Ted Cruz In Iowa Claims Shutdown Was Worth It By Catherine Lucey and Thomas Beaumont | 10/25/13 11:23 PM ET EDT Excerpts: DES MOINES, Iowa - DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Texas Sen. Ted Cruz argued to influential Iowa Republicans Friday that the partial government shutdown he help precipitate this month was a success despite a compromise that reopened the government and ultimately funded the health care law he has made his name fighting. His reason: It got people talking. "One of the things we accomplished in the fight over Obamacare is we elevated the national debate over what a disaster, what a train wreck, how much Obamacare is hurting millions of Americans across this country," Cruz told about 600 Iowa Republicans at the state GOP's annual fundraising dinner in Des Moines. Cruz's crusader's spirit was the perfect example of what longtime Republicans in Iowa and nationally say is at the root of the party's losing ways and has sparked an intraparty fight over the way forward after consecutive losing presidential elections. Immediately before the Cruz spoke, five-term Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad barely acknowledged the guest and said the way forward for the party nationally was by way of the route cleared by Republican governors. Meanwhile Cruz argued during his 40-minute speech that the health care law enacted in 2010 was the main impediment to economic growth. Cruz was vague after the speech about whether he would continue to try to defund the law in the future. Though Branstad wasn't as direct, he has shown little patience for Congress over the past month, especially the drama surrounding Cruz, and has called for broadening the party to make it more welcoming to voters who have turned away from the GOP. It was Cruz's third visit to Iowa, which is expected to hold the leadoff GOP nominating caucuses ahead of the 2016 presidential election. He has not ruled out seeking the GOP nomination for president in 2016. read: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/25/ted-cruz-iowa-shutdown_n_4165509.html?ref=topbar ...... IMO: Ted Cruz is the epitome of every bad moral instinct that republicans and tpartiers have in politics roday. He will stab friends in the back, talk incessantly about shutting down the government as if it was a respectable thing to accomplish, and will run roughshod over his own party while on his way to seeking the presidency. He has egged on members of the tparty, clearly some of the most stupid, self-engrandizing idiots in Washington today, by promising them non-materializing votes from the Senate, then left them to fend for themselves when he saw shutting down the government as a losing cause. The whole debacle cost taxpayers untold Billions of dollars...all from actions of the tparty the very party that wants to cut the purported high Democratic spending! How hypocritical can you get when all you have to say after the emotional, financial, possible world wide carnage government shutdown is: It got people talking! If Ted Cruz ever wants to be president and take over the republican party, which he clearly does, then he should learn to manufacture plausible reasons for his scurrilous actions, plans, and ridiculous statements concerning the reasons why he forfeited his chances to become president by working on a fools errand.
Personally, I hope he keeps on being that ridiculous! I have great faith in the American people in general, and I don't think there are enough dumb people in America to follow this guy down the path of destruction. . .even among Republicans!
