After putting maximum pressure on House Republicans to threaten government shutdown if Obamacare is not repealed, he seems uninterested in pressuring his fellow Senators to follow suit. His statement last night put all the responsbility on the House: "Harry Reid will no doubt try to strip the defund language from the continuing resolution, and right now he likely has the votes to do so. At that point, House Republicans must stand firm..."
House conservatives did not take this advice kindly. As one House aide told CNN, "Wendy Davis has more balls than Ted Cruz."
But I think these conservatives misunderstand what Cruz really wants. He doesn't want -- or at least, never expected -- to repeal ObamaCare.
He just wants to shut down the government and default on our debt.
Back in July, Cruz seemed giddy at the prospect of shuttered government offices, glibly saying, "There are some Democrats, some in the media, and some Republicans who portray a shutdown as a horrible calamity. [But] every single week on the weekend, Saturdays and Sundays, we see temporary partial government shutdowns, and the world doesn't end."
And back in May, he blocked the formation of a House-Senate conference to forge a budget resolution because "If we go to conference without the debt ceiling being taken off the plate, it is 100 percent certainty that the debt ceiling will be raised."
He doesn't need to expend energy in the Senate to acheive those goals. He doesn't need to stand on his feet for 18 hours straight. He doesn't need to persaude any Senator to adopt his views. He just needs the House to be as obstructionist, dysfunctional and irrational as possible.
Apparently, Cruz didn't stop to think that not everyone is as cynical as he is. Some of the conservatives seem to really think they can repeal Obamacare! Who woulda thought?
Now Cruz that has implicitly revealed his real nihilstic agenda, we'll see if that changes attitudes in the House.
