Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said he didn't quite believe his office when they told him Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was "lying" when he assured Congress he would oppose the Export-Import Bank. Well, on Thursday, Cruz realized his staff had spot on intuition. Speaking for 20 minutes on the Senate floor, Cruz let the Majority Leader know he was very disappointed in his breaking his "explicit promise" not to support Ex-Im and file an amendment to reauthorize it with the passage of a transportation bill.
“There is a profound disappointment among the American people because we keep winning elections, and then we keep getting leaders who don’t do anything they promised,” Cruz said. “We’ve had a Republican majority in both houses of Congress now for about six months. .?.?. This Senate operates exactly the same, the same priorities.”
Cruz explained how he made an unfortunate decision to believe McConnell when the latter looked 54 Republican senators in the eye and gave them their word he would reject Ex-Im. Yet, a "corrupt deal" was simmering in Congress behind their backs.
“I asked the majority leader very directly: What was the deal that was just cut?” Cruz recalled. “The majority leader was visibly angry with me that I would ask such a question, and the majority leader looked at me and said, ‘There is no deal, there is no deal, there is no deal.’ Like Saint Peter, he repeated it three times.”
Yikes.
Cruz's frustration over an Ex-Im reauthorization stems from the bank's providing corporate welfare to companies who don't necessarily need the help. In April, Cruz's colleague, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) urged the Senate to let the bank and its crony capitalism expire.
As for McConnell's also including a vote for the repeal of Obamacare, Cruz called it "empty showmanship."