Difference between revisions of "Ted Cruz"
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| − | '''Rafael Edward | + | '''Rafael Edward Cruz''', known as '''Ted Cruz''' (born December 22, 1970, in [[Calgary]], Canada) is the junior [[United States Senator]] from [[Texas]], having won the seat vacated by [[Kay Bailey Hutchison]] in 2012. A [[Republican Party|Republican]], Cruz was a Solicitor General of Texas, the chief lawyer for the state before the [[U.S. Supreme Court]].<ref>Cruz has been listed as an author of more than eighty U.S. Supreme Court briefs and personally argued in nine before the U.S. Supreme Court, plus another 31 before other courts. He graduated ''[[magna cum laude]]'' from [[Harvard Law School]] and served as an editor of the ''[[Harvard Law Review]]''.</ref> A [[globalist]], Cruz supported the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA, also known as "Fast Track").<ref>https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2015/11/11/senator-ted-cruz-did-support-tpa/</ref> Cruz attends the secret [[Koch brothers]]' meetings and advances their agenda without admitting to doing so.<ref>https://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/24/koch-brothers-pence-trump-239928</ref> He pandered to the Koch brothers by at first refusing to endorse [[Donald Trump]] for president. |
| − | Senator Cruz | + | Senator Cruz was the first candidate to announce for president in 2016, He formed multiple political organizations to support his candidacy prior to the official nomination of Trump in the summer of 2016. Cruz considers himself the political heir of [[Ronald Reagan]].<ref>[[Ronald W. Reagan]] lost the Republican nomination for president in 1976, but then won the nomination and the presidency in 1980.</ref> By many accounts, Cruz ended his national political career by initially refusing during his televised address at the Republican National Convention in [[Cleveland, Ohio]], to endorse Trump. He was loudly booed by the audience for his stance.<ref>[http://www.conservativehq.com/node/23643 Analysis by Richard Viguerie, a former Cruz supporter]</ref> Eventually, Cruz did endorse Trump,<ref>https://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Ted-Cruz-Endorses-Donald-Trump/2016/09/23/id/749888 Retrieved September 24, 2016</ref> but not before becoming the recipient of anger and disdain from many for his hesitation. |
| − | Cruz's wife Heidi is an executive for [[Goldman Sachs]] and was on leave from that [[liberal]] investment bank during the campaign, where she played a dominant strategically and for defining policy positions and fundraising. Ted Cruz has sided with some [[feminist]] positions. Heidi has been a member of the globalist [[Council on Foreign Relations]] and was on the task force that recommended the [[leftist]] [[North American Union]].<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkmZ64nmUfE</ref><ref>[http://www.cfr.org/canada/building-north-american-community/p8102 "Building a North American Community/More about this publication"] (May 2005). Council on Foreign Relations website/Canada.</ref> Reportedly neither Ted Cruz nor his wife donated anything to churches, including what they describe as their own church, from 2006 to 2010, the most recent time period Cruz has released.<ref> | + | Cruz's wife, Heidi, is an executive for [[Goldman Sachs]] and was on leave from that [[liberal]] investment bank during the campaign, where she played a dominant strategically and for defining policy positions and fundraising. Ted Cruz has sided with some [[feminist]] positions. Heidi has been a member of the globalist [[Council on Foreign Relations]] and was on the task force that recommended the [[leftist]] [[North American Union]].<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkmZ64nmUfE</ref><ref>[http://www.cfr.org/canada/building-north-american-community/p8102 "Building a North American Community/More about this publication"] (May 2005). Council on Foreign Relations website/Canada.</ref> Reportedly neither Ted Cruz nor his wife donated anything to churches, including what they describe as their own church, from 2006 to 2010, the most recent time period Cruz has released.<ref>https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2016-01-30/now-deeply-christian-cruzs-religion-once-wasnt-so-obvious</ref> |
Cruz is promoted heavily by [[neocons]] who like his interventionalist foreign policy, but some conservatives see more grandstanding than achievement on social issues. | Cruz is promoted heavily by [[neocons]] who like his interventionalist foreign policy, but some conservatives see more grandstanding than achievement on social issues. | ||
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Cruz's father [[Rafael Bienvenido Cruz]] fought alongside [[Fidel Castro]] during the [[Cuban Revolution]] 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 |author=Cruz, Ted|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 }} See [[FrontPage Magazine]]</ref> Cruz's mother is an American. After Cruz's birth in [[Alberta]], Canada, the family moved to Texas. | Cruz's father [[Rafael Bienvenido Cruz]] fought alongside [[Fidel Castro]] during the [[Cuban Revolution]] 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 |author=Cruz, Ted|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 }} See [[FrontPage Magazine]]</ref> Cruz's mother is an American. After Cruz's birth in [[Alberta]], Canada, the family moved to Texas. | ||
| − | Cruz attended [[Princeton]] | + | Cruz attended [[Princeton]], at which he authored a senior thesis on the [[9th Amendment|9th]] and [[10th Amendment|10th]] Amendments to the [[United States Constitution]], 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>[ | + | As a student at [[Harvard Law School]], Cruz was more of a [[libertarian]] than a social conservative.<ref>[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/metro/what-was-ted-cruz-like-at_b_6941178.html "What was Ted Cruz like at Harvard?"] (May 30, 2015). Huffington Post website/''Metro New York'' blog. See [[Huffington Post]].</ref> He graduated ''magna cum laude'', with his ''Juris Doctor'' degree. |
| − | Cruz is a [[Southern Baptist Convention|Southern Baptist]], married with two children. | + | Cruz is a [[Southern Baptist Convention|Southern Baptist]], married with two children. |
==Texas Solicitor General== | ==Texas Solicitor General== | ||
| − | Cruz served as Solicitor General | + | Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas. In that capacity, he 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== | ==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 | + | 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=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/25/opinion/the-embarrassment-of-senator-ted-cruz.html |title=The embarrassment of Senator Ted Cruz|publisher=''New York Times'' website|date=September 24, 2013}} See [[New York Times]]</ref> His arguments at the time that once ObamaCare was fully implemented, it would be impossible to repeal it, were shown accurate when the GOP had serious trouble agreeing to a repeal-and-replace plan in 2017.<ref>York, Bryan (June 29, 2017). [https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/byron-york-when-ted-cruz-gop-saw-troubled-future-of-obamacare-repeal/article/2627403 Byron York: When Ted Cruz, GOP saw troubled future of Obamacare repeal]. ''Washington Examiner''. Retrieved June 29, 2017.</ref> |
| + | |||
| + | In 2019, Cruz allied himself with far-left members of Congress including [[Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]].<ref>Pappas, Alex (July 21, 2019). [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ted-cruz-progressive-hero-texan-defies-hardliner-image-with-aoc-cooperation-and-more Ted Cruz, progressive hero? Texan defies hard-liner image with AOC cooperation and more]. ''Fox News''. Retrieved July 21, 2019.</ref> | ||
==Campaigns financed by substantial pro-[[homosexual]] donations== | ==Campaigns financed by substantial pro-[[homosexual]] donations== | ||
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==2016 presidential race== | ==2016 presidential race== | ||
[[File:Senator of Texas Ted Cruz at New England College Town Hall Meeting.jpg|thumb|Cruz speaking at a Town Hall Meeting at New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire on February 3, 2016.]] | [[File:Senator of Texas Ted Cruz at New England College Town Hall Meeting.jpg|thumb|Cruz speaking at a Town Hall Meeting at New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire on February 3, 2016.]] | ||
| − | 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>[ | + | 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>[https://www.c-span.org/video/?324979-1/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-announcement "Ted Cruz presidential campaign announcement"] (March 23, 2015). C-SPAN video, 38:18. See [[C-SPAN]]</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}} |
| − | 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 |last=Boyle |first=Matthew |url= | + | 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 |last=Boyle |first=Matthew |url=https://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|publisher=Breitbart News Network/Big government|date=April 8, 2015 }} See [[Breitbart News Network]]</ref> |
====Eligibility==== | ====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 (even though she voted in Canadian elections), 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}} Cruz renounced his Canadian citizenship on May 14, 2014.<ref>{{cite news|url= | + | 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 (even though she voted in Canadian elections), 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}} Cruz renounced his Canadian citizenship on May 14, 2014.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/08/19/cruz-will-renounce-canadian-citizenship/?wprss=rss_homepage|title=Cruz Will Renounce Canadian Citizenship|last=Blake|first=Aaron|date=August 19, 2013|work=[[The Washington Post]]|accessdate=February 6, 2016}}</ref> |
==Political positions== | ==Political positions== | ||
| − | Cruz opposes [[illegal immigration]],<ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/international/Ted_Cruz_Immigration.htm "Ted Cruz on immigration"] (January 20, 2015). On the Issues website.</ref> [[gun control]] and [[homosexuality]]. He is [[pro-life]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Bair |first=Andrew |url= | + | Cruz opposes [[illegal immigration]],<ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/international/Ted_Cruz_Immigration.htm "Ted Cruz on immigration"] (January 20, 2015). On the Issues website.</ref> [[gun control]] and [[homosexuality]]. He is [[pro-life]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Bair |first=Andrew |url=https://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 |publisher=LifeNews.com|date= June 5, 2013 }} See [[LifeNews.com]]</ref> supports the [[death penalty]]<ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/Ted_Cruz.htm#Crime "Ted Cruz on the issues/Ted Cruz on crime"] (February 2015). On the Issues website.</ref> and believes that the [[USA]] should not get involved in the [[Syrian Civil War]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Tomasky |first=Michael |url=https://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 9, 2013 }} See [[The Daily Beast]]</ref> |
| − | Cruz has effectively criticized [[RINO]]s, calling them "squishes."<ref>{{cite web |last=Weiner |first=Rachel |url= | + | Cruz has effectively criticized [[RINO]]s, calling them "squishes."<ref>{{cite web |last=Weiner |first=Rachel |url=https://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 }} See [[Washington Post]]</ref> |
| − | Showing his support for [[Taiwan]] over the communist and authoritarian [[People's Republic of China]], Cruz met with the Taiwanese president in January 2017, along with Texas governor [[Greg Abbott]], even after China sent a statement asking members of Congress not to do so.<ref>{{cite web | title=Cruz Meets with Taiwanese President, Blasts China | url= | + | Showing his support for [[Taiwan]] over the communist and authoritarian [[People's Republic of China]], Cruz met with the Taiwanese president in January 2017, along with Texas governor [[Greg Abbott]], even after China sent a statement asking members of Congress not to do so.<ref>{{cite web | title=Cruz Meets with Taiwanese President, Blasts China | url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/01/08/cruz-meets-with-taiwanese-president-blasts-china.html | date=January 8, 2017 | publisher=[[Fox News]] | accessdate=January 14, 2017}}</ref> |
| − | Border Patrol agents have spoken highly of Cruz for advocating for them and a secure border with [[Mexico]].<ref>Price, Bob (July 25, 2017). [ | + | Border Patrol agents have spoken highly of Cruz for advocating for them and a secure border with [[Mexico]].<ref>Price, Bob (July 25, 2017). [https://www.breitbart.com/texas/2017/07/25/ted-cruz-advocate-congress-says-border-patrol-agent/ Ted Cruz is Our Advocate in Congress, Says Border Patrol Agent]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved July 25, 2017.</ref> |
| + | |||
| + | Despite voicing support for protecting American [[sovereignty]], Cruz hypocritically supports [[NAFTA]] despite it being a threat to sovereignty.<ref>Byas, Steve (November 8, 2017). [https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/foreign-policy/item/27329-cruz-support-for-nafta-contradicts-his-passion-for-national-sovereignty Cruz Support for NAFTA Contradicts His “Passion” for National Sovereignty]. ''The New American''. Retrieved November 25, 2017.</ref> | ||
==Best selling author== | ==Best selling author== | ||
| − | [[The New York Times|The ''New York Times'']] has engaged in a scheme to keep Cruz's book off of its bestseller list.<ref>{{cite web |last=Howerton |first=Jason |url= | + | [[The New York Times|The ''New York Times'']] has engaged in a scheme to keep Cruz's book off of its bestseller list.<ref>{{cite web |last=Howerton |first=Jason |url=https://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|publisher=The Blaze website|date=July 9, 2015 }} See [[The Blaze]].</ref> At issue was the practice of some politicians to pre-purchase a large quantity of books for use by their campaigns with the hope that those purchases would place the books on the bestseller list for one week. The ''New York Times'' tries to exclude those bulk campaign purchases from the totals used to determine which books have the top sales. The question is whether the bestseller list shows what books the public buys rather than which books the politicians give away. |
| + | |||
| + | ==2018 reelection bid== | ||
| + | |||
| + | In his bid for a second term in the Senate in the November 6 general election, Cruz narrowly defeated the Democratic outgoing U.S. Representative [[Beto O'Rourke]] of [[El Paso]]. In the primary held on March 6, 2018, Cruz defeated four weak intra-party opponents. He polled 1,317,450 votes (85.3 percent). In the Democratic primary, O'Rourke received 641,337 votes (61.8 percent). Some 506,000 more Republicans voted in the Texas primary than did Democrats. The liberal O'Rourke, who unlike Cruz is not Hispanic, is believed to be a potentially strong opponent because of favorable media coverage, strong fund-raising, large crowds at campaign rallies, and respectable opinion polling. O'Rourke is said to resemble "a Kennedy," referring to the popular [[Massachusetts]] family of liberal politicians. In July, the magazine ''Politico'' declared that "Beto-mania" was sweeping Texas, an early warning to Senator Cruz that he could be unseated in a considerable "blue wave" across the Lone Star State.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/07/09/beto-mania-sweeps-texas-218961|title=Beto-mania Sweeps Texas|publisher=''Politico'' magazine|date=July 9, 2018|author=Ben Schreckinger|accessdate=July 13, 2018}}</ref> The "blue wave in Texas toppled more than a dozen state legislators and two U.S. Representatives. It also produced Democratic sweeps in the large urban areas, particularly at the judicial level. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ''Texas Conservative Review,'' edited in Houston by[[Gary Polland]], in August 2018 called upon Cruz to conduct a more active campaign than he had done thus far to retain his Senate seat: | ||
| + | <blockquote> | ||
| + | …Conservatives are increasingly concerned about the fate of Senator Ted Cruz. The race is a critical one on the ballot. Cruz's opponent, left-wing Congressman O'Rourke is out-running Cruz, out-campaigning Cruz and out-personalizing Cruz. Where is the beef, we are asking what happened to making this race about Texas vs. California values? What happened to making the race about Cruz's mainstream values vs. O'Rourke's out-of-step leftist values? Where is the Ted Cruz we know and love from his campaign six years ago and from his campaign for President?<br> | ||
| + | |||
| + | If O'Rourke is allowed to make this race about personality and showing up all over, Cruz will lose. Yes, he needs more money, but first, the fighter Ted Cruz needs to re-emerge now.<ref>''Texas Conservative Review'', Vol. XVII No. 20, August 24, 2018.</ref></blockquote> | ||
==Quote== | ==Quote== | ||
| − | "Tonight's speech was less a State of the Union and more a state of denial." (January 12, 2016) | + | * "Tonight's ([[Barack Hussein Obama]]) speech was less a State of the Union and more a state of denial." (January 12, 2016) |
| + | |||
| + | * "If standing for liberty and standing for the Constitution makes you a wacko bird, then count me a proud wacko bird." (A response to "moderate" [[John McCain]]'s attack on conservatives<ref>[https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2013/03/16/ted-cruz-count-me-a-proud-wacko-bird/ Cruz: 'Count Me a Proud Wacko Bird' for Standing with Rand], [[Breitbart.com]]</ref> | ||
==Books== | ==Books== | ||
| Line 97: | Line 113: | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
* [http://www.tedcruz.org/ Official Senate campaign website] | * [http://www.tedcruz.org/ Official Senate campaign website] | ||
| − | * [ | + | * [https://www.facebook.com/tedcruzpage facebook page] |
* [https://twitter.com/#!/tedcruz Twitter page] | * [https://twitter.com/#!/tedcruz Twitter page] | ||
* [http://www.tedcruz.org/media/videos/ Ted Cruz Videos] | * [http://www.tedcruz.org/media/videos/ Ted Cruz Videos] | ||
| Line 104: | Line 120: | ||
Article: | Article: | ||
| − | * [ | + | * [https://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] |
==References== | ==References== | ||
| Line 121: | Line 137: | ||
[[Category:Pro Second Amendment]] | [[Category:Pro Second Amendment]] | ||
[[Category:Best Selling Authors]] | [[Category:Best Selling Authors]] | ||
| + | [[Category:Patriots]] | ||
| + | [[Category:Latinos]] | ||
Revision as of 03:17, August 21, 2019
| Ted Cruz | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| U.S. Senator from Texas From: January 3, 2013 - Present | |||
| Predecessor | Kay Bailey Hutchison | ||
| Successor | Incumbent (no successor) | ||
| Information | |||
| Party | Republican | ||
| Spouse(s) | Heidi Cruz | ||
| Religion | Southern Baptist | ||
Rafael Edward Cruz, known as Ted Cruz (born December 22, 1970, in Calgary, Canada) is the junior United States Senator from Texas, having won the seat vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison in 2012. A Republican, Cruz was a Solicitor General of Texas, the chief lawyer for the state before the U.S. Supreme Court.[1] A globalist, Cruz supported the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA, also known as "Fast Track").[2] Cruz attends the secret Koch brothers' meetings and advances their agenda without admitting to doing so.[3] He pandered to the Koch brothers by at first refusing to endorse Donald Trump for president.
Senator Cruz was the first candidate to announce for president in 2016, He formed multiple political organizations to support his candidacy prior to the official nomination of Trump in the summer of 2016. Cruz considers himself the political heir of Ronald Reagan.[4] By many accounts, Cruz ended his national political career by initially refusing during his televised address at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, to endorse Trump. He was loudly booed by the audience for his stance.[5] Eventually, Cruz did endorse Trump,[6] but not before becoming the recipient of anger and disdain from many for his hesitation.
Cruz's wife, Heidi, is an executive for Goldman Sachs and was on leave from that liberal investment bank during the campaign, where she played a dominant strategically and for defining policy positions and fundraising. Ted Cruz has sided with some feminist positions. Heidi has been a member of the globalist Council on Foreign Relations and was on the task force that recommended the leftist North American Union.[7][8] Reportedly neither Ted Cruz nor his wife donated anything to churches, including what they describe as their own church, from 2006 to 2010, the most recent time period Cruz has released.[9]
Cruz is promoted heavily by neocons who like his interventionalist foreign policy, but some conservatives see more grandstanding than achievement on social issues.
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.
Contents
Early life
Cruz's father Rafael Bienvenido Cruz fought alongside Fidel Castro during the Cuban Revolution 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.[10] Cruz's mother is an American. After Cruz's birth in Alberta, Canada, the family moved to Texas.
Cruz attended Princeton, at which he authored a senior thesis on the 9th and 10th Amendments to the United States Constitution, titled "Clipping the Wings of Angels".[11]
As a student at Harvard Law School, Cruz was more of a libertarian than a social conservative.[12] He graduated magna cum laude, with his Juris Doctor degree.
Cruz is a Southern Baptist, married with two children.
Texas Solicitor General
Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas. In that capacity, he 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.[13] His arguments at the time that once ObamaCare was fully implemented, it would be impossible to repeal it, were shown accurate when the GOP had serious trouble agreeing to a repeal-and-replace plan in 2017.[14]
In 2019, Cruz allied himself with far-left members of Congress including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.[15]
Campaigns financed by substantial pro-homosexual donations
The Texas Tribune determined in 2012 that Ted Cruz's:[16]
| “ | 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 exposé entitled, "Ted Cruz's Gay Marriage Money." This article described how one of Cruz's donors has been:[17]
| “ | 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 U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.[18] As a Senator from Texas, Cruz could have blocked the nomination. Instead, Cruz's support made it happen.
Within five months of his confirmation in May 2014, Judge Costa then voted in favor of rehearing Planned Parenthood's case in their attempt to reverse a Fifth Circuit's ruling that had upheld the pro-women, pro-life Texas House Bill 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.[19]
It was obvious prior to Ted Cruz's recommendation that Judge Costa was not pro-life. In one of his decisions as a United States 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 in a speech before an audience at Liberty University.[20] The predictable liberal media immediately went on the offense claiming he has no chance but was in awe of his speech without teleprompters.[Citation Needed] 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.[Citation Needed]
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 PACs.[21]
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 (even though she voted in Canadian elections), 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.[Citation Needed] Cruz renounced his Canadian citizenship on May 14, 2014.[22]
Political positions
Cruz opposes illegal immigration,[23] gun control and homosexuality. He is pro-life,[24] supports the death penalty[25] and believes that the USA should not get involved in the Syrian Civil War.[26]
Cruz has effectively criticized RINOs, calling them "squishes."[27]
Showing his support for Taiwan over the communist and authoritarian People's Republic of China, Cruz met with the Taiwanese president in January 2017, along with Texas governor Greg Abbott, even after China sent a statement asking members of Congress not to do so.[28]
Border Patrol agents have spoken highly of Cruz for advocating for them and a secure border with Mexico.[29]
Despite voicing support for protecting American sovereignty, Cruz hypocritically supports NAFTA despite it being a threat to sovereignty.[30]
Best selling author
The New York Times has engaged in a scheme to keep Cruz's book off of its bestseller list.[31] At issue was the practice of some politicians to pre-purchase a large quantity of books for use by their campaigns with the hope that those purchases would place the books on the bestseller list for one week. The New York Times tries to exclude those bulk campaign purchases from the totals used to determine which books have the top sales. The question is whether the bestseller list shows what books the public buys rather than which books the politicians give away.
2018 reelection bid
In his bid for a second term in the Senate in the November 6 general election, Cruz narrowly defeated the Democratic outgoing U.S. Representative Beto O'Rourke of El Paso. In the primary held on March 6, 2018, Cruz defeated four weak intra-party opponents. He polled 1,317,450 votes (85.3 percent). In the Democratic primary, O'Rourke received 641,337 votes (61.8 percent). Some 506,000 more Republicans voted in the Texas primary than did Democrats. The liberal O'Rourke, who unlike Cruz is not Hispanic, is believed to be a potentially strong opponent because of favorable media coverage, strong fund-raising, large crowds at campaign rallies, and respectable opinion polling. O'Rourke is said to resemble "a Kennedy," referring to the popular Massachusetts family of liberal politicians. In July, the magazine Politico declared that "Beto-mania" was sweeping Texas, an early warning to Senator Cruz that he could be unseated in a considerable "blue wave" across the Lone Star State.[32] The "blue wave in Texas toppled more than a dozen state legislators and two U.S. Representatives. It also produced Democratic sweeps in the large urban areas, particularly at the judicial level.
Texas Conservative Review, edited in Houston byGary Polland, in August 2018 called upon Cruz to conduct a more active campaign than he had done thus far to retain his Senate seat:
…Conservatives are increasingly concerned about the fate of Senator Ted Cruz. The race is a critical one on the ballot. Cruz's opponent, left-wing Congressman O'Rourke is out-running Cruz, out-campaigning Cruz and out-personalizing Cruz. Where is the beef, we are asking what happened to making this race about Texas vs. California values? What happened to making the race about Cruz's mainstream values vs. O'Rourke's out-of-step leftist values? Where is the Ted Cruz we know and love from his campaign six years ago and from his campaign for President?
If O'Rourke is allowed to make this race about personality and showing up all over, Cruz will lose. Yes, he needs more money, but first, the fighter Ted Cruz needs to re-emerge now.[33]
Quote
- "Tonight's (Barack Hussein Obama) speech was less a State of the Union and more a state of denial." (January 12, 2016)
- "If standing for liberty and standing for the Constitution makes you a wacko bird, then count me a proud wacko bird." (A response to "moderate" John McCain's attack on conservatives[34]
Books
A Time for Truth: Reigniting the Promise of America (2015)
Ted Cruz: For God and Country (2015)
See also
External links
- Official Senate campaign website
- facebook page
- Twitter page
- Ted Cruz Videos
- Ted Cruz 2016 campaign website
Article:
References
- ↑ Cruz has been listed as an author of more than eighty U.S. Supreme Court briefs and personally argued in nine before the U.S. Supreme Court, plus another 31 before other courts. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review.
- ↑ https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2015/11/11/senator-ted-cruz-did-support-tpa/
- ↑ https://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/24/koch-brothers-pence-trump-239928
- ↑ Ronald W. Reagan lost the Republican nomination for president in 1976, but then won the nomination and the presidency in 1980.
- ↑ Analysis by Richard Viguerie, a former Cruz supporter
- ↑ https://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Ted-Cruz-Endorses-Donald-Trump/2016/09/23/id/749888 Retrieved September 24, 2016
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkmZ64nmUfE
- ↑ "Building a North American Community/More about this publication" (May 2005). Council on Foreign Relations website/Canada.
- ↑ https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2016-01-30/now-deeply-christian-cruzs-religion-once-wasnt-so-obvious
- ↑ Cruz, Ted (May 20, 2013). Senator Ted Cruz: Confronting the threat of radical Islam. FrontPage Magazine. See FrontPage Magazine
- ↑ Ted Cruz's 1992 Princeton Undergrad Thesis, "Clipping the Wings of Angels"
- ↑ "What was Ted Cruz like at Harvard?" (May 30, 2015). Huffington Post website/Metro New York blog. See Huffington Post.
- ↑ The embarrassment of Senator Ted Cruz. New York Times website (September 24, 2013). See New York Times
- ↑ York, Bryan (June 29, 2017). Byron York: When Ted Cruz, GOP saw troubled future of Obamacare repeal. Washington Examiner. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
- ↑ Pappas, Alex (July 21, 2019). Ted Cruz, progressive hero? Texan defies hard-liner image with AOC cooperation and more. Fox News. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
- ↑ Root, Jay (July 3, 2012). "Cruz mega-donor is gay, pro-pot billionaire". The Texas Tribune website.
- ↑ Ratcliffe, R. G. (March 22, 2015). "Ted Cruz's gay marriage money". TexasMonthly website.
- ↑ "Dallas Morning News: Senate confirms Cornyn and Cruz pick for appeals court" (May 20, 2014). Ted Cruz U.S. Senate webpage/Press office/News.
- ↑ Planned Parenthood of Greater Tex. Surgical Health Servs. v. Abbott, Vol. 769 Federal Reporter, 3rd series Opinion 330, p. 2 (United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit October 9, 2014). Retrieved from United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit website on February 6, 2016.
- ↑ "Ted Cruz presidential campaign announcement" (March 23, 2015). C-SPAN video, 38:18. See C-SPAN
- ↑ Boyle, Matthew (April 8, 2015). Mark Halperin: Unprecedented $31 million super PAC effort backing Ted Cruz for president. Breitbart News Network/Big government. See Breitbart News Network
- ↑ Blake, Aaron. "Cruz Will Renounce Canadian Citizenship", The Washington Post, August 19, 2013. Retrieved on February 6, 2016.
- ↑ "Ted Cruz on immigration" (January 20, 2015). On the Issues website.
- ↑ Bair, Andrew (June 5, 2013). Pro-life Senator Ted Cruz to address National Right to Life Convention. LifeNews.com. See LifeNews.com
- ↑ "Ted Cruz on the issues/Ted Cruz on crime" (February 2015). On the Issues website.
- ↑ Tomasky, Michael (September 9, 2013). Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and their craven and brazen hypocrisy on Syria. The Daily Beast. See The Daily Beast
- ↑ Weiner, Rachel (April 29, 2013). Ted Cruz mocks Senate Republican ‘squishes’. Washington Post. See Washington Post
- ↑ Cruz Meets with Taiwanese President, Blasts China. Fox News (January 8, 2017). Retrieved on January 14, 2017.
- ↑ Price, Bob (July 25, 2017). Ted Cruz is Our Advocate in Congress, Says Border Patrol Agent. Breitbart News. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
- ↑ Byas, Steve (November 8, 2017). Cruz Support for NAFTA Contradicts His “Passion” for National Sovereignty. The New American. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
- ↑ Howerton, Jason (July 9, 2015). Despite stellar sales, New York Times keeps Ted Cruz’s new book off bestseller list—here’s the excuse given. The Blaze website. See The Blaze.
- ↑ Ben Schreckinger (July 9, 2018). Beto-mania Sweeps Texas. Politico magazine. Retrieved on July 13, 2018.
- ↑ Texas Conservative Review, Vol. XVII No. 20, August 24, 2018.
- ↑ Cruz: 'Count Me a Proud Wacko Bird' for Standing with Rand, Breitbart.com
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