CLAY: We are joined now by Senator Ted Cruz of Texas: 9.1% inflation yesterday, Senator, and there’s lots of rumors — lots of attempts, it appears — that Democrats are still trying to get through a large, massive tax increase and additional spending bills. Reports are that would have to happen before the end of the month. What are you hearing about the likelihood of those chances, and how significant is it that Republicans — and maybe Joe Manchin or Kyrsten Sinema — can come together to stop it from happening? Where are we?

SEN. CRUZ: Well, Clay, it’s a very real danger. We have inflation raging out of control, and the reaction of the Democrats in Washington is to pour gasoline on the fire. And they are actively trying to pass yet another iteration of Joe Biden’s Build Back Broke plan. They want spend trillions of dollars more. They want to borrow trillions of dollars more, and they want to jack up taxes on small business and job creators. Right as the economy is threatening to slide into a recession, the solution of Democrats is jack up taxes and cause even more people to lose their jobs.

It really makes no sense whatsoever. As to the question of what is the likelihood of its happening? It depends quite simply on whether 50 Democrats get to the same page. Schumer has gone to Manchin and Sinema on bended knee, and if they agree to go along with spending trillions of dollars and jacking up taxes, it would be difficult to think of a more foolish step for Congress to take, but that’s where Democrats want to take us right now.

BUCK: Senator Cruz, it’s Buck. Why do you think they want to do this? It’s just — there are some levels of crazy that it seems even Democrats would recognize as such. Given the reality of the economy, inflation, the likelihood of a recession, the possible 1% Fed interest rate hike, they want to raise taxes? Is this kind of like the Obama moment from years ago where he just said, “It’s the right thing to do,” as in some people just need to pay more?

SEN. CRUZ: It is, and I think it’s just ideology. I mean, the problem with today’s Democrats is there are no moderate Democrats left in Congress. That they’ve been driven out of the party, and the people that are driving the agenda are the radical left. You still have people who call themselves socialists! Bernie Sanders is the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. You have people like Bernie and Elizabeth Warren and AOC that are driving the substantive agenda.

And it’s the only thing they know. I don’t know if you remember the old Saturday Night Live skit with Christopher Walken, and there’s a band practicing, and he keeps saying, “More cowbell! We need more cowbell!” From their perspective, this is more cowbell. They have one solution, and it’s tax and spend, tax and spend, and whatever the problem is, their only solution is more cowbell, trillions in more spending — and if inflation gets worse? Well, they’ll just blame it all on Putin.

CLAY: Senator Cruz, we had Senator Hawley on earlier this week, and he got into it with a Cal Berkeley law professor —

SEN. CRUZ: Yes.

CLAY: — and I’m sure you’ve seen that slip and probably talked about it some. You mentioned how the Democrats have basically lost their mind, and I think this is emblematic of it perfectly. I don’t know that there’s a Democrat out there who is willing to say that men can’t get pregnant. How did we ever reach this point? We’re so far down what I call the “woke waterfall” that you have to believe truly crazy things.

SEN. CRUZ: It really is. It’s nutty and crazy town. You know, the hearing that Democrats held on abortion and Roe v. Wade, the three witnesses they had, every one of them introduced themselves and said, “And my pronouns are…” That is the first sentence out of all three of their witnesses. It is truly nutty, and that particular law professor may be the most extreme witness I’ve ever seen testify in the Senate.

At one point, John Cornyn asked her, “Does a baby who has been born, does that baby have value?” She sat there for four full seconds in silence, and then finally she struggled to get out the word “yes.” He then asked the question, “Does that same baby, the day before it’s born, have value?” She refused to answer that question, and her answer instead was, “I believe the person with the capacity for pregnancy has value.”

BUCK: Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. Senator, we appreciate you being with us, sir. Thank you so much.