The Senate dealt Ted Cruz’s Obamacare theatrics a death blow right away by voting to move forward on a bill that funds the government.
The final vote total was 79-19.
Among the Republicans voting no were Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Mike Crapo, David Vitter, Mike Enzi, Deb Fischer, Pat Roberts, Chuck Grassley, Moran, Richard Shelby,and Rand Paul voted no on moving forward on the bill. Republican Senate leaders Mitch McConnell, John McCain, and John Cornyn voted yes on moving forward. All the Democrats voted to move forward towards a final vote. Most of the Republicans who voted to move forward will not vote for the final bill.
This vote demonstrated how pointless and foolish Ted Cruz’s fake filibuster really was. Cruz was never going to stop this bill from moving forward. Before the vote, Harry Reid repeated his statement that Cruz had wasted a huge amount of time with his Senate floor publicity stunt. Reid told stories from his childhood about what it was like not being able to see a doctor. Before Reid spoke, Mitch McConnell tried to be clever and attack the Obama administration for requiring small business to fax in their Obamacare applications. Mcconnell apparently had no idea that all computers have fax capabilities, and that it is possible to send a fax over the Internet.
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Before McConnell and Reid spoke Sen. Cruz took the floor to rattle off more lies about Obamacare, but it was all for nothing. Conservative activists had warned Senate Republicans that they were watching them, and that there would be ramifications for voting to move the bill forward. It was an empty threat. Except for some screaming and yelling on Fox News and talk radio, there is little that they can do.
Their biggest threat could be a refusal to support Mitch McConnell against Alison Grimes, but McConnell is armed to the teeth and well funded. Plus, the odds are that these Republicans will come around and support McConnell because they would never want a Senate seat in Kentucky to fall into Democratic hands.
Ted Cruz was thoroughly crushed by his own party, and since the man has no shame the ACA lies will continue.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
