CNN News:美共和黨參議員克魯茲21小時(shí)演講阻擊奧巴馬醫(yī)改法案

21 straight hours of talking-U.S. Senator Ted Cruzjust did that.

The Republican started Tuesday afternoon and didn'tstop for nearly a day.

It wasn't a filibuster, Senator Cruz wasn't blockinga vote.

He helped the Senate floor to discuss something he and some other members of Congressthink is crucially important.

All across this country, Americans are suffering because of Obamacare.

Obamacare isn't working.

And yet, fundamentally, there arepoliticians in this body who are not listening to the people.

The rules allow a senator to take questions from colleagues without giving up the floor.

Senator Cruz did that.

The rules don't say what you have to talk about.

And during part of his time, Senator Cruz read his kids who were watching at home, a bedtimestory.

I do not like them here or there, I do not like them anywhere.

I do not like green eggs and ham.

Senator Cruz's marathon effort got a lot of attention, but some of his colleagues questionedthe point.

We all admire the senator from Texas for his wanting to talk.

All due respect, I'm not sure we learned anything new.

So, why did he do it? Dana Bash looks at the reasons and the reaction.

Ted Cruz seized the Senate floor and vowed not to let go.

I intend to speak in support of defunding Obamacare until I'm no longer able to stand.

To be sure this is theater, Cruz aides fully admit he's using the Senate floor stage to speakdirectly to his audience-conservative grassroots activists who filled his Tea Party upset lastyear.

Where is the outrage?

Where are the senators standing here saying, what a travesty that young people are beingdenied a fair shot in the American dream because of what we have wrought, because ofObamacare?

Cruz's talk fest is exactly what his Republican leadership who oppose his tactics were trying toavoid.

In fact, even as Cruz started, GOP leaders were talking to reporters a few feet away, urging himto abandon what they consider a complicated fool's errand.

For procedural reasons, Cruz is opposing the bill he supports-funding the government, butdefunding Obamacare.

If you don't follow, that's exactly why many worried Republicans are exasperated.

Effectively, he' saying the fact that you're not standing with him, means that it's Washington'sbusiness as usual.

Does he have a point?

Well, look. I think we'd all be hard-pressed to explain why we were opposed to a bill we're infavor of.

Cruz's scorched earth strategy tying defunding Obamacare to a must-pass spending bill isenflaming many fellow Republicans who think if this causes a government shutdown, they'regoing to get burned.