Senator Ted Cruz is making quite a name for himself these days. Not one who minces words, Cruz is not afraid to stand on his own against the political parties that control United States politics. Earlier this year, the conservative senator from Texas served as Rand Paul's wingman during the epic 13-hour filibuster. Wednesday, he took a stand against (very) senior Republican Senator John McCain.
The debate started over the start of the House-Senate budget negotiations. Senator Cruz objects to starting the negotiations unless Democrats take a debt limit increase off the table, while Senator McCain, on the other hand, wants the American people to 'totally trust' the GOP to cut spending and keep the debt limit down.
…because a current debt of 16 trillion+ is a reminder that they're so trustworthy.
Cruz had a few things to say about the Arizona Senator's advise to "trust" the GOP.
“The senior senator from Arizona (John McCain) urged this body to trust the Republicans. Let me be clear, I don’t trust the Republicans,” Cruz said on the Senate floor. “And I don’t trust the Democrats.”
Cruz continued, "Unfortunately, one of the reasons we got into this mess is because a lot of Republicans were complicit in this spending spree. And that’s why so many Americans are disgusted with both sides of this house. Because we need leaders on both sides…to roll up our sleeves, to compromise, to work together and fix the problem, fix the enormous fiscal and economic problems. Stop bankrupting our country.”“And every Republican who stands against holding the line here is really saying, let’s give the Democrats a blank check to borrow any money they want with no reforms, no leadership to fix the problem,” he added.
"I love Ted Cruz," Glenn professed after hearing Ted Cruz strike down John McCain's statement.
"You have to thank the Lord for Ted Cruz, don't you?" Pat asked rhetorically.
Ted Cruz is not only unafraid to stand against the Democrats, he's more than willing to call out the GOP when they're not following the principals they claim to uphold. And while this makes him incredibly popular among the American people — especially grass roots conservatives — the congressional leadership is Washington isn't as receptive to his boldness.
Senator Mike Lee, another Senator actually fighting for the people in Washington, was the bearer of Senator McCain's frustrations to the new guard of conservative Senators making life a little less easy for Republican leadership.
Like Cruz, Senator Mike Lee of Utah also objects to initiating the House-Senate budget negotiations unless the debt-limit increase is taken off the table which seems to be frustrating Sen. McCain.
Thursday, John McCain took to the senate floor to "lecture" Sen. Mike Lee (and others) for 'paralyzing process'.
“Obviously you've got to ‑‑ you can predict the outcome. The senator from Utah keeps talking about back room closed‑door deals. It's the process of the Senate to appoint conferees and the House to appoint conferees, and those conferees come to agreement and then subject their agreement to an overall vote of both bodies. If the ‑‑ if the senator from Utah wants to get rid of the, quote, back room, all of the other adjectives and adverbs that he used, then what is, what is the process? What is the process? How do we reconcile legislation that's passed by one body and the other body? There's ‑‑ that's what we've been doing for a couple of hundred years. ”
McCain continued, “so all I can say is, has the senator from Utah got another way of reconciling legislation between the House and the Senate?”
"Yeah, my guess is he does," Pat responded about Lee after hearing the audio of John McCain. "Yeah, without the back room closed‑door deals. I'll bet you Mike Lee could come up with a way."
"I bet you he can," Glenn added. "And to have John McCain lecture him on the rules and on the Constitution. Mike Lee is a constitutional scholar. And to have him be lectured by this guy who sold his soul to, you know, a party and a system years ago is obscene, and you should be ashamed of yourself, the senior extraordinarily, extraordinarily senior senator from John McCain."
The statements McCain made about Senators like Mike Lee and Ted Cruz "paralyzing the system" by refusing to move forward with negotiations are why conservative and libertarian Americans find this new class of congressmen so refreshing. Americans are sick of the system. They think it should be paralyzed or at the very least 'cleaned up.' The 'go-with-the-flow' attitude of congressional leaders, on both the right and the left, have gotten the country nothing but more debt and more divisiveness.
Senators like Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, and Rand Paul understand that you have to meet in the middle on some issues…they also understand that you don't have to comprise your principals to do that.