Cruz Gets In My Craw

It's interesting listening to blowhard Ted Cruz as he spins a variety of fictions and tales, too many to fully enumerate, such as:

2:32-3:07: Americans have had times before now when the outlook for the new generation looked bad. Remember The Depression anyone? Not much optimism in the 30's, judging based on their writings. There is nothing unprecedented about our current times. Resembles the crash-prone 1890's in some respects.

7:04-8:25: Ted Cruz wants a Flat Tax. Allies such as the Mormon Church have repudiated Flat Tax. Reconcile your lame position, please. I like the image of IRS agents on the southern border, but it's a laugh line, not a serious proposal.

13:57-14:30: Do you remember why the IRS was tasked with looking more-closely at political non-profits? It isn't because they want to know the content of your prayers. The NSA wants that. It's because Congress wants to make political donations non-taxable and wedge them into the same exemptions that charities receive, but doesn't have to courage to vote accordingly, so gives the IRS the thankless task of distinguishing among the various types of political non-profits based on very fuzzy criteria they prescribed. To turn around and then use that task assigned to them as the basis of a political attack on them is pretty scurvy, and pretty typical for a Republican.

25:13-27:54: Obama and Carter are actually much different. Carter grappled with inflation. If anything, Obama grapples with deflation. Inflation is lower today than anytime in my lifetime. Or the lifetime before mine. Or the lifetime before that. Only neurotics worry about inflation these days. Obama's policy towards Israeli hardliners is much more gentle than Carter's ever was. I don't why Cruz thinks it's terrible for foreign leaders to mock Obama, when he does nothing but mock Obama himself. People also forget that the reason there was rapid growth after the 1982 recession (which broke the back of inflation at the cost of very high unemployment) was rampant deficit spending to support the Reagan military buildup. Typical GOP hypocrisy on budget issues. And for Cruz to claim Cold War victory for Reagan is asinine, since Democrats like Harry Truman were responsible for the multi-generational, ultimately-successful policy of containment. Republicans did little but get in the way.

Ted Cruz has no business being anywhere near power.