Ted Cruz: The ‘Schoolyard Bully’

[cali]

Unable to hide his anger behind the usual facade of Senate brotherhood, Majority Leader Harry Reid stretched protocol last night and called Senator Ted Cruz of Texas “a schoolyard bully.” Actually he diluted it just slightly by saying, “My friend from Texas is like a schoolyard bully.” But there was no friendship involved, and it’s not hard to see why.

Mr. Reid has been trying for two weeks to get a conference committee going so that the House and Senate can start working out their differences on the budget. But the House, which badgered the Senate for years to pass a budget, suddenly doesn’t want to negotiate over the one from March, because then it would become clear that what’s holding up a deal is the right’s refusal to consider tax increases on the rich.

On Monday evening, Mr. Reid again asked the Senate to agree to appoint conference members, but Mr. Cruz stood up to object. He said he would only consent if the conference agreed in advance not to raise taxes, and not to raise the debt ceiling.

It was an absurd request, and Mr. Cruz knew it. The whole point of the Senate budget was to combine tax increases on the rich with reasonable spending cuts, in part to pay for desperately needed investments in education and public works, and to end the sequester. There was no possibility of Democrats agreeing to the demand.

But Mr. Cruz had a little show to put on, and it was of a piece with all the other puffed-up displays of hypocrisy from him and other Tea Party lawmakers over the last three years. They have continually advocated spending cuts and program eliminations so deep they couldn’t possibly be implemented, sounding impressive only to a small group of voters back home. But when the Senate finally found a spine and called them on it, passing a budget for the first time in four years, Republicans scurried away, unwilling to sully the purity of their austerity with actual negotiations.

<snip>

http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/07/ted-cruz-the-schoolyard-bully/

[Buzz Clik]

1. Schoolyard bully? They usually have some juice. Cruz is an attention whore.

[Blue Owl]

2. Cruz Control-Freak

n/t

[stklurker]

3. cruz

Starve his district. Do not let ANY of his legislation move forward, do not accept anything with his riders, etc. His constituents like his grandstanding.. but once it hurts and he cant get his district funding, etc. Then we will see how they react. only way