet we need to remember that the same was true of another freshman Senator, just a relatively few years ago, who parlayed his ability to say things that resonated with the voters into two terms in the White House.”
Sowell continued, suggesting Cruz is only looking out for himself.
“Senator Ted Cruz has not yet reached the point where he can make policy, rather than just make political trouble,” Sowell wrote. “But there are already disquieting signs that he is looking out for Ted Cruz — even if that sets back the causes he claims to be serving.”
Sowell seems to have been most recently irked by Cruz’s actions surrounding the Senate vote to increase the debt ceiling. Cruz threatened to filibuster, forcing several Republicans to either vote for cloture or force a fight over the debt ceiling increase. Republican leaders were seeking to avoid such a politically-risky fight and another possible government shutdown in order to focus on the failures of Obamacare heading in to the 2014 midterm elections.
“Senator Cruz’s filibuster last year got the Republicans blamed for shutting down the government — and his threatened filibuster this year forced several Republican Senators to jeopardize their own reelection prospects by voting to impose cloture, to prevent Cruz from repeating his self-serving grandstand play of last year,” Sowell wrote in his Wednesday column. “The Republicans need every vote they can get in the Senate — plus additional votes by defeating some Democrats who are running for the Senate this fall. It can be a very close call. Jeopardizing the reelection of current Republican Senators is an act of utter irresponsibility, a high risk with zero benefits to anyone except Ted Cruz — and the Democrats.”
In his Wednesday column, Sowell also lashed out against the so-called Republican establishment.
“However unjustified Senator Cruz’s actions, the very fact that a freshman Senator can so quickly gain so many supporters, with so much enthusiasm, ought to be a loud warning to the Republican establishment that they have long been a huge disappointment to a wide range of Republican voters and supporters,” he wrote.
Time will tell, but we have been burned before. Cautiously optimistic on Cruz.
I disagree with Sowell’s premise this time.
“Thomas Sowell is a very smart man...”
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It just proves that even smart men can be bought off and end up doing the GOPe’s bidding.
My opinion of Thomas Sowell has just plummeted.
The Republicans need every vote they can get in the Senate ...
WHY?
we have ENOUGH John McLame’s in the Senate! What good would it do to have MORE OF THEM!!?!?!?!
would 10 more John McLame’s stop a SINGLE Obama supreme court appointment?
would 10 more John McLame’s impeach Obama?
much MUCH M-U-C-H more likely... is that 10 more John McCain’s would push through AMNESTY for illegal aliens!
no thanks Thomas!
Sowell can’t be bought off.
That’s just silly.
This is his view and we should take it for that.
“Time will tell, but we have been burned before. “
Scott Brown was no surprise, but Rubio took the Tea Party types off guard. I disagree with Sowell. If something is too perfect (like Rubio seemed) then it’s too good to be true.
Sowell cannot be “bought off.” He’s richer than most in the GOP, has a reputation for NOT hanging out with any of these types, and I think it’s an unfair slur on the man to suggest as much. Is it not possible for someone to have a different opinion than you without being “bought off?”
I respect Sowell enough to grant him some consideration- but I am not sure I agree with him on this one.
I hope it is just a shot-across-the-bow to Cruz to be careful and NOT turn self-serving
And our side wonders why we dont seem to get anywhere.
Too many people in our ranks trying to be too cute by half.
Guess it’s just more fun to write columns and bitch.
Ted Cruz is doing what the whole GOP should be doing
Apparently even a working clock is wrong twice each day! :O
Mr. Sowell has been writing for a half century and has accomplished nothing relative to the left tide. I’ll throw in with Cruz here. He may well be able to stem the tide a bit.
Exactly! It’s relatively easy to write articles about our countries problems for years. It’s quite another to take a definitive stand against the establishment with almost nothing but the Constitution and probably millions of plain old American citizens on your side.
Thomas Sowell might be right 99% of the time, but he is way way way way off base on this one
If Sowell is using rhetoric such as “make political trouble”, he has gone to the left side of the equation.
Agree with Dr. Sowell most of the time, but in this area must disagree. Time will tell.
LOL! And everyone is saying that the GOP is going to kick butt in 2014 and 2016. LOL! The commies got this joint in the bag. Big time fascist police state coming. Better prepare. The freeloaders are about to find out that the slavery of communism/Socialism and “free stuff” really sucks.
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