Texas Senator Ted Cruz just bailed on the state and headed for Mexico, in the midst of a tremendous crisis.
Texas has been through a real ordeal over the past week. Weather turned especially bad six days ago, worsened through the weekend, and a combination of outsized snowfall and single digit temperatures spiked demand for electricity at a time when coal, natural gas, and wind power production all dropped precipitously.
People in the Northeast, the Upper Midwest, and other cold weather regions of the country don’t understand how low temperatures and snowfall could bring down the state. But homes aren’t built for such cold temperatures, they’re built to stay cool during the scorching summer.
Texas is on its own power grid, but the Eastern US grid hasn’t had power to spare. There aren’t long-term contracts either with producers required to deliver power. There are market structure issues, which work well almost all of the time. A decade ago after lesser blackouts recommendations for winterizing were put together but not fully implemented. Due to Covid-19 the grid operator didn’t inspect power plants for winter readiness, either.
Freezing temperatures and lack of power have now spilled over into lack of water. I’ve got no water right now (fortunately I stocked up at the start of the pandemic).
There’s not a ton that Texas Senator Ted Cruz can do to fix the problem now but it’s not a good look, bailing on Texas for a United flight out of Houston to Cancun, heading towards warmth while state utilities melt down.
Re: the Ted Cruz/Cancun thing, this is the photo that unlocks the whole thing. He's in a United terminal. In the top left you can that it's 4:10 pm (or 4ish PM at least). To the left of that, you can see that he's near gate E11, with its destination being Ft. Lauderdale. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/hUuUqSNBze
— Nesler (@thatnesler) February 18, 2021
Just confirmed @SenTedCruz and his family flew to Cancun tonight for a few days at a resort they've visited before. Cruz seems to believe there isn't much for him to do in Texas for the millions of fellow Texans who remain without electricity/water and are literally freezing. pic.twitter.com/6nPiVWtdxe
— David Shuster (@DavidShuster) February 18, 2021
Cruz wasn’t in Washington, DC. He was in Texas, and he left during the crisis. It’s not as though a federal politician would make a difference here. FEMA is delivering blankets, but when roads are impassable how do many people even get those?
Politicians are mostly blaming each other. The Governor Abbott blames local utility providers, though of course the state’s public utility commission regulates them. Beto O’Rourke, preparing a run for governor, blames Abbott.
Austin’s Mayor did a Facebook live telling everyone to drop their thermostats and turn off lights while wearing a light shirt and with accent lighting behind him. (He told people not to travel for the holidays in a Facebook Live filmed from a timeshare in Cabo.)
Gradually power is being restored to the state’s grid, but it will take warmer weather to lessen power demand, melt ice on roads, and ease repairs to burst water mains and restore power to water pumping stations that have gone dark.
What do you think of Ted Cruz leaving his home state in the midst of the crisis? Perhaps there’s nothing he could do anyway and his priority should be his family, in which case it’s fine. Or maybe you think he should show leadership spend time with his constituents who are suffering?
While he can’t do much directly, he can absolutely work to help coordinate the federal response: Lobbying the White House for more short-term resources, connecting FEMA and other agencies to Texas mayors, being a liaison between the Governor and the White House to ensure there is alignment between what is needed and what is given.
“Nero fiddled while Rome burned” is a pretty apt saying here.
Enjoy your holiday, Senator Cruz. American don’t vacation enough.
Hey you got to give him credit, great timing before the storm…
This feels like fake outrage. Senators design federal legislation (or really just vote on it; they often don’t even design it), they don’t do anything tactical or even make any strategic state decisions whatsoever. Why have someone there to use more electricity in Houston?
If it was a vote for a Supreme Court justice that’s expected to overturn Roe V. Wade, I can assure you that Ted would be in DC.
His carryon bag is oversized and he should have been required to check it.
I would argue he’s doing everyone a favor by leaving. The less time he spends in this country the better for everyone.
I don’t mind him leaving, but I’ll be disappointed if he returns.
Dont look at me I am a democrat skies are blue out here in california nevada. Macho texasthe trump state good luck folks sorry
@Joey & @ Brutus – AMEN!!!
As a life-long Texan (53 years unfortunately), I can tell you first hand that Theodore (Ted) Cruz is a royal POS!!!!
He won’t be primaried thanks to his blind support for the guy who called his wife ugly and accused his dad of killing JFK.
He can’t lose his seat to a Democrat in Texas so long as lockdowns, taxes and gun control are issues.
He’s unelectable as President.
Can’t go up. Can’t go down. Literally nothing to lose. Enjoy the vacation.
Well, it would have been interesting to know if this trip was planned in advance or if it was a recent decision to flee the cold weather here in Texas.
His current whereabout is largely irrelevant. What is he or any politician supposed to do NOW? Personally, I don’t care about the symbolism.
It’s how the relevant powers that be address the problem going forward is of paramount interest to me, regardless of their political party or persuasion.
What is up with your city’s mayor, Gary? I never lost power but have kept my thermostat at 60 in an effort to help out, as all the politicians have advised and can assure you my “light shirt:is hidden beneath two other layers.
But to the point of the article, it’s just a bad look for a statewide-elected politician to flee this week.
Y’all remember when Obama wore a tan suit and Fox News lost their collective minds?
I agree with Brutus. If he’s going to leave, he should stay gone.
Even though the feds can’t do much because Texas is on a different grid, Texas’ federal officials could act like they care and volunteer to help their suffering constituents. Their callousness at this time is incredible. They must think they’re bulletproof.
Fantastic. Love a good vacation.
A perfect example – on so many levels – of why people have lost faith in government.
Looks very bad. He could of stayed and helped out. Donate clothes. Let’s someone he knows have refuge. Make support calls to his constituents. Stay gone.!! When you return don’t speak.
Texans have long known this guy is a douche yet they voted to re-elect him in 2018. You get the representation you deserve, Texas.
That said, he has a family that (for reasons unexplainable) seem to love him. So, nothing wrong with taking a family vacation. I assume this was planned well in advance of the power failures.
Ted Cruz travelling is a big fat nothingburger. Just a temporary distraction from the news about Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo and his creating Senior Citizen Death Camps and cover ups and The New Messiah’s ever changing mass vaccination deadlines. Even Anthony Fauci’s about face political sellout regarding The New Messiah having to start vaccination plans from scratch is more newsworthy.
The similarities between Ted Cruz and Mr Haney from “Green Acres” are striking
Who is TED CRUZ? WHO!!!
Obviously this is getting more play because Gary lives in Texas. Texas just represents most people nowadays. Clueless, short sighted, ignore problems until they either become critical or they finally affect them.
One of the few things I agreed with Trump on was his initial plan to fix the infrastructure at the beginning of his term but the idiot McConnell said “no”.
Then you got all of the climate naysayers.
Well, you don’t have power for a few days, that sucks but stop whining and start voting. I’ve gone w/o power for 5 days in the summer and 4 days in the cold winter. Both sucks and it is frustrating but I sure didn’t see my neighborhood getting tons of attention.
Maybe Gary should have used some of his FF miles and gone somewhere warm?
@Gary: he is saving energy. Are you, in your house in Austin? If you are using more than him….
View From the (Left) Wing spewing hate. Typical.
Maybe you should stop taking in illegals…
Will you be doing a story aboutJoe Biden playing video games while Texans freeze and people die of Covid?
Why is this article at View? Doesn’t belong here. Join Huff Post….if I wanted politics I’d read elsewhere.
He didn’t defend his wife. You really expect him to do the right thing!
This is the libertarian dystopia. Deregulation created this. Wait, don’t you work for a libertarian think tank, Gary? Does your lack of water due to deregulation make you rethink your positions?
He is not safe in Mexico- most likely connecting to Havana to see family and sweaty little Marco picking up bags of cash to take to Maralago.
Poetic justice if flights from Cancun to Houston get canceled and he has to try to cross the border his boyfriend built. I’d love to see his lard hanging from the razor wire that has been put along the top of the Wall, and Border agents ,seeing his brown skin, not offering to help him. Perfect karma for a traitor
I sense a meme. Who’s going to photoshop @tedcruz with luggage in front of various disasters? Hindenburg, anyone?
https://twitter.com/davidcorndc/status/1362424182131277825?s=21
At least he will never be president.
Abandoning Texans while they freeze. Unnecessary travel during a pandemic. Vacationing in another country during a pandemic.
TERM LIMITS!
Its all over Twitter now that he didn’t make the UA upgrade list for the return flight to Houston this afternoon. (and will he follow Covid rules for returning to the US?).
I’m sure conservatives will forget about this long before they stop screeching about Newsom eating at a restaurant.
Sorry you’re without water Gary, but curious why you didn’t travel to a hotel nearby or via air given your travel expertise and resources. In other words it would have been very in brand for you to find a travel way to escape – opposite of Ted’s situation.
Hey, he should have left years ago, and stayed away. He’s a jerk. We all know that he’s nothing. Hey someone buy him a ticket to go move in with Trump.
@Greg – the storm has lasted far longer than forecast, and I’m well-prepared for it. Meanwhile Austin airport shut down. Roads are impassable. I made the judgment it was safer to shelter in place than deal with the streets around me not traversable.
@Jeff – utilities are highly regulated, what are you talking about? The electric grid has price controls, the grid operator is a state-created monopoly and is under the public utility commission. And what makes you think I have a deregulated water provider? What regulation do you believe would have been optimal here?
@Ricky – if Joe Biden is playing video games on Air Force One or Marine One that would be very relevant
Trump on Cruz: 🙂
“This guy Ted Cruz is the single biggest liar I have ever dealt with in my life. I mean it. … He will lie about anything. I’ve met much tougher people than Ted Cruz. He’s like a baby. … He’s like a little baby. Soft, weak, little baby by comparison. But for lying, he’s the best I’ve ever seen. … A guy like Ted Cruz, he has no clue. He never employed anybody. He’s a nasty, nasty guy.
The State of Iowa should disqualify Ted Cruz from the most recent election on the basis that he cheated- a total fraud!
Ted Cruz is a total hypocrite and, until recently, a Canadian citizen who may not even have a legal right to run for president.”
I’ll take Gary leff is phishing for comments…again…for a thousand Alex.
Ted Cruz, “Do as I say, not as I do”! Typical hypocritical behavior from Ted Cruz. Maybe Texans will finally see that they elect losers?
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Texas-grid-again-faces-scrutiny-over-cold-15955392.php
TX was warned 10 years ago about winterizing its infrastructure.
So what’s happening now shouldn’t be a surprise to ERCOT or the politicians who run the state.
At least those who were still in office 10 years ago when millions of Texans went without power in another winter storm.
“Thought leader in travel” lol. Wonder why Gary hasn’t added “…and regurgitating the Left’s latest petty talking points.”
So embarrassing. Gary is like a little tattle-teller that just waits for the merest appearance of conservative bad behavior and he’s jumping on that keyboard. Which means he just watches CNN or MSNBC and dutifully regurgitates whatever the latest liberal cheap shot attempt at demonizing a conservative is. Because none of these liberal media-types have an original thought.
This is the same grease ball that told NJ to kiss off when hurricanes hit it and they needed Federal aid, and he felt that Texas money shouldn’t help NJ. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, I say that Teddy should rub a few sticks together and make a fire. Greetings from Asbury Park, Ted!
What a scoop, Gary. You are becoming the best gossip blog in the all-important Av Geeks 40-59 category.