We are stronger when we are united
Unfortunately, yesterday 25 Republican Senators, including Texas Senator John Cornyn, joined with the Democrats to invoke cloture, giving Harry Reid the ability to strip the Continuing Resolution of language that defunds Obamacare.
That is because John Cornyn and the rest of the Republicans who voted to support cloture have a different governing philosophy than Ted Cruz. There's a reason why Ted Cruz frequently refers to the American people as his "boss." He understands that the relationship between the people and their representatives in government should be no different from the relationship you find in the private sector. At a company, the boss dictates the general direction of the firm and lays out the goals that need to be achieved. It is then the employees' duty to make sure those goals are reached. Elected officials like John Cornyn view themselves not as hired to go to Washington to represent the people, but instead as popularly declared kings over their own fiefdoms; they believe that despite the phone calls from their bosses telling them what to do, they have a better idea of how to run things. Ted Cruz, on the other hand, consistently pledges to do "whatever it takes" to stop Obamacare and, like a good employee, worked overtime to meet a critical deadline when he filibustered all through the night earlier this week. Unfortunately, his coworkers didn't have the same work ethic, and settled for something short of the goals the American people demanded.
If Republicans would have united and truly stood against what will soon become the largest transfer of wealth in American history, they could have stopped Harry Reid from stripping defunding language from the CR. Instead, the 25 Republicans who sided with the Democrats destroyed the momentum set in motion by the House all because they were afraid the Democrats would blame the Republican Party if the Democrats did not agree to pass the Continuing Resolution, therefore resulting in a temporary government shutdown. An absurd fear, to say the least; when have the Democrats ever blamed themselves for anything?
As Milton Friedman once said, "The way you solve things is by making it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing." If you keep waiting for the right people to get elected before you act, you'll be waiting forever and a lot of harm will be done in the meantime. Ted Cruz understood this, which is why his 21 hour appeal to the American people through an epic filibuster generated more interest in his anti-Obamacare message than any other topic in the world. In a society where Miley Cyrus trends 12 times higher than Syria when our nation is on the brink of war, Ted Cruz became the top search on Google and shattered other trends on Twitter and CNN, even out-trending the controversial pop star herself.
The Continuing Resolution is now being sent back to the House, where it is unclear what path will be taken. Cruz, however, is not letting up, as he and Senator Mike Lee are calling for the House to pass another CR that defunds Obamacare. And apparently, he's having quite the impact, as House members have actively sought Cruz's leadership and advice on opposing Speaker John Boehner's more moderate plan for a debt-ceiling deal, causing the leadership to shelve their plans and keep the fight, so far, on the CR.
The House plans to vote on a new CR today. The grassroots has seen how effective it can be when we call our Congressmen and urge them to take a strong stance. Be sure to keep lighting up those phone lines.
Click here for a list of Texas Representatives' phone numbers.
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