Democrats Embrace the Cruz Shutdown Strategy They Once Loathed

When Ted Cruz’s strategy to defund the Affordable Care Act led to an epic government shutdown fight a dozen years ago, Democrats excoriated him as a villain. Now, they’ve adopted the same tactic, though with the opposite goal — preserving Affordable Care Act and other health-care subsidies.

Back then, the Texas Republican was the major force behind the failed effort to eliminate funding for the ACA, at one point giving a 21-hour speech that included a reading of “Green Eggs and Ham.” House and Senate Republican leaders later confessed they thought the freshman firebrand’s strategy was dumb, with no ...