Vacation can screw with your mind. You spend a week or more just out of touch. No phones, no tablets, no RSS feeds eating hours of your time…then, BAM, your back in the real world on a Monday morning wondering when the crazy parade started. Oh wait, when it comes to Joni “Make ‘em squeal” Ernst or Steve King it’s clown shoes all day, every day.
Speaking of making ‘em squeal, the USDA has proposed guidelines which would suggest the limiting of red meat as part of a healthy diet. Granted, most sane people know that eating a lot of red meat is a prescription for an unhealthy diet and an equally unhealthy planet but those same people do not get lots of campaign contributions from big agriculture companies. Joni Ernst and some other senators are having a hissy fit about sensible recommendations to limit meat consumption.
Ted Cruz is first out of the gate in the race for the GOP’s nomination to attempt to become President of the United States. Just imagine for a moment the level of smugness that would occur if President Ted Cruz—shudder—was giving the State of the Union speech…truly scary. Anyway, here are some things you need to know about the senator from Texas who was actually born in Canada:
- Yep, he was born in Canada. It’s not an issue for Ted “Calgary” Cruz because his mother was an American citizen and his father was a Green Card holder. Now, until he was a member of the U.S. Senate Cruz did hold dual citizenship. It’s tough to rail against universal health care when you’re a citizen of a country with universal health care. Sorry Canada, Ted Cruz is all ours now!
- Ted Cruz does not get his health insurance from the federal government like so many other senators because he is so principled. Actually, he gets his health insurance from Goldman Sachs because his wife is a vice president of that gilded institution.
- He’s another freaking Ivy League graduate. Cruz is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School. For a guy claiming to be an outsider he sure has the credentials of a typical insider. Ivy League? Check. Connections to Wall Street? Check. Koch money…
- Yep, he has defended the practice of dark money in politics which means the Koch brothers might be big spenders to back the candidacy of one Ted Cruz.
- He’s a climate change denier.
- He does not like the IRS or taxes. Even though he usually gets his facts about both wrong.
- And, of course, his idol is Ronald Reagan.
I am sure that as the weeks roll into summer and the caravans of candidates cross the state of Iowa in search of Republican voters who care about these candidates there will be many juicy nuggets to speak about. Until then, adieu.