Cruz critical of McConnell and budget deal

Washington Examiner:

Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican presidential candidate, conducted a 90-minute takedown late Thursday of his own Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, who he characterized by name as a weak leader unwilling to fight for conservative causes.

Cruz, a Tea Party conservative, frequently bucks Senate GOP leaders and has on at least one other occasion criticized McConnell in a Senate floor speech.

But late Thursday, he took on McConnell with renewed antipathy, using pie charts to demonstrate that the Kentucky Republican has bolstered the Democratic agenda rather than conservative goals during his ten-month tenure.

"Why is a Republican majority leader fighting to accomplish the priorities of the Democratic minority?" Cruz asked.

Cruz criticized a broad budget and debt limit deal the Senate is scheduled to vote on early Friday, arguing that the accord gave President Obama and Democrats all that they wanted, with nothing in return for Republicans seeking to rein in spending and shrink the debt.
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Using pie charts, Cruz made the case that McConnell has helped to pass legislation opposed by the majority of Senate Republicans but supported by the majority of Democrats.
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This is one of the reasons the establishment candidates are doing so poorly in the GOP nomination race.  Does McConnell really think GOP voters elected a majority in order to push the evils of liberalism?  The entire Senate leadership has been a major disappointment to voters and their hostility to Cruz disclosing that is not going to make them any more popular.  They refuse to engage Cruz in a debate on these issues because so much of what they are doing would appear indefensible to voters.  Cruz has upset the club by being critical of the leader and that seems more important to them that what the voters think.