This is not Ted Cruz.
We're one day closer to a government shutdown, and today nothing will happen. Well, nothing except Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) pretending to filibuster the House continuing resolution bill that's now before the Senate. That's the funding bill that he bullied the House into passing, and now he wants to filibuster. But what he's going to do is not a filibuster, it's just going to be him standing on the Senate floor blasting a lot of hot air. What he's going to be doing, Sen. Harry Reid
explains, is just so much political posturing.
Cruz will grab ahold of a very powerful microphone on Tuesday afternoon when he will gain control of the Senate floor to make his case — possibly for hours. But Cruz he won’t be able to prevent a Wednesday vote.
“I hear that there’s a filibuster today,” Reid said. “I will disabuse everyone: There will be no filibuster today. We are going to vote tomorrow. Under the rules, no one can stop that.”
They're going to vote tomorrow to start debate on the bill and there will not be 41 votes to prevent it. Now
that would have been a filibuster. But since Cruz can't get 41 Republican senators to join him, the bill will be voted on, as will the amendment that Reid is offering to strip out the part that defunds Obamacare. Cruz won't be able to stop that from happening either, because
that vote will only need 51 votes. All that Cruz can do is delay the final vote on this as long as possible, probably dragging it out until Sunday.
That only makes the job of House Speaker John Boehner that much harder, because he'll have only a day to cut his delusional Republicans loose, and make a deal with Democrats.
Way to solidify Republican support there, Mr. Cruz.
Stand with Daily Kos and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in denouncing Republicans who would completely shut down the government just to destroy Obamacare.