I was curious if/how a senator can be expelled ~ it's a fairly high threshold, but it's not impossible ... especially where Ted Cruz is the target ~ this is a compelling commentary on WHY it's important for us-the-public to make our voices heard ~ I signed the [MoveOn] petition that is live-linked below ~ while I don't expect "success", big signature numbers will send a very strong message ~ Sooz

Petition Demands The End Of Ted Cruz In The Senate (PETITION)
Author: Stephen D. Foster Jr. October 21, 2013 10:05 pm

Who pushed for the government shutdown? Ted Cruz did. Who urged House Republicans to initiate the shutdown? Ted Cruz did. Who convened a secret meeting with Tea Party Republicans to make sure the shutdown continued? Ted Cruz did. Who called for blowing past the debt ceiling even though it would hurt the economy? Ted Cruz did. And who intends to cause another shutdown in January? Again, that would be Ted Cruz. Because of his role in the government shutdown that lasted 16 days and cost America $24 billion, a petition has sprung up calling upon the US Senate to expel Cruz from their ranks.

The Senate can expel Ted Cruz according to the Constitution

It’s not an impossible task either. According to Article 1, Section 5, Clause 2 of the Constitution,


Considering the fact that the Texas Republican has drawn the ire of many of his Senate colleagues for damaging the party, enough votes for expulsion could certainly be mustered.

There are many reasons why the Senate should expel Ted Cruz

There are many reasons why Cruz should be expelled. He took his obsession to derail Obamacare too far. He opposed the original clean budget bill that was passed by the Senate with bipartisan support. He then worked up House Republicans to stand their ground until their demand to defund the health care law was met by Democrats. At the urging of Cruz, they shut the government down and threatened to let the nation default on the debt. As a result, 800,000 federal workers were laid off, businesses lost money, hungry families were deprived of food assistance, children were deprived of school, and the full faith and credit of the United States was placed in jeopardy. Cruz even held a secret meeting with Tea Party members of the House to make sure they stand their ground no matter what. Even if the country crashed all around them.

The shutdown ended, of course, as did the debt ceiling crisis. Democrats and moderate Republicans joined together to pass a budget extension that lasts until January. They also raised the debt ceiling until February. And even though great damage was done to the country and to the Republican Party, Ted Cruz has vowed to shut the government down and take us to the brink of disaster again this winter. That’s precisely why a petition was created on Moveon.org to urge Senators to prevent such a disaster from falling upon the nation again.

A petition is circulating calling upon the Senate to expel Ted Cruz to prevent another shutdown

The petition, which you can sign by clicking here, states:


It’s certainly possible that the Senate could punish Cruz in some way, and they should. He conspired with Tea Party Republicans to hold America hostage to achieve a policy goal that had nothing to do with the budget or the debt ceiling. He and his cohorts threatened the economic security of the United States and damaged our reputation around the world in order to take health care away from the American people. The Affordable Care Act was legally passed by Congress, signed by the President, and ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court. House Republicans failed to repeal it forty times using the normal and accepted congressional process. Cruz, however, used a reprehensible and dangerous tactic to force the Democrat controlled Senate and the White House to capitulate to GOP demands. As such, Cruz is guilty of seditious conspiracy under the US Code, which makes him unfit to remain in the US Senate.

This isn’t the only petition calling for punishing Tea Party members of Congress

This isn’t the first petition calling for the removal of members of Congress who willingly tried to destroy the country to bring down a law they disagree with. Another petition called for arresting and charging Tea Party Republicans with sedition for conspiring to put the country in harms way to force the repeal of the health care law. By law,


By holding America hostage over Obamacare, Republicans blatantly broke the law. They could have just passed the clean CR and moved on but they didn’t. Instead, they tried to “prevent, hinder, or delay the execution” of the law.

These petitions aren’t a left-wing plot to destroy the GOP, it’s about punishing those who break the law

Some on the right think this is some kind of partisan ploy to get rid of opponents of the political left. But this isn’t about putting every conservative behind bars in an effort to have one party rule in America. Clearly, those who think that way are paranoid and have read one too many conspiracy theories.

This is about the law and protecting the country from those who are willing to destroy it to get their own way on policy. This is about punishing those who care more about their own political agenda than they do about the nation they claim to love. This isn’t about the right to dissent. Republicans have already dissented more than 40 times in the House chamber and have done a fair amount of dissenting across the country. No one is arguing that conservatives don’t have the right to dissent.

What they do NOT have the right to do is threaten the economic security of the United States and the American people. That is exactly what Republicans did when they initiated a government shutdown and stated their intention to blow past the debt ceiling. That is NOT dissent. Burning America to the ground for the sake of opposing President Obama is not dissent. It’s criminal lunacy. Calling for the punishment of those who wanted to see the country burn rather than accept the reality that Obamacare is the law of the land isn’t a bad thing. It draws a line in the sand that says this kind of tactic is unacceptable. If Republicans want to repeal the law, they should make their case and win elections like the President suggested. But they haven’t done either so they decided to put a gun to America’s head to get their way by force.

There is nothing wrong with a two-party system of government. In fact, a two-party system is a good thing. Of course, if conservatives really believed that, they wouldn’t be leading voter suppression efforts against voting groups that lean Democratic. But that’s another story.

The point is, America needs two competent and viable political parties. The problem is that the Republican Party is neither. At least not anymore. They have moved so far to the right that finding compromise is nearly impossible. Plus, the GOP has become so anti-government that they don’t care if the government shuts down or not.

It’s not just Democrats who are furious with Tea Party Republicans for their actions. Independents and even Republicans are too. The American people absolutely hate the Tea Party. The only people who don’t hate the Tea Party are those who actually want to see the country blow up. America needs responsible citizens in Congress. Not ideological extremists who put their agenda ahead of the survival of the nation. That’s why these petitions are good things. These petitions aren’t calling for punishing every conservative in the country, just the extremists who happily and insanely held America hostage.

Ted Cruz and Tea Party members of the House had their chance to show that they could govern responsibly and they failed. They failed because they threatened to harm America and American people if they didn’t get all of their demands met. And now that they’ve failed, they still want to do it all again. That’s makes them a domestic threat and they should face punishment for that, even if it costs them their jobs.

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/10/21/petition-expel-ted-cruz-senate/

That could certainly get the Tea Partiers' attention.

So the Repubs could use the same rationale to get rid of Harry Reid? Ted Cruz is a whack job, there's no question of that, but he is also only one Senator. The rest of them went along with it. If they hadn't he would have just been a pee puddle in the desert.

jim, you don't think the Cruz posse would notice if Cruz were expelled ... or arrested ... or sued? ~ the "leader" always [or at least should always] take the biggest fall ~

This happens to be about Ted Cruz, who is only too eager to take "credit" for the at least $24BILLION fiasco that he orchestrated ~ for me personally, this is not political head-hunting ~ I would be in favor of expelling/suing/arresting anyone who tried to extort the government via intentionally damaging real people ~

Sooz

The thing is, Sooz, that a lot of what you are saying is simply opinion. Should a politician lose his seat simply because he took a position on a subject that he didn't win or that, ultimately, caused damage to the country. There are those in the U.S. who as adamantly support Cruz and revile Harry Reid as you do the reverse. Should Reid be recalled or even arrested simply because they don't like the position he took?

Not to mention that the "sedition" law mentioned in the OP is downright scary! Take it seriously and civil disobedience becomes a major crime.

if there is a God, please let him smite Ted Cruz.

Why? He's the best friend those to the left of Attila the Hun have right now. What if the Tea Party started to follow somebody who didn't sound like they should be heavily medicated?

personally, i think that would be great. i view the TP as a virus. a more benign virus would be welcome.

Sounding rational and being more benign are two very different things. For example I was watching Jon Stewart last night. I don't know if it was an old show or not but he had Charles Krauthammer on and Krauthammer was almost able to convince Stewart of the righteousness of his position. But, if you look at what Krauthammer says in a cold light, you sure don't want him setting your economic and social policy.