While Republican senators were fuming at Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) for holding up a $1.1 trillion spending bill aimed at preventing a government shutdown, Democrats saw a silver lining: the move by Cruz and Lee gave Democrats an opening to move a number of President Barack Obama's nominees for federal judgeships and the executive branch.
What happened was that when Cruz and Lee scuttled a deal between Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) that would have allowed lawmakers to leave Washington D.C. for the weekend and come back Monday they gave Democrats a chance to advance Obama's presidential appointees by having to stay in D.C. to deal with the spending bill.
The extra time over the weekend gave Reid the opportunity to, through the Senate's executive session, file cloture on the nominations and move them sooner than they would have under the deal Reid and McConnell had planned on and that Cruz and Lee blocked. Under the original deal Reid would have had to schedule votes on the nominees later in the upcoming week, when Democrats may not have wanted to stick around to vote.
Was worried Dr. Vivek Murthy might not get confirmed but thanks to @TedCruz, looks like he will. #TopDocNow #SurgeonGeneral
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) December 13, 2014
Courtesy of Politico:The nominations may take days of procedural votes and a lot energy but are likely to be a boon to the president’s hopes of winning approval of as many nominees as possible before his party loses the Senate.
“A lot of these people have been sitting in the calendar for a long time. So if this prompts my leadership to stay a little longer to get a lot of nominations done, then I’m happy about that,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) of the unusual Saturday session.
That's Ted Cruz for you. He always knows exactly where to find his foot. Right next to his molars.
Update: Well the bill passed.
Cruz is acting like a junior senator from Texas. A little green behind his ears.
ReplyDeleteOh please. Cruz is acting like Cruz. He has been convinced by Daddy that he is the chosen one to lead this nation into further property for the church and the Kochs (kind of like Mitt, but with less personality.) The next two years should be fairly entertaining. Let's hope Liz and Harry can shut down the nefarious plans long enough for us to get adults back in charge!
DeleteSo, Krews' mission is to create the Evangelical CALIPHATE, is what this sounds like! When does he plan to start the televised beheadings?
DeleteHe wants a theocracy, but seems to have a god complex. In other words, he wants a theocracy with himself in charge.
DeleteTell me what was executive position was Sarah Palin nominated for again? With her vast experience in the medical field surely it was Surgeon General.
ReplyDeleteShe developed a way for women in active labor to hold the baby in until a more convenient time.
DeleteBelieve me: We'll see a lot more dumb-fuck moves like these from the Teabaggers in the New Year.
ReplyDeleteHey, hey Sarah, how's that alliance workin' out for ya? Not so fucking good, eh?
YOU DUMB FUCKING TOOL!!!! HAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAH!!!!!
I think that Cruz never advanced beyond Checkers to Chess.
ReplyDeleteLOL!!!
DeleteHe, McConnell, Boehner..they all are playing Old Maid while our President is crowning them and calling out "Checkmate!!"
DeleteThis does not bode well for McConnell's leadership when the GOP takes over the Senate. They simply cannot control the TP members of the Republican party.
ReplyDeleteCould you imagine Nancy Pelosi allowing a Democratic Senator to get away with something like this, especially since it so clearly helps the President, something the GOP has sworn a blood oath NOT to do?
I know many Democrats do not care for Pelosi for a variety of reasons. Republicans loathe her but for different reasons. The republicans can't stand that a woman wielded so much power so effectively, especially in comparison to the incompetent Boehner.
DeleteWhether someone likes the legislation she supported or not, Pelosi was an incredibly effective Speaker with phenomenal cat-herding capabilities.
Were she still Speaker, I doubt very much if Cruz would have gotten away with waltzing over to the House and behaving as some sort of House leader as he did last year to promote that shutdown.
Poor Cruz, they sunk his battleship. This is the difference with the parties. Republicans working weekends whine and complain about working over time while Democrats work their butts off, then unwind with a tweet or two. If I make the effort to drive to work on my day off, I make the most of it and stay productive.
ReplyDeleteWell, it isn't like they have actually worked two entire weeks in a row all year, so this must be a challenge for the GOP, which prefers to spend their time in front of friendly TV personalities, and dialing for Koch dollars. Heaven forbid they actually do their jobs.
DeleteRepublicans working weekends whine and complain about working over time
Delete-------------------
How can they be working overtime, when they haven't done anything all year and were paid just the same.
It about time we start treating Congress like the children they are, for every absence, they need to bring a note from mommy and their pay should be docked.
hahahahahaha
ReplyDeleteCarmtom13 excopconservative • an hour ago
In the lame duck session they should not be allowed to vote on any bills because many of them will not be there in January. I think many of those don't care one way or another because they will not have to answer to the people in their district or state.
Well, if they are lame ducks like Sarah was a lame duck governor when she chose not to run again-- they should follow her example and just quit.
DeleteThe reason that they should be allowed to vote is because they have not fulfilled their complete term of office, and they vote until the last minute of the last day. To do less would leave the government without anyone in Congress. Those people must think that Sarah's quitting when she was a lame duck was a good idea.
Well, this is fun. The Republican's leading prospect for 2016 proves once again that he's too stupid to grasp his own party's Senate politics. Waiting for him to get Palin's praises in 3..2..
ReplyDeletePopcorn time!
The only thing the little #$%^ was doing was fund-raising. His posturing was nothing but a dog-whistle to his base. Ka-chingggg!
ReplyDeleteThat's " little $#!T", isn't it?
DeleteIt's fun watching Cruz be kicked in the ass! You've just got to love the Teabagger idiots!
ReplyDeleteLike Palin, his hubris is enormous. Unlike Palin, he is intelligent and educated. He will learn. He's dangerous.
ReplyDeleteCruz can be book smart, but he is not people smart. He talks with an air of arrogance that turns people off. He acts as if he is better and smarter than anyone else. That's a real turn off. In politics, there's smart in terms of understanding the issues and then there is smart in terms of people-smarts. Some people have a natural talent for getting people to go along with their ideas.
DeleteHe had a guy who lived in our neighborhood, and he was an example of the kind of guy who made friends easily and smoothed over any problems. He let his dogs run loose and a neighbor came to his house to complain because they were scaring her little puppy. He put his arm around the woman to walk her back to her house, saying that it was so slippery out that he didn't want her to fall. He turned on the charm, dusted the snow off her car, gave her another hug showing that they were best of friends. Then he called for his dogs who came bounding over. The guy and the dogs (still unleashed, in spite of our leash laws) walked back to his house. He continued to let his dogs run loose, and she never complained again. He belongs in Washington DC with those people skills. He wasn't book smart, but he could charm everyone.
There are lots of people who say Ted Cruz is an arrogant ass. He doesn't have people skills and he's not nearly as smart as he thinks he is.
DeleteI think Cruz is indeed smart enough to intellectually understand that he must work with others.
DeleteHowever, I also think his megalomaniacal narcissism and grandiosity will prevent him from acknowledging others or giving others credit for anything. There are two centuries of Senate protocol and customs (good or bad) that he refuses to acknowledge. A junior senator is expected to behave as such and earn the privilege of high-ranking or leadership positions.
He has created a lot of ill will and unless Senate leaders suddenly all join Cruz Senior's cult, he will never understand how he ends up rendered powerless in the Senate, if he even stays in the Senate. I could see both sides of the aisle working together to de-fang him (for different reasons).
He would never know what happened, because it would never occur to him that there are people who won't serve him after he makes it clear that he is their superior and entitled to their unquestioned service of his every desire.
He is very smart when it comes to furthering his ambitions, but not smart at all at gauging what other people will or won't do for him or why he needs them.
Always enjoy your spot-on comments and your last statement is what comes to my mind when his aspirations for the presidency are mentioned.
DeleteI'd guess he's already alienated about 75% of the voting public so 'needing' their votes in a National election would become especially problematic.
Who says the Republicans will allow the nominations to go through and be approved?
ReplyDeleteThey've done nothing but obstruct for six years. Why should this week be any different?