Ted 'Calgary' Cruz filibuster fizzles - Senate approves clean debt ceiling increase

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Remember last fall when Sen. Joe McCarthy Ted "Calgary" Cruz (R-TX) had the Tea-Publicans in Congress all riled up with his demagoguery for a government shutdown over the federal debt ceiling?

That was then, this is now. After being led into a blind alley once by this reckless demagogue, nobody was going to march to his tune again.

After the House passed a "clean" debt ceiling increase on Tuesday, Teddy Calgary promised he would filibuster it in the Senate. "I will demand a 60 vote threshhold!"

Today, the Senate GOP leadership demonstrated they no longer fear this has-been teabagger idol. McConnell, Cornyn Vote To Advance Clean Debt Limit Hike:

The Senate on Wednesday voted 67-31 to break a filibuster and advance a "clean" debt limit hike, which the House passed a day earlier.

Shockingly, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) [provided the final] votes for cloture. Both are up for re-election and were widely expected to vote against the procedural motion. [Soon after, a half dozen other Republicans joined the two leaders.]

McConnell and Cornyn's decision to vote 'yes' swayed some GOP senators to switch their votes and made sure the motion crossed the 60-vote threshold.

The success of the cloture vote effectively guaranteed passage of the bill.

The final deed is done. The Washington Post reports, Congress passes hike in debt limit after dramatic vote:

The Senate voted 55-43 to pass a suspension of the limit on federal borrowing Wednesday, ensuring that the Treasury does not default on its more than $17 trillion debt for another year. 

With the Republican-controlled House approving the "clean" debt ceiling increase Tuesday without any concessions, the legislation now goes to President Obama for his signature. The votes came two weeks before the Feb. 27 deadline, after which financial experts warned of havoc in financial markets if Congress hadn’t acted.

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The Republican surrender probably ended a three-year war by the House GOP against what had been an obscure procedural maneuver to ensure that the nation’s past bills were paid on time.

You will not that those Republicans who voted for cloture turned right around and voted to default on the national debt and to destroy the full faith faith and credit of the United States. Not one of them should be returned to office.