My must-read of the day is "Sen. Ted Cruz digs in as shutdown looms," in the Los Angeles Times. The Los Angeles Times reports:
Cruz, a Texas Republican, took control of the Senate floor Tuesday to herald his campaign to eliminate the money needed to implement President Obama's healthcare law. He hoped for a galvanizing moment similar to the one sparked by his Kentucky colleague in March.
Congress "is held in such disrepute" because both parties "have refused to listen to the people," Cruz said, arguing that Americans oppose the healthcare law. "We need to make D.C. listen."
The article incorporates coverage of Cruz’s protracted Senate speech and profiles the Texas Republican, who is described as "increasingly isolated."
It is fair to say he is isolated, but isolated from what? If it’s opposition from inside Washington, Cruz appears to welcome it. Despising the "smoke-filled rooms of Washington" is half of his persona. It was also, as Jonah Goldberg notes, a part of then-Sen. Barack Obama’s.
Critics point to his filibuster as a symbolic, but convoluted stance.
It’s not technically a filibuster, and it will do nothing to stop a vote. Procedurally, the most it will do is slow down Senate passage and give the House less time to deal with the revised version of the bill.
Furthermore, he’s said to be stalling a bill he wanted, but this filibuster should surprise no one. Cruz has been explicitly clear that any vote that allows the Affordable Care Act to be funded is one he will not support.
Agree with it or not, Cruz did warn us all.