Are GOP Congress Critters Really RINOS or Conservative Chameleons?

After the way that Establishment Republicans acted in their profligate  $1.3 TRILLION  for the remaining six months of FY 2018 in the Omnibus spending bill, one wonders if how Republicans ought to be portrayed.

Traditionally, the Grand Old Party's symbol is an elephant (remember?).  Cynics charge that they should be exposed as RINOs.  But considering they way many Congressional Republicans change from being a fiscally conservative party when they strive for power and then profligately spend when they are in charge, perhaps they would be better depicted as conservative chameleons.  But can they survive if the proverbial swamp is drained in the District of Calamity (sic).  

Rand Paul on GOP Metanoia on the Budget

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has some harsh words for his Republican colleagues who are pushing for the six month $1.3 TRILLION spending bill to avoid another government shutdown.  But this is not the first time he has rebuked Republicans for the hypocrisy about governmental spending and the broken budgetary process. 

On the FISA Fracas

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (1978) is a federal law which allows the federal government to conduct surveillance of foreign powers and agents of foreign powers suspected of espionage and terrorism. FISA delineates procedures for acquiring warrants to a secret court when required.  FISA  has been repeatedly amended since the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.  The 2008 FISA Amendment included Section 702, which allows the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence to jointly authorize monitoring foreign targets abroad. 

Then President-elect Trump was scoffed at when he claimed that he was "wiretapped" at Trump Tower.  But Mr. Trump felt vindicated when the House Intelligence Committee revealed that some members of his transition team were caught up in FISA surveillance. In the digital age, physical "wiretaps" are no longer necessary.

  

But there is controversy over how to handle information about American citizens whose communications are caught up in a cyber surveillance sweep.   Additionally, there are serious concerns over approval of FISA warrants which involve partisan politics. 

FISA was due to the renewed for six years by the end of 2017.  However, FISA is now supposed to  to sunset by January 19th 2018 unless approved by Congress.  

As the House of Representatives were considering FISA re-authorization, Conservatives and Libertarian  (and perhaps some civil liberty minded liberal) Congressmen sought to impose some reforms on FISA to limit NSA powers and require warrants before getting most information on American citizens). As Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX 2nd)  put it: "Section 702 was written to go after terrorists but it is being used to go after Americans," as he urged agencies to get warrants.  Rep. Tom Garrett wanted to be certain that FISA scrutiny was focused on foreigners. 

It seemed as if the Trump White House was lending support to the efforts to reform FISA with encouraging social media comments.  However Speaker Paul Ryan contacted the White House and President Trump that partially walked back earlier criticism of FISA.  

The FISA alternative, championed by libertarian Republican Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI 3rd) and Rep. Zoe Lafgren (D-CA 19th) failed 183-233.  The GOP leadership re-authorization of FISA easily passed 256-164, but sponsor Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA 22nd) stripped major changes to unmasking procedures prior to presenting the bill on the House floor.  

The Senate must re-authorize FISA by January 19th.  Libertarian Republican Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and liberal Democrat Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) have vowed to filibuster FISA unless there are provisions that the FBI must obtain a warrant anytime it wants to search information about Americans.  Newsmakers have hinted that explosive news  about abuse of government surveillance will break in the next week.  This may well have an impact on the re-authorization of FISA. 

Rand Paul Reacts to John McCain's Belligerent Bile

John McCain Denounces Rand Paul as Putin Apparatchik

Lindsey Graham on Senatorial Discourtesy

Failed 2016 Presidential hopeful Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) had some sharp barbs at his rival Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) while speaking at the Washington Press Club Foundation Dinner.

Graham joked that that homicide could be committed on Cruz and there would be no conviction in the Senate. It is disgusting that Graham is echoing the homicidal hypothetical that Donald Trump used about to justify his cult of personality.  Graham might want to consult with Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX 18th) on homicide. 

Graham may have revealed an inconvenient truth that Cruz upsets the apple-cart of the go along to get along Cocktail Party Club setup of the Senate, hence he's unpopular.

But if you parse Lindsey's language, no one in the Senate would convict. Perhaps that is to say that no Senators have convictions. Aside from Senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY), Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Ben Sasse (R-NB), this train of thought might be on track.

Lindsey fancies himself to be a funny guy.  That may be true. But he shouldn't quit his day job. On second thought, leaving his day job might not be so bad. There may be some audiences in the Distict of Calamity that are craving political puppet shows. 

One Day More to the Iowa Caucuses

One day more until the Iowa Caucuses.  It will be good to have voters start actually participating in the primary process rather than hype the horse-race based on sketchy scouting reports.

Donald Trump is the presumptive front-runner.  He is always anxious to point to the polls and his huuuge crowds. Trump scored a couple of prominent endorsers, including former Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) and Jerry Falwell, Jr.  Trump was also aided by left handed compliments from current Governor Terry Branstad (R-IA), who is anxious to bolster ethanol mandates.

Trump eschewed the only Iowa debate supposedly because of a tiff with Fox News and Megyn Kelly.  But Trump’s post-debate excited utterances at how Trump was glad to have missed the pummeling questions may be an admission against interest.  Iowa voters expect to be courted and this cycle have remain undecided until the last minute.  Will the Manhattan mogul’s reticence towards Iowa retail politics hurt him in the caucuses or will it be another one of many things his fanatics will forgive him?

Time will tell if celebrity campaigning draws in many first time caucus goers.  In the 2012 cycle, only 125,000 people parcipated in the GOP Iowa Caucus.  Patrick Murphy, the director of Mamouth University’s Polling Institute, opined: Trump’s victory hinges on having a high number of self-motivated, lone wolf caucus-goers show up Monday night.”.  Add in the factor that many Trump-eteers are non-traditional first time caucus goers who have to be trained, motivated and ripe to turn out in Iowa, not just through social media or at a rally. If 150,000 or more Republicans actually participate (rather than just register) in this year’s Hawkeye Cauci, then it will be a good night for Trump.

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) established an excellent ground game in Iowa while making pointed appeals to evangelical voters and Tea Party types (under the banner of being a consistent  Conservative).  Cruz claims to have 12,000 volunteers in Iowa.  Even political operatives who do not support Cruz, such as Alex Castellanos, concede that Cruz has established a formidable social media operation.

Organization is key to driving caucus goers to the polls.  Sometimes campaigns must literally drive their supporters there.  Also having representative to speak at each caucus   To aid in the retail campaigning, they rented college former dormitories and dubbed them “Camp Cruz” to house hundreds of door knocking volunteers. There has been some controversy over an 11th hour targeted voter mailer from the Cruz campaign which was intended to shame people into caucusing. Cruz dismisses such complaints claiming that the mailer was routine and he favored using every tool to get voters out to the Iowa Caucuses 

Rather than pander to Iowa voters, Cruz advocated the elimination of ethanol mandates, and compromised by phasing them out over five years.  But Cruz’ opponents and those supporting the ethanol lobby labeled that a “flip-flop”.

Cruz did score some significant endorsements for Iowans, including Tea Party favorite  Representative Steve King (R-IA 4th), former Governor Rick Perry (R-TX), evangelical leaders Bob van der Plaats, and Tony Perkins, Duck Dynasty Commander Phil Robertson and radio personality Glenn Beck.

Cruz has barnstormed the Hawkeye State.  By the time the caucuses start, Cruz claims that he will have done the full Grassley (referring to Iowa Republican Senator Charles Grassley) by having events in all 99 Iowa counties.  This type of retail politics was rewarded in 2012, when former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) won a narrow victory against former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA). The Cruz campaign has also outreached to twice the number of likely caucus-goers than Trump.

However, since Cruz rose towards the top of the Iowa polls in mid-December, he has been targeted by Trump over dubious “birther” (and now even “anchor baby”) attacks.  Of late, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) has been joining the fray to claim that Cruz is running a “disingenuous” campaign.  This has lead some political observers to conclude that Cruz peaked too early.

As the Iowa Caucuses approached, Cruz closed warning crowd of the dangers of voting for Trump and jabbed at Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL).  This may evidence a lack of confidence of decisively winning the Iowa Caucuses as planned.  However, weather forecasts project a major snowstorm starting just before the Caucus begin.  While Haweyes are heartier than denizens in the District of Calamity, a lower turnout may be the key to victory for Cruz, as his organization gets dedicated supporters to turn out on a snowy February evening.

Senator Marco Rubio has been coming on strong in Iowa, seemingly from good debate performances and wholesale politics via the airwaves. The Rubio campaign bet on de-emphasizing boots on the ground campaigning.  In fact, Rubio deputy campaign manager Rich Beeson proclaimed:  "The days of having to have 50 field staffers and 25 offices are done. We can have a field office and staff set up in a Starbucks with wireless and get just as much done as we can in a brick-and-mortar office with land lines." Perhaps. But does that compensate for the paucity of events in Iowa?

Rubio’s Super PAC ran half hour informercials on the Saturday night before the Caucuses on 12 TV stations in five media markets.  Will this work or just be noise as one flips channels on a Saturday night?

It would seem that Rubio is positioning himself for the third ticket out of Iowa, as the Caucuses tend to winnow the top tier winners from the campaign chaff. The strategy would be to frame the media story to be the Comeback Kid who comes out of no-where.

Iowa should have been the ideal launchpad for the Presidential aspiration of Dr. Ben Carson, as a Constitutional Conservative to appeal to Tea Partiers and a man of strong faith to appeal to evangelical voters, who make up 45% of Republican caucus goers.  But Dr. Carson’s campaign has precipitously receded since being in the number two chair for the early December GOP debate. For the Iowa Debate, Carson only was allotted six minutes.

The Carson campaign has been bleeding top advisors for the last month in the run up to the Iowa Caucuses. Carson himself has admitted that if he does not do well in Iowa or New Hampshire that he might have to do an agonizing reappraisal.  Senator Rand Paul’s (R-KY) campaign brags that they have 1,000 libertarian leaning collegiate supporters.  If they turn out to the Caucuses, that might help lift Paul’s campaign from the primary doldrums. But if Dr. Carson were to be edged out of fourth place in Iowa by a surprise surge from Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) or Senator Rand Paul , discernment time might come sooner.

As counter-programming to the Republican Debate which Donald Trump boycotted, he held an event to help veterans and wounded warriors, which raised $6 million for largess via the Donald J. Tump Foundation. Also appearing at the Trump for the Troops event were the two prior winners of the Iowa Caucuses former Sen. Rick Santorum (2012) and former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR). Both claimed that they wanted to support veterans but Santorum was more candid as he had nothing to do after participating in the under-card debate.

[L] Ex Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), [C] Donald Trump {R] Ex. Gov. Mike Huckabee

Cynics see auditions to a prospective Trump Administration thus they seem like vassals for The Donald. Is it telling that Donald Trump will give his post Iowa Caucus “winning” speech in Little Rock, Arkansas.

It will be interesting to see how Big Mo goes after the Iowa Caucuses.  Typically, the top three candidates get a rush of publicity and funding after Iowa.  But Big Mo does not always translate into winning the next contest, as New Hampshire primary voters are contrarian.  In the 2016 cycle, Trump is comfortably in the lead and Governor John Kasich (R-OH) is surging into second in the Granite State.

In this cycle, some campaigns have raised significant campaign contributions so they are unlikely to quickly fold after Iowa.  Former Governor Jeb Bush (R-FL) seems resigned to garner better showings after Iowa and New Hampshire and Jeb!'s campaign has the money to make it there.  Rubio’s campaign is well funded and can survive not winning in the Caucuses or the First in the Nation primary.  Cruz has been conservative in spending his large campaign coffers and will probably concentrate on South Carolina and the SEC primaries on March 1st.

With all of this attention on the Grand Old Party, it is easy to overlook the Democrats. It is expected that 140,000 Hawkeye Democrats will participate in the Caucus and they skew very white and liberal. It would not be surprising if Senator Bernie Sanders (Socialist- VT) won both the Iowa and New Hampshire contests.  Pro arguendo, Sanders momentum combined with the maelstrom of the Clinton Email Scandal, might cause the Democrat establishment to scramble for substitutes instead of the Hillary coronation, akin to 2004 after the Dean scream.

The fun begins in earnest on February 1st.

Why Graham's Gone

December 21st was the last day for filing to be on the 2016 South Carolina Republican Presidential Primary ballot.  It is no coincidence that it was the same day the Senator Lindsey Graham dropped his quixotic campaign to be the GOP POTUS nominee.

Aside from absorbing accolades from the press corps in several of the under-card Republican debates,  Lindsey Graham has been a non-entity in the Republican Presidential Campaign.  The only place in which he excelled was consistently coming in last place all year in The Blaze's monthly Presidential Preferences among Glenn Beck listeners.

It is questionable if Senator Graham ever had a realistic pathway to primary victory in the GOP.  His best hope would have been to win as a favorite son in South Carolina and parlay primacy in the Palmetto State into Big Momentum going in the nine SEC primaries the week afterwards.  At that point Graham might have held some sway with delegates if there was an open Republican convention in Cleveland. Still those were pretty impossible dreams.

Alas, Graham only garnered 0.5% in most national polls and perhaps 4% in his home state of South Carolina. Graham presumably did not want to be thought of like Gov. John Connolly (D/R-TX) who famously spent $10 million to win 1 delegate in South Carolina during the 1980 cycle.

 Even though Graham won re-election to his third term in South Carolina in 2014, a colossal failure on the Presidential Primary stage might be a memory which loomed large in a state where he was considered a weak incumbent and only took 55% in the 2014 General Election.

Aside from ego, Graham seemed initially driven to strengthen the American military, especially during a time of war. Some might suspect this issue oriented campaign was meant as a counterbalance to a more neo-isoloationism espoused by his libertarian Republican rival Senator Rand Paul (R-KY).  However, Graham shifted to taunted Donald Trump from the small debate stage. He may calculate that his absence in the Republican field will allow his Senate sidekick, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) to make a more consequential endorsement for the New Hampshire primary, which McCain won in 2000 and 2008 so his word may carry some weight.

Besides, Graham's reputation for warning "We're at war" along with his 30 plus years service in the National Guard may make him a candidate to be Secretary of State in a prospective Jeb! or maybe Marco Rubio administration, particularly if the Graham endorsement is timely and effective.

Senator Rand Paul on Syrian Refugee New Welfare Amendment

Geek Gaffes Mar #RandLive

One of the most precipitous declines in the race for the 2016 Republican Presidential nomination has been Senator Rand Paul (R-KY).  Last year, the libertarian leaning Senator Paul was considered to be a top contender.  But Paul’s campaign has faded to the point of where he may not have the 2.5% support to qualify for the big stage for the third GOP debate required by CNBC.

Senator Paul wanted to do something different to attract attention, generate enthusiasm among young voters and distinguish himself.  So the Paul campaign arranged for the candidate to LiveStream a day in the life.  This was a thrifty way to shine a spotlight on the candidate, leverage new media to political advantage and reinforce his brand of being a different kind of Republican.

Well, timing is everything. Tuesday October 13th was the date chosen for #RandLive.  From the superstitious side of things, the Spanish consider Martes el trece to be a day of bad luck (akin to America’s Friday the 13th).  On the more calculating side, that was the day of the first Democrat Debate so Rand was scheduling a stunt that would not draw a whole lot of attention.

Perhaps it was lucky that #RandLive did not get much time in the spotlight.  Senator Paul was scheduled to visit five college campus events in Iowa that day.  But technical difficulties interfered with much of the livestreaming, so diehard Rand-ians were left staring at a test pattern for much of the day.  These cyber glitches were unfortunate but not unforgivable as it is challenging to introduce new technology into the field of national political campaigns.

What was more egregious was Senator Paul’s unscripted answers to Google questions.  The third most popular question was “Are you still campaigning Senator Paul?”.  The freshman Senator from Kentucky gave a sarcastic and supercilious unscripted answer.



So much for appealing to the youth vote when you denounce the platform itself.  Moreover, calling it “dumbassed” shows that it was a feign and not really reflecting the candidate’s true disposition.

Other hopefuls used social media on that day to varying effects.  Both former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR) and Donald Trump live-tweeted during the Democrat Debate.  It looked like “the Huckster” slinged up cornpone and canned ham in his replies, while “the Donald” delivered authentic raw meat which underlined his attributes.

While it is questionable if hyping a “Truman Show” for a candidate is wise, it does show innovation.  But if you are on camera 24/7, one slight slip up can ruin years of work. In the film “The Truman Show” (1998), people found that they liked watching Truman because he was natural and likable.   Senator Paul has developed a reputation for being prickly in uncomfortable interviews.  It is telling that Senator Paul noted that you can’t edit that out when it’s being livestreamed.

The tag line from The Truman Show was “How's It Going to End?”.  This may well be the same question that staffers for Rand Paul’s Presidential campaign may be asking.   




Perhaps Senator Paul can take a cue from Truman Burbank. 

Rand Paul on the Patriot Act

Despite the rare Sunday Senate legislative session, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) was able to put a hold on the Patriot Act extension which let the provisions expire. 

Rand Paul: ISIS Exists Because of GOP (!)(?)

Republican Presidential hopeful Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) appeared on MSNBC to hawk his book "Taking a Stand: Moving Beyond Partisan Politics to Unite America" (2015) and expand his political base in 2016.   Senator Paul is renowned for his libertarian politics policy but seemed to have mollified his non-interventionist foreign policy tendencies since he announced his candidacy.  Senator Paul appeared to honor his father without embracing the isolationist extremism which characterized the career of his father, former Representative (and quixotic 1988 Libertarian Party and 2012 GOP Presidential candidate)  Ron Paul (R-TX 14th and 22nd).

…

However when Joe Scarborough interviewed Senator Paul on the Morning Joe, Senator Paul posited that the GOP which was the reason that ISIS exists. 

This is a curious conclusion, as the precipitous withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan occurred during the six years of the Obama Administration.  This was on top of Mr. Obama's ever fungible red line on Syrian chemical weapons. 

Senator Paul's inflammatory utterance has several unfortunate implications for winning the GOP nomination.  Firstly, it violates Reagan's 11th Commandment not to criticize your own party when campaigning.  Secondly, Senator Paul embraced the isolationist extremism, which puts him at odds with most party loyalists who will be participating in the nomination process. Thirdly, Paul's foreign policy pronouncement echoes his father, which was on the fringe of the Republican party.  Fourth, Paul's extended Morning Joe interview was an exercise to "get" Republican neocon hawks like Senator John McCain (R-AZ) as well as McCain's minion (and quasi GOP Presidential candidate) Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Furthermore, the cantankerous close contributes to the perception that Senator Rand Paul is thin skinned. 

h/t: KAL 

Rand Paul on Naming the Enemy

Rick Santorum on Bomb Throwers

Rand Paul on Civic Virtue

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) sought to square his brand of libertarianism with Christian faithfulness in the public square at the 2014 Values Voters Summit.

Rand Paul on Arming Syrian Rebels

Rand Paul on Christianity

The remarks in full of Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) at the 2013 Value Voters Summit sponsored by the Family Research Council.  

The metal barricades seen in front of the dais reflected the Government Shutdown Theater, when the Obama Administration went to the trouble to "barry-cade" (sic) public monuments on the National Mall during the Government Shutdown in October 2013.  

Scenes from the Tea Party Patriots 5th Anniversary

Tea Party Patriot President Jenny Beth Martin at 5th Anniversary event [photo: BD Matt]

Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN 6th) thanks Tea Party Patriots at 5th Anniversary event

True the Vote' Founder Catherine Engelbrecht tells the Tea Party Patriots how her  good governance efforts 
to better ensure non fraudulent voting resulted into government harassment [photo credit: BD Matt]

             Talk Radio host and author Mark Levin  inspires the Tea Party Patriots with stories about the
Founding Fathers and Ronald Reagan at the TPP 5th Anniversary event [photo: BD Matt]

Rep. Steve King (R-IA 4th) lets loose against alleged Obama Administration abuses at the Tea Party

Patriots 5th Anniversary event  [photo: BD Matt]

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) shows  his Senate photo ID at the TPP 5th Anniversary  [photo:  BD Matt]

Rep Louie Gohmert (R-TX 1st) speaks at the Tea Party Patriots 5th Anniversary event [photo: BD Matt]

                 Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) recounts egregious examples of government waste  at the Tea Party

                 Patriots 5th Anniversary event [photo: BD Matt]

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) energizes the Tea Party Patriots 5th Anniversary event [photo: BD Matt]

Republicans Behaving Badly-- Ignoring Reagan's 11th Commandment

The Eleventh Commandment was a phrase popularized by Ronald Reagan during his 1966 Gubernatorial run.  The Eleventh Commandment idea had itsgenesis from California Republican State Party Chairman Gaylord Parkinson after the 1964 Presidential campaign, when conservative GOP nominee Senator Barry Goldwater (R-AZ) was savaged by East Coast country club Republicans who did not like Goldwater's style or politics.

It is interesting to see how this political precept is held by present day politicians, particularly Congress critters  afflicted with Potomac Fever.

To win the Republican nomination for President in 2008, Senator John McCain (R-AZ), the senior Senator from Arizona, ran proclaiming that he was a "foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution."  Yet consider how "the Maverick" Senator treats his "friends" in this session of Congress.   When Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) held a 13 hour filibuster of CIA John Brennen's nomination, Senator McCain chose to call several of his caucus confreres as "wacko birds."

To his credit, Senator McCain uttered televised regrets shortly afterwards for this infelicitous invective.  But McCain did not seem to mean it as aides indicate McCain's  disdain for Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) in what can only be described in raw terms.  Yet Senator McCain had the temerity to task Democrat  Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) to ask for 15 minutes at the end of Cruz's filibuster.  It is a good thing that Cruz had the good sense to ignore this entreaty, as McCain used his time to denounce Cruz's efforts. 

This is not an isolated example of Senator McCain bad mouthing other members of his caucus with whom he disagrees.  As Republicans were positioned to score major victories in the 2010 Congressional elections, Senator McCain denounced the enthusiasm of Tea Party types as being hobbits.  

McCain's scorn for the Tea Party makes sense, as he governs as a progressive member of the Cocktail Party, even though he  runs as one conservative hombre.  Moreover, McCain used his floor time  after Cruz's filibuster to waive the whiteflag to Democrats and declare the elections matter and the Republicans lost the Obamacare fight.  While President Obama did win re-election in 2012, he did not premise his campaign on Obamacare.  In addition, federal elections do not have the ability to do referenda on legislation.  Furthermore, legislators are not bound to decisions made by their predecessors. 

Another "independent" Republican voice who unabashedly ignores the Eleventh Commandment is Congressman Peter King (R-NY 02).  As a northeastern Republican Representative, King's weltanschauung will be considerably more "squishy" than conservative colleagues to the south.  But this should not give him license to bash his GOP brethren, in most uncharitable and insulting ways. 

Congressman King denounced Senator Cruz as a “kamikaze pilot" and “medicine man selling goods he knows are phony goods.”  If that wasn't enough, King proclaimed “those I’ve spoken to think he’s [Cruz] crazy.” OK,  you've denounced your colleague as a fraud, crazy and suicidal--one wonders why.

Maybe it has something to do with Peter King's crazy idea that he should run forPresident.  Bad mouthing fellow Republicans works well to get John McCain more TV time on talking heads shows (and has also helped Senator McCain's scion Meghan McCain plenty of exposure in the media too).  One can not forget that Rep. King's district is in the New York City, which appealing to moneyed "independents" or those who wish to stifle conservatives can channel funds.  This seems  akin to former Utah Governor and Obama's Ambassador to China John Huntsman's (R-UT) quixotic strategy in running for the GOP nomination in 2012. 

Representative King ought to remember the fate of the last couple  Members of the House who ran for President.  In the 2012 cycle, former Representative Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI 11th) launched an ill planned Presidential campaign for a couple of months in 2011, presumably to improve name recognition for later political contests. McCotter was so taken with Potomac Fever that he failed to get enoughvalid signatures to run for the primary for his Congressional seat in 2012, so he resigned.   Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN 6th) ran a more credible race for the Republican nomination.  But she barely won re-election in the 113th Congress in a tough district.  Bachmann has announced that she will not seek re-election in 2014.

But of course, McCotter and Bachmann are different cases because they do not make it a habit to bad mouth their fellow Republicans.  Surely, Representative Peter King's telegenic looks, his pleasant demeanor as well as his principled reputation will put him in good stead once he loses his position of power as House Homeland Security Chair and is no longer useful to the Lamestream Media.  

Some Reasons to Give Flying Flip About Filibusters

Senator Ted Cruz (R-FL) took to the Senate floor and stood  for 21 hours and 19 minutes  to speak against voting for the cloture motion on the House Continuing Resolution legislation (House Res. 59) . But detractors like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) are quick to insist that it was not a filibuster.  It is said that the Freshman Senator from Florida could not have a filibuster as his effort was not intended to delay or prevent legislative action.    

A broader understanding of filibuster is an effort to prevent action by making a long speech.  The 21 hours and 19 minutes of floor time certainly qualifies as a long speech.  Consider the aim of Senator Cruz’s effort.  He was speaking against a cloture motion.  Cloture is the procedure that a 60 vote majority in the Senate cuts off debate.  

Those who deny that Senator Cruz’s control of the Senate Floor for nearly a full day was not a filibuster are less interested in abiding by proper political parlance.  They know that the public generally considers a filibuster a noble effort of a Senator to abide his conscience and speak what he understands as the truth until he can stand no more.   Filibusters evoke memory’s of the Frank Capra film “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” (1939).

[L] Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)  [R] Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) during filibuster 

But if Cruz just was giving a very long speech, then he can be framed as just wasting the Senate’s time, even though Majority Leader Reid was appraised and approved of the talkathon. 

All of this between-the-beltways trivialities about filibusters illustrates one of Senator Cruz’s concerns.  Early on in his filibuster, Senator Cruz alleged that most people don’t give a flying flip about a bunch of politicians in Washington, DC with cheap suits and haircuts. A filibuster may empty the Senate chamber, but it can generate considerable attention and audience via CSPAN as well as alternate media and the internet. 










But couching the Senate floor action as a non-filibuster against the cloture vote on the Continuing Resolution (House Res. 59) which it’s technically correct, it is smoke and mirrors to confuse the public of the real work. 

The Continuing Resolution is a budget matter.  The Senate had not passed a budget in four years, and so Continuing Resolutions which used prior spending levels as a metric for stop gap funding have been used.  For Fiscal Year 2014, the Senate had not passed any specific appropriation bills and the October 1st  fiscal new year loomed.  

So the House of Representatives passed a Continuing Resolution for two months of funding of all federal programs, save the yet to be implemented Obamacare.  The White House and Senate Democrats under the direction of Senate Majority Leader Reid want to strip the defund Obamacare provision, which many ayes in the House were premised.

The cloture motion was meant to cut off debate.  If passed, Senate rules for budget bills then only allow for 30 hours of debate.  Senator Cruz and other tea party sympathetic conservatives were concerned that Senator Reid would present a clean bill, which stripped the defund Obamacare provision and not allow for any amendments.  

Cruz’s filibuster sought to educate the public of the Senatorial shenanigans.  Cruz alleged that some Republicans wanted to vote for cloture and then vote against final passage.  This DC two step allows what detractors call RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) to say that they voted against the bill, but their vote was a purely symbolic measure and the Democrat majority gets its way to continue to impose an overarching takeover of the health care system (aside from Congress and Federal workers, who were extra juridically exempted by President Obama over specific legislative provisions). 

[***]

In between renditions of Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham for the Cruz childrens’ storytime, there was probably more substantive debate about Obamacare’s adverse effect on the health care delivery system and retarding economic growth during Cruz’ s filibuster than what occurred when the so called Affordable Care Act was passed by the Senate on Christmas Eve, 2009. 




The filibuster drew more ordinary people outside of the District of Calamity (sic) to pay attention to detailed arguments against than the sweet lies put forth by the  White House and the lapdog Lamestream Media.

While procedurally Senator Cruz's efforts might not amount to much, this is not the only battle to be found in defunding Obamacare.  Even if Senator Reid is successful in passing a Continuing Resolution which strips the defund Obamacare provisions through the Senate, the House must act.  Either the Republican majority in House must acquiesce to Senator Reid's jam down  with a "clean" C.R., the Chambers must  conference or the House can pass another legislative vehicle which the Senate may not approve prior to October 1st.  There are suggestions that revised House legislation might include a one year delay in Obamacare, revoking the Congressional Obamacare exemption,  or approving  XL pipeline, which would be a tough pill for Senate Democrats to swallow. 

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington illustrated how people in the heartland became engaged in a filibuster by dumping an alluvia of telegrams on the Senate floor.  Senator Cruz is hoping that in the internet age, public opinion can be galvanized by social media.  C-SPAN allowed for internet 2.0 peer to peer engagement with Cruz reading Twitter messages on the Senate Floor.  Cruz is counting on alternate media and social media to work around the Lamestream Media and produce a groundswell of support which changes the static between the beltway certainty that an unpopular, flawed law like Obamare can be ramrodded into implementation. 

Senator Cruz's filibuster drew back the curtain on the complacency of the Cocktail Party in both parties between the beltways. The vitriolic reaction that senior Senator John McCain (R-AZ) unleashed against Cruz after stopped speaking reveals his true self. Freshman Senator John Boozman (R-AR) reportedly dressed Cruz down for all the out of state phone calls about Obamacare.   And Senate Minority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) refused to support the renegade rhetoric.  This internecine sniping prompted former Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) to note:  "We already have three parties: the Liberal Democrats, the RINO Republicans and 'the good guys.' ". 

Cruz's marathon speech in the Senate also showed some unity amongst the Young Turks.  Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) was instrumental in dissecting the deficiencies and questionable jurisprudential propriety of Obamacare implementation. But what was really impressive was to see how prospective rivals for the 2016 Republican Presidential nomination, namely Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), worked together to get the message out about Obamacare and do something, rather than sit back and cast empty symbolic votes.

The nearly day long debate also had a couple of remarkable colloquies with "friends" on the other side of the aisle.

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In trying to generate groundswell support in the grassroots, Senator Cruz's filibuster popularized the mantra "Make DC Listen".  This slogan may energize the Tea Party Caucus, possibly be the touchstone of a third party or a Presidential campaign.  Nevertheless, "Make DC Listen" taps into public discontent and shows social media savvy. 

So even though Senator Cruz was not successful in his immediate tactic to prevent cloture on the C.R., we ought to give a flying flip about his filibuster as it may be a harbinger for real change in the District of Calamity (sic). 

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