President Barack Obama blasted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) over his opposition to the Affordable Care Act on Wednesday — and did so without mentioning Cruz’s name. Obama spoke Wednesday night at a Dallas fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, his second stop of three in Cruz’s home state. He […]

Mitt Romney painted New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) as the standard bearer of the Republican Party going forward — even saying that if he were to win the Republican nomination for president in 2016, he could “save our party.” On NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, Romney also took a […]

On Friday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tx.) headlined Iowa’s annual GOP fundraising dinner, speaking for 45 minutes without a teleprompter or notes. It was Cruz’s third trip to Iowa, likely in preparation for a 2016 presidential run. Much of his speech was centered on Obamacare and the government shutdown, which he […]

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz went pheasant-hunting in western Iowa on Saturday, fueling the speculation that hat he could be considering running for president in 2016. The tea party Texan went hunting with Republican U.S. Rep. Steve King before the two headed to the Le Mars […]

Since the first federal government shutdown in 17 years ended Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has taken steps to douse the flames when asked if Republicans could pursue this strategy again in January. On CBS’s “Face The Nation” Sunday, McConnell said plainly that there wouldn’t be another shutdown […]

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) spoke with reporters today and said he will not delay the emerging bipartisan Senate dealto reopen the government and raise the debt limit. He’s surrendering. As someone who doesn’t want an economic crisis, I’m pleased. But I find this action hard to square with Cruz’s own […]

Once, I actually smiled.

Veterans and other demonstrators on Sunday protested at the World War II memorial and other national landmarks and monuments that have been closed by the ongoing federal government shutdown. The rally, the “Million Vet March on the Memorials,” drew conservative politicians like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sarah Palin, who […]

Yesterday afternoon, I wrote that Ted Cruz must be living on another planet, since he thinks his politically disastrous government shutdown over Obamacare has actually been a rousing success. That article has generated a lot of interesting mail, which I’m about to share with you. But bear in mind, as […]

This morning, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) spoke to the Values Voters Summit, and his speech was really weird. It’s like he’s living on another planet. On Planet Cruz, there is a massive outpouring of public support for a government shutdown over Obamacare and it’s scaring the hell out of […]

The Democratic National Committee is launching a Spanish-language campaign aimed at freshman Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), hitting them for the ongoing federal government shutdown and not raising the nation’s debt ceiling. The committee will also mount Spanish-language efforts in Nevada and Arizona aimed at the “broader” […]

Republicans are slowly coming around to the possibility of a short-term, six-week-or-so debt-ceiling increase that would allow for negotiations among congressional Republicans, Democrats, and President Barack Obama. But they’re doing so for very different reasons. In many ways, this plan has split the GOP, again, on the issue of Obamacare. […]

President Barack Obama took aim at freshman Republican senators in an interview with The Associated Press published Saturday. And though he didn’t name him, it’s clear he was contrasting himself with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who has led the push on the right to defund Obamacare through the government-shutdown fight. […]

SENATOR Ted Cruz of Texas says he came to Washington to “shake up the status quo”. Elected with Tea Party backing in 2012 after defying his state’s Republican establishment, he vowed to confront both parties over their addiction to “unsustainable” public spending. To fans he is a prayer answered: a […]

A group of Republican senators, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), blasted Sen. Ted Cruz in a members-only meeting on Thursday, according to a report in the New York Times. Here’s what happened, according to the report: Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) furiously waved a printout from the Senate Conservatives […]

“Meet the Press” host David Gregory challenged Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on his efforts to defund the Affordable Care Act through the continuing resolution Sunday, as a government shutdown looms. Gregory told Cruz he hasn’t moved “anything” or “anyone” during the past week, which has been full of theatrics, including […]

The House of Representatives is preparing to sendanother continuing resolution to the Senate with provisions that make it dead on arrival. Having been denied their proposal to defund Obamacare completely, their new plan would delay the law for one year and repeal the medical device tax it contains. But National […]

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is calling the shots in the Republican Party. That’s what one Senate Democratic aide said is clear from House Republicans’ latest strategy on the House’s continuing resolution — one that is likely to force a government shutdown on Tuesday. “Draft Cruz” for Speaker, the Senate aide […]

The Senate on Friday passed its version of a bill to keep the government funded and avert a government shutdown, the latest move in legislative ping-pong between the two chambers of Congress. The Senate’s continuing resolution funds the government through Nov. 15, and it strips language in a House of […]

In his first sit-down interview since a marathon, 21-hour Senate floor speech, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) blasted Republicans for being “scared” of defunding the Affordable Care Act through the continuing resolution because of the potential backlash of a government shutdown. Cruz and Fox News’ Sean Hannity were discussing an intense […]

Republican Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.) lashed out at fellow GOP Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) in a heated exchange on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon, rebuking his objection to move up a vote on a bill to avert a government shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid requested to move up the […]

In a rare moment for the United States Senate, the “world’s greatest deliberative body” has voted, unanimously, on something. On Wednesday, the Senate voted 100-0 on the motion to proceed to debate the House of Representatives-passed continuing resolution to keep the government funded. The vote came about an hour after […]

'In democracies, almost always, the majority governs and passes legislation.'

Holding it in.

"Mike Lee, I am your father."

Impressive.

It's the best fiscal option.

During his marathon speech on the Senate floor Tuesday in opposition to funding the Affordable Care Act in the continuing resolution, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) took a break … to read bedtime stories to his two young girls. He said that his two daughters were watching C-SPAN2 at home — […]

He made his comments at the Clinton Global Initiative.

He's time-limited.

Just less than a half hour into his speech in opposition to Obamacare on the Senate floor, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) compared his fight to defund it to the fight against Nazi Germany in the 1940s. Cruz said that acceptance of Obamacare implementation is like 1930s appeasement of Nazi Germany. […]

Ted Cruz rose in the Senate early Tuesday afternoon in opposition to the inclusion of funding for the Affordable Care Act in the Senate’s continuing resolution to keep the government funded. By Wednesday, he was still talking. “I rise today in opposition to Obamacare,” Cruz said at 2:41:35 p.m., after […]

The real battle.

It's complicated.

A new profile makes it clear.

Another battle.

This is the best fight for America.

And it's going to be awkward.

Your problem now, Senate.

"He should stay in the Senate, keep quiet."

The people who hate Ted Cruz now also hated him last week.

Never had a chance.

That was fast.

The inmates are running the asylum.

Why won't Republicans drown the government in a bathtub?

"Outraged."

While Cruz renounces his Canadian citizenship.

And the House GOP probably won't either.

A rising star.

Attacking Democrats as out-of-date and out-of-touch won't work.

"Republicans should be the party of the 47 per cent."

Look out for this guy. 

"He ain't squishy."

F**kface von Clownstick

"Our beloved Texas freedom fighter is nothing but a dirty syrup guzzler!"

President Cruz?

"Don't be a jerk, Sen. Cruz."

New attacks on the "wacko birds."

Gov. Perry wants tax exemptions and other incentives.

[credit provider=”MSNBC”] MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough lit into Republican Sen. Ted Cruz on Friday, one day after Cruz’s much-publicized spat with Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the constitutionality of an assault weapons ban that passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee. Scarborough called Cruz’s objections to the assault weapons ban “complete, utter ignorance about […]

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) continued to rip into Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz on Thursday, telling CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that she “felt patronized” by Cruz during Senate Judiciary Committee discussion earlier in the day on gun control.

[credit provider=”C-SPAN”] Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) lit into freshman Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) during a contentious Senate Judiciary Committee session on a bill to ban assault-style weapons.The bill eventually cleared the Committee on a party-line 10-8 vote. It now heads to the full Senate, where it is likely to be defeated. 

[credit provider=”AP”] The 2013 Conservative Political Action Committee kicks off this week amid a post-election identity crisis for Republicans, as party leaders and activists look back on what went wrong in 2012, and try to reshape the GOP for 2016.  This year marks the 40th anniversary for the conference, and […]

Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill weighed in on the brewing internal conflicts within the Republican Party Tuesday, slamming newly-minted Republican Senator Ted Cruz for pushing the GOP to the extreme right. 

U.S. Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) slammed Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) charge that he and two conservative Senators were “wackos,” chiding him on Twitter for the criticism after he participated in a dinner excursion with President Barack Obama on Wednesday. 

Matt Drudge, the conservative creator and editor of The Drudge Report, tweeted Wednesday night that Sen. Rand Paul’s filibuster of John Brennan’s nomination as CIA Director constituted an “energy shift” for the entire Republican Party. 

Sen. Rand Paul’s filibuster of the nomination of John Brennan to be CIA Director has started to gain significant momentum this afternoon, as other prominent Republican Senators and conservative minds have praised Paul’s three-plus-hour long effort.

 

In what became an increasingly personal Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Chuck Hagel this afternoon, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) called out Republican Ted Cruz for his “over the line” attacks on Hagel. 

[credit provider=”MSNBC”] “Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough on Friday slammed Republican Sens. John McCain and Ted Cruz, two of the Senators who had contentious exchanges with Secretary of defence nominee Chuck Hagel during his confirmation hearing Thursday.Scarborough called McCain and Cruz’s handling of their time questioning Hagel “embarrassing” and suggested […]

The Senate’s interrogation of Chuck Hagel went from bad to worse on Thursday, when newly-elected Texas Sen. Ted Cruz laid into Obama’s defence Secretary nominee with some bogus visual aids. 

[credit provider=”AP”] Senate Republicans are signaling that there could be a heated battle to confirm former GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel as Secretary of defence, preemptively blasting Hagel on the Sunday talk-show circuit yesterday.On Sunday, three GOP Senators gave a preview of what could be in store for Hagel’s confirmation hearings. Sens. […]

[credit provider=”AP”] Last year’s rollercoaster year in politics has paved the way for an even bigger 2013 for several politicians who burst onto the national stage over the past 12 months.These lawmakers and executives are now poised to shape the country’s landscape for the next year, setting the scene for two big […]

[credit provider=”AP”] Texas Republican Senator-elect Ted Cruz on Thursday night blamed Mitt Romney’s infamous “47 per cent” comments as the reason he lost among Latino voters by nearly historic margins.But that excuse doesn’t quite match up to what polls showed consistently throughout the race — that Romney had trouble courting Latinos to […]

[credit provider=”AP”] Before Election Day,  the news consortium conducting exit polls announced that it would be completing only “bare-bones” exit polling in some states, because of cutbacks. In doing so, it might have missed out on the story of the 2016 election, not to mention this one, given the focus […]

[credit provider=”Flickr / Moyan_Brenn_BE_BACK_on_3th_SEPT” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/aigle_dore/5951731165/in/photostream/”] When newly elected Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz openly worried about his state shifting purple — or even blue — in the near future, he was giving voice to Democrats’ bullish hopes of expanding the map in 2016.But that won’t happen unless Democrats are willing […]

[credit provider=”AP”] In Ryan Lizza’s story in this week’s The New Yorker, Texas’ newly-elected Republican Senator Ted Cruz worries about the changing electoral landscape — and how it could get even less favourable for the GOP in coming years. Cruz provides what must be a truly terrifying thought for the Republican Party:

[credit provider=”Wikimedia/Gage Skidmore and AP/Pat Sullivan”] Tuesday night’s televised U.S. Senate debate between Democrat Paul Sadler and Republican Ted Cruz will be more than just an hour long political sparring match.For Sadler, the event in Dallas provides a rare chance to engage Cruz on the issues and draw a response.

[credit provider=”Facebook/J2 Strategies” url=”https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150929690703050&set=a.191683963049.130084.138245413049&type=3&theatre”] For Texas Republicans with statewide ambitions, selecting a consultant used to be a no-brainer. You hired Karl Rove if you could afford him.Rove helped make George W. Bush, Rick Perry, Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn household names in Texas, just as it was transitioning from […]

Here’s what went down on the campaign trail this week: 

[credit provider=”AP”] The Texas Senate runoff Republican primary is Tuesday, and according to a new Public Policy Polling survey, it looks likely that tea party candidate Ted Cruz is going to trounce the more establishment Republican David Dewhurst. Cruz has a 10-point lead in the PPP poll, breaking the 50-per cent threshold and […]

[credit provider=”AP”] Tea Party candidate Ted Cruz is riding a wave of enthusiasm to a 5-point lead in the Texas Senate runoff election, according to a new poll from Public Policy Polling. The runoff election is set July 31. PPP found that Cruz has a 5-point lead over Republican establishment candidate […]

[credit provider=”Techcruch via flickr ” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/techcrunch50-2008/2840822829/”] Tea Party-backed Senate candidate Ted Cruz points with pride to the army of small conservative donors supporting him. But his largest longtime contributor is a gay billionaire who supports same-sex marriage and marijuana legalization, campaign finance filings show.Peter Thiel, a German-born hedge fund manager […]