Posted on 01/14/2016 3:32:09 PM PST by Isara
The hatchets are out for Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX).
In their desperation to stop the chief rival to Donald Trump and Marco Rubio/Chris Christie/John Kasich/Jeb Bush for the Republican nomination, both the Trump crowd and the establishment Republicans have now unleashed a barrage of scurrilous attacks on Cruz. I have no problem with hard-nosed politics. But I despise cheap and false campaign hits, and have defended candidates including Trump, Ben Carson and Marco Rubio from such nonsense.
Now, I'll have to defend Cruz on three fronts.
Eligibility. Trump raised the eligibility question several weeks ago as a ridiculous ploy to distract attention from his flagging poll numbers in Iowa. It's worked. The establishment, which supposed hates Trump, has refused to step in behind Cruz. Reince Priebus, the head of the Republican National Committee, explicitly refused to comment on whether Cruz, born of an American mother on Canadian soil, is a "natural born citizen." Something tells me his answer might have been different had, say, Jeb Bush been the subject of the questions. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) questioned Cruz's eligibility. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the Senate wouldn't pass a resolution confirming Cruz's eligibility like they did for McCain.
How cynical and ridiculous.
Cruz is eligible for the presidency. But the establishment will continue to trot out this non-issue, and pretend Cruz is doing a rotten job putting it to bed. Today, establishment host Michael Medved, with whom I am friends and whose work I generally admire, suggested that Cruz had committed some grave sin by not giving up his Canadian citizenship until a couple of years ago. I was unaware that the United States is at war with Canada. Michael's brother, Jonathan Medved, is a dual citizen of America and Israel. Does that make him an unfit American, too?
The Margin Loan From Goldman Sachs. Today, The New York Times ran a blatant hit piece on Cruz for taking a margin loan against his own stock assets from Goldman Sachs during his 2012 Senate campaign. Here's the Times:
[I]n the first half of 2012, Ted and Heidi Cruz obtained the low-interest loan from Goldman Sachs, as well as another one from Citibank. The loans totaled as much as $750,000 and eventually increased to a maximum of $1 million before being paid down later that year. There is no explanation of their purpose. Neither loan appears in reports the Ted Cruz for Senate Committee filed with the Federal Election Commission, in which candidates are required to disclose the source of money they borrow to finance their campaigns.
This makes it sound as though Cruz and his wife took some nefarious inside deal from the cronyistic Goldman Sachs in order to run for office. Scary stuff, right? Well, first off, Heidi Cruz works for Goldman Sachs. That's no secret. Second, Cruz filed information on the Goldman Sachs loan back in 2012. So that was no secret, either. He just filed it in the wrong disclosure form.
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Ted Cruz's primary runoff against Dewhurst was July 31, 2012. He publicly disclosed the margin loan July 9, 2012. pic.twitter.com/8yyV4zxrV9 - Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) January 14, 2016 |
Because most Americans don't understand what a margin loan is, it sounds scary and Wall Street insider-ey. It isn't. A margin loan is just a loan against your stock holdings; if the stock market were to tank, the firm would just call in their security, namely your stock. Virtually everyone who owns a significant amount of stock has taken such a margin loan. It's no different, in effect, from using an IRA rollover or taking a line of credit against your house.
Cruz's "New York Values" Line. Yesterday, Cruz sniped at Trump for playing "Born in the USA" at rallies to poke at Cruz's Canadian birth. Cruz said, "I think he may shift in his new rallies to playing 'New York, New York' because Donald comes from New York and he embodies New York values." This was an ill-advised line, mainly because New Yorkers immediately began suggesting that Cruz was ripping their bravery on 9/11 and their rough and tumble willingness to take on obstacles. But of course, as everyone with any intellectual honesty recognizes, Cruz's characterization was an awkward attempt to link Trump with the social liberalism, big government, and crony capitalism of New York City. There's a reason the state of New York hasn't voted Republican since 1984. "New York values," in Cruz's awkward parlance, are California values with more stress and smoking.
That hasn't stopped both Trump and the establishment from pretending that Cruz was making light of 9/11. Here's Trump:
One thing it means is energy. You know, when the World Trade Center got hit, we rebuilt that World Trade Center and we got through and very few places in this world could have gotten through what we went through. I mean, I was so proud of New York, the World Trade Center, these two massive, 110 story buildings come down, thousands of people killed. I've never seen anything like it in my life.
He added, "When you knock New York, you've got to go through me. New York is an amazing place with amazing people."
This is silly talk. Everyone loves New York, and everyone has a love/hate relationship with New Yorkers. We love them when they're standing tall on 9/11, and we hate them when they're electing communist loonjob Bill De Blasio. It was this latter attribute Cruz was criticizing. It was a silly error, somewhat like Barry Goldwater's 1964 one-liner that he wanted to saw off the Eastern seaboard. But it wasn't a serious attack on the bravery of the people of New York City.
Some people went even further in attacking Cruz, saying that his "New York values" reference could have been a covert anti-Semitic reference. Today on his program, Medved stated that he wanted Cruz to answer whether he was making references about Jews in talking about "New York values" - a ridiculous assertion, similar to saying that "San Francisco values" is a slur against homosexuals, as opposed to the wild leftism of that city.
There are legitimate reasons to oppose Cruz's candidacy. But the cheap shots we've been seeing this week just aren't them.
Trump “the outsider”.
LOL
In other news...”Trump More Than Doubles National Lead in NBC/WSJ Poll”
RINO spokesman and Cruz-hater Michael Medved was was discussing these issues today on his radio show.
Sen. Cruz betrayed his supporters by supporting
the vote to allow a vote on SECRET ObamaTRADE.
Sen. Cruz was paid off by SECRET Loan to help
Goldmann Sachs and his wife. SHAME on him.
He is no longer our second place choice.
Brilliant, just absolutely brilliant. And conservative through and through. Trustworthy, strong, confident, leader, and somebody in whom you can totally depend. ~Rush Limbaugh on Ted Cruz
Nope and I never expect to.
I wish that would all fit in a tag line. It’s perfect.
You haven’t read OBamaTrade yet? It has been available to the public now for months, since its completion.
What Secret Loan? It was disclosed in 2012. There is no decision as to whether this loan is even required to be disclosed under FEC rules. It was a personal loan secured by personal assets, not a loan to his campaign.
I guess this means we’ll all be getting more fundraising emails from Heidi.
From your same poll.
Thank you, I stole it from SubMareener.
I’m undecided this election cycle, but also getting a bit tired of Cruz answering any criticism with the notion that it’s just a conspiracy against him. Trump gets attacked endlessly, and responds directly to them. If Cruz has any hopes of actually winning the nomination, much less the presidency....He and his camp need a thicker skin.
1) The eligibility question is a valid one. It was asked of Obama....and McCain too. It’s Cruz’s reaction to it that has kept it going in the news.
2) The issue with Goldman Sachs is that Cruz advertised himself very differently during that senate campaign, than what we’re finding out. It reeks of a typical politician. His wife’s employment only adds fuel to the fire. How can someone go from being an establishment darling working under Bush.......to a diehard Tea Party guy, while taking money from Goldman? I mean the bailouts were the center of our protests back then. It’s like Hillary claiming to be against Wallstreet....
3) Cruz offered the “NY, NY” line on his own. Trump gave a smart reply and not Cruz has egg on his face. No big deal really...but a bonehead thing for Cruz to say.
Lol...hypothetical...not as it actually is now. There’s a whole lot of scenarios if we want to be hypothetical...
So is a national primary.
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