‘Wanted to Be a Good Dad’: Ted Cruz Responds to Criticism He Traveled to Cancun Amid Texas Power Crisis

The Epoch Times ^ | 2/18/21 | Jack Phillips

[Bearshouse]

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) responded to allegations that he flew to Cancun, Mexico, in the midst of record cold temperatures and snowfall in Texas—which has been besieged by power outages over the past several days.

Cruz appeared to confirm that he went to Cancun, saying that “with school canceled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends. Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon.”

“My staff and I are in constant communication with state and local leaders to get to the bottom of what happened in Texas,” he said in a statement on Thursday, referring to the power outages and, in some cases, loss of water.

[Sun]

Stop listening to CNN and MSNBC, hun.

[gleeaikin]

This is not Biden’s Katrina because he did not have anything to do with setting up the independent Texas power system. Nor does he have an amateur like “Brownie” in charge of FEMA. In fact, what kind of state did President Trump leave FEMA in, and has Biden been able to top staff it yet? Aside from all the mechanical fixes that the power companies need to do like hardening up their equipment so it can survive conditions like Iowa or Michigan, Texas needs to decide to rejoin the world. Apparently one major Texas city was OK because it was connected to the western US grid system.

[gleeaikin]

My late husband was in a bar in Iowa for the Nixon-Kennedy debate. The candidates were asked about President Truman’s use of “salty” language. Nixon responded something like, “When I am the President I will honor the office with the level of dignity that the office requires, and blah, blah, blah. All this said with great oratorical drama. Kennedy said, “That is Mrs. Truman’s problem.” Kennedy won every vote in the bar with that comment.

[gleeaikin]

I wonder how other Senators would have responded to calls from Cruz. “Hi, this is Ted Cruz, I am calling to ask for your support in getting Federal help and money on its way to Texas. That noise? Oh, that’s the surf here in Cancun.”

[BiglyCommentary]

I wonder how other Senators would have responded to calls from Cruz.

"Way are you calling us now? Your Governor should calling the White house. They authorize and allocate the monies we all voted for last year to put in reserve for emergency disaster relief. What are you just trying to look busy?"

CLICK

[gleeaikin]

So the clever power system planners had severe winter from 132 years ago, and similar in 2011, but of course they don’t need the kinds of protections that planners in Iowa or Michigan routinely employ. Then after pocketing all the money they saved by not preparing properly, they send multi thousand dollar bills to people freezing and flooded in their homes. Which politicians allowed them to get away with that. Where is Cruz on the issue of proper planning and financing of safe power systems?

[gleeaikin]

From what I read here, I doubt that the leftists are going to be the hardest on Cruz. Besides, since they would never vote for him in the first place, they will have little influence on whether he does or does not survive politically. Also, does he have 2, 4, or 6 years left to be served before his next election?

[gleeaikin]

Who is responsible for the power people not taking the winter precautions routinely employed successfully in northern states? It is not that Texas doesn’t occasionally have severe winter weather. You plan for the 100 year flood, not the one last year.

[BiglyCommentary]

Texas needs to decide to rejoin the world. Apparently one major Texas city was OK because it was connected to the western US grid system

Brilliant plan, allowing Texas providers to sell to states like Commifornia to take advantage of the higher KW/HR rates, and jacking up the rates all Texans would pay. NO THANK YOU!!

[BobL]

“Besides, since they (Leftists) would never vote for him in the first place, they will have little influence on whether he does or does not survive politically.”

Unfortunately politics are not just Leftists and Conservatives - there are a big swath of airheads that fall in between and many who have voted for Cruz were looking for one reason to vote against him, and in Texas, Cruz had very little margin for error to begin with (we’re not West Virginia, or the Dakotas, where it’s 70/30 Republican, for example).

While these people are ABSOLUTELY CLUELESS as to what voting against Cruz means, some WILL vote against him now, and they are far more than enough to kick him out of office.

[BiglyCommentary]

Governor calls current administration. Current administration authorizes funds from disaster relief funds held in reserve. No US Senators are involved.

WHY DOES THAT HAVE TO BE EXPLAINED, AGAIN AND AGAIN?

"Over the weekend, Biden approved a major disaster declaration for more than 100 Texas counties. A declaration, requested by Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday, allows for a wide range of federal assistance to support repairs for individuals and infrastructure."

[dsc]

“Nothing will screw up a schedule or will tax resources more than officialdom showing up for a photo-op and an inspection.”

Something a real leader does not do.

Too bad they’re so rare.

[dsc]

“Kennedy won every vote in the bar with that comment.”

Back then, few normal people realized that the Demonrat Party was the party of Satanic Evil.

[Songcraft]

Here's a few examples (of many more available) of a real leader visiting various sites in person, following disasters (such as tornados and hurricanes), in Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, and Texas.

Like his many political rallies, any minor inconvenience these visits caused low-level local officials, was far outweighed by the intangibles these visits provided to the people living there, and all around those States, such as tremendous moral support, the lifting of people's spirits, and a truly positive psychological impact on those people visited.

     

     

     

     

[gleeaikin]

Would he have done better at a gathering and throwing rolls of paper towels to mop up from the frozen leaking pipes?

[Squantos]

Exactly ...... good point Dusty.

[gleeaikin]

“demand on natural gas power plants caused pressures to drop in its distribution chain which caused water vapor in the system to freeze in critical areas in the distribution system.”

I found a comment a week ago (unfortunately don’t remember where) made by a person who deals with water vapor issues in gas installations in Texas. He said whenever he found and tried to fix a water vapor issue, he was told to stop, they did not want to spend the money. In winter, wind is only about 10% of the electrical energy. If the power companies are not equipped to supply surges in need then they need to educate people to quickly limit their demand by turning heat way down, and only heating a room or two with auxiliary heat. This needs to be a well publicized announcement with official representation.

Texans may love the idea of independence, but if they are not going to approve of connection to the eastern and western US power grids, then they are going to pay the price, either as they are doing now, or by the higher bills they will get regularly when the power companies have to upgrade the quality and safety of the power system. By, for example, paying for systems that prevent water vapor, lines that are protected from freezing, wind machines that don’t freeze (like the ones in northern states, Canada, and northern Europe), etc. Since so much of the wind power is in west Texas at the very least it would make sense to connect with the western US power system including states like New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and on north into Canada. Then, of course, there are also possibilities in the eastern US power system. See link with MAP and explanations below.

https://www.energy.gov/oe/services/electricity-policy-coordination-and-implementation/transmission-planning/recovery-act-0

I don’t think Cruz did a bad thing by promoting Texas wind power. What’s needed is to figure out who was responsible for allowing the power people to set up a system that would not even meet the needs shown by the 2011 weather emergency, and get them to fix it or hire/vote people who can do that.

[fireman15]

In winter, wind is only about 10% of the electrical energy.

I thought that you shouod know that you were lied to by the media and apparently have still not realized it. The proportion of unreliable wind generated power has been steadily increasing in Texas. Here is a chart showing the proportion of wind power in 2019... You will not that February provided a higher proportion of wind power than every month other than April and May. The level of lies attempting to hide the abysmal failure of wind and solar power during this weather event has reached an all time high.

During February one through eight this year wind was providing 30% of the power being consumed in Texas. The next week it basically dropped of to nothing.

Ted Cruz has been one of the leading advocates of wind power in Texas. This has made the power grid in Texas vulnerable to this type of weather event, and other types of weather events as well.

https://www.triglobalenergy.com/news/u-s-senator-ted-cruz-receives-tri-global-energy-s-2019-wind-leadership-award#:~:text=23%2C%202019)%20%2D%2D%20Tri%20Global,rely%20on%20wind%20farms%20to

[gleeaikin]

The problem is that the Texas windmills are not properly protected from freezing as they normally are farther north. Also there was a post from a technician who said any time he tried to fix a water vapor problem in tubes, he was told to stop and not bother. So freezing windmills, freezing other important parts, none properly protected as done elsewhere, and lots of money saved by utilities, but then lets charge the poor customers thousands of dollars when inadequately protected equipment fails from conditions already experienced in 2011,