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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHere's a cheerful thought: Cruz could force a debt default all by his little self. Here's how:
Heres a cheerful thought as Congress remains deadlocked over the debt ceiling and the hours tick away toward default: Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), who basically forced the shutdown and whose own private polls have convinced him that it has been a glorious success, at this point could probably force a default and global economic calamity on his ownif he were so inclined. The Treasury Department says U.S. borrowing authority will expire on Thursday.
How could this happen? Because the Senate can move quickly when necessary, but only by unanimous consent. Lets say Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) strike a deal today (thats looking unlikely). Cruz surely wont like it and has said repeatedly, I will do everything necessary and anything possible to defund Obamacare. If hes true to his word, he could drag out the proceedings past Thursday and possibly well beyond. If a determined band of nut jobs wants to take down the global economy, they could do it, says Jim Manley, a former top staffer for Reid. Under Senate rules, we are past the point of no returntheres not anything Reid or McConnell could do about it.
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That wouldnt be his only weapon, however. The real killer is that Senate rules stipulate there must be 30 hours of post-cloture debate, unless senators agree unanimously to waive it. Reid and McConnell would want unanimous consent to move quickly, but Cruz could refuse, thereby forcing 30 hours of debate. This would drag things out until Tuesday at 11:30 p.m. Then there would be a vote on the motion to proceed (requiring a simple majority), followed by an intervening day, assuming Cruz withheld his consent to vote earlier. So now were looking at a Thursday cloture vote on the bill itself, followed by another 30 hours of post-cloture debate that would blow right past the Treasury deadline. Finally, sometime on Friday, there would be a vote on the bill and on the amendment to swap in Reid/McConnell.
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http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-14/ted-cruz-could-force-a-debt-default-all-by-himself
This was written Monday. Things are even more dire today. There are folks here saying he'd never do this. To them I say: codswallop, baloney, bullshit. Of course he would. He's demonstrated that he wants to burn it all down. Will he? We'll see.
scheming daemons
(25,487 posts)Mitch and Harry come up with a deal, but Boehner gets the House to vote on it first.
Then the Senate can avoid cloture by declaring "privilege" and voting on what is now the House bill immediately.
Thus defanging Cruz.
cali
(114,904 posts)lostincalifornia
(3,639 posts)DCBob
(24,689 posts)Boehner can claim he didn't have any other option.
beachbum bob
(10,437 posts)Have lost. Except for the extremist. If Boehner brings senate bill to the house floor...it passes with majority of democrats and handful of republicans.
cali
(114,904 posts)like if there is a deal that reaches the House in time to avert the default.
kydo
(2,679 posts)It will be his Hitler moment.
lostincalifornia
(3,639 posts)cali
(114,904 posts)lostincalifornia
(3,639 posts)cali
(114,904 posts)lostincalifornia
(3,639 posts)cali
(114,904 posts)lonestarnot
(77,097 posts)found.
lostincalifornia
(3,639 posts)cali
(114,904 posts)about it.
Cruz and Lee.
Orsino
(37,428 posts)...in exchange for a getaway car and a ten-minute head start.
cali
(114,904 posts)Orsino
(37,428 posts)My standard answer is that we won't know for sure until acting crazy stops paying so well.
Laelth
(32,017 posts)Right now, Senator Cruz is dangerous. He sees his Presidential aspirations going up in smoke. His only chance to get the Republican nomination is to double-down, and he might do it. He has no other way to reach his goals but to double-down and hope he is rewarded for it when Republicans emerge victorious (an unlikely scenario, at best).
Because his options are so limited at the moment, I fear we may see him double-down and lead us all off the financial cliff. I hope, of course, that his peers can reel him in, but there's no guarantee of that.
-Laelth