Posted on 10/16/2013 9:58:14 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Sens. Cruz, Lee say they won't block deal By Mike Lillis - 10/16/13 12:38 PM ET
Sens. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee said Wednesday that they won't try to block the bipartisan deal to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling.
"The timing of the vote will make no difference to the outcome," Cruz (R-Texas) said. "I have no intention of delaying the vote."
Cruz and Lee (R-Utah) had spearheaded the campaign to attach ObamaCare language to any new budget bills, and had pushed their colleagues to take a hard-line stance.
But the pair emerged from a meeting of Senate Republicans Wednesday afternoon to say they would let the agreement — which contains only one provision on ObamaCare — move forward.
"Some of us want to see it first — we still don't have text," Lee said. "But provided we get the text and have time t review it and everything, I suspect we'll collapse the time."
There has been speculation that the bipartisan deal might originate in the House, thereby eliminating some procedural hurdles when the bill moved to the Senate. But with Cruz and Lee withdrawing their filibuster threats, several GOP senators said the upper chamber will likely act first on the agreement.
The deal reached by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would fund the government through Jan. 15 and raise the debt-ceiling until February. It would require income verification for subsidies under ObamaCare, but otherwise leave the helathcare law untouched.
The weeks-long fight over ObamaCare has left the GOP sharply divided and licking its wounds, after centrist Republicans warned for weeks that the battle was futile and damaging to the party.
Several Republicans left the meeting Wednesday grumbling that the conservatives in their ranks had prolonged the impasse even as Republicans were sinking in the polls.
"We left a lot on the table because we couldn't get our act together, but this is the best Mitch could do," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who will vote for the deal. "We need to stop the bleeding, lessen the damage to the party."
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) echoed that message.
"I hope it is another 15 years at least before we have to go through this exercise again," McCain said. "We're in a hole, we have to dig out and come up with a positive agenda."
There is nothing Ted Cruz can do to stop it in the Senate. Maybe postpone it for a few days but that is it. Go Ted.
No need to worry about that.
They're worse.
They're White Flag, Surrender Monkeys.
and I'm NOT referring to Senator's Cruz and Lee.
Don’t blame Cruz and Lee. They’re the only ones with any fight. Put the blame where it’s due: On the McCains and Grahams of Senate. These men are big-government Democrats, no more, no less.
Yep. I don’t like we caved at all, but we only gave them a few months and got income verification for Zerocare. Now let the health care sticker shock begin.
/johnny
I support him more than ever!
I think this is disinformation. A lot of inaccurate reports (translation: lies) are coming out of the Beltway parasites and the NY liberal media.
Politico, The Hill and all the others are working overtime to ‘shape’ our views and opinions.
I should have written an email to each one of these congressmen and to Cruz explaining to them how the media is lying as there never was a threat to default. not raising the debt limit is actually a good thing but the media lied and says the USA will default if the debt ceiling is not raised. manufactured fake crisis by the media
No surprise here. follow and see how close I was:
Boehner's Shutdown End-game play (you won't like it) SOL of course | 10/15/2013 | sickoflibs
Not sure they can block it.
DU thanks you for your useless opinion.
LOL
Sure, but that would have already been the headline 3 weeks now if others things weren't in the news.
So now all the stories will be about getting back to work, fixing the backlog, mowing yards in parks, cleanup, etc.
If your gonna bring up the treat and shutdown .gov, you do it. You don't fold. These guys have done that, and now the White House is bringing up Amnesty again. Joy.
1 To cave to the dems everytime.
2. To throw there own overboard at the first sign of trouble.
To all of you blaming Ted Cruz, he has done is best. It will be WE who save it. He cannot save it by himself or should he. McConnell and the gop is to blame for caving. Not Cruz.
How exactly do you "dig out" from a hole? Moron.
Newbie please. Go back to Huff Post and piss off with your agitating.
/johnny
RightwardHo is a stool pigeon of the left. Get this filth off of Free Republic.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3079701/posts
Aside for Senators Mike Lee and Ted Cruz, nobody else paid more than lip service to fighting Obamacare. Worse, the overwhelming majority of Republicans in the Senate sabotaged the effort. One after another, they would go on TV and trash House Republicans and echo Harry Reid’s talking points. Reid and Obama just sat back and let Senate Republicans blow up their colleagues. Then in the eleventh hour, instead of at least demanding delay of the individual mandate (which McConnell touted months ago as the alternative to defund), McConnell gave Harry Reid everything he wanted.
FYI:
Rush Limbaugh is going to play that famous clip wherein Alan Dershowitz describes Ted Cruz as one of the smartest and the most principled law students to EVER have gone through Harvard.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.