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Line 1: − {{Officeholder+ − |name=Ted Cruz − |image=Ted cruz.jpg − |party=[[Republican]] − |spouse=Heidi Cruz − |religion=Southern Baptist − |offices= − {{Officeholder/senator − |state=Texas − |terms=January 3, 2013 - Present − |preceded=[[Kay Bailey Hutchison]] − |former=n − |succeeded= − }} − }} − − '''Ted Cruz''' (born December 22, 1970, in Calgary, Canada) is the junior [[United States Senator]] from Texas, having won the [[U.S. Senate]] seat vacated by [[Kay Bailey Hutchison]] in 2012. A [[conservative]] [[Republican]], he is the former Solicitor General of [[Texas]], the chief lawyer for the state before the [[U.S. Supreme Court]].<ref>Cruz has authored more than eighty U.S. Supreme Court briefs and personally argued forty oral arguments, including nine before the U.S. Supreme Court. He graduated [[magna cum laude]] from [[Harvard Law School]] and served as an editor of the ''Harvard Law Review''.</ref> − − Cruz's wife Heidi has been an executive for Goldman Sachs and is currently on leave from that [[liberal]] investment bank. She plays a prominent role in his campaign and policy positions, and fundraising. Ted Cruz has sided with some [[feminist]] positions. − − Cruz is promoted heavily by [[neocons]] who like his interventionalist foreign policy, but some conservatives see more grandstanding than achievement on social issues. Cruz would not pledge to prohibit enforcement of the [[homosexual marriage]] decision in ''[[Obergefell]]'', and failed to ask Attorneys General to seek reconsideration of the 5-4 decision. − − In prior elections, Cruz has been supported by the [[Tea Party movement]], [[Tea Party Express]], [[Club for Growth]], [[FreedomWorks]], Erick Erickson of [[RedState]], [[Mark Levin]], and former Alaska Governor [[Sarah Palin]], but also by pro-[[homosexual]] donors as discussed below. − − In the Texas Senate primary elections of May 29, 2012, Cruz finished second to Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, but the nine-candidate Republican field forced a run-off. On July 31, Cruz defeated Dewhurst in a second round of voting. Cruz easily defeated Democrat former State Representative Paul Sadler in the general election. − − ==Biography== − Cruz's father [[Rafael Bienvenido Cruz]] fought alongside the [[communist]] [[Fidel Castro]] in the [[Cuban Revolution]] when he was only 14 years old and was imprisoned three years later for his political activities. In 1957, he escaped to the United States. Today he is a pastor in [[Dallas]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/frontpagemag-com/senator-ted-cruz-confronting-the-threat-of-radical-islam/ |title=Senator Ted Cruz: Confronting The Threat of Radical Islam |work=[[FrontPage Magazine]] |date=May 20, 2013 }}</ref>. Cruz's mother is American. After Cruz was born in Alberta, [[Canada]], the family moved to Texas. Cruz is a Southern [[Baptist]], married with two children. − − Cruz attended Princeton where he authored a senior thesis on the 9th and 10th amendments, titled "Clipping the Wings of Angels".<ref>[https://archive.org/details/480888-cruz-thesis Ted Cruz's 1992 Princeton Undergrad Thesis], "Clipping the Wings of Angels"</ref> − − As a student at Harvard Law School, Cruz was more of a libertarian than a social conservative.<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/metro/what-was-ted-cruz-like-at_b_6941178.html</ref> He graduated magna cum laude, with his Juris Doctor degree. − − ==Texas Solicitor General== − Cruz served as Solicitor General for the state of [[Texas]]. While Solicitor General, Cruz was involved with court cases such as [[Medellin v. Texas]], [[Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow]], [[League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry]], [[Van Orden v. Perry]], and [[D.C. v. Heller]]. − − ==Senate Career== − Cruz was elected as a member of the Senate in 2012. Beginning on September 24, 2013, Cruz gave a 21-hour speech on the senate floor against [[Obamacare]]. The speech greatly boosted his national profile and led to denunciations from the [[liberal media]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/25/opinion/the-embarrassment-of-senator-ted-cruz.html |title=The Embarrassment of Senator Ted Cruz |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=September 24th, 2013 }}</ref> − − == Campaigns Financed by Substantial Pro-[[Homosexual]] Donations == − − The ''Texas Tribune'' determined in 2012 that Ted Cruz's:<ref>http://www.texastribune.org/2012/07/03/ted-cruzs-gay-billionaire-donor-draws-criticism/</ref> − {{cquote|largest longtime contributor is a gay billionaire who supports same-sex marriage and marijuana legalization, campaign finance filings show. Peter Thiel, a German-born hedge fund manager and founder of the online payment system PayPal, gave Cruz $251,000 in 2009 for his aborted run for attorney general. The money represented 19 percent of the total raised for that campaign, which Cruz ended after Attorney General Greg Abbott decided to run for re-election.}} − − The ''Texas Monthly'' ran a similar expose entitled, "Ted Cruz's Gay Marriage Money." This article described how one of Cruz's donors has been:<ref>http://www.texasmonthly.com/burka-blog/ted-cruzs-gay-marriage-money</ref> − {{cquote|Paul Elliott Singer of the hedge fund Elliott Management Corporation. Singer, whose son married his partner, donated $425,000 and raised another $500,000 to push for legalization of same-sex marriage in New York. In 2012, Singer donated $1 million to the American Unity PAC, with the purpose of supporting candidates who back gay marriage. Singer gave Cruz $25,000 in 2009.}} − − In April, the New York Times ran an article about the special fundraising meeting that Cruz had in Manhattan with homosexual potential donors: "At New York Reception, Ted Cruz Said to Strike Different Tone Toward Gays." − − == Judicial nominees == − − Ted Cruz recommended Judge Gregg Costa for nomination and confirmation to the Fifth Circuit.<ref> http://www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=news&id=1288</ref> − As a Senator from Texas, Cruz could have blocked the nomination. Instead, Cruz's support made it happen. − − Within five months of confirmation, Judge Costa then voted in favor of Planned Parenthood in trying to reverse a Fifth Circuit ruling that had upheld the pro-women, pro-life HB 2, a good law that resulted in the closure of roughly half the abortion clinics in Texas. Judge Edith Jones and the majority of the Fifth Circuit outvoted Costa on the petition for rehearing en banc in ''Planned Parenthood of Greater Tex. Surgical Health Servs. v. Abbott'', 769 F.3d 330 (Oct. 9, 2014, 5th Cir. 2014).<ref>http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/13/13-51008-CV2.pdf</ref> − − It was obvious prior to Ted Cruz's recommendation that Judge Costa was not [[pro-life]]. In one of his decisions as a district court judge in 2012, Judge Costa uncritically cited ''Roe v. Wade'' for a procedural point. Judge Costa had also been a Democrat volunteer in college in the 1990s. − − ==2016 Presidential Race== − On March 23, 2015, Cruz became the first person to announce his candidacy for the [[Republican]] nomination for president in [[2016 presidential election|2016]] in a speech before an audience at [[Liberty University]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?324979-1/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-announcement |title=Ted Cruz Presidential Campaign Announcement |work=[[CSPAN]] |date=March 23, 2015 }}</ref> The predictable liberal media immediately went on the offense claiming he has no chance but was in awe of his speech without [[teleprompter]]s.{{fact}} His wife would take a leave of absence from her job at Goldman Sachs to join her husband on the campaign trail. This decision left his family without health insurance. Cruz, by law, has to be insured and took Obamacare coverage. This drove the media batty at the irony of railing against [[Obamacare]] but using it.{{fact}} Simply put, this does not mean he endorses Obamacare rather it shows his commitment to follow the rule of law. − − Cruz would raise $4 million in donations after the first week of his announcement. Liberal media jaws hit the floor when it was learned he raised $31 million in one week from [[PAC]]s<ref>{{cite web |last1=Boyle |first1=Matthew |url=http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/04/08/mark-halperin-unprecedented-31-million-super-pac-effort-backing-ted-cruz-for-president/ |title=Mark Halperin: Unprecedented $31 Million Super PAC Effort Backing Ted Cruz For President |work=[[Breitbart.com]] |date=April 8, 2015 }}</ref>. − − ====Eligibility==== − The same liberals who mocked opponents of Obama for claiming he was not born in [[Hawaii]] have decided to make the same case against Cruz for being born in Canada. Cruz's mother being an American citizen, just like Obama's mother, insures that he is American no matter what country he was born in. There are several differences in Obama/Cruz birth certificate controversies. Cruz released his immediately after it was requested. Obama held onto his for years, spending nearly $4 million in legal fees.{{fact}} − − ==Political positions== − Cruz opposes [[illegal immigration]]<ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/international/Ted_Cruz_Immigration.htm Ted Cruz on Immigration ]</ref>, [[gun control]] and [[homosexuality]]. He is [[pro-life]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bair |first1=Andrew |url=http://www.lifenews.com/2013/06/05/pro-life-senator-ted-cruz-to-address-national-right-to-life-convention/ |title=Pro-Life Senator Ted Cruz to Address National Right to Life Convention |work=[[LifeNews.com]] |date= June 5, 2013 }}</ref>, supports the [[death penalty]]<ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/Ted_Cruz.htm Ted Cruz on the issues]</ref> and believes that the [[USA]] should not get involved in the [[Syrian Civil War]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tomasky |first1=Michael |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/09/09/marco-rubio-ted-cruz-and-their-craven-and-brazen-hypocrisy-on-syria.html |title=Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Their Craven and Brazen Hypocrisy on Syria |work=[[The Daily Beast]] |date=September 09, 2013 }}</ref>. − − Cruz has effectively criticized [[RINO]]s, calling them "squishes."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Weiner |first1=Rachel |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/04/29/ted-cruz-mocks-squishes-in-republican-party/ |title=Ted Cruz mocks Senate Republican ‘squishes’ |work=[[Washington Post]] |date=April 29, 2013 }}</ref> − − ==Best Selling Author== − [[The New York Times]] has engaged in a scheme to keep Cruz's book off of its bestseller list.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Howerton |first1=Jason |url=http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/07/09/despite-stellar-sales-new-york-times-keeps-ted-cruzs-new-book-off-bestseller-list-heres-the-excuse-given/ |title=Despite Stellar Sales, New York Times Keeps Ted Cruz’s New Book Off Bestseller List — Here’s the Excuse Given |work=[[The Blaze]] |date=July 9, 2015 }}</ref> − − ==See also== − * [[Senate Elections 2012]] − * [[Senate Conservatives Fund]] − * [[Donna Campbell]] − * [[Salazar v. Buono]] − − ==External Links== − * [http://www.tedcruz.org/ Official Senate campaign website] − * [http://www.facebook.com/tedcruzpage facebook page] − * [https://twitter.com/#!/tedcruz Twitter page] − * [http://www.tedcruz.org/media/videos/ Ted Cruz Videos] − * [https://www.tedcruz.org Ted Cruz 2016 campaign website] − − Various articles: − − * [http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/07/06/ted-cruzs-father-delivers-epic-speech-touting-patriotism-and-lambasting-obamas-socialist-inclinations/ Ted Cruz’s father delivers epic speech touting patriotism and lambasting Obama’s ‘socialist’ inclinations] − − *[http://lessgovisthebestgov.com/blog/ted-cruz-decides-to-run-for-president-two-constitutional-wrongs-dont-make-the-texas-senators-presidential-aspirations-right.html Ted Cruz: Eligible to be president?] − − ==References== − {{reflist|2}} − − [[Category:Republicans]] − [[Category:United States Senators]] − [[Category:Texas]] − [[Category:Conservatives]] − [[Category:Baptists]] − [[Category:113th United States Congress]] − [[Category:114th United States Congress]] − [[Category:Tea Party Movement]] − [[Category: 2016 Presidential Candidates]] − − {{Conservatism}} − {{DEFAULTSORT: Cruz, Ted}} − [[Category:Pro Second Amendment]] − [[Category:Best Selling Authors]]
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"So this afternoon President Obama has invited the Senate Republicans to the White House. So after leaving here, I’m going to be going to the White House. I will make a request. if I’m never seen again, please send a search and rescue team. I very much hope by tomorrow morning I don’t wake up amidst the Syrian rebels." -- Ted Cruz