Ted Cruz, US senator(Texas)

[tsetsefly]

I voted for him and I am glad he won, but I do have reservations about him. For some reason I think he will turn out to be a neocon who will only pay lip service to libertarians/ron paul republicans who helped him get elected.

I really hope I am wrong though...

 

[mz10]

If you like Mike Lee, I'm pretty sure you'll like Ted Cruz, they remind me a lot of each other ideologically.

 

[Nathan Hale]

If you like Mike Lee, I'm pretty sure you'll like Ted Cruz, they remind me a lot of each other ideologically.

Yeah, they'll be good 80% friends. Expect some saber-rattling on Iran, but otherwise he'll be okay.

 

[fr33]

I voted for him and I am glad he won, but I do have reservations about him. For some reason I think he will turn out to be a neocon who will only pay lip service to libertarians/ron paul republicans who helped him get elected.

I really hope I am wrong though...

Isn't that what almost all Texas Republicans do? I'd say you are right to be suspicious. He talks a good game on individual liberties and the constitution. We'll see what kind of record he builds.

 

[undergroundrr]

I think there are some principles in there. We'll see. The other question is how responsive will he be to feedback from his constituents. I'm now a three-time Texas state GOP delegate, a Ted Cruz voter, and I intend to tell him so when I call his office to tell him how I think he should vote.

 

[kathy88]

I think there are some principles in there. We'll see. The other question is how responsive will he be to feedback from his constituents. I'm now a three-time Texas state GOP delegate, a Ted Cruz voter, and I intend to tell him so when I call his office to tell him how I think he should vote.

+ rep. We need to get on the delegates for next time now. If you can possibly do it, commit to do it. The reps and Senators offices need to recognize us when we call, write, email, etc....

 

[FSP-Rebel]

+ rep. We need to get on the delegates for next time now. If you can possibly do it, commit to do it. The reps and Senators offices need to recognize us when we call, write, email, etc....

Amen

 

[compromise]

I voted for him and I am glad he won, but I do have reservations about him. For some reason I think he will turn out to be a neocon who will only pay lip service to libertarians/ron paul republicans who helped him get elected.

I really hope I am wrong though...

He'll be more Palinite on foreign policy rather than a real neo-con (I advise you to find out more about the roots of the neoconservative movement, there were plenty of mildly interventionist Republicans well before the neo-cons/paleo-liberals switched over in the 1970s.)

So he'll be pro-Bush wars, anti-Obama wars (Libya, Uganda), anti Iran, anti foreign aid. He'll probably vote the same way as DeMint, Lee, Flake, Toomey, Bachmann, etc on foreign policy. A benefit of having Obama in power is conservatives being more anti-war, without doubt all of these guys would back any Romney war against any nation and Rand would be alone. The disadvantage of course, is the liberals being more pro-war, which is partially a reason for McCain's and Graham's new-found love for Democratic Senators. On domestic policy he's clearly with us, he understands Austrian economics and supports civil liberties.

 

[tsetsefly]

He'll be more Palinite on foreign policy rather than a real neo-con (I advise you to find out more about the roots of the neoconservative movement, there were plenty of mildly interventionist Republicans well before the neo-cons/paleo-liberals switched over in the 1970s.)

So he'll be pro-Bush wars, anti-Obama wars (Libya, Uganda), anti Iran, anti foreign aid. He'll probably vote the same way as DeMint, Lee, Flake, Toomey, Bachmann, etc on foreign policy. A benefit of having Obama in power is conservatives being more anti-war, without doubt all of these guys would back any Romney war against any nation and Rand would be alone. The disadvantage of course, is the liberals being more pro-war, which is partially a reason for McCain's and Graham's new-found love for Democratic Senators. On domestic policy he's clearly with us, he understands Austrian economics and supports civil liberties.

Well that sort of sucks...

I really hope he sand with Rand 90% of the time...

 

[ctiger2]

For some reason I think he will turn out to be a neocon who will only pay lip service to libertarians/ron paul republicans who helped him get elected.

You'll be correct in the end. Cruz opportunistically noticed the liberty movement and rode on it's coattails to victory. In just the couple vids I watched of this guy I could tell he was a slimy liberty pandering status quo politician. Not sure why others can't see the obvious pandering to the liberty movement.

 

[GeorgiaAvenger]

You'll be correct in the end. Cruz opportunistically noticed the liberty movement and rode on it's coattails to victory. In just the couple vids I watched of this guy I could tell he was a slimy liberty pandering status quo politician. Not sure why others can't see the obvious pandering to the liberty movement.

The liberty movement didn't make him win. You guys really overrate our presence some times. We are basically nonexistent unless it's a Ron Paul campaign.

 

[hrdman2luv]

With all the oil companies, military contractors and other high paid lobbyist in Texas, I'm sure Cruz's bank account has already seen an increase in diposits.

An ex trial lawyer........ I hope your hopes don't get too high.

 

[compromise]

The liberty movement didn't make him win. You guys really overrate our presence some times. We are basically nonexistent unless it's a Ron Paul campaign.

Agreed. The liberty movement in Texas is tiny anyway. If it were Maine, NH, Minnesota or Iowa I'd understand, but Ted Cruz won because of traditional conservatives, not libertarians.

 

[wealeat]

Being someone from Texas that volunteered for his campaign, met him a couple of times, and become close with his staff, I can assure you that is going to be a force to be reckoned with along with Rand.

Hell, his dad had him reading Bastiat and Mises as a child. He has our principles, but appeals to all groups in the GOP. He is a perfect blend. I am proud to call him my Senator.

 

[tsetsefly]

Being someone from Texas that volunteered for his campaign, met him a couple of times, and become close with his staff, I can assure you that is going to be a force to be reckoned with along with Rand.

Hell, his dad had him reading Bastiat and Mises as a child. He has our principles, but appeals to all groups in the GOP. He is a perfect blend. I am proud to call him my Senator.

I hope you are right!!

 

[Pisces]

With all the oil companies, military contractors and other high paid lobbyist in Texas, I'm sure Cruz's bank account has already seen an increase in diposits.

An ex trial lawyer........ I hope your hopes don't get too high.

He was never a trial lawyer. He was an appellate lawyer so he only handled cases that were appealed to a higher court. I have the same misgivings sometimes because he always sounds so rehearsed and I've read that he is very ambitious. If that's the case, Romney losing makes it less likely that he'll turn his back on the grassroots that got him elected. He's extremely smart so I hope he continues to be an ally.

 

[Pisces]

Here's an article from Mother Jones about Cruz: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/10/ted-cruz-texas-gop-senate.

Yes, it's Mother Jones, but it seems fair. A lot of what they see as his flaws, I see as strengths. Here's an excerpt:

Rafael Edward Cruz's conservative baptism came at 13, when his parents enrolled him in an after-school program in Houston that was run by a local nonprofit called the Free Enterprise Education Center. Its founder was a retired natural gas executive (and onetime vaudeville performer) named Rolland Storey, a jovial septuagenarian whom one former student described as "a Santa Claus of Liberty."

Storey's foundation was part of a late-Cold War growth spurt in conservative youth outreach. (Around the same time in Michigan, an Amway-backed group called the Free Enterprise Institute formed a traveling puppet show to teach five-year-olds about the evils of income redistribution.) The goal was to groom a new generation of true believers in the glory of the free market.

Storey lavished his students with books by Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises, political theorist Frédéric Bastiat, and libertarian firebrand Murray Rothbard—and hammered home his teachings with a catechism called the Ten Pillars of Economic Wisdom. (Cruz was a fan of Pillar II: "Everything that government gives to you, it must first take from you.") Storey's favorite historian was W. Cleon Skousen, an FBI agent turned Mormon theologian who posited that Anglo-Saxons were descendants of the lost tribe of Israel. Skousen was also a patriarch of the Tenther movement—whose adherents view the 10th Amendment as a firewall against federal encroachment. (By Skousen's reading, national parks were unconstitutional.)

Cruz was a star pupil. "He was so far head and shoulders above all the other students—frankly, it just wasn't fair," says Winston Elliott III, who took over the program after Storey retired. When Storey organized a speech contest on free-market values, Cruz won—four years running. "It was almost as if you wished Ted might be sick one year so that another kid could win."

 

[Shane Harris]

Here's an article from Mother Jones about Cruz: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/10/ted-cruz-texas-gop-senate.

Yes, it's Mother Jones, but it seems fair. A lot of what they see as his flaws, I see as strengths. Here's an excerpt:

Is this about his dad? If so yeah its a good sign but apples can fall farther than you think. Where does he stand on Iraq? Where does he stand on Iran? Where does he stand on Drug laws?

 

[Pisces]

Is this about his dad? If so yeah its a good sign but apples can fall farther than you think. Where does he stand on Iraq? Where does he stand on Iran? Where does he stand on Drug laws?

No the article is about him and not his Dad. (His first name is Rafael; Ted is just a nickname.) I don't know what his position is or was on Iraq. He has talked about Iran as a threat so I'm sure he is in favor of the sanctions. I don't know what his take is on drug laws, it wasn't really an issue in his campaign. I doubt he's for drug legalization though.

I realize people can change. I admitted earlier that I have some misgivings about Ted. In general, I agree with the poster above who said he would be like another Mike Lee. What gives me qualms is that he seems more self-promoting than Mike Lee. Then again, aren't the vast majority of politicians self-promoting? As of this point, I like most of what Cruz says and how he campaigned but I'll keep an eye on how he votes.

 

[Shane Harris]

No the article is about him and not his Dad. (His first name is Rafael; Ted is just a nickname.) I don't know what his position is or was on Iraq. He has talked about Iran as a threat so I'm sure he is in favor of the sanctions. I don't know what his take is on drug laws, it wasn't really an issue in his campaign. I doubt he's for drug legalization though.

I realize people can change. I admitted earlier that I have some misgivings about Ted. In general, I agree with the poster above who said he would be like another Mike Lee. What gives me qualms is that he seems more self-promoting than Mike Lee. Then again, aren't the vast majority of politicians self-promoting? As of this point, I like most of what Cruz says and how he campaigned but I'll keep an eye on how he votes.

I think we all will