The Dallas Morning News headline: “Cruz wages lonely, marathon talk on defunding Obamacare.” Lede: “Condemned from all sides, Sen. Ted Cruz launched a talkathon Tuesday intended to cripple Obamacare but aimed — inconveniently — at a bill that would deliver exactly what he asked for.”
AP (its story is what is in the Houston Chronicle on Cruz): “Tea party conservative Sen. Ted Cruz on Tuesday vowed to speak in opposition to President Barack Obama's health care law until he's ‘no longer able to stand,’ even though fellow Republicans urged him to back down from his filibuster for fear of a possible government shutdown in a week.” More: “Egged on by conservative groups, the potential 2016 presidential candidate excoriated Republicans and Democrats in his criticism of the 3-year-old health care law and Congress' unwillingness to gut the law. … Standing on the Senate floor for more than 11 hours, with conservative Sen. Mike Lee of Utah nearby, Cruz talked about the American revolution, the Washington establishment, his Cuban-born father and the impact of the health care law.”
NBC’s Michael O’Brien, Carrie Dann, and Andrew Rafferty: “He does not like Obamacare, he does not like it anywhere.” Cruz spoke “well into the wee hours of Wednesday morning. Cruz read Dr. Seuss’ “Green Eggs and Ham” as he wished his children goodnight from the Capitol. He professed his love for White Castle burgers and even commended actor Ashton Kutcher for a recent award show speech. Between the padding, the freshman senator dipped into long monologues about his fierce opposition to President Barack Obama’s health care law. After more than 15 hours, there was no end in sight.”
Cruz was still speaking as of 7:20 am ET. USA Today: “Shortly before 7 a.m. ET, Cruz passed Sen. William Proxmire, D-Wis., who spoke on the Senate floor for 16 hours, 12 minutes in 1981 to protest raising the nation's debt limit. In terms of time he has controlled the Senate floor, Cruz has passed such legendary Senate talkers as Robert Byrd, Alfonse D'Amato and Huey Long as he brought attention to Obama's signature domestic achievement. GOP Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Marco Rubio of Florida both arrived in the Senate chamber before dawn Wednesday to ask questions of Cruz, so he didn't have to speak the whole time. Overnight, Cruz filled time by talking about the Revolutionary War, the battle against the Nazis, reading tweets from supporters and even reciting Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham. Cruz also shared "words of wisdom" from the reality TV show Duck Dynasty and quoted much of country music singer Toby Keith's song Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue.”
Majority Leader Reid aide Adam Jentleson tweeted: “Fun fact: Senator Cruz pre-negotiated the terms of his #fakefilibuster with Senator Reid yesterday. Not exactly a Mr. Smith moment.”
CSPAN chyron captured by Faiz Shakir, digital adviser to Majority Leader Reid: “This is technically not a filibuster since Sen. Cruz is not delaying action on a bill. He must stop speaking before the Senate votes Wednesday.”
Now, back to reality… “The House Republican leadership is seriously considering attaching a one-year delay of Obamacare’s individual mandate to the Senate bill to avert a government shutdown, according to senior GOP aides,” Politico writes. “If House Republicans decide to go this route, it would all but provoke a government shutdown, since Senate Democrats might not even schedule a vote on a bill that includes that provision, Senate leadership staffers say. Even if the Senate schedules a vote, there might not be time to move the legislation through the slow-moving chamber.”
Roll Call: “As House Republicans prepare their opening bid on a debt limit increase, Speaker John A. Boehner’s old standard for raising the debt limit is looking less like a demand and more like a dream. Republican leaders seem to have shifted their emphasis from the “Boehner rule” — which insists on dollar-for-dollar ‘cuts or reforms’ in return for a debt ceiling increase — to other wish list items, including a one-year delay of Obamacare and approval of the the Keystone XL oil pipeline.”