Flashback: Trump brings birther charge against Cruz

The Hill ^ | March 23, 2015 | Ben Kamisar

[Kevin C]

Real estate tycoon Donald Trump cast doubt Monday on whether Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) can run for president, because Cruz was born in Canada.

"It’s a hurdle; somebody could certainly look at it very seriously," Trump said during a phone interview Monday on My Fox New York.

"He was born in Canada. If you know and when we all studied our history lessons, you are supposed to be born in this country, so I just don't know how the courts will rule on this."

[lodi90]

Putting Congress in Charge on Trade
‘Fast track’ authority will give lawmakers more say over agreements that are vital for economic growth.

By PAUL RYAN And TED CRUZ
April 21, 2015 7:36 p.m. ET

The United States is making headway on two historic trade agreements, one with 11 countries on the Pacific Rim and another with America’s friends in Europe. These two agreements alone would mean greater access to a billion customers for American manufacturers, farmers and ranchers.

But before the U.S. can complete the agreements, Congress needs to strengthen the country’s bargaining position by establishing trade-promotion authority, also known as TPA, which is an arrangement between Congress and the president for negotiating and considering trade agreements. In short, TPA is what U.S. negotiators need to win a fair deal for the American worker.

There is a lot at stake. One in five American jobs depends on trade, and that share is only going to grow. Ninety-six percent of the world’s customers are outside the U.S. To create more jobs here, America needs to sell more goods and services over there. When that happens, the American worker benefits. Manufacturing jobs tied to trade pay 16% more on average, according to a study released by the independent U.S. International Trade Commission.

Right now, though, the American worker isn’t competing on a level playing field against many overseas economies. The U.S. economy is one of the most open in the world—and for good reason. Thanks to lower duties on imports, the average American family saves $13,600 a year, according to a study by HSBC. But other countries put up trade barriers that drive up prices for U.S. goods and services and make it hard to sell them there.

The American worker can compete with anybody, if given a fair chance. If you add up all 20 countries that the U.S. has a trade agreement with, American manufacturers run a $50 billion trade surplus with them. The problem is that not all countries have a trade agreement with the U.S.; American manufacturers run a $500 billion trade deficit with those nations. That is why the U.S. needs effective trade agreements to lay down fair and strong rules that level the playing field. Without such rules, America’s trading partners will keep stacking the deck against job creators in this country.

But Congress can’t just take the administration’s word that it will drive a hard bargain. We have to hold it accountable, and that is what trade-promotion authority will help do.

Under TPA, Congress lays out three basic requirements for the administration. First, it must pursue nearly 150 specific negotiating objectives, like beefing up protections for U.S. intellectual property or eliminating kickbacks for government-owned firms. Second, the administration must consult regularly with Congress and meet high transparency standards.

And third, before anything becomes law, Congress gets the final say. The Constitution vests all legislative power in Congress. So TPA makes it clear that Congress—and only Congress—can change U.S. law. If the administration meets all the requirements, Congress will give the agreement an up-or-down vote. But if the administration fails, Congress can hit the brakes, cancel the vote and stop the agreement.

Trade-promotion authority will hold the administration accountable both to Congress and to the American people. Under TPA, any member of Congress will be able to read the negotiating text. Any member will be able to get a briefing from the U.S. trade representative’s office on the status of the negotiations—at any time. Any member will get to be a part of negotiating rounds. And most important, TPA will require the administration to post the full text of the agreement at least 60 days before completing the deal, so the American people can read it themselves.

The stakes are high, because if you’re not moving forward in trade negotiations, you’re falling behind. In the first 10 years of this century, the countries of East Asia negotiated 48 trade agreements. The U.S., on the other hand, negotiated just two in that region. As a result, America’s share of East Asia’s imports fell by 42%. Every top U.S. competitor did better—every one of them.

Meanwhile, China is negotiating agreements with anyone who will listen—from South Korea and Australia to Norway. And it isn’t free enterprise the Chinese are pushing. Instead, it is their own form of crony capitalism. They’re writing rules that favor government-owned firms and hamper American job creators. So it all comes down to this question: Is China going to write the rules of the global economy, or is the United States?

By establishing TPA, Congress will send a signal to the world. America’s trading partners will know that the U.S. is trustworthy and then put their best offers on the table. America’s rivals will know that the U.S. is serious and won’t abandon the field. And the American people will know this trade agreement is a good, fair deal—because they’ll have the information they need to decide for themselves. Promoting American trade will create more opportunity in the country, and so we strongly urge our colleagues in Congress to vote for trade-promotion authority.

Rep. Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Sen. Cruz, a Republican from Texas, heads the Senate Commerce Committee’s subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness.

[C. Edmund Wright]

another fan boy response...Trump can do anything, he can leap tall buildings in a single bound (unless they’re in bankruptcy) and he can tame tigers and swim with sharks - hell, he should be doing the Dos Equis commercials - his staff can do anything, this staff has already done everything....

project project project onto your heroes.

[RetSignman]

[...inviting Ted Cruz to put the matter to rest ...]

All due respect, but that’s a bit of a stretch trying to defend Trump.

He stepped over the line as far as I’m concerned.

[cripplecreek]

I think its important. I know many of the Trump fans sure seem to want to use it including Ann Coulter who called "birthers" conspiracy theorists 4 years ago.



Coulter calls Trump a ‘clown,’ rips gay marriage in GWU speech

“I think Trump is a clown,” Coulter said during an appearance sponsored by Young America’s Foundation at George Washington University. “I expect the enthusiasm for him is based on two things: that the rest of at least the declared candidates aren’t exciting anybody, and there’s name recognition. And he has come out like gangbusters against the Obama administration like an establishment politician probably wouldn’t.”

Coulter went on to rip Trump for his donations to Democratic political campaigns. “It’s all just a big act for the moment,” she said. “History for liberals always begins today. It’s very easy to say the right thing that’s only appealing at a certain time.”

Coulter also dismissed Trump’s claims that President Obama may have been born in Kenya. The “birther conspiracy,” she said, was “started by the Hillary Clinton campaign,”

[chopperman]

Senators don’t have to be ‘Natural Born’.

[Patton@Bastogne]

Donald Trump has amassed a nine billion dollar fortune by having the brains to have the BEST staff he can hire ...

Maybe Donald Trump’s staff could assist you in penning more articulate replies at Free Republic ...

Sounds to me like you’ve got “blood coming out of your eyes” regarding Donald Trump ...

Maybe if Donald Trump took some “political dancing lessons” from Mitt Romney, Karl Rove ...

or (sneer) Marco Rubio ...

you’d be less inclined towards TDS ...

Have a great day ...

.

[C. Edmund Wright]

yeah, I thought about the Trump-Ann tie on Cruz birtherism, but then I saw this article was 5 months ago! It is one thing for Trump to have mentioned it then, it would be another if he said something like that today. The OP should be ashamed of posting an article from March.

[cuban leaf]

I thought this had been resolved...then I noticed the date.

Nice one! Sneakier than satire!

;-)

[cripplecreek]

I don’t have any problem with old articles being posted. After all, every other candidate is open to questions about things they said and did many years ago. Trump should get no special treatment on this matter.

[Rides_A_Red_Horse]

Are you a “Jebby” fan?

[fatnotlazy]

The loons on the left, possibly in cahoots with the GOPe, keep bringing this up. Harvard Law School had an opinion on Ted Cruz's eligibility:

http://harvardlawreview.org/2015/03/on-the-meaning-of-natural-born-citizen/

My understanding is that Ted Cruz is eligible as a natural born citizen even though he was born in Canada because his mother is an American citizen.

Of course, now the left claims that his mother gave up her American citizenship and became a Canadian citizen prior to the Senator's birth. I have yet to see any proof of this.

The left and the GOPe are fearful of a conservative president; so they will resort to anything to discredit Ted Cruz. Getting the Donald in the process is a bonus.

[Rides_A_Red_Horse]

Coulter lost a lot of credibility when she shilled for Romney.

[cripplecreek]

Romney is still her first choice.

[C. Edmund Wright]

another fan boy response. BTW, I'll happily vote for Trump and I've been published since 2011 (had you even heard of him then?) talking about the good things he brings to the table. So in this, I'm not attacking Trump, I'm singling you out as exhibit A of the most vacuous fan boy type follower - highlighting the mental gymnastics you'll go thru to worship your man.

I am making a clown out of you, not out of Trump. Some of Trumps' followers are reasonable, you are not among them. I love exposing your bot behavior.

Yes, He's done extremely well in business, but he has hidden behind bankruptcy protection four times, he was also born wealthy and became "famous" for being famous - and most of his nine billion in wealth is his assessment of the value of the name Trump.

You make it sound like he started with nothing and has built everything from the ground up and that it's nine billion in hard asset business. It's not close to that. The genius has been that he's made his name a huge asset, and that's to his credit, but that doesn't tell us a damned thing about how he'll handle the macro economy. It's not like name equity is going to be how most people prop themselves up. Amassing personal wealth using crony connections and bankruptcy is legal in most cases, but when someone has done it multiple times, they shouldn't be out making snide comments about Carly's years at HP.

Oh, and one more thing: here you stepped into a steaming pile of Karl Rove...another thing you sicko fan boys do...assume like paranoid little girls that every person not enamored with your new god is a Rove ite. Such shallow profoundly stupid thinking:

[Resettozero]

He stepped over the line as far as I’m concerned.

Curious as to what was the trigger point for you.

[C. Edmund Wright]

True, but an article posted five months ago should have that alert in the header on FR.

[Patton@Bastogne]

Nice graphics ... how’d you do that ?

[C. Edmund Wright]

yep, Mitt is almost as liberal as Trump is.

[C. Edmund Wright]

selling books, giving speeches, doing interviews, writing columns.....

embarrassed you I see.

[libbylu]

Amen.