Republican Report: Ted Cruz Blasts Senate Republicans for Show Vote on ... ift.tt/1d4LOtA Editors Note: The Republican Report is a weekly Thursday column on the news of the week in the Republican Party including the 2014 midterm elections, political/electoral strategy, new initiatives, and party fundraising. Email ayobami@inthecapital with Republican Party news and scoops. Ted Cruz Blasts Senate Republicans for Trickery over Debt Ceiling Vote: In an interview with CNNs Dana Bash Thursday, Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas slammed the Senate Republican leadership for trying to force a show vote on the debt ceiling last week. What Republican leadership said is we want this to pass, but if every senator affirmatively consents to doing it on 51 votes, then we can all cast a vote no and we can go home to our constituents and say we opposed it, Cruz said. And listen, that sort of show vote, that sort of trickery to the constituents is why Congress has a 13 percent approval rating. In my view, he added. We need to be honest with our constituents. And last week, what it was all about was truth and transparency. I think all 45 Republicans should have stood together and said of course not. The Senate Republican leadership wanted the debt ceiling vote to pass without Republican votes but Cruz filibuster forced Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn to vote yay on a procedural vote to advance the debt ceiling bill. Cruz argues that he was not trying to throw his fellow Republicans under the bus by forcing them to vote for cloture. I would like to see all 45 Republicans stand together and actually do what we tell our constituents, he said. He went on: The funny thing is what I told the voters of Texas, I guarantee you all 45 Republican senators tell voters in their states the same thing, which is theyre going to lead the fight to stop the spending and to stop the debt and if 45 Republicans had stood together, nobody gets thrown under the bus. Opinion Pieces Edward Lazear: George W. Bush Found Solution to Healthcare but Nobody Listened: Edward Lazear, who served as chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers from 2006-2009, argues that President George W. Bush had the solution to the healthcare crisis years ago. In an op-ed in POLITICO Wednesday, Lazear writes of the Bush plan: The basic structure is to offer all Americans a standard tax deduction, in 2007 set at $15,000 for families and $7,500 for individuals. The deduction would apply to payroll tax - both employee and employer contribution - as well as to income tax. Importantly, the size of the deduction would be independent of the amount spent on the plan. Any taxpayer who has a plan that includes catastrophic coverage gets the full deduction, irrespective of the plans cost. That is important because it creates the incentives to choose efficiently. 2014 Midterm Elections Lindsey Graham Primary Challenger Tries Tying Him to Hillary Clinton: Bill Connor, one of Senator Lindsey Grahams primary challengers in South Carolina, released a 30-second ad Wednesday tying Graham to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The ad shows footage of Graham referring to Clinton as a role model and one of the most effective secretary of states. About his first ad, Connor states, I was at the TEA Party debate when I first saw this footage of Graham praising and hugging Hillary. I thought it represented whats most frustrating to South Carolina conservatives about Lindsey Graham-the inherent hypocrisy of calling himself a conservative when he campaigns, but acting like and voting like a moderate or liberal the rest of the time. My plan was always to get on TV first and to stay there. 2016 Presidential Election Rick Perry Returns to Iowa Next Week: Texas Governor Rick Perry, a possible 2016 presidential contender, is returning to the presidential primary state of Iowa, the Quad-City Times reported. Perry will be in Des Moines and Davenport on Feb. 27 and 28. Joe Scarborough to visit New Hampshire in March: MSNBCs Joe Scarborough, who has not ruled out a presidential run in 2016, will address the Northeast Republican Leadership Conference in Nashua, N.H., the weekend of March 14 to 15. Other speakers include Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Governor Bobby Jindal of New Hampshire. The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) was outraised by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) in January by more than $2million, according to . DSCC raised $6.55 million compared to the NRSCs $4.62 million. The DSCC also has $15 million cash on hand and $2.5 million in debt, while the NRSC has more than $10 million cash on hand with no debt. GOP Staff Moves and Promotions Andrew Guggenheim: Andy is now Counsel for House Small Business Committee for Representative Sam Graves of Missouri. Jill Shatzen: Jill is now Communications Director for Representative Michael Burgess of Texas. She previously served as Press Secretary to Representative Frank Wolf of Virginia. Apryl Marie Fogel: Apryl is now State Director for 60 Plus Association. She previously served as Communications Director to Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona. Jake Menefee: Jake is now Federal Government Affairs Manager for Marathon Petroleum Corp. He formerly served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Representative Jim Renacci of Ohio. Christopher Parinello: Chris is now Manager, Federal Government Affairs for Valero Energy Corp. He formerly served as Legislative Director to Representative Mike Pompeo of Kansas.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Feb 2014 15:50:53 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015