Chad’s Morning Brief: Ted Cruz Takes Aim at Republican and Democratic Lawmakers, Backlash Over Rebel Flag Expands, and Other Top Stories
Your Morning Brief for June 25, 2015.
Ted Cruz and the Washington "Cartel"
Presidential candidate Ted Cruz lashed out at Republicans and Democrats on Wednesday while speaking at the Heritage Foundation. According to the Washington Times, Cruz called out Republican leaders for being part of the "Washington cartel".
Sen. Ted Cruz took aim Wednesday at lawmakers of both parties, including GOP leaders and his Republican presidential rivals, for being part of the “Washington cartel” that has fattened the pockets of deep-pocketed special interests at the expense of hard-working Americans.
The Texas Republican is angling to seize the populist mantle in the 2016 GOP presidential race, and to build upon the strong support he has received from tea partyers and grassroots conservatives who have celebrated the way he has pushed back against the growth of government that has been embraced by Democrats and Republicans.
“Washington is looking for solutions for Washington — not solutions that empower citizens across the nation to succeed, ” Mr. Cruz said during an appearance at the Heritage Foundation. “Instead Washington solutions invariably help the rich and well-connected.”
Mr. Cruz took direct aim at House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, and his leadership team for removing Rep. Mark Meadows from a subcommittee chairmanship after the North Carolina Republican broke with party leaders on rules that would have allow consideration of “fast track” trade negotiation powers for President Obama.
“Why is it that Republican leadership always cuts deals with Democrats and with Washington and throws overboard the conservatives that come October and November in an election year they are desperately asking them to turn out and elect them to power?” Mr. Cruzsaid.
Mr. Cruz said he opposes re-authorization of the Export-Import Bank, which he said kills American jobs and provides welfare to “handpicked” “giant” corporations — putting taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars in loan guarantees to businesses at home and board, who reap the profits, but not the losses.
It should be noted that Cruz was in favor of the "fast track", but then voted against it. Still this is the Cruz that Republicans like hearing from. The Cruz that isn't afraid to criticize his own party and party leaders.
If he keeps this type of speech up, his polling numbers may improve.
Rebel Flag Outrage Expands
The one-sided debate over the Confederate flag has expanded to other areas of Confederate history. According to FOX News, sports teams, parks, and statues are all now part of the debate.
While Stars and Bars have long been associated by many with slavery, the latest campaign to remove Confederate emblems has extended beyond the flag to statues, memorials, parks and even school mascots. Never has the debate over what symbolizes heritage and what stands for hate covered so much ground, as efforts to strip icons that have been part of the visual and cultural landscape of the South for decades are afoot at national, state and local levels.
In one Arkansas town, the school board voted unanimously Tuesday to ban the song "Dixie" for the next school year and phase out “Rebel,” the school’s mascot.
“It came to our attention that the public has been pretty upset about the Confederate flag, which has already been removed, the rebel mascot [and] the playing of the ‘Dixie,’” Fort Smith, Ark., school board member Susan McFerran told reporters after the board voted for the changes.
In Maryland, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamentz is pushing a plan that would change the name of Baltimore's Robert E. Lee Park. A spokesman for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake told The Associated Press she supports the name change and is willing to work with the county to find an appropriate alternative.
Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Tennessee have called for a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and early Ku Klux Klan leader, to be removed from an alcove outside the Senate chambers. The bust, with the words “Confederate States Army” engraved on it, has been at the state Capitol for decades.
A group of Kentucky officials, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, want to kick a statute of Confederate leader Jefferson Davis out of the state Capitol rotunda, and activists in Minnesota have demanded a lake named after John C. Calhoun, a senator and vice president from South Carolina who supported slavery, be re-christened.
This has gotten way out of control. As I said yesterday, this is no longer about a flag or racism. The is what the left wants. Forget debating real issues, instead just have everyone debate a flag and claim that everyone who supports the flag is racist. Erase the history of the South and piss off everyone while you're at it.
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