Ted Cruz: King of all Phony Fillibusters

      It's not easy being a Tea Party hero. Your shelf life is short. Just ask Marco Rubio. In 2010 he received more campaign money than any other Tea Party candidate.  The he did one thing the base didn't like-stand behind immigration reform-and it's over. He's now gone from Tea Party hero to Tea party villain. 

     The next Tea Party flavor of the month was Ted Cruz. Now he's in big trouble as he admitted the other day that they lack the votes to pass Boehner's latest defund Obamacare scheme in the Senate. Next some House staffers were saying he's less popular in the GOP House than Nancy Pelosi. 

     http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/house-gop-aide-nancy-pelosi-is-more-well-liked-than-ted-cruz

    That's where yesterday's absurd 'filibuster' comes in. In truth it wasn't a filibuster and achieved little but he's  hoping to win back some Street Cred with the base. In truth it was about nothing as just as he predicted the Dems will drop the defund Obamacare provision from the CR. However, while he can't substantively do anything about it he's hoping these theatrics will win him something. 

   As Rubio is in the same boat, he's playing the same game. He has lots of admiration for Cruz's 'filibuster' and thinks it will prove really productive too. 

   Rubio (R-Fla.) joined Cruz (R-Texas) on the Senate floor Tuesday and Wednesday, and told Fox News that he was not against Cruz’s strategy, instead asking how can it be negative.

“Let me say this, we are now— have the ability to spend over the last 18 hours, as Ted has done and those of us who have tried to help him and others, to inform the American public about the reality of what Obamacare is going to mean to their lives. How can that be a negative?” Rubio said.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/marco-rubio-ted-cruz-obamacare-97331.html#ixzz2fw52PjLk

    In his admiration, however, he may be in the minority. Senator McCain doesn't sound too impressed. In fact McCain actually seems to think that-elections actually have consequences. Sounds lke a liberal to me!

    Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) ripped Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) after he gave an anti-Obamacare speech that lasted over 21 hours on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The speech, which was not technically a filibuster because it did not delay any votes, was labeled an "extended oratory" by McCain, who spoke on the Senate floor Wednesday. McCain said he took issue with some of the content of Cruz's speech, including a Nazi comparison.

"If you go to the 1940s, Nazi Germany," Cruz said. "Look, we saw in Britain, Neville Chamberlain, who told the British people, 'Accept the Nazis. Yes, they'll dominate the continent of Europe but that's not our problem. Let's appease them. Why? Because it can't be done. We can't possibly stand against them.'"

"I resoundingly reject that allegation," McCain said. "That allegation, in my view, does a great disservice. A great disservice to those brave Americans and those who stood up and said, 'what's happening in Europe cannot stand.'"

McCain also recalled the the 2009-2010 debate over Obamacare -- before Cruz was elected to the Senate -- saying "the people spoke" on the issue when they reelected President Barack Obama in 2012. McCain said lawmakers shouldn't "give up our efforts to repair Obamacare" but said it wasn't worth shutting down the government.

"We fought as hard as we could in a fair and honest manner and we lost," McCain said. "One of the reasons was because we were in the minority, and in democracies, almost always the majority governs and passes legislation."

McCain said he "was extremely proud" of the anti-Obamacare effort by lawmakers and said they shouldn't "give up our efforts to repair Obamacare," but said it wasn't worth shutting down the government.

     http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/25/john-mccain-ted-cruz_n_3989887.html

     Still it's not hard to get why we get these tactics from former Tea Party icons like Cruz and Rubio. If CR passes without defunding Obamacare-which it will-guess who will be blamed by the base and the Tea Party Repubs in the House? 

     UPDATE: I'm pleased to announce that the Senate has voted-unanimously, so even Cruz didn't vote against it-to begin debate on indeed passing CR without the Boehner's poison pill. 

      Shortly after Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-TX) 21-hour talkathon, the Senate voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to advance a continuing resolution to keep the federal government open beyond Sept. 30.

The final vote was a unanimous 100-0 and even Cruz voted to begin debate. His lengthy speech was a call for a filibuster to end debate unless Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) agreed to make it easier for the GOP to block funding for Obamacare.

     http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/senate-unanimously-moves-toward-averting-a-government-shutdown

     Hmmm. Yet I had suggested that Rubio's filibuster was fake and just about theatrics. I guess his actually voting to begin debate disproves that. Oh wait. So how does he explain this?

    "The next vote we take will occur on Friday or Saturday and it will be on what is called cloture on the bill," Cruz said during his speech. "That is the vote that matters."

     Yes Senator. Typical GOP tactic. It's always the next battle that's going to give us Armageddon. Yet Cruz was telling Limbaugh just today that some Senators think their voters are 'gullible rubes.' He doesn't name any names but I can think of a couple... 

       http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/25/ted-cruz-rush-limbaugh_n_3990141.html

      Like the last couple of Tea Party icons. 

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