Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz

"Today, Texans are hurting. They're hurting here in San Marcos. They're hurting in Wimberley. They're hurting in Houston. They're hurting across the state. "Democrats and Republicans in the congressional delegation will stand as one in support of the federal government meeting its statutory obligations to provide the relief to help the Texans who are hurting."

"This bill is symptomatic of a larger problem in Washington—an addiction to spending money we do not have. The United States Senate should not be in the business of exploiting victims of natural disasters to fund pork projects that further expand our debt."

There is just no way to square this circle. None whatsoever. After witnessing the serious destruction that major flooding just caused in his home state of Texas, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz made an iron-clad promise to his constituents It would be an eminently reasonable assurance to make, if only Ted Cruz were a reasonable man. But he's not. We all know he's not. When Hurricane Sandy wreaked even greater damage across the Northeast in 2012, Cruz told his suffering fellow citizens to get bent Cruz voted against Sandy aid, of course, but now that it's his own backyard that's under water—and not some wretched blue states half a country away—he's all for federal disaster assistance. There's absolutely no way to reconcile these two stances, even if you were to violate the laws of physics.

It just means that Cruz, in addition to being a dystopian extremist, is also that worst sort of political creature: a brazen, two-faced hypocrite who has no compunction about spouting off blatant contradictions whenever they suit his political purposes. And as he tours the nation running for president, it's on us to expose this pernicious brand of deceit.

(Hat-tip: Talking Points Memo)