Harry Reid is no longer John Boehner's least favorite senator
On a Thursday conference call, a group of House conservatives consulted with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas about how to respond to the leadership’s fiscal strategy. Sources who were on the call say Cruz strongly advised them to oppose it, and hours later, Speaker John Boehner’s plan fizzled.
It’s the latest example of Cruz leading the House’s right flank.
The private call came together after Boehner unveiled his strategy at a Republican conference meeting earlier this week. Boehner’s plan — to focus on a debt-limit package, rather than a drawn-out CR battle — made many conservatives uneasy. As they mulled a response, they reached out to Cruz.
So let's see, is the fact that Ted Cruz scuttled John Boehner's crazy debt limit demands a sign that Cruz is secretly a Democrat who realizes screwing with the debt limit is the wrong thing to do? Or does it mean that he's so damn crazy that he thinks John Boehner's crazy plan wasn't crazy enough?
The answer to that is obvious. And the fact that Cruz was able to persuade a sufficient number of House Republicans to take his position is yet another sign that Boehner needs to give up on his "Republicans-only" legislative strategy. Boehner needs Democrats to get his job done, and that means he needs to get back down to planet Earth when it comes to demanding a ransom for stuff that even he admits he needs to do anyway.
