Rafael
Edward “Ted” Cruz, the Texan by way of Canada, has leveraged his15 minutes of
fame into 15 days, and he is going for more.
Senator Cruz, the architect of the idea to defund, disassemble, or delay
Obamacare has launched himself into the role of de facto leader of the GOP/Tea
Party.
After
serving a little more than 10 months in the U.S. Senate, Mr. Cruz has bedazzled
a key segment of his GOP/Tea Party contemporaries in the Senate and more
importantly, in the House of Representatives.
He has managed to lead them in Pied Piper fashion to shut down the
federal government, and to threaten to drive the country into one of the
unenviable annals of geo-political history, that of our first-ever default.
Many
close observers, including several in the Grand Ol’ Party have given voice to
the notion that the Junior Senator from Texas does not find his motivation from
a desire for his Party to attain a perch on ideological or political high
ground. Rather they think he derives his
impetus from the prospect that his crusade may enable him to take the lead in
the 2016 race for the GOP Nomination for the White House. Moreover, even some GOP insiders insist that
his gambit has harmed their beloved Party, and more importantly, the American
people.
A
little over two years ago, in August 2011, Standard & Poor's (S&P) issued America it’s
first-ever credit downgrade, moving it’s rating from AAA (Outstanding) to AA+ (Excellent),
and this was after Congress reach an agreement to avert a default. Fast forward to the here and now, and a few
Republican voices are actually contending that crossing the threshold of the
October 17th deadline for resolving the debt
ceiling
crisis is not a disaster for either the economy, not the country. This is a position that flies in the face of
the fact the economy has lost an estimated $20 billion during the first 15 days of
the partial government shutdown.
If
that were not enough, yesterday, credit rating agency Fitch warned that it might
downgrade U.S. debt. Last time, S&P
opted to issue a downgrade, even though Congress did not actually default on the
nation’s debt. What are the chances we
might blow through the deadline, without experiencing similar consequences?
Fitch
has already placed its “AAA” U.S. rating on “rating watch negative,” a
potential prelude to a downgrade. The
2011 S&P downgrade was an historic first.
If the country crosses the debt ceiling deadline, midnight tonight, it
would mark yet another dubious and inauspicious American first. When I consider the lunacy associated with the
actions that that have yet again driven us to the economic brink, it is hard to
argue against the premise that these United States are “Exceptional”…in a bad
way. For all the crowing and posturing,
that invariably hovers around this faux construct, antics such as this tarnish
in a most high profile way, the validity of that position.
Senator
Cruz has refused, up to this point, to relinquish his hold on the title,
Anti-Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) Poster Child. Moreover, he appears to revel in it. The Senate, according to a number of news
accounts, is on a path to forge a compromise.
Through yesterday, the House was reticent to get on board with the idea.
As
we enter the proverbial 11th hour, speculation persists that there
will be a last-minute deal. While I
offer no prediction on the timing, I do believe the impasse is near an end. Moreover, after all that has happened, I am
convinced that one thing is clear – Cruz Control: The Road to Default is Pavedwith Bad Intentions!
I’m
done; holla back!
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