Ted Cruz manages to accuse Eric Holder of flouting the Constitution by trying to protect voting rights...
This is the most partisan Justice Department we've ever seen. On voter ID, the Attorney General has essentially said he's going to defy the Supreme Court and ignore the law.
...and simultaneously pledges his support to a plan to let 41 Republican Senators effectively repeal Obamacare:
I have publicly pledged, along with Senators Mike Lee and Marco Rubio and others, that I will under no circumstances support a continuing resolution that funds even one penny of Obamacare. If we can get 41 Republicans in the Senate to stand together, or 218 Republicans in the House to stand together, we can successfully defund Obamacare on September 30.
Of course, what actually happened with Holder and the Department of Justice is that DOJ is
asking a federal court to subject Texas to the Voting Rights Act's preclearance requirements. That in no way flouts the Supreme Court ruling, which struck down the validity of the map defining which states and regions were automatically subjected to preclearance. Even if it did flout the ruling, the DOJ's isn't taking action unilaterally—it's supporting a motion before a Federal judge. Presumably, if the Supreme Court doesn't like that, they'll get a chance to weigh in.
Cruz's plan to defund Obamacare with just 41 votes is as wrongheaded as his claims about Holder were false. Obamacare isn't just the law of the land, it's been upheld by the Supreme Court and it was reaffirmed by the public in 2012 with the reelection of President Obama and Democratic gains in both the House and Senate. So while Cruz's plan to to nuke Obamacare with just 41 votes might be Constitutional (assuming Democrats foolishly allowed Republicans to abuse the filibuster in such a fashion), it certainly flouts the spirit of the Constitution. Oh, and by the way, what Texas is doing—in trying to restrict voting rights—that also violates the spirit of the Constitution.
I guess by now I should realize that the amazing thing isn't that Ted Cruz spouted this nonsense. It's that he did it in 60 seconds.
