Ted Cruz is the New Jim DeMint

Via Crooks and Liars: Sen. Ted Cruz continues to endear himself to both members of Congress.

“Madame President,” Cruz said to Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), who was presiding over the Senate session, “the senior senator from Arizona urged this body to trust the Republicans. Let me be clear, I don’t trust the Republicans.”

“And I don’t trust the Democrats,” he continued after a beat. “And I think a whole lot of Americans likewise don’t trust the Republicans and the Democrats because it is leadership in both parties that has gotten us into this mess.”

Cruz is denying the right of House Republicans to conference with the Senate on the budget. Cruz is opposing his own party. This is the kind of stuff Jim DeMint used to do. DeMint supported letting the government default based on his own lack of understanding of economics. Even Mitch McConnell, in all his grandstanding, was not that crazy. Cruz, like DeMint, isn't in Congress to pass legislation. Cruz and DeMint both believe in making government dysfunctional and pissing off their colleagues.

I was not surprised when DeMint left the Senate to run the Heritage Foundation. It was obvious DeMint hated government and the people that worked there. My question is why did DeMint ever run for the Senate in the first place. I wouldn't be surprised if Cruz doesn't run for a second term. Hispanic Republicans are turning on Cruz.

“I’m disappointed in Ted Cruz because he is capable of being a leader on the immigration issue like Rubio,” said Artemio Muniz, the chairman of the Federation of Hispanic Republicans, an offshoot of the Republican Party of Texas. “He has the conservative pedigree to take the lead and be the guy and close the gap between the Hispanic community and Republicans, but he has chosen another route.”

Count on Cruz to block the immigration reform bill in the Senate. It doesn't matter that the Republican Party is losing Hispanic voters. Someone has to be the new Jim DeMint. Before DeMint was Joe Lieberman. There is always one member of the Senate that gets a power thrill from behaving like an asshole.

Update: Salon columnist Joan Walsh fired off this tweet.

Wow, Ted Cruz is kind of a skeezy huckster. Will Republicans start to notice?

— Joan Walsh (@joanwalsh) May 24, 2013