Posted on 01/12/2015 4:56:05 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
The Republican senator received raves from an audience at a policy conference at the Heritage Foundation Monday.
Ted Cruz has already solidified his 2016 agenda. And some conservatives can't get enough of it.
On Monday at the Heritage Foundation's Conservative Policy Summit, a two-day policy primer in Washington, the Texas senator and likely presidential contender laid out the points of his platform for the newly sworn in Republican Congress—and urged his colleagues to stick to their campaign promises.
"Let's stand up and lead," he said. "Let's lead with a big, bold, positive agenda, that says to the American people, 'You had a referendum, and you rejected the Obama agenda. There is a better way.' "
His 10-point plan, which ranges from the expected—repealing Obamacare—to the highly unlikely—abolishing the IRS—is his apparent attempt to solidify himself as the premier antiestablishment candidate in 2016. With cheers and "amen"s reminiscent of a gospel church at Heritage on Monday, it was clear that the conservative audience—a near full house—was on board.
Cruz started crafting the message he delivered Monday before last year's election. In a USA Today op-ed in October, he framed the same points as priorities for a Republican Congress. He said Monday that, now that the GOP has a majority, they shouldn't shy away from major policy battles such as the ones he outlined. It's a deeply conservative platform that will likely transition him to a presidential bid.
The summit, billed as "Opportunity for All, Favoritism to None," laid out a distinctly conservative policy agenda in 2016, from cutting "waste" in the federal budget to allowing union workers to receive raises above their negotiated contracts. Former Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, the Heritage Foundation's president, called Cruz and the other congressmen participating in the event "the real progressives in Washington."
On securing the border and stopping "the president's unconstitutional amnesty," Cruz urged his colleagues to take action. "It ain't complicated. We need to do what we said we would do." To control government spending and rein in the federal debt, he advocated the passage of a balanced-budget amendment, arguing that it's "only basic common sense." And on repealing Common Core, he invoked Martin Luther King Jr., telling the audience that "school choice is the civil-rights issue of the 21st century."
"I can think of nothing that would be a greater legacy for Dr. King than for us to embrace across parties, across race, across lines, that we are united in saying, 'Every kid has a right to a quality education regardless of who they are,' " he said.
On the subject of dealing "seriously" with the Islamic State and a nuclear Iran, Cruz brought up last week's fatal shooting at the satirical Paris newspaper Charlie Hebdo, stepping out from behind the lectern.
"Our hearts weep for the journalists wrongfully murdered, for the police officers targeted and murdered, for the Jewish customers at a grocery store murdered because of who they are," he said.
And he pounced on President Obama for failing to attend a unity march for the fallen in Paris over the weekend.
"It is hard to enlist the support of allies when America ceases being a good ally. How sad was it in the streets of Paris, as 40 world leaders walked down the street, absent was the United States. Where was the president? Where was the vice president? Where was the secretary of State?"
It's only a preview of the kind of attacks—geared toward the Obama administration and the GOP establishment—that he'll likely employ in the primaries. And Monday gives an early sense of just how well they may be received.
Culture is upstream of politics. 90% of this country think MLK, Jr. is just slightly lower than The Christ or is the savior of the blacks. Ted Cruz is dealing with that reality. As he must.
Time for clear bold leadership. He’s the one with brains and brawn to do it.
Better Ted than Red.
LOL... Like a Randolph and Mortimer of politics.
His professors were right, he is brilliant.
I’ve been a strong believer in the “10 point plan” idea for a long time, because voters love it, and it lets a candidate keep their core values. It is clear, concise, has no double speak and waffling in it, and is easy to “grade”. That is, the public can tell if the candidate keeps his promises.
It is an extremely strong foundation for a candidate, because it is very hard to sharp shoot, and easy to stay on target.
Intellectually, Ted Cruz can run circles around either Jeb Bush or Mitt Romney.
At this point, I’m so desperate for a conservative candidate, I’d probably help him bury the hooker.
Amen. ;)
Yep, I’d say the G*d of Abraham is partial to those 10 point plans as well.....
I like Ted. He gets my vote.
I’m with Ted Cruz all the way.
In 2016, I may actually be voting FOR a candidate as apposed to voting against someone.
Cruz 2016
I hope conservatives all over the US can give off a tangible yell when Ted Cruz announces, to give him some starting gate momentum. A Tea Party type deal, where as soon as he announces, hundreds of thousands of checks and money orders will come flooding into his campaign, with no other prompting needed.
What might work is a form of preregistration. That is, a web site will record pledges, like a telethon, but take in no money. Then when he announces, they post a banner headline to SEND IN THOSE CHECKS NOW! Not to them, but to his campaign headquarters. Totally legal.
In that way, his campaign can get a rough estimate of how much grassroots support he can get right off the bat, and plan accordingly.
What you said. :)
I’m hoping he’ll look at Jeff Sessions for AG. He would be great.
Ted is my choice at this point. But I’d sure prefer that Cruz just shut up about it rather than perpetuate what is essentially a lie.
We need Sessions in the Senate. Let Gowdy be AG. He’s a stealth RINO but he might be a great AG.
It would be nice to feel good about a vote again. Been a long time.
Morning in America again, again.
Well, I'm in Texas, so I had the very great pleasure of voting for Ted Cruz in the primary and the general that elected him to the Senate.
In addition, I voted for Texas AG, Greg Abbott, to be the next Governor of my state just recently, so I'm probably feeling a little more buoyant that a lot of others here.
But that'll be nothing compared to voting for Ted Cruz for president in the primary and the general next year. Man....just think of it...
Abolishing the IRS is not "highly unlikely". It's actually a great idea whose time has come.
Ted Cruz has caught my attention. And I really like what he says about school choice as well.
Cruz/Palin or vice versa. Now that's a Republican ticket I could vote for.
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