Chad’s Morning Brief: Ted Cruz Calls Out Other Republicans, CBC Wants Sheila Jackson Lee to Head the Department of Homeland Security, & More
Here is your Morning Brief for the morning of July 29, 2013. Give me your feedback below and tune in to The Chad Hasty Show for these and many more topics from 8:30 to 11am. Remember, you can listen online at KFYO.com or on your iPhone/Android with the radioPup App.
1. Cruz Calls Out Republicans (link)
Senator Ted Cruz is taking on his Republican colleagues in Washington. Cruz believes that if Republicans stand together and united, then they can defund Obamacare, but he believes many Republicans are too scared to do it.
“What I can tell you is there are a lot of Republicans in Washington who are scared. They’re scared of being beaten up politically,” Cruz (R-Texas) told Glenn Beck on TheBlaze radio show Monday.
Cruz said there are too many members of the GOP that want to vote against Obamacare symbolically, but don’t actually want to follow throw.
“I’ve been astonished by how many Republicans in Washington want a fig leaf … but they don’t actually want to succeed,” Cruz told Beck.
As long as Republicans don’t cave, Cruz said, they can win the fight, a theme he reiterated in other media appearances Monday.
“If we stand together, we can win this fight. If we don’t surrender, as Republicans are so good at, it’s guaranteed we will not win this fight,” Cruz said on “America Live” on Fox News on Monday afternoon.
Saying there are 63 days left to gut President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, Cruz said he hoped his Republican colleagues would join him and others like Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in not funding a continuing resolution that gives “one cent” to the president’s health care program.
Beck took issue with Cruz mentioning Rubio, saying he no longer trusts the Florida senator after he worked on an immigration compromise in the Senate.
“I don’t trust this guy, because I think this guy has gotten into bed with some of the progressive Republicans himself,” Beck said. “I hope that the people of Florida punish Marco Rubio by sending him home”
But Cruz defended Rubio as an ally on this issue.
“I understand your frustrations,” Cruz told Beck. “As you know I disagreed vociferously with Marco on the Gang of Eight immigration bill. … I can tell you that on the fight to defund Obamacare, Marco has been with us from the beginning.”
Also Monday morning, Cruz rejected interparty squabbles while pushing his anti-Obamacare fight on another radio show. Speaking with radio host Andrea Tantaros, Cruz brushed off criticism from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie of libertarians in the GOP.
“Gov. Christie is certainly entitled to his opinions and he does not seem shy about sharing those,” Cruz said, according to audio provided by The Right Scoop. “I think most people don’t care. They don’t really care about petty, partisan squabbles between politicians. What people are much more interested in is how we turn this country around.”
Unfortunately it looks as though Senator John Cornyn is one of those Republicans that are scared of being beat-up politically. We sure could use some more Cruz's in office.
2. HAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh Wait, This Could be Scary (link)
The Congressional Black Caucus is recommending to President Obama that he appoint freed slave, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston as the next Secretary of Homeland Security. Yes, it would be hilarious if it weren't so scary to think about.
Rich Cooper, avid blogger for Security Debrief, responded to the news of the Jackson Lee recommendation in a post by saying, “Apparently, it is not a joke. For reasons that baffle any sense of reality, it is a serious gesture on the part of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) to encourage President Obama to nominate Rep. Jackson Lee as a replacement for outgoing-DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano.”
A letter dated July 25 and signed by CBC Chairwoman Rep. Marcia Fudge, an Ohio Democrat, urges President Barack Obama to consider Jackson Lee for the position formerly held by Janet Napolitano, the first woman to hold the position. Napolitano resigned earlier this month to become president of the University of California.
“Representative Jackson Lee would serve as an effective DHS Secretary because she understands the importance of increasing border security and maintaining homeland security,” the nomination letter reads.
Since entering Congress in 1995, Jackson Lee has served on several committees, including Foreign Affairs, Judiciary and Homeland Security, in which she was the Chairwoman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection.
“As Chairwoman, Representative Jackson Lee supported increased airplane cargo inspections and increased security for railroads, issues of great importance to the security of this nation and its citizens,” the letter continues.
Jackson Lee currently holds the post of Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, a position that the CBC says she “stands as a strong and honest ‘voice of reason.’”
Cooper responded directly to this line of the letter, saying, “I have heard Rep. Jackson Lee described by many people as many things, but the words “voice of reason” have never been among those descriptions” and that “wildcard” may be a better way to describe the congresswoman.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, was being considered for the Cabinet position before he released a statement saying that he was not interested. Instead, he has chosen to endorse Jackson Lee.
She would be a disaster and would put America in harms way. That doesn't mean Obama won't go along with her though.
3.Trayvon's Mother Starts to Lobby (link)
Raise your hand if you're shocked that Trayvon's Mother is now speaking out against Stand Your Ground Laws. Yeah, that's what I thought.
The mother of slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin and a prominent black lawyers' organization are keeping up the pressure for repeal of "stand your ground" self-defense laws.
Sybrina Fulton joined the call Monday with top officials of the National Bar Association, which is holding its annual convention in Miami Beach. Fulton says she believes neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman got away with murder when he shot Martin in Sanford last year.
Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder earlier this month. He claimed he was acting in self-defense when he shot Martin because the unarmed 17-year-old attacked him. Many critics have said they believe Zimmerman profiled Martin because he was black.
Florida lawmakers say it is unlikely the state's "stand your ground" law will be repealed.
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