Ted Cruz On The Issues

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Ted Cruz is the current U.S. Senator from Texas. His victory over Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst in 2012 was described as “the biggest upset of 2012 . . . a true grassroots victory against very long odds,” in the Washington Post. His father was born in Cuba, and he is the first Cuban-American to hold the office of Texas Senator. His election in Texas was described by the National Federation of Independent Business as being “critical to the small-business owners in [Texas, and], also to protecting free enterprise across America.”

Before being elected Senator, Cruz was the Solicitor General of Texas, serving under Attorney General Greg Abbott. Before becoming Solicitor General, his political career consisted of holding the positions of Director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission, Associate Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, and Domestic Policy Advisor on the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign.

Cruz worked in law as part of a private practice in Houston, and spent 5 years as a partner in one of America’s greatest law firm. He led the firm’s U.S. Supreme Court and national Appellate Litigation practice, and was part of successfully defending the U.S. sovereignty against the UN and the World Court in Medellin v. Texas, the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, the constitutionality of the Texas Ten Commandments monument, the constitutionality of the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, the constitutionality of the Texas Sexually Violent Predator Civil Commitment law, and
 the Texas congressional redistricting plan.

Cruz is currently a strong candidate for the Republican ticket in the 2016 elections.

 Sections:

Ted Cruz On Abortion

Ted Cruz has played a large part in the Republican fight to protect life, and has identified himself as “strongly pro-life.” He played a large role in several important abortion cases. These cases included the defense of the partial-birth abortion ban, parental consent laws, and prohibiting state funds from going to abortion. He also successfully defended Texas’s Rider 8, which prohibits state funds from going to groups that provide abortions. He is in opposition to public funding of abortions.

On the subject of birth control, Cruz believes that all insurance companies should have the ability to deny women insurance coverage for birth control at their own discretion, and is in opposition to churches providing birth control. 

Ted Cruz on Immigration

In terms of illegal immigrants and what should happen to them, Cruz believes that those who enter the country illegally should be offered no path to citizenship or amnesty. He opposes the Obama administration’s current directive, which allows those illegal immigrants who were brought in as children to stay here, and exempts them from deportation, stating, “The Constitution places on the President the solemn responsibility to take care that the Laws be faithfully executed. President Obama has repeatedly defied the Constitution and flouted the rule of law. His latest decision to refuse to enforce our immigration laws is cravenly political, lawless, and wrong. We have a crisis in illegal immigration, and the federal government must get serious about securing our borders; this latest Obama policy is nothing more than an attempt to enact back-door amnesty, and I categorically oppose amnesty.”

Cruz supports an increase in border patrol, and is pushing to triple the size of it. He has also worked towards efforts that would bring more severe punishment to felons who entered the country illegally.

In regards to legal immigrants, Cruz recognizes the value that they offer America, and has said, “I strongly support legal immigrants who come here following the rules, seeking the American dream.”

Ted Cruz on Homeland Security

Cruz is an advocate for the military, including the growing of military forces. He believes in advocating to give members of the Armed Forces all of the rights and abilities necessary for them to keep America safe and secure. He authored an amicus brief in FAIR v. Rumsfeld defending the federal Solomon Amendment, which requires any university receiving federal funding to grant military recruiters equal access to their campuses.

He is in support of banning gay marriage in the military.

He was a co-sponsor of the opposition to the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty, stating that it “poses significant risks to the national security, foreign policy, and economic interests of the US as well as to the constitutional rights of US citizens and US sovereignty, fails to expressly recognize the fundamental, individual right to keep and to bear arms, places free democracies and totalitarian regimes on a basis of equality, recognizing their equal right to transfer arms, and is thereby dangerous to the security of the US, will create opportunities to engage in ‘lawfare’ against the US via the misuse of the treaty’s tribunals, and could hinder the US from fulfilling its strategic and moral commitments to provide arms to allies such as Taiwan & Israel.”

Ted Cruz is in adamant opposition of the National Defense Authorization Act, the Transportation Security Administration, the Stop Online Piracy Act, and other internet censorship, as he sees them as a violation of citizens’ civil liberties.

Ted Cruz on Health Care

Cruz has vowed to push for a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and pioneered the leading proposal to take out Obama Care. He is in strong support of market-based health insurance.

When asked how to give Medicare a stronger financial ground and keep today’s seniors from the rising cost of health care, Cruz responded “We must save Medicare by gradually increasing the eligibility age and by moving to a premium support system that expands choices for seniors, opens up innovation, and utilizes market forces to rein in healthcare costs.” He was also part of a plan to sue the federal government on behalf of Texas and 4 other states, to strike out parts of the Medicare Prescription Drug program as unconstitutional.

Ted Cruz on Gay Marriage

Cruz believes, like much of his party, in marriage remaining an institution between a man and a woman. He has stated, “As the Solicitor General of Texas, I had a proven record of fighting to successfully defend traditional marriage in Texas, as the union between one man and one woman. We need to continue that fight in the Senate.”

Ted Cruz on Gun Control

Cruz stands in defense of the Second Amendment, and in the right of Americans to bear arms. He authored a brief on behalf of 31 states, supporting these rights and the Second Amendment. In 2008, when a resolution was passed by the National Board of the NRA, Cruz was personally thanked for leading the States before the Supreme Court in a DC gun case. It was stated that his “efforts made this victory for the American people possible.” He voted against the banning of magazines over 10 bullets, and opposes all restrictions on the Second Amendment.

Ted Cruz on Energy and Oil

Ted Cruz is in opposition of, and has helped to fight against, Obama’s moratorium on offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, stating, “Revoke the Offshore Drilling Moratorium. The Obama Administration unilaterally imposed a blanket moratorium on drilling, which a federal court subsequently found was contrary to federal law. Nonetheless, a de facto administrative moratorium remains, killing thousands of high-paying jobs and hindering economic growth in Texas and the entire Gulf Coast. It’s time to end the moratorium.” He authored an amicus brief on behalf of the US Chamber of Commerce, as well as a coalition of Gulf Coast chambers of commerce, in the case Hornbeck Offshore Services v. Salazar, in opposition to the moratorium. One week later, the Fifth Circuit ruled against the moratorium. Cruz believes in exploring known energy reserves to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil as an energy source, thus lowering energy costs, and making our economy more self-sustaining. Cruz said, “This President has waged a war on jobs, and he’s waged a war on oil and gas. Now we’re seeing an explosion of new reserves being discovered because of the technological advances in fracking and, both on the oil and gas side, it’s transformed it. And yet you look at it, production is not increasing on federal lands, we’ve had the offshore drilling moratorium. We have the EPA abusively enforcing environmental laws. And this makes no sense.”

Cruz signed the No Climate Tax Pledge, which stated, “I pledge to the taxpayers of my state, and to the American people, that I will oppose any legislation relating to climate change that includes a net increase in government revenue.” This pledge is based on the belief that less government interference is better for the American people.

Ted Cruz on the Economy

Cruz, like the Republican Party as a whole, believes that the path to a successful economy in America must be paved by a free market and less government controls. He signed the “Cut, Cap, and Balance” pledge in 2012, which reads:

“I pledge to urge my Senators and Member of the House of Representatives to oppose any debt limit increase unless all three of the following conditions have been met:

  1. Cut: Substantial cuts in spending that will reduce the deficit next year and thereafter.
  2. Cap: Enforceable spending caps that will put federal spending on a path to a balanced budget.
  3. Balance: Congressional passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — but only if it includes both a spending limitation and a super-majority for raising taxes, in addition to balancing revenues and expenses.”

Cruz supports, and signed the contract to support, a Balanced Budget Amendment. This amendment would require a balanced budget with a two-thirds majority to pass any tax hike. He also supports imposing a mandatory cap limiting the annual growth in total federal spending to the sum of the inflation rate plus the percentage of population growth.

Cruz also co-sponsored the Federal Reserve Transparency Act. This act requires an audit of the Federal Reserve System and of the Federal Reserve Banks, an audit and report on the loan files of homeowners in foreclosure in 2009 or 2010, continued annual audits of the Federal Reserve, and an increased transparency of all actions of the Federal Reserve in the future.

When asked if he foresaw a need to reduce defense spending to balance the budget, Cruz replied, “There is fraud, waste and abuse in every government program, and this includes our military. While it is vital to ensure that we have the defense systems necessary to protect America’s vital security interests, we should explore cuts in every part of our budget when warranted. In defense issues, I will rely strongly on the advice of our military leaders to ensure all programs meet vital needs, and are not simply pork projects that do not substantially advance our national defense. With respect to the current sequestration fight, however, I want to be perfectly clear: under no circumstances do I think it is acceptable to indiscriminately hack billions from defense spending while refusing to get our entire fiscal house in order.”

He stated that he saw little to no need to raise income tax rates in order to better balance the budget, as “I don’t think the problem in Washington is too little taxes. I think the problem in Washington is too much spending. If you look historically, federal tax revenue historically have been roughly 18 percent of GDP. Federal spending has been roughly 20 percent of GDP. In the last three years, it’s gone from 20 percent of GDP to 25 percent of GDP.” Therefore, Cruz’s primary plan of attack to better the economy is to cut spending and to cut federal interference with the private market.

Cruz also believes in cutting taxes to businesses, stating, “slash corporate tax rates. Right now, U.S. corporations face the highest tax rate in the developed world, and they face double taxation if they invest their profits in America. As a result, American companies are today keeping more than $2 trillion overseas. We should cut corporate tax rates to 15 percent immediately to spur new investment and create new jobs in America.” He also opposes the tax rates and government interference with small businesses. Cruz says, “the policies of this administration, the Obama administration, has waged a war on jobs and a war on small business [¦] At the end of the day, two-thirds of all new jobs in the economy come from small business. And we need the boot of the government off the back of the neck of small business.” Overall, Cruz wants to reduce the burden placed on employers, so that they are better able to hire Americans and compete in a growing world market.

Ted Cruz on Tax Reform

Cruz supports scrapping the current Internal Revenue Code and replacing it with a simpler code, which contains a single-rate tax system. He supports a permanent repeal of all future tax hikes. Cruz signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, which binds incumbents and candidates to oppose all tax raises. He would also like to see an elimination of the death tax. Though he supports a reform of the tax system, Cruz does not support, nor see the need for, a raise in income tax rates.

Ted Cruz on Social Security

When asked how to make Social Security more sustainable, Cruz supported gradually raising the retirement age over time, to account for a longer life expectancy. He hopes to have Social Security grow at an equal rate to inflation, rather than at its current 1% more than inflation. He also strongly supports allowing a portion of taxpayer’s Social Security funds go into a private account.

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