On Thursday, the House GOP imploded over its border bill to solve the child-migrant crisis, pulling the legislation from the floor for lack of votes. And there, standing among the legislative wreckage, stood the proud senator from Texas, Ted Cruz. Not literally, of course. But the tea party Texan is once again smack in the middle of a House Republican debacle.◼ Republicans deliver another self-inflicted wound - Washington Post
Republicans are asking for the right to govern, to control the legislative machinery starting in 2015. But they continue to struggle with that very responsibility in the one chamber they control. How many times have Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and his top lieutenants suffered similar embarrassments as support for leadership measures suddenly eroded in the face of a conservative revolt?◼ The GOP Senator who helped spike the Border Bill is not who you think - Betsy Woodruff & David M. Drucker/Washington Examiner
◼ Jeff Sessions Holds The Line, Blocks Democrat Immigration Travesty - John Hinderaker/Powerline
◼ ‘Blame Cruz’ Is the New ‘Blame Bush’ for Whiny Democrats - Stephen Kruiser/PJMedia
No one is living rent free in more Democrats’ heads these days than Ted Cruz. He could take the next six months off and they would be blaming everything on his “failure to come to work and show leadership” or something. He is a convenient fall guy because none of the useful idiot Republican senators from the old guard will openly defend Cruz after he failed to spend his first year in office kissing their backsides.
What Cruz is most guilty of is responding to his constituency rather than the popularity police on Capitol Hill. We have created a permanent ruling class thanks to a lazy electorate who returns idiots to office for decades. These idiots stay in office by mugging for the cameras but not really doing much. Anybody new who shows up and acts like a representative in this — you know –representative republic is just asking for trouble.
Some Republicans frustrated over the last-minute collapse of support for a border bill have been blaming Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. But it turns out they may have the wrong Republican senator in their sights. A number of sources on Capitol Hill say lobbying by Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions helped sway that state´s House delegation against the bill, leading to the collapse.
◼ Rep. Chris Van Hollen: ‘Speaker Cruz’ - Politico
Rep. Chris Van Hollen slammed House Republicans on Thursday, saying members now have to check with “Speaker Cruz” to get any legislation passed. “It was Senator Cruz calling the shots, and that’s why people around here are calling him ‘Speaker Cruz’ today,” the Maryland Democrat said to MSNBC’s Alex Wagner. “It means when Speaker Boehner says he’s going to get something done from now on, he’d better be checking with Senator Cruz to see if he’s gonna get the votes because clearly the new leadership team isn’t up to the task.”
