Ted Cruz's entire Senate career has been based on saying no in very public fashion. When has he ever proposed significant legislation to do something new/better, as opposed to just saying no to something he doesn't like? He'd be a failure as President because he doesn't have a single original thought, or a vision for where the country should go once he says where it shouldn't.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The very reason we have a Senate is to keep the government running. For a sitting Senator to willfully cause the government to stop running, yes, that makes him a jackass.

It's actually not. A senator has the job of representing his constituents. What the executive branch wants is not priority. The branches are co-equal.

Nobody said the will of the executive should be his priority. But his priority should be to keep our federal government functioning. If he can't get his preferred legislation through Congress and the President (either by signature or overriding veto), then he has to accept that while something might be the will of his particular constituents, it is not the will of the nation as a whole and so it's not going to prevail. To shut down the government over the interests of a small portion of our population, is irresponsible and a dereliction of duty.

If a senator feels a law is going to hurt not only his constituents, but the population on the whole, it's his responsibility to come forward and stand strong, not cave. And, as it turns out, according to Gruber, we WERE being lied to. But liberals have no problem with that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The very reason we have a Senate is to keep the government running. For a sitting Senator to willfully cause the government to stop running, yes, that makes him a jackass.

It's actually not. A senator has the job of representing his constituents. What the executive branch wants is not priority. The branches are co-equal.

Our problem is we have two factions that don't give a damn about our nation, it's party/ideology first, country second. Not enough moderates and too little compromise.

So give the President anything he wants? Got it

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The very reason we have a Senate is to keep the government running. For a sitting Senator to willfully cause the government to stop running, yes, that makes him a jackass.

It's actually not. A senator has the job of representing his constituents. What the executive branch wants is not priority. The branches are co-equal.

Nobody said the will of the executive should be his priority. But his priority should be to keep our federal government functioning. If he can't get his preferred legislation through Congress and the President (either by signature or overriding veto), then he has to accept that while something might be the will of his particular constituents, it is not the will of the nation as a whole and so it's not going to prevail. To shut down the government over the interests of a small portion of our population, is irresponsible and a dereliction of duty.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The very reason we have a Senate is to keep the government running. For a sitting Senator to willfully cause the government to stop running, yes, that makes him a jackass.

It's actually not. A senator has the job of representing his constituents. What the executive branch wants is not priority. The branches are co-equal.

Our problem is we have two factions that don't give a damn about our nation, it's party/ideology first, country second. Not enough moderates and too little compromise.

Anonymous wrote:At a fundraiser, John Boehner talked about how happy he was that Ted Cruz is out campaigning, because it's kept "that jackass" out of DC...

http://dailycaller.com/2015/08/27/john-boehner-calls-ted-cruz-a-jackass-at-fundraiser/

Not that I care much for John Boehner, but I couldn't agree more with him on this one. Happy to see Ted Cruz wasting his time out campaigning for a Presidency that he will never win, as opposed to being in DC causing any more damage in Congress...

Finally, something Boehner said that I agree with 100%.

Anonymous wrote:The very reason we have a Senate is to keep the government running. For a sitting Senator to willfully cause the government to stop running, yes, that makes him a jackass.

It's actually not. A senator has the job of representing his constituents. What the executive branch wants is not priority. The branches are co-equal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I fail to see why Cruz is a jackass, nor is anyone giving a good explanation except "Boehner said so".

Is it because he won't simply vote the way Obama wants him to?

Is it because he stands up to those in Congress he feels are not representing the American people?

Is it because he stays true to the convictions he was elected on?

Cruz is a jackass because he has zero interest in working collaboratively, even with his own party, to get things done, even though that's the entire point of Congress. Look at his legislative history -- 90% of the bills he gets involved with are partisan extremism designed to give him an opportunity to grandstand rather than anything that actually has a chance of passing. He's more concerned with his own publicity than with getting things done, to the point of undermining his own party with respect to achievable goals. If you're a tea part extremist, you probably like Ted Cruz, but if you're a more mainstream Republican, you probably don't.

So what you are saying is that a congressman's job is to go against what he knows is the desires of those who elected him, because he's now in power?

I don't know where people think the job of a congressman is to 'get things done'. Sometimes the job of a congressman is to stop bad policy from moving forward, even if that creates a stalemate.

His job is actually to keep the government running. As for the will of his constituents, of course he should pursue that, but not in a way that damages the country as a whole (such as by shutting down the federal government). The proper way to pursue the will of your constituents in our system of government is through compromise, because we are not a dictatorship (waits for gratuitous reference to Obama wanting to be a dictator). You may not be able to deliver everything they want, but if you can deliver some high-priority items for them while compromising on some things they might not like so much in return, that's accomplishing something. We are a nation of diverse interests, and any rational person has to accept that you can't have your way all the time, you have to learn to work with people who are different from you. Cruz doesn't understand that, which is why he's not an effective senator.

Wow. Who told you the bolded?

Wow. Isn't that basic civics?

The role of one person in the Senate is not to shut it down. That doesn't make sense.

It actually isn't basic civics.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I fail to see why Cruz is a jackass, nor is anyone giving a good explanation except "Boehner said so".

Is it because he won't simply vote the way Obama wants him to?

Is it because he stands up to those in Congress he feels are not representing the American people?

Is it because he stays true to the convictions he was elected on?

Have you considered the possibility that you, too, are a jackass? Just something for you to think about...

So instead of answering the question, you insult?

There are about 10 or 15% of the population that dont think Cruz is an asshole. Those people are fanatics, and there is literally nothing I could say to persuade them that Cruz is an asshole, because they are beyond reason. Suffice it to say that all Democrats think he is an asshole. All moderate Republicans think he is an asshole. And many right wing Republicans think he is an asshole. It is not my job to convince you that a latter-day opportunistic wannabe McCarthy like Cruz is an asshole. It is incumbent on you, as a citizen, to work that out for yourself.

Hilarious, and true!

The very reason we have a Senate is to keep the government running. For a sitting Senator to willfully cause the government to stop running, yes, that makes him a jackass.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I fail to see why Cruz is a jackass, nor is anyone giving a good explanation except "Boehner said so".

Is it because he won't simply vote the way Obama wants him to?

Is it because he stands up to those in Congress he feels are not representing the American people?

Is it because he stays true to the convictions he was elected on?

Cruz is a jackass because he has zero interest in working collaboratively, even with his own party, to get things done, even though that's the entire point of Congress. Look at his legislative history -- 90% of the bills he gets involved with are partisan extremism designed to give him an opportunity to grandstand rather than anything that actually has a chance of passing. He's more concerned with his own publicity than with getting things done, to the point of undermining his own party with respect to achievable goals. If you're a tea part extremist, you probably like Ted Cruz, but if you're a more mainstream Republican, you probably don't.

So what you are saying is that a congressman's job is to go against what he knows is the desires of those who elected him, because he's now in power?

I don't know where people think the job of a congressman is to 'get things done'. Sometimes the job of a congressman is to stop bad policy from moving forward, even if that creates a stalemate.

His job is actually to keep the government running. As for the will of his constituents, of course he should pursue that, but not in a way that damages the country as a whole (such as by shutting down the federal government). The proper way to pursue the will of your constituents in our system of government is through compromise, because we are not a dictatorship (waits for gratuitous reference to Obama wanting to be a dictator). You may not be able to deliver everything they want, but if you can deliver some high-priority items for them while compromising on some things they might not like so much in return, that's accomplishing something. We are a nation of diverse interests, and any rational person has to accept that you can't have your way all the time, you have to learn to work with people who are different from you. Cruz doesn't understand that, which is why he's not an effective senator.

Wow. Who told you the bolded?

Wow. Isn't that basic civics?

The role of one person in the Senate is not to shut it down. That doesn't make sense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I fail to see why Cruz is a jackass, nor is anyone giving a good explanation except "Boehner said so".

Is it because he won't simply vote the way Obama wants him to?

Is it because he stands up to those in Congress he feels are not representing the American people?

Is it because he stays true to the convictions he was elected on?

Have you considered the possibility that you, too, are a jackass? Just something for you to think about...

So instead of answering the question, you insult?

There are about 10 or 15% of the population that dont think Cruz is an asshole. Those people are fanatics, and there is literally nothing I could say to persuade them that Cruz is an asshole, because they are beyond reason. Suffice it to say that all Democrats think he is an asshole. All moderate Republicans think he is an asshole. And many right wing Republicans think he is an asshole. It is not my job to convince you that a latter-day opportunistic wannabe McCarthy like Cruz is an asshole. It is incumbent on you, as a citizen, to work that out for yourself.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I fail to see why Cruz is a jackass, nor is anyone giving a good explanation except "Boehner said so".

Is it because he won't simply vote the way Obama wants him to?

Is it because he stands up to those in Congress he feels are not representing the American people?

Is it because he stays true to the convictions he was elected on?

Cruz is a jackass because he has zero interest in working collaboratively, even with his own party, to get things done, even though that's the entire point of Congress. Look at his legislative history -- 90% of the bills he gets involved with are partisan extremism designed to give him an opportunity to grandstand rather than anything that actually has a chance of passing. He's more concerned with his own publicity than with getting things done, to the point of undermining his own party with respect to achievable goals. If you're a tea part extremist, you probably like Ted Cruz, but if you're a more mainstream Republican, you probably don't.

So what you are saying is that a congressman's job is to go against what he knows is the desires of those who elected him, because he's now in power?

I don't know where people think the job of a congressman is to 'get things done'. Sometimes the job of a congressman is to stop bad policy from moving forward, even if that creates a stalemate.

His job is actually to keep the government running. As for the will of his constituents, of course he should pursue that, but not in a way that damages the country as a whole (such as by shutting down the federal government). The proper way to pursue the will of your constituents in our system of government is through compromise, because we are not a dictatorship (waits for gratuitous reference to Obama wanting to be a dictator). You may not be able to deliver everything they want, but if you can deliver some high-priority items for them while compromising on some things they might not like so much in return, that's accomplishing something. We are a nation of diverse interests, and any rational person has to accept that you can't have your way all the time, you have to learn to work with people who are different from you. Cruz doesn't understand that, which is why he's not an effective senator.

Wow. Who told you the bolded?

Anonymous wrote:I think most of the Senate feels that way about Cruz.

I have a lot of sympathy for Boehner afer reading "It's Worse than It Looks" (Ornstein/Mann). That guy has a lot of crazy fuckers to deal with.

The GOP used to be a lot better at throwing a blanket over the crazies in their delegation, and wheeling them off into a corner where they don't bother anyone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I fail to see why Cruz is a jackass, nor is anyone giving a good explanation except "Boehner said so".

Is it because he won't simply vote the way Obama wants him to?

Is it because he stands up to those in Congress he feels are not representing the American people?

Is it because he stays true to the convictions he was elected on?

Cruz is a jackass because he has zero interest in working collaboratively, even with his own party, to get things done, even though that's the entire point of Congress. Look at his legislative history -- 90% of the bills he gets involved with are partisan extremism designed to give him an opportunity to grandstand rather than anything that actually has a chance of passing. He's more concerned with his own publicity than with getting things done, to the point of undermining his own party with respect to achievable goals. If you're a tea part extremist, you probably like Ted Cruz, but if you're a more mainstream Republican, you probably don't.

So what you are saying is that a congressman's job is to go against what he knows is the desires of those who elected him, because he's now in power?

I don't know where people think the job of a congressman is to 'get things done'. Sometimes the job of a congressman is to stop bad policy from moving forward, even if that creates a stalemate.

His job is actually to keep the government running. As for the will of his constituents, of course he should pursue that, but not in a way that damages the country as a whole (such as by shutting down the federal government). The proper way to pursue the will of your constituents in our system of government is through compromise, because we are not a dictatorship (waits for gratuitous reference to Obama wanting to be a dictator). You may not be able to deliver everything they want, but if you can deliver some high-priority items for them while compromising on some things they might not like so much in return, that's accomplishing something. We are a nation of diverse interests, and any rational person has to accept that you can't have your way all the time, you have to learn to work with people who are different from you. Cruz doesn't understand that, which is why he's not an effective senator.