"The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge,
But the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness."
Proverbs 15:14
Soo, this happened:
Seriously...Michael McCaul?!?WASHINGTON -- Critics of Sen. Ted Cruz, still steaming from his Republican convention speech in which he refused to endorse Donald Trump, are now urging another high-profile Texas Republican to challenge him in the 2018 Senate primary.Some Republican donors and Texas politicians are working behind the scenes to build an intraparty challenge for Cruz and have zeroed in on Rep. Michael McCaul as a potential candidate, according to a new report from CNN.McCaul has not yet ruled out the possibility of a run, according to the report, but the Austin Republican has also not seriously considered it. A spokesman for McCaul, Walter Zaykowski, would say only that the congressman is focused on the November’s election and his role as chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.
Because his district includes northeastern Travis County, we've been familiar with McCaul for several years. That being said, in four and a half years and almost 2500 posts worth of blogging, we think the most revealing statistic is that we've never said a word about him. He's literally been that irrelevant.
But, since we're talking about Michael McCaul, lets talk about how he earned his money the old fashioned way:
How the Richest Member of Congress Got That Way
Even as the economy sputtered in 2010, Texas congressman Michael McCaul saw his net worth skyrocket to $292.21 million — 300 percent over where it stood in 2009 — vaulting him to the top of Roll Call’s annual list of the wealthiest members of Congress. Does this have something to do with that “Texas miracle” we keep hearing about? Nope! It has something to do with the miracle of having a very rich wife:In other words, Michael McCaul is the poster child for privilege and wealth obtained through social connections not merit.
The lion’s share of McCaul’s wealth is held by his wife, Linda McCaul, the daughter of Clear Channel Communications CEO and founder Lowry Mays, and his dramatic rise in net worth appears to be the product of generational wealth transfer.
But perhaps you'd rather talk about policy.
McCaul's been a mediocre congressman and there's plenty we pick apart in his record if the need arises, but one aspect stands out.
McCaul is the current chairman of the Homeland Security committee in the U.S. House. In that role, he voted to fund Obama's executive amnesty. Not only that, but he actually gave political cover for others to vote against defunding it:
Republicans aren't going to shut down the government over President Barack Obama's immigration order, House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul said Sunday, "but we are going to shut down this president and his actions."In other words, when Ted Cruz was leading the fight to defund Obama's executive amnesty, Michael McCaul was running interference for leadership.
And, if necessary, there's plenty more where that came from.
Bottom Line: If the Trumpkins want to run a guy who married his money and greased the skids for Obama's executive amnesty against Ted Cruz, they are welcome to try.
He's been an abject failure as Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. He bought into the whole CVE canard, gives speeches & signs photos saying the moderate Muslims are going to help us win the ideological battle against Islamic terror (really? where are these phantom moderates of which he speaks?), unbelievably he has not signed on to co-sponsor H.R.3892 (Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2015) and his betrayal of DHS whistle blower Philip Haney is a disgrace. He's done NOTHING to advance homeland security except repeatedly telling us there's a problem. We know that, Michael!! We need solutions! And if the Chairman of the House Homeland Security can't come up with any, what good is he? I really expected more from a former federal prosecutor and Chief of Counterterrorism and National Security for the Texas branch of the US Attorney's office.
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