Who is Ted Cruz?

After serving the U.S. Senate for almost six years, Ted Cruz intends to retain his position as the Senator of Texas despite Congressman Beto O’Rourke’s eagerness to seize the spot. Cruz has made good on the promises he made during his campaign trail when he first ran for the U.S. Senate in 2012. He has advocated for lowering taxes, securing the border and defending the constitution.

Additionally, Cruz was a candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2016 election. His slogan for the presidential election “Together, we will win,” has evolved into “Tough as Texas” for his run to be re-elected as the Texas Senator.

The following will express Cruz’s standpoints on controversial topics politicians of America work towards answering.

Cruz’s Stances on Healthcare, Welfare and Poverty:

Regarding healthcare, Cruz trusts the people and their doctors to have control over it. During his campaign to the presidency, Cruz stated that he supports repealing ObamaCare, as health insurance will be “personal, portable, and affordable” without it, and he would “throw [himself] in front of a train to stop ObamaCare.”

In relation to poverty, and the welfare of Americans, Cruz believes that the best long term countermeasure for impoverished families is not just temporary food and shelter, although those are needed, but a job that will ensure the ability to provide for their loved ones.

In Cruz’s eyes, donating to private charities is more effective to help feed and clothe those in need, as well as to train them and get them job interviews; whereas with government assistance, there is minimal incentive for those families to become independent.

Cruz’s Stances on Education:

Cruz intends to bring an end to the authorization of racial preferences upheld by many college admissions. “In recent years, universities have made major strides to expand admissions for minorities and low-income students, working hard for the American dream,” Cruz stated on behalf of the victory regarding Fisher v. University of Texas in June of 2013. “Universities should continue to do so, expanding opportunity for everyone-but that can be accomplished without discriminating on the basis of race.” Additionally, Cruz believes that student aid is “critically important” and supports facilitating school choices for low-income students.

Furthermore, Cruz believes that all students should have the right to education; whether it be public, private, charter, home school, or any other. He believes that school choice is the civil rights issue of the twenty-first century. “Every single child, regardless of race, regardless of ethnicity, regardless of wealth or zip code, every child in America has a right to a quality education,” Cruz explained at Liberty University in March of 2015.

Cruz’s Stances on Family and Abortion:

Concerning family and values, Cruz believes that the United States needs leaders that will “stand apologetically in defense of the Judeo-Christian values upon which America was built,” because today’s Democrat Party has “decided there is no room for Christians” in their organization. He believes that Democrats have gone to extremes in their persecution of Christians, despite the fact that the United States was founded with their ideals in mind.

Cruz also wants to ban taxpayer funding of abortion and partial birth abortion. Additionally, he believes companies should be given the right to deny insuring birth control at their discretion. Cruz also opposes public abortion funding and churches providing birth control. When it comes to rape on the topic of abortion, Cruz stated in an interview on his campaign trail in 2016 that, “We [the Republican Party] want to do everything we can to prevent the crime [rape] on the front end and to punish the criminal, but I don’t believe it makes sense to blame the child.”

Cruz’s Stances on Technology:

In response to a question regarding the government requiring Apple to unlock an Apple iPhone used by a terrorist during Cruz’s campaign to be the Republican candidate in the 2016 Presidential Election, Cruz answered that Apple should be forced to comply with the court order, “because under the Fourth Amendment, a search and seizure is reasonable if it has judicial authorization and probable cause. Apple doesn’t have a right to defy a court order in a terrorism investigation.”

In addition, Cruz believes that net neutrality is “the biggest regulatory threat to the Internet,” and voted against authorizing states to collect Internet sales taxes. Internet sales taxes are taxes applied to online purchases at check out. For years, state’s representatives have debated over these taxes, and argued that they were losing a lot of money by not being able to collect sales tax on Internet sales to customers located in their states. As someone that supports small “mom and pop” businesses, Cruz opposes these taxes, as it is an issue that “pits the big guys against the little guys,” the “little guys” being small online retailers.

Cruz’s Stances on Crime, Civil Rights, Gun Control, Drugs:

Serving as the Solicitor General, the fourth-highest-ranking official in the U.S. Department of Justice and the person appointed to represent the federal government of the United States before the Supreme Court, Cruz played a vital role in helping restrain the growing plague of sexual predators. By defending the primary state law at the Texas Supreme Court, he’s made an effort to monitor and bring sexual predators to justice. Additionally, Cruz argued and won a U.S. Supreme Court case against 90 nations to guarantee the right for Texas and the United States to carry out justice for a brutal murderer and rapist, without being directed by the laws of the World Court. Additionally, Cruz supports the death penalty on crimes such as first degree murder and terrorism.

Concerning gay marriage, Cruz believes in upholding the Tenth Amendment, and letting the states handle it. “Personally, I strongly support traditional marriage between one man and one woman. A covenant ordained by God,” Cruz stated in his book entitled, A Time for Truth. “But if people want to try to change the legal standards of civil marriage, the proper way to do so is to convince their fellow citizens.”

Additionally, Cruz opposes restricting the Second Amendment. “The Second Amendment to the Constitution isn’t for just protecting hunting rights, and it’s not only to safeguard your right to target practice,” Cruz has said, per the New York Times. “It is a Constitutional right to protect your children, your family, your home, our lives, and to serve as the ultimate check against governmental tyranny-for the protection of liberty.” Furthermore, Cruz believes in prosecuting felons who try to illegally purchase guns.

Concerning the legalization of recreational marijuana, Cruz believes in upholding the Tenth Amendment, and that, “if the citizens of Colorado decide they want to go down that road, that’s their prerogative,” as he said at the Conservative Political Alliance Conference. “I personally don’t agree with it, but that’s their right.”

Cruz’s Stances on Immigration, Foreign Policy, War and Peace:

On the controversial topic that is immigration, Cruz wants to give law enforcement more power to ask questions about one’s immigration status. Additionally, Cruz has worked to strengthen security along the U.S. and Mexico border to help ensure that America remains a nation of laws. Cruz has also worked to increase penalties for felons who enter the country illegally.

In addition, Cruz believes that the greatest threat facing America is nuclear Iran. In December of 2015, Cruz stated that we need government leaders focused on “defeating every single ISIS terrorist and protecting the homeland.” Despite Israel and Iran’s close proximity to one another, Cruz views the two nations very differently. “Like us, Israel is a nation of immigrants, a country based on ideas, on our shared Judeo-Christian, democratic values,” Cruz explained in June of 2015. “I also believe that from a purely American point of view, supporting Israel is tremendously beneficial to our national security interests.”

Cruz’s Stances on Government Reform:

In the matter of government reform, Cruz believes that the government in Washington D.C. is corrupt, and shouldn’t be given any more power. “I want to take power out of Washington and empower the people,” Cruz stated in February of 2017 when reflecting on his campaign. When it comes to taxes, Cruz wants a simple and flat tax for everyone, and wants to abolish the Internal Revenue Service. “That ends the power of lobbyists. It ends the power of Washington. That’s a solution that empowers the people,” Cruz continued.

Additionally, Cruz believes that the government should not pick and choose which laws to enforce. Specifically, Cruz is against the government’s “radical claims” for the authority to ban books and movies. The saying ‘life imitates art’ may be true in this case, as this issue reflects that of the government in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.

Finally, to avoid the serious issue that is voter fraud, Cruz wants to require voters to show ID. Voter fraud threatens the integrity of the democratic process, and is a concern that politicians and the government need to face. Showing proof of identification at voting centers would ensure that elections are fair.

Economy:

Cruz supports the passage of a constitutional Balanced Budget Amendment. This would add a budget rule to the Constitution that would require federal spending not to exceed federal receipts, according to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. Cruz believes that the government needs to “stop bankrupting our country” as the future generations of Americans are currently “inheriting a country where our national debt is larger than the size of our entire economy.”

Additionally, Cruz supports the Cut-Cap-and-Balance Pledge. This pledge can be summarized as to urge other Senators and Members of the House of Representatives to oppose any increase in the debt limit unless all three of the following conditions have been met: substantial cuts in spending that will reduce the deficit next year and thereafter, enforceable spending caps that will put federal spending on a path to a balanced budget, and 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.

Elections:

Elections for the United States Senate will be held on Nov. 6, 2018. The winning candidates will serve a six-year term, from Jan. 3, 2019 to Jan. 3, 2025.