Trailing in White House race, Cruz rips McConnell, breaks Reagan's '11th Commandment'

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Fox News:

What if I told you the U.S. Senate is about to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank?

 

Okay, Rip Van Winkle. Hit the snooze button and roll back over.

 

What if I told you that Texas Sen. Ted Cruz absolutely lit up fellow Republican and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky, in an extraordinary floor speech and accused him of lying about reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank?

 

Betcha don’t need a couple of cups of Dunkin’ Donuts’ Arabica bean coffee infused with a Turbo Shot now, do you?

 

It’s hard to imagine an issue as lethargic to the general public than renewing the Export-Import Bank.

 

But that doesn’t mean the future of the so-called “Ex-Im” Bank hasn’t touched off a feisty debate in the business community and on Capitol Hill.

 

The bank offers loans to U.S. businesses to sell products overseas. Supporters argue the institution is essential for the U.S. to compete because many other nations operate similar banks and that extinguishing the bank robs U.S. firms of that essential boost.

 

Conservatives decry the bank. They argue that companies should stand and fall on their own. They’ve converted the doom of the bank into a cause celebre. Congress failed to reauthorize the bank. Its charter to extend new lines of credit ceased at the end of June. However, the bank still operates, managing about 18 years’ worth of outstanding loans.

 

McConnell maneuvered on the Senate floor Friday morning to tee-up a vote that could lead to reauthorization. That’s what forced Cruz’s temper to flare as he incinerated the majority leader in a blistering floor speech.

 

“I cannot believe that (McConnell) would tell a flat-out lie,” seethed Cruz. “We now know that when the majority leader looks us in the eyes and makes an explicit commitment that he is willing to say things that he knows are false.”

 

Whoa.

 

Four things made Cruz’s oratory extraordinary:

 

It featured a prominent Republican senator running for president taking on the majority leader of his own party.

 

There are internal party disagreements all the time. But it’s almost unprecedented for internecine warfare to be laid bare on the Senate floor.

 

The chamber is usually a more genteel place, devoid of such verbal fisticuffs.

 

It is extremely rare for one senator to accuse another of being a liar -- let alone the majority leader.

________

 

I believe the 11th Commandment only applies to actual Republicans...