WSJ:
“Delaying this vote would not accomplish anything,” Mr. Cruz explained. “The focus is and should be on the substance of providing real relief for the American people. This deal doesn’t do that and that’s why I intend to vote no, but there is nothing to be benefited by delaying this vote a couple of days, versus having it today.”
That’s true, but wait. For weeks Mr. Cruz scolded his fellow Republicans as the “surrender caucus” and closet supporters of ObamaCare because they wouldn’t support his strategy to tie a vote to fund the government to defunding ObamaCare. His GOP colleagues thought the Cruz strategy was futile, and politically dumb, as it proved to be. Yet now even Mr. Cruz is admitting that there are limits to what Republicans can achieve when they control only one house of Congress. Maybe he’s learning, or maybe his earlier accusations were, well, less than sincere.
Speaking of admissions, one of the ringleaders of the shutdown caucus conceded Wednesday that he always knew ObamaCare couldn’t be defunded this year. “Well, everybody understands that we’re not going to be able to repeal this law until 2017 and that we have to win the Senate and win the White House,” Michael Needham of the Heritage Action political operation told Fox News.
That’s also true, but wait. If the defund cause was always futile as some of us argued, why spend weeks pursuing a strategy he knew would fail? And why run ads declaring the opposite, as Heritage Action did, in Congressional districts held by Republicans who actually oppose ObamaCare? Mr. Needham and his allies claim to be tribunes of the people, but they’re the ones who treated the public like rubes by misleading it about what was politically possible.
Messrs. Cruz and Needham are fortunate after all of their false advertising that the deal Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell negotiated with his back to the wall wasn’t worse. Mr. McConnell managed to save the budget caps on discretionary spending, which the defund caucus dismissed as inconsequential. This gives Republicans at least some leverage in the budget negotiations before the next spending and debt-limit deadlines.
Meanwhile, the most damage to ObamaCare this month has been inflicted by the law’s supporters, with their rollout of the law’s insurance exchanges. (See editorial above.) If not for the shutdown diversion, more of the American people might even have noticed the debacle.
The damning of Ted Cruz and Mike Lee needs to end. They were sent to D.C. to ‘represent’ their districts, not mollify and coddle the political elites. With a 10% approval rating Congress should be shown the door, but dollars to donuts, 90% will be re-elected next cycle. Then who are you going to call STUPID?
This is why is is important to note that, as Ted Cruz returned to Texas, he received an 8 minute standing ovation!
HIS base is not the same as McCain’s or Graham’s.
I applaud Cruz, Lee and Paul. I am stuck with two complete losers: Rubio and Nelson.
@Nan G: Not that McCain or Graham actually represent their constituents…
it’s too early to say TED CRUZ FAIL
the way it’ s going now, he might be the one who demolish their scam
RIGHT ON THE BUTTON,
now we are sure that OBAMA SHOULD HAVE LISTEN TO TED CRUX .
AND DEFUND THAT LAW NOBODY WANT,
HE IS PAYING FOR NOT TAKING GOOD ADVICES FROM TED CRUZ,