Cruz Now a ‘No’ on TPA Read more at:

Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas) has penned a column for Breitbart explaining his shift from support to opposition on Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), the “fast track” legislation that would enable the current president and his successor to negotiate trade deals that Congress would then be able to vote up or down, but not amend.

Senator Cruz, a contender for the GOP presidential nomination, still supports free trade and, in principle, sees fast-track as helpful to that end. Nevertheless, he says GOP leadership’s sleight-of-hand has convinced him that, if not amended, the current TPA bill will become a scheme for passing bad legislation having little to do with trade — namely, immigration “reform” and reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank.

In his initial vote in favor of TPA, the senator intimates that he was misled by Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), who, when pressed on the matter, testily represented to him that there were no side-deals on Ex-Im. Cruz opposes reauthorization of the bank, which is scheduled to expire at the end of this month. He describes Ex-Im as “a classic example of corporate welfare” and cronyism at its worst” — a position Veronique de Rugy has repeatedly and (in my view) compellingly argued here on the Corner. (See archive, here.)

Because a bipartisan group of senators who support Ex-Im — led by Maria Cantwell (D., Wash.) and presidential hopeful Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) — blocked TPA when it first came up for a vote in the Senate, Cruz suspects a deal was being pushed to obtain their support for TPA in exchange for a vote to reauthorize the bank.

Though McConnell promised him there was no such understanding, Cruz suggests that this flies in the face of what happened in the House. There, several Republicans proposed to Speaker John Boehner that they would support TPA if he agreed not to cut a deal with Democrats to reauthorize Ex-Im. Cruz writes, “Boehner declined. Instead, it appears he made the deal with Democrats, presumably tossing in the Ex-Im Bank and also increasing tax penalties on businesses.” Moreover, Cruz observes, Boehner is punishing conservatives who opposed him, “wrongly stripping Rep. Mark Meadows (R., N.C.) of his subcommittee chairmanship, and reportedly threatening to strip other conservatives of their chairmanships as well.”

Add to this the specter of TPA as the fast track to immigration amnesty that President Obama and bipartisan “reform” advocates have been unable to pass through the normal legislative process. Senator Cruz notes that he and Senator Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.) were blocked by Republican leadership from votes on amendments they proposed to bar fast-track treatment for any trade deals that attempt to impact U.S. immigration law.

Cruz recalls that he and Senator Sessions were told their fears about the abuse of trade legislation to remake immigration law were “unfounded.” At this point, however, he says he is done with such oral assurances — he wants commitments that are written expressly into the laws:

Cruz further castigates GOP leadership for consistently caving in to Democrats and “disregard[ing] promises made to the conservative grassroots.” The full column is worth reading.

I have argued here against the meritless contention that TPA is unconstitutional. Furthermore, if you think trade agreements are good for the country, the chance of getting good trade agreements without fast-track authority is unlikely. From a strategic standpoint, I continue to believe we are more likely to get bad legislation if Congress can amend these agreements to make them marginally more palatable (but not materially better); a bad deal is more likely to lose in a straight up-or-down vote.

That said, while trade agreements are (or can be) very beneficial, they do not come in a vacuum. Like everything else, the authority for making them in a fast-track mode has to be weighed against other considerations — and trust is a big part of that equation.

If I were convinced, as Senator Cruz appears to be, that TPA — regardless of its legal and policy soundness — had become a smokescreen for slamming through non-trade legislation that would be worse for the country than trade is good for the country, I would not support it either.

> “Wait a second. How can the genius Ted Cruz be misled, especially if he actually read all the bill?

He read the bill and so did I. There is not one thing, not one word that calls for reauthorizing the EX-IM Bank. So TPA is fine on its own. He was misled because the was told there were no side deals on EX-IM reauthorization.

Has nothing to do with TPA as it was written. It’s not Cruz’ fault that McConnell is a snake. Cruz or anyone else including Sessions can’t do a thing at this point about McConnell being a corrupt liar.

It’s no different than a restaurant menu that looks good but does not represent the fact that there are rats in the kitchen. No need to blame people for reading the ‘menu = TPA’. And when Cruz found out the establishment was unsanitary he canceled his order.

Absolute NOTHING wrong or complicated about what Ted Cruz did.

So the question is why are you out to get Cruz when it’s McConnell that should be the focus of your gripe?

I think most readers can sense the answer.

> “The pretzel twisting going on here by sheep is embarrassing.”

“pretzel” “sheep” “embarrassing” have zero contribution to debate or information exchange.

Cruz’ logic is plain and impeccable. I imagine every logical argument Cruz is a “pretzel” to you and in fact I would bet you are deficient in logic so that any logic at all is a “pretzel” to you.

Now I expect you will call my restaurant example a “pretzel” because “menu” and “rats” are too much for you to handle all at once. Too many moving parts for Lil Flower Bud to get its little mind around.

Bring it!

> “Now YOU are admitting Cruz was tricked.”

I am “admitting”? Not only are you putting words in Ted Cruz’ mouth, now you are putting them in mine. You think ‘trickery’ is confined to Ted Cruz? You need a reality check. Trickery is everywhere and no more so today everyday in Congress.

Ted Cruz represents sincerity, honesty and integrity, just what is needed in Congress and the White House. As President he will set the tone and change the climate just as Ronald Reagan did in 1981. Even Ted Kennedy in 1981 had to admit publicly that Ronald Reagan had brought “class” back into politics. Ted will do the same.

> “This trade and immigration stuff is really dragging him down.”

No it’s not. He’s doing fine in social media, on broadcast interviews and especially at the grassroots level.

People are not as dumb as you think. They can see past the mudslinging to the sincerity of the person. But you obviously lack that ability.

But there’s no stopping you from ‘reading the internet’ to get your view;. So sad for you.

> “When playing poker, it’s generally good to discard the unhelpful cards in your hand.”

A friend of mine is a national champion at poker. He ***often*** wins with some of the worst hands imaginable; that’s what makes him a champion player.

Ted Cruz by fighting for his constituents to be able to export their products and services abroad has succeeded in making Americans much more tuned to the nuances of international trade. Because millions of Americans believe in the sincerity of Ted Cruz, especially after having met him and talked to him, and after first approaching him with suspicions and cynicism, and walking away with much more awareness and with relief to know he is a great man worthy of their trust, his supporters are now much more aware of the true nature of developments inside the Beltway.

But you seem to think all those people are just too stupid to know your view.

Well I have news for you. You and your group here on FR are but a small handful. I’ve visited Ted’s facebook page, his twitter page, his blog and only a very small number are calling for his head like you are. It’s a very small group; tiny. For example, out of tens of thousands of tweets in the last 4 weeks, only about 4 tweets have come out against him. Look it up yourself.

Ted is doing fine. In fact he rocks.

But stay in your little echo chamber niche you found for yourself on FR. Iowa, New Hampshire are coming up soon. And judging by the buzz, Ted is going to blow away the MSM narrative and the little internet niches that detractors hide out in.

Here’s the real Ted embedded in the grassroots right here:

Time 1:12:40
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sznh5AjageI

Real Clear Politics average:

RCP Average 5/19 - 6/18

Bush 12.7

Walker 11.7

Rubio 10.7

Carson 9.7

Huckabee 8.7

Paul 8.0

Cruz 6.5

Christie 4.5

Perry 3.5

Trump 3.2

Fiorina 1.8

Santorum 1.8

Kasich 1.7

Graham 1.3

Jindal 0.8

Spread Bush +1.0

Real Clear Politics? Not worth a damn. They do internet polling which are notoriously inaccurate. I have a doctorate in Statistics. I know plenty about surveys and polls. Nearly every one of them like RCP are useless trash. That you would hang your hat on such trash reveals a lot about you.

I was active in 1980 when Ronald Reagan was so far down in the polls the MSM arrogantly said he was a fool for staying in the race. They ignored the fact that the great communicator was gathering a tsunami of supporters in the grassroots.

Great communicators do not need the MSM or polls. They only need personal contact with voters. Once they catch on fire with people, the crowds grow ever larger until the primaries and then the MSM has to face reality.

You should give it up. Your little kookfest about Ted Cruz grows tiresome.

Here’s what’s happening right now and look at how Freepers are responding:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3303828/posts

There is not hardly a whisper of hesitation about Ted Cruz even though you and others tried like Hell to bring him down. You lost. Maybe you’ll wake up and get smart.

You take the reactions on FR to the Fox broadcast and multiply by the millions in the Fox viewer audience, and there you have the evidence that no poll like RCP can capture.

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