Ted Cruz is known for making mildly insane noises as he makes his run for the U.S. presidency.
On Thursday afternoon, Ted Cruz angrily said,
“Republicans need to act like Republicans. Leadership needs to lead. Together, we need to actually honor the commitments to the men and women who elected us.”
Ted Cruz expressed his perspective on his “enemies” and his colleagues while arguing why Republicans need to fight for a bill funding the government, while eliminating Planned Parenthood.
“You have one side — President Obama and the Democrats — who are relentless, committed to advancing their principles. Like the Terminator, they never stop, they never give up. And you have the other side, Republican leadership, who commences every discussion with a peremptory surrender.”
Sen. Ted Cruz contemptuously described Republican leadership as being guilty of “peremptory surrender,” and criticized House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. He was very upset they did not support the plan he wanted to use to defund Planned Parenthood.
Any bill to defund Planned Parenthood would be blocked in the Senate by Democrats. Additionally, the White House has said it would veto such a bill. Boehner and McConnell have said they want to avoid a government shutdown like the one in 2013, for fear it their party will justifiably be blamed.
Ted Cruz said,
“The results are predictable. It starts with Republican leadership’s promise at the outset there will be no shutdowns. Now, that promise on its face sounds quite reasonable. The problem is when you have a radical in the White House who will exploit that promise.”
“What it means in effect is Republican leadership will support every single failed big government policy of President Obama.”
In spite of Ted Cruz’ whining, or perhaps because of it, Republicans “did” attach cutting Planned Parenthood’s funding to the budget. It was an unnecessary move, somewhat pointless and empty. It was primarily an effort to play up to Ted Cruz. Senate Democrats blocked it, as was predicted, and a government shutdown once again became a strong possibility.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell moved quickly after the vote, desperate to avert an Oct. 1 government shutdown by filing a new bill. A “clean bill”, with no political games or manipulation tactics. A vote on the new budget bill might come as early as Monday, but there are no guarantees. Republicans are once again playing head games with America’s budget.
