Posted on 02/04/2016 9:58:03 AM PST by SoConPubbie
Little Rock, Arkansas Donald Trump, in a tit-for-tat with his chief rival coming out of Iowa, accused Texas Sen. Ted Cruz of bearing direct responsibility for the Affordable Care Act.
"Ted Cruz gave us Obamacare," Trump said at a Wednesday rally in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The line of attack invoked the landmark health care law that is anathema to many conservatives. Cruz, for his part, has accused Trump of supporting Obamacare, too, accusing Trump as holding the same position on healthcare as Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.
Trump's rationale for his claim is a little roundabout. It's based on the fact that Cruz supported John Roberts' nomination to be chief justice of the Supreme Court, which in turn led to the law being upheld twice before the court.
"[Cruz] pushed him. He approved him," Trump said. "And Justice Roberts approved Obamacare twice when it should have been rejected. His vote got it over the top. Ted Cruz did that."
Trump arrived nearly two hours late to the rally due to mechanical issues with his plane that forced his team to land what is colloquially coined "Trump Force One" in Nashville, Tennessee. He took a different plane to the rally.
"There was a minor mechanical issue and Mr. Trump traveled the rest of the trip in a small charter aircraft," said Hope Hicks, Trump's spokesperson.
The late arrival didn't dampen Trump's energy as he launched more attacks at Cruz, calling him "dishonest" in reference to allegations from another candidate, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson.
Carson has accused Cruz's campaign of trying to poach his voters by sending an email to Iowa voters claiming Carson was leaving the race, based on a CNN report that Carson would be absent from the trail and returning home for awhile. Cruz has since said that his staff should have sent a follow-up note to correct the first email. Trump wasted no time in trying to capitalize.
"I said how can they do that?" Trump said. "And everybody said, 'How can they do that?' And then he doesn't get the votes, Ben, but Ted gets the votes."
Wednesday marked a change in demeanor for Trump since Tuesday - from humble to angry. Trump posted a series of angry tweets, calling for a re-do of the Iowa caucuses, just two days after delivering a gracious concession speech in which he congratulated Cruz.
"He should just give it up and move on to New Hampshire," said 26-year-old Scott Tierney, after rolling his eyes. Tierney, a software salesman, from Conway, Arkansas, said he will vote for either Trump, Cruz or Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
Others disagreed.
"I don't think he's a sore loser," said 42-year-old Kris Clayborn, a Trump supporter from Harrison - nearly a three hour drive away. "I know there was a lot of Democrat problems as far as the caucus. To see it on the Republican side doesn't surprise me."
In Arkansas, Trump spoke in front of the an arena that was slightly more than half full, even as Trump claimed it was a record crowd of more than 12,000. Trump may also have committed a college football faux pas - complimenting the University of Alabama's football team - an SEC rival - of Arkansas. The crowd booed.
The crowd was rowdy. One man roamed the floor at the Barton Coliseum wearing a black t-shirt that said "Obama Is A Terrorist" on the back.
While Trump shook hands on the rope line, a topless man with "T R" painted on his chest continuously tried to get Trump's attention. Another man wore a Denver Broncos bathrobe to the rally, to commemorate the Super Bowl. His name was Harrell Boyles and he also wore a pink tie with pigs on it under the bathrobe with a badge pinned to it that said "OMG GOP! WTF?" To complete the outfit, he wore American flag shorts.
Trump heads back to New Hampshire Thursday for four public events -- his first day on the campaign trail with four stops.
I read the article and the statement is still a flat out lie.
This is a crap piece. The manager of the arena said it was a record crowd, greater than ZZ Top many years ago!! The writer had to point out every A-hole dissident they could find. Trump is right. The writers/reporters are the lowest, pathetic pukes on the planet. This is not post-worthy.
Continuing to raise the bar for convoluted nonsense.
It’s absolutely fascinating to watch.
I’ve heard that ridiculous argument here on FR. Cruz, at the time Solicitor General of Texas, endorsed Roberts along with many other conservatives, yet he alone is responsible for Robert’s awful ACA decision.
Don't try to confuse Trumpets with facts. They might show you a bus in mud.
So we must excuse Cruz’s decisions because he’s “not God”, but we need to elevate him to a point where he isn’t responsible for anything (like this), because he’s basically to be treated like he is?
“Because the only way that Cruz would know that Roberts would go left on Obamacare was if he knew the future, because there was nothing in Roberts background that would lead anyone to believe he would do this when he was confirmed. “
But one of the big talking point is that Cruz will GUARANTEE that no leftist will ever make to SCOTUS because his judgement is so “solid”?
Trump’s rationale for his claim is a little roundabout
Uhhhh yep
I guess the founders of the country are also at fault for creating an independent judiciary branch of government
How did Cruz vote on Roberts? He wasn’t in the Senate at that time.
“I’ve heard that ridiculous argument here on FR. Cruz, at the time Solicitor General of Texas, endorsed Roberts along with many other conservatives, yet he alone is responsible for Robert’s awful ACA decision.”
If any of those people run for office, then they should be. Deal?
[Cruz stood alone on the Senate floor for 21 hours filibustering and trying to stop obomacare. Trump is an idiot. ]
And that accomplished... what??
“How did Cruz vote on Roberts? He wasn’t in the Senate at that time.”
Would he have voted for him back then?
Are you seriously going to tell me no?
No, ANY conservative. You are saying every conservative in the country is friends with Roberts? What about Myers?
And Trump wants to give us Trumpcare. Whoopee.
“Cruz stood alone on the Senate floor for 21 hours filibustering and trying to stop obomacare”
So what we usually call kabuki theater.
Oh yeah....Cruz did that, so the rule is that it was a “brave and historic stand for liberty”. Completely forgot.
Did Cruz vote for Roberts?
The actual text of the Constitution, the intent of its drafters, logic, common sense, and the previously accepted rules of statutory construction are all now utterly irrelevant.
The Constitution now says whatever the Hell five out of nine Supreme Court Justices currently want it to say. IMHO, this is the primary issue in the election.
Four sitting Supreme Court Justices will be over 80 years old this year (Kennedy, Scalia, Ginsburg and Breyer). Of the remaining five Justices, two are young far left-wing Obama appointees who will be legislating from the bench for the next 30 to 40 years (Sotomayor and Kagan), two are reliable conservatives (Thomas and Alito) and the other is a flipper (Roberts).
I am betting that Obama will get to replace at least one of the octogenarian Justices (Ginsburg) and possibly two (Breyer) before he leave office. Ginsburg will step down immediately after the current Court term and if at least a couple of RINOs join with the Democrats to confirm Obama’s far left-wing replacement then Breyer will announce his retirement so that Obama will get to pick his far left-wing replacement as well. That would leave only two octogenarian Justices (Scalia and Kennedy) for the next President to replace, and four young, reliable far left-wing Justices firmly planted on the Court.
If any three of the four octogenarian Justices are replaced with liberals then a far left-wing oligarchy of Supreme Court Justices will rule over every aspect of our lives for the next generation to come. Say goodbye to the Second Amendment, free speech, and every other right that is currently hanging on by a 5 to 4 thread.
On the other hand, if any three of the octogenarians are replaced with strict construction conservatives, then they can join with Thomas and Alito and reverse Roe, homosexual marriage, Obamacare, and every other liberal Supreme Court decree over the past 40 years.
So, our only chance is for the Republicans to hold on to the Senate AND for us to elect a Conservative President who will only nominate Conservative judges. If Chuckie Schumer controls the Senate OR if we elect a President who appoints liberal or moderate judges, then our nations is well and truly screwed.
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