Ted Cruz’s Latest Cry For Attention Has To Be Seen To Be Believed

Yeah, I just dropped another stinker on the American people. Now send me you money!
Author: Julie Driscoll May 9, 2014 11:05 am   


 
When you cross a dyed-in-the-wool whackadoodle with a pathological liar, you end up with Ted Cruz (Or anyone in the Tea Party – ed.).  And since the near collapse of his zealous anti-Obamacare mission, and no government to shut down at present, he’s careening around like his hair’s on fire, desperately searching for something that will both garner attention for himself (potential 2016 presidential run in the works, ya know) and keep his potential voting base ginned up.  So, without further fanfare, ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to Ted Cruz’ new act of desperation, his just-released missive, “The Legal Limit Report No. 4:  The Obama Administration’s Abuse of Power.”

“. . . an imperial presidency threatens the liberty of every citizen,” Cruz ominously warns – and then goes on to list 76 numbered items which he claims evidences President Obama’s “imperial presidency.”  Impressive.  Well, except for the part where he’s mostly wrong, and except for the part where he mostly lies, and except for the part where he has no facts – other than links to Breitbart, the Daily Caller and the like - to back up his claims.
Let’s spin the wheel, randomly select a few of his claims, see what shakes out between what Cruz claims and pesky little details known as, you know, facts.

Economy, No. 1:  “Ordered Boeing to fire 1,000 employees in South Carolina and shut down a new factory because it was non-union.”

Truth:  The National Labor Relations Board filed a case against Boeing for illegally retaliating against striking workers by building its $750 million Dreamliner factory in South Carolina in a non-union facility in a “right to work” state instead of in a union facility in Washington.  The union and Boeing reached a deal, and the case was dropped.

Economy, No. 3:  “Treated secured creditors worse than unsecured creditors in the Chrysler bankruptcy.”

Truth:  As reported by USA Today, “In fact, the secured creditors received the highest possible amount available to them.  Judge Gonzales [the bankruptcy judge] affirmed this point in the sale order: ‘The sale transaction will provide a greater recovery for the debtors’ creditors than would be provided by any other practical available alternative, including, without limitation, liquidation whether under chapter 11 or chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code.’  The Chrysler creditors group agreed, with 90% supporting the sale as ordered. The U.S. Appeals Court and the Supreme Court also agreed: Challenges to the treatment of various categories of creditors were rejected.”

Executive Nominees and Personnel, No. 2:  “Appointed czars to oversee federal policy specifically because czars do not require Senate confirmation, earning criticism from stalwart Democrats such as West Virginia Sen.Robert Byrd and Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold.”

Truth:  First of all, “czar” is a term invented by the media, not an official term that means anything to any presidential administration (and, for the record, Bush had dozens of “czars”, and presidential “czars” date back to the 1800′s).  Incidentally, Cruz swiped this claim from Fox, who reported that “Obama has appointed over 30 czars” and “Czars are advisors to the president who work outside of the cabinet and do not have to be confirmed by the Senate.”  In fact, many of President Obama’s “czars” were, in fact, confirmed by the Senate; and as for those who can’t be compelled to come to Capitol Hill to testify, that list would include national security advisors – such as Condoleezza Rice, under Bush, who “declined a Senate invitation, a Senate subpoena to come and testify about the evidence of Iraq’s nonexistent weapons of mass destruction.”  

Other Abuses of Power, No. 19:  “Actively, aided in George Zimmerman protests.”

Truth:  Rated “Mostly False” by Politifact, this claim ignores the easily obtainable fact that the Justice Department’s Community Relations Service (CRS) is the Justice Department’s “peacemaker,” and the CRS was sent to Sanford, Florida, at the request of Sanford officials.  Showing up where situations are likely to escalate is, actually, what the CRS does.  According to Politifact, “Responding to hate crimes and police-community relations typically dominate the agency’s work, according to annual reports. After the Sept. 11 attacks, for example, CRS employees responded to attacks against Muslim and Arab-American communities.”  Just one question, and we’ll move on:  Was Bush, by deploying the CRS, accused by Republicans of aiding in Muslim and Arab-American protests post-9/11?

Obamacare, Nos. 1-10:  To paraphrase, Republicans hate the health care mandates, but hate it more that President Obama delayed some of the implementations of the mandate.  Most of Cruz’ Obamacare claims begin with the word “illegally.”

Truth:  Despite right-wing hysteria over President Obama’s executive decisions to delay some of the health care reform mandates, “Constitutional scholar Simon Lazarus argued that such concerns about the legality of the administration’s decisions were overblown and a historical: ” In fact, applicable judicial precedent places such timing adjustments well within the Executive Branch’s lawful discretion… Nor is the one-year delay of the employer mandate an affront to the Constitution, as Professor Michael McConnell and Congressional Republicans insist… Rather, the President has authorized a minor temporary course correction regarding individual ACA provisions, necessary in his Administration’s judgment to faithfully execute the overall statute, other related laws, and the purposes of the ACA’s framers. As a legal as well as a practical matter, that’s well within his job description.”

In his 76-point missive, Cruz belabored every debunked “scandal” (the IRS and Benghazi, to name a couple) and tossed in a few salacious new ones (President Obama “killed four Americans overseas in counterterrorism operations without judicial process,” aided drug cartels and muzzled religious freedom).  Cruz and far right-wing websites like Town Hall, Breitbart, Hot Air, the Blaze and others are linking to Cruz’ 76-point list and holding it up as some sort of final and definitive evidence; coincidentally, these are many of the same sites that Cruz, in his piece, uses as citations for his “facts.”  So, to get this straight, Ted Cruz uses the right-wing blather as factual evidence, and the right-wing airbags use his list quoting their facts as proof. It’s a veritable circle of scam to get suckers to donate money to your cause.  

Sweet work if you can get.