Ted Cruz: “I rise in praise of Majority Leader Harry Reid. He said the following: My friend from Texas . . . is like the schoolyard…”

“I rise in praise of Majority Leader Harry Reid. He said the following: My friend from Texas . . . is like the schoolyard bully. He pushes everyone around and is losing, and instead of playing the game according to the rules, he not only takes the ball home with him but he changes the rules. Today Leader Reid continued his demonstration of civility by referring to me as the ``very junior Senator from Texas.'' As I noted yesterday, the Senate is not a schoolyard. Setting aside the irony of calling someone a bully and then shouting them down when they attempt to respond, today I simply wish to commend my friend from Nevada for his candor. Yesterday I expressed my concern that sending the budget to conference could be used to pass tax increases or a debt ceiling increase through reconciliation--a backdoor path that would circumvent the longstanding protections of the minority in the Senate. And I observed that I would readily consent to the leader's request if he would simply agree that no such procedural tricks would be employed. It is perhaps rare for a so-called bully to offer to waive all objections if the other side will simply agree to abide by the rules, but I commend the majority leader for his response. He did not disagree that he hoped to use reconciliation to try to force through tax increases or a debt ceiling increase on a straight party-line vote. He did not pretend that his intentions were otherwise.…”