Posted on 02/13/2016 6:58:14 AM PST by conservativejoy
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Ted Cruz unleashed a blistering attack on Marco Rubio's record on Planned Parenthood in front of hundreds of conservative voters at the Faith and Family Presidential Forum on Friday, insisting that his Senate colleague did not stand with him last fall as he sought to strip funding for the women's health care organization in a spending bill.
There is little daylight between Cruz and Rubio regarding their disdain for Planned Parenthood. But Cruz is seeking to cast Rubio as weak-kneed and unwilling to stand behind the Texas senator's 2015 strategy to defund the women's health organization.
The Texas senator alleged Rubio did not want to use Congress's "constitutional authority to defund Planned Parenthood," a charge that overlooked Rubio's support for tying an attack on the group with government funding.
"That's a mistake. So he and I disagree on that," Cruz said here at Bob Jones University, a Protestant university. "We could have defunded Planned Parenthood in the wake of those videos but too many Republicans in Washington, especially leadership, were afraid to stand and fight."
Cruz has cast himself as the one remaining presidential candidate that has been willing to thwart the GOP's Washington leadership, and his attack is a serious charge in South Carolina considering the evangelical GOP voting base here. The National Right to Life, one of the chief arbiters of social issues in GOP politics, quickly stepped in to back Rubio and called Cruz's Friday remarks "inaccurate and misleading."
"Marco Rubio voted to defund Planned Parenthood before Ted Cruz ever got to the U.S. Senate. Since Ted Cruz joined the U.S. Senate, both he and Sen. Rubio have voted the same on every roll call that National Right to Life regards as pertinent to defunding Planned Parenthood," said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life.
Cruz delivered the blow to Rubio at the tail end of an hour-long discussion with South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, but it was perhaps his most savage attack on Rubio's record on social issues yet. While Cruz has suggested repeatedly in South Carolina that Rubio is flimsy on gay marriage, Cruz is now suggesting that Rubio is weak on an organization reviled by the GOP base.
"Marco Rubio has spoken out about Planned Parenthood. But when these videos came out I stood with millions of Americans calling on Republican leadership to use the power of Congress to defund Planned Parenthood and to cut off the money. And Marco stood up and said: 'No, we shouldn't," Cruz said.
Rubio's campaign said Cruz was fabricating.
"Ted Cruz is willing to do or say anything to get elected - now he's just making things up," Rubio spokesman Alex Conant said when asked about Cruz's remarks.
In September Rubio did not urgently endorse Cruz's full-throated effort to press a strategy that could have again shut down the government, but Rubio did support a spending bill that defunded Planned Parenthood in September. In August, both Cruz and Rubio supported a standalone bill to defund Planned Parenthood, but Cruz demanded a sharper tactic that no spending bill pass that contains funding for Planned Parenthood.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ignored Cruz, seeking to avoid a replay of the 2013 shutdown, which was stoked by Cruz's attempt to defund Obamacare in a spending bill. The National Right to Life also opposed Cruz's strategy.
Cruz's effort failed and leaders moved to a so-called "clean" funding bill; Cruz voted against that bill while Rubio missed those votes. Rick Tyler, a spokesman for Cruz, indicated on Twitter that Cruz's latest remarks were rooted in Rubio skipping those votes that continued Planned Parenthood funding in that funding bill.
Both Cruz and Rubio oppose exceptions for abortions in cases of rape and incest, and a Planned Parenthood official said in January that "Marco Rubio's American dream is a woman's worst nightmare."
And both are missing the point.
The defunding would likely run into the same legal issues that trying to defund ACORN did. If you are going to fund some things at all then you can’t discriminate against particular entities. It’s a different arm under the same name. This would not stop Federal funding of a single abortion. It would stop involvement in a non-abortion arm of PP. It would be a symbolic Kabuki dance and, at most, PP would change the name under which its non-abortion arm operates and would then come right back. Oh look, we aren’t PP!
Now I myself have brought up the issue of name equity. Is it possible that Congress could require that anything it subsidizes not even have the same NAME as an abortion business? This might, emphasis on might, work, without the court fuss and the possible unwanted precedents it might beckon on. Nobody would need to be named, not PP or anyone else.
Why can’t we just have a law that forbids the federal government to pay money to any entity that performs abortions? If PP wants to do abortions and still wants federal funding they need to split into 2 separately-funded groups: one that performs abortions, and one that doesn’t. And only the group that DOESN’T perform abortions can get any federal money.
National Right to Life lost my respect when they endorsed Mitt Romney in the primary, when there were pro-life candidates they could have supported. Seemed to me that they sold their souls for Romney’s money and I won’t respect their responses or endorsements any longer.
“Marco Rubio voted to defund Planned Parenthood before Ted Cruz ever got to the U.S. Senate. Since Ted Cruz joined the U.S. Senate, both he and Sen. Rubio have voted the same on every roll call that National Right to Life regards as pertinent to defunding Planned Parenthood,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life.
This is a desperate smear from Cruz to paint Rubio as weak on abortion. You can attack Rubio on many, many, MANY issues, but he’s solidly pro-life.
Very stupid move on Cruz’s part. I suspect this tactic will go over very poorly in SC and the backlash will force another apology, which will hurt him even further.
His campaign is turning into a train wreck. Shame really, he used to be my enthusiastic second choice.
Women used to buy their own birth control pills. Now we take care of every minority groups from the cradle to the grave. We do not have starving folks who look like the near death Jews in the concentration camps nor like the starving in Africa. We have 300 and 400 pounders eating in the damn doctors office.
Trust me, I can’t stand Gang of 8 Rubio, and your link lists a whole bunch of reasons why. But Rubio skipping that vote had no actual bearing on anything, and I’d chalk it up more to his crappy attendance habits than anything else. Attacking him as being not pro-life enough is just stupid. His whole career, fighting abortion has been an issue where he’s solidly conservative. He has not waffled on his “no exceptions” stance, as many many others have.
I’m just saying, I think this is a boneheaded and misleading tactic and will not play well with a lot of people who follow the candidates on this issue.
Cruz has also said Rubio is weak on marriage. I’m not a Rubio supporter but this is the biggest lie so far directed against someone other than Trump. Rubio has been THE ONLY ONE on the main stage that has the Kennedy’s decision on marriage is wrong and he would work to overturn it. Rubio has stood up for pro-life issues and marriage better than any of the other candidates and that includes lying Rafael.
So like the typical Republican representing us in the Senate, Rubio didn't support defunding when it mattered, but did when it didn't. That is what we can expect from a Rubio presidency.
Rubio was absent the last time this was voted on.
I predict these two squabble tonight and Trump stays above the fray and looks presidential. :-)
Cruz is a creep that will say or do anything to get elected. The only way I would support him is if it would keep Hillary out of the White House.
I don’t know if you are a gun owner or a Christian, but if you are either, you can thank Cruz for protecting your rights to be both.
Cruz won a landmark decision protecting the individuals right to keep and bear arms before the Supreme Court. He has won several cases before the Supreme Court protecting religious liberty.
If not for Cruz, we would already have amnesty and illegal immigration would not be an issue, but a continuing drain on our country with no cure in sight.
Cruz is the only candidate supporting the deportation of illegals and he will not let them come back, as Trump does.
We cannot cede our country to millions of new Democrat voters.
Re: “enthusiastic 2nd choice.
Same here, and for a short while he was even my 1st choice, donated and everything. But the more I see and hear him the more I FEAR him.
In my probably longer-than-most-here life I have observed that those who boast of their religiosity have the least true Spirituality.
And some of them have proved very scary folks.
I predict Rubio and Cruz spend most of the debate bickering between themselves and Jeb while Trump stays above the fray and looks presidential. The only reason I even bother to watch tonight is to see if my prediction is validated. K-Sick will be waving his arms around on a newly energized rant since he came in third in NH.
Baloney he is no different. Words are cheap. Not impressed at all. Worse kind of politician and he is my Senator. No thanks.
So now the Republicans are going to nominate a WWE wrestling promoter-reality star when we have the very serious Supreme Court Justice situation we are facing. It was critical before Scalia died and now we face a real and present danger of losing the Constitution and thus, our country.
I do not trust Trump’s judgment AT ALL.
What makes you think I trust Trump’s judgement? I do not not do I trust Ted Cruz to get elected. He won’t.
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