As a general principle no conversations have involved more varied opinions than discussions about the supposed “conservative” media and their seeming cognitive dissonance when it comes to issues surrounding Senator Ted Cruz.
Some people think these voices were just hoodwinked by Cruz and now their ego won’t permit them to admit the falsehood. Others think the pundits are too close to the candidate to see the inherent issues and contradictions; some propose their punditry is connected to financial motives. Perhaps it’s a combination therein, but many people just can’t figure it out.
Whatever the reason, and personally I don’t care one way or the other, one of the realities is their collective influence is marginalized – common sense people, former viewers and listeners, just laugh at them now.
However, historically pundits don’t care so much about influence as they do about affluence. When the money lessens or dries up, that’s when the opinion shifts…. just watch – it’s a guaranteed truism.
Glenn Beck did not lose his Fox TV show because of bad ratings, he lost it because Fox News couldn’t find advertisers for his show. If sponsors were willing to pay for Beck’s 5:00pm News Hour, he’d still be on TV. It was the financial boycotting that drove him out.
The financing in/around political campaigns (consulting is a billion dollar industry) know the ideology of punditry can be retained so long as their affluence is maintained.
This has led to speculation that broadcast punditry is being funded in part by political campaigns. There is a considerable amount of evidence to support this, as FEC documents reveal tens of millions spent via LLC’s connected to media enterprises.
Salem Media Communications is the biggest recipient of the Super-PAC and campaign cash by far – look up who their voices are and you’ll see the most visible members of the #NeverTrump campaign. Salem is followed by iHeart (Limbaugh), Resurgent (Erickson) and many more. The chairman of Glenn Beck’s Mercury One Charity, David Barton, is also in charge of Keep The Promise, Ted Cruz’s Super-PAC – the same super-PAC that gave Carly Fiorina $500k last year.
The anticipated problem when political groups fund political punditry is obvious. Candidate Donald Trump being in the race merely shines a brighter spotlight upon the issue.
Trump has a massive impact on this issue because: a.) he doesn’t purchase their opinion or play the payola game. b.) he can generate his own publicity; and most importantly c.) Trump has a larger support base than the political groups that do play this scheme.
The problem for the punditry class is this dichotomy creates a disconnect between the pundit and the majority of their audience. The pundit is selling one thing, the audience is supporting something entirely different. Sound familiar?
However, all of that being said – we don’t believe these voices are entirely stupid. Some of them are close to stupid as a circumstance of their ideology, but they’re not stupid as a general disposition. This group is intellectually dishonest by intent, not mistake.
Which leads me to this video by Dana Loesch where she rails against Donald Trump and Newt Gingrich over the slights she perceives to Ted Cruz surrounding TPA, Mitch McConnell and Ted Cruz calling McConnell a liar.
I stumbled upon the video accidentally while listening to Glenn Beck explain why his media enterprise is collapsing upon itself.
Blinded by a ridiculous need to express a flawed premise, Loesch misses entirely the framework of the Trade Promotion Authority bill and how Senator Ted Cruz was the principle agent in adding TPA to an otherwise innocuous federal funding bill (HR 2146).
HR2146, as well as all funding/spending bills, originally came out of the House of Representatives because the constitution requires all spending bills to originate in the House of Representatives. It was Senator Ted Cruz who added Trade Promotion Authority, the vehicle for TPP’s ultimate passage, to the spending authorization.
Without Senator Ted Cruz there wouldn’t be TPA.
We’ve previously outlined the issue HERE. Senator Cruz supported the legislative trade-passage vehicle of TPA (Trade Promotion Authority) because ultimately the trade bill itself (TPP) benefits Wall Street’s interests.
However, the best way to understand the issue of his support is to actually listen to Ted Cruz explain in 2015 why he supported, then stopped supporting TPA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE6HLbaAL0A
You can clearly see, in his own words, Senator Cruz stating he stopped supporting TPA because Senator Mitch McConnell lied to him about buying votes for a later re-authorization of the Import-Export bank, which Ted Cruz does not support.
An intellectually honest person would admit, given the reasoning Cruz eloquently delivered, that absent of the Import/Export bank issue the Senator supported the legislative vehicle TPA and the final product TPP.
Ultimately, the simple question: “why would a Senator support the vehicle for trade approval (TPA) if the Senator had doubts about the actual trade deal itself (TPP)” ?
Secondly: “why would a Senator support Fast-Track TPA, the change for 60 vote legislative support for approval to a 61 vote threshold of disapproval, if the senator did not want to grant easier authorization for the president” ?
The bottom line is Senator Cruz supported TPA. Senator Cruz admits he supported TPA in the video above. Remember also, this was HIS BILL along with Paul Ryan.
TPA is HR2146 (TPA “Trade Promotion Authority” containing “Fast Track”): This House Bill #2146 originating April 30th ’15, became the vehicle for passage of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal.
HR2146 was originally introduced in the House of Representatives as a bill to address issues with retirement funds of federal law enforcement officers and firefighters.
In the beginning of the congressional session, with Republicans now in control of both the House and Senate, in Feb-March-April of 2015, Senator Ted Cruz and House Ways and Means Chairman, Representative Paul Ryan, supported Trade Promotion Authority being added to HR2146.
Their support was most notable when they posted the following Op-Ed which appeared in the Wall Street Journal on April 22nd:
https://paulryan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398270
On May 12th, 2015, HR2146 passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended. Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 407 – 5 (Roll no. 220). (text: CR H2848)
The bill passed the house 407-5 because it was not controversial. It was simply a bill for benefits toward LEO and Firefighters retirement funds.
However, as planned, on June 4th 2015, the senate passed the house bill “with changes”. The Trade-Deal was added and notably included an amendment “adding TPA” (thanks to Ted Cruz) and TAA (needed for Elizabeth Warren coalition). TAA was an amendment by the Elizabeth Warren coalition to add union retraining funds in the event the trade bill resulted in job lay-offs.
TPA with TAA passed by unanimous consent thereby avoiding a roll vote on record.
https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2015/house-section/page/H4507-4518
On June 18, 2015 the House accepted the TPA change (Paul Ryan spearhead). The change was the addition of TPA and TAA to the original fire fighters retirement bill.
However, Ryan removed TAA (the financial assistance package for training of union workers – this angered the base of the progressive caucus, Pelosi, Warren, etc). The Senate Democrats, who generally oppose TPP were hoodwinked – TAA was never originally going to be allowed – Senator Elizabeth Warren was furious.
The Democrats in the Senate were furious. They turned to Nancy Pelosi for help in getting the entire fiasco eliminated. However, the White House (President Obama) supported the entire construct of the TPP. Minority leader Nancy Pelosi had to be arm twisted by the White House to go along with HR2146 with TAA spending removed – she acquiesced to President Obama.
Without the training amendment (TAA), HR2146 passed again in the House – only this time with a much closer vote of 218-208, and went back to the Senate to resolve differences. (Remember because of the way it was constructed, the only difference now was the removal of TAA – the training spending)
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/2146
On June 24th HR2146 (TPA without TAA) Then passed the Senate (Ted Cruz did not attempt to block or filibuster because this was the original plan all along). The bill passed in the Senate 60-38 (3/5ths passage rule).
https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?&congress=114&session=1&vote=00219
President Obama now had “fast track trade authorization” to complete the Trans-Pacific Trade Deal; and thanks to Senator Ted Cruz President Obama only needed 51 votes to pass it.
On June 29th 2015 Obama signed Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and HR2146 became law. President Obama now has the legislative vehicle (TPA) he needs to see TPP (the actual deal itself) get through the Senate.
It would now take more votes to block the Trans-Pacific Trade Deal than to approve it. Thanks to Senator Ted Cruz and Speaker Paul Ryan the threshold for legislative approval was lowered.
Senator Ted Cruz voted for Cloture on TPA Fast track trade authority removing the hurdle and concern of further amendments and clearing the way for passage.
Again, just like “unanimous consent” cloture votes are not recorded roll call votes. Thereby Ted Cruz could obfuscate his support. He figured to hide, see how that works?
However, Cruz advocacy could not be hidden entirely. On another bill HR 1314 Cruz voted against an amendment to the Trade Deal that would require congress to be consulted if China (or other nations) were to join after the fact:
Senate Amendment 1251 “To require the approval of Congress before additional countries may join the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement”…
https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=114&session=1&vote=00189
Cruz voted NAY. Directly saying he did not want congress to be consulted before other countries, namely CHINA, could join TPP.
♦ The China Back Door – Remember during November 2015’s GOP debate, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz were saying China is not part of TPP; contrast their voices against Donald Trump who was honestly saying TPP carries a backdoor for China (and Russia) to join.
NOVEMBER 4th – In an interview with Russian interstate channel Mir TV, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry invited China and Russia to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
“We invite people to come join other initiatives, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the TPP. We welcome China, we welcome Russia, we welcome other countries who would like to join, as long as they want to raise the standards and live up to the highest standards of protecting people and doing business openly and transparently and accountably,” said Secretary Kerry. (read more) State Dept Link HERE
Donald Trump was entirely correct. Senator Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz were factually incorrect. Everyone knows China will ultimately join TPP, it’s not a big secret.
BOTTOM LINE – It might hurt Cruz supporters to admit what took place, and worse – to accept the transparency of motive behind what drove his decision making, but it makes no sense at all to ignore the truth of what took place.
Unfortunately, Ted Cruz is part of the Wall Street purchased construct that is currently infecting our entire body politic. The connections to the U.S. CoC legislative agenda, and Goldman Sachs are evident within action not words, along with KtP and obviously his wife Heidi Cruz [ employed by Goldman Sachs, and adviser to Council on Foreign Relations].
[…] Lobbying expenditures by members of a pro-TPP coalition increased to $135 million in the second quarter of 2015, up from $126 million in the first quarter 2015, and $118 million in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to Senate Office of Public Records reports reviewed by Reuters.
The spending surge occurred among members of the U.S. Business Coalition for TPP, a group that hopes a final TPP deal can be completed by the end of 2015. (more)
For those who still find it challenging to accept the truth in the video below Ted Cruz Explains why he supports (TPA) Trade Promotion Authority:
@01:56 of the video, again: “I support TPA” ~ Ted Cruz
All of those aforementioned voices know this fact. Limbaugh, Levin, Beck and Loesch are not stupid, they know the construct of how this all came down.
You see, it takes an intentional action to ignore the truth of how Senator Ted Cruz created, supported, and advocated for Trade Promotion Authority. An advocate cannot claim a position fundamentally disconnected from reality without intentionally desiring to do so.
That’s why these pundit voices cannot be just merely making mistakes, flawed thinking, or errors in judgment. It’s not intellectual dishonesty at play here, it’s just flat out ordinary dishonesty.
Lying.