GREATEST PAIN IN AMERICA'S ASS STRIKES AGAIN

The Greatest Pain in America's Ass Strikes Again

By Charles Pierce, Esquire

24 October 13

hile Tailgunner Ted Cruz was pimping his donor list on the public dime over the past couple of weeks, he also busied himself by jacking around with a man named Tom Wheeler, whom the administration would like to make the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. The reason for this is not merely the fact that Ted Cruz is the biggest and mostly costly pain in America's ass, but also that Ted Cruz would like to run for president as a straight-talkin' hero of the American people, and not as the bought-and-paid-for corporate 'ho that he actually is, and he would like not to have to reveal the extent to which he is a bought-and-paid-for corporate 'ho.

Why did Cruz do this? Because he opposes the DISCLOSE Act, a bill that would require super PACS, corporations, unions and other outside groups to disclose to the Federal Elections Commission when they spend more than $10,000 to air political campaign ads. Democrats and public interest groups have been urging passage of the bill as a way to bring greater transparency to political ad funding, but many conservative groups and lawmakers oppose the legislation. In April, Cruz and other GOP senators wrote a letter to the FCC saying the bill raises "grave constitutional concerns for speech protected by the First Amendment." With the bill stalled, some Democrats have suggested that the FCC might be able to use its existing authority over TV broadcasters to require such disclosures. Cruz does not believe the FCC has such authority, and during Wheeler's confirmation hearing in June before the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees the FCC, Cruz pressed the nominee on his views about whether the agency possesses such authority. Wheeler dodged the question, saying he needed more time to study the issue. Cruz made it clear at the time that he was willing to hold up the nomination until he is satisfied.

(By the way, Time? Saying you need more time to study the issue is not prima facie "dodging the question." It may be. It may not. To say so categorically is not good practice and it helps the Tailgunner make his case. Do better next time.)

To me, it's past time for the Democratic majority in the Senate to help out poor Mitch McConnell. Here's what they do. They explain to him that, because he's in real trouble in his general election down in Kentucky, he needs some sort of "bipartisan" deal out of the next few months. (That he also is in trouble with the flying monkeys of the Right is not our concern. Sorry, pal.) Here is the price - Ted Cruz's political balls. We will not insist that his desk be placed on the sidewalk outside of the Russell Building. But, right now, he is stripped of his plum committee assignments. His requests for constituent services all will be referred to his more reasonable - Holy mother of god, what a thing - colleague, John Cornyn, or they will be ignored. His pleas for recognition from the chair often will fall mysteriously on deaf ears. This is not much, Harry Reid will explain to Mitch McConnell. You don't get to use him as an ideological hitman and then bitch about him later any more. It's for your own good, Mitch. If a Democratic senator had given this much trouble to Lyndon when that magnificent sinner was running the Senate, you wouldn't have been able to identify the guy with dental records. All we're trying to do, Mitch, is make your life easier. Honest.

Sometimes, the burden of being a "bipartisan" leader is a heavy one.