Posted on 06/15/2015 9:44:25 AM PDT by SoConPubbie
At last weekend’s NRA Convention, Ted Cruz, the first declared GOP presidential candidate, was asked about wavering public opinion in regards to gun control, and how fluctuating public opinion shapes his stance on issues.
Guns.com asked Cruz:
In the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, a statistic surfaced putting support for background checks at 90%. Did you go against the want of the nation, with your vote against Manchin-Toomey? And also, how does public opinion shape your response to national problems?
Sens. Manchin, a Democrat and Pat Toomey, a Republican, drafted the bill, aiming to expand background checks, following the aftermath of the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012.
Ironically, Manchin-Toomey would have made no difference in stopping Sandy Hook, as it would have expanded background checks to private sellers. Adam Lanza stole the gun from his mother, who had purchased it legally.
“When it comes to Constitutional rights, what matters is what the Bill of Rights says,” Cruz answered. “It doesn’t matter what might be popular at the moment,” stated.
Cruz reminded the interviewer of an inconvenient fact the left likes to ignore about the history of tyranny.
“We’ve seen regimes across the face of the earth come and take away people’s guns, strip away their rights to defend themselves and sometimes it’s been very popular. And yet, it is an inevitable prelude to tyranny,” Cruz explained.
Cruz continued, saying that the constitution’s check against tyranny must not subject to the whims of public opinion.
“The Second Amendment is there so you and I could protect our homes, our families, and our children and our lives. And it’s also there as a fundamental check on government tyranny and that ultimately is not subject to public opinion polls, it’s subject to the express protections of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution,” Cruz asserted.
It was a great question by Guns.com, one many politicians would have weaseled out by not clearly answering. Again, Cruz shows his strong adherence to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and his willingness to fight for them, regardless of temporary flairs in public opinion.
He supports Rand Paul.
++++
Thanks for the input. I’m not surprised. The first real attacks on Cruz came form Rand Paul.
Then throw out who you think is a better option here and let us all debate their flaws. After that, we’ll tally up and see who has the most warts.
I have a pretty clear picture of where everybody stands after listening and reading and writing to quite a few of these candidates for months and I am voting for Cruz, blemishes and all.
You know that you are right in there with harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. You seem a might democrat in nature!!
The weight is the rocks.
Myth 2: Abortion is unconstitutional
I don't care what Meese or some courts say. Trade deals are treaties negotiated between nations. They should be subject to the same ratification process.
But the argument that "none would ever pass" or "its too hard" or "amendments would be death by a thousand cuts"
This is nonsense.
Our Founders wanted such deals to be difficult to ratify or everyone would be bribed into doing them....which is exactly what is happening.
I favor free trade. But we would not have free trade with China if it had to be ratified by a 2/3 majority vote because they do not play fair.
TPA is just an end run to get things done quickly before anyone realizes the crappy deal.
I hope you know the basis for our talks with Iran are based on trade as well?
Sounds very sinister. Do you have any details?
If Obama is for something, and has been deeply involved in its creation, I am 100% sure its bad for America.
NO matter what any republican says.
That rule has never failed me.
A few have been implying that Cruz is influenced by outside business interests.
However, if we want to smear by innuendo, it is easier to do that with Jeff Sessions (a legislator I admire in the main.)
Sessions in his May 22 statement saying he won’t support the TPA because of the pending TPP quotes a Nucor Steel representative about Asian steel issues and its impact from that deal. Where does Nucor Steel have plants? How about four steel plants in ALABAMA. (That’s right, the same state Jeff Sessions represents)
There are a lot of other steel plants besides Nucor in Alabama as Alabama and Texas were the big gainers when the Pennsylvania rust belt old plants went cold forty five years ago.
So, if we want to talk about special interests of big business influencing votes, Sessions is more open to that question in the case of this vote than Cruz or Steve King.
A good point, but the difference is that Sessions is being bought off to protect American jobs, and TPP is designed to improve the position of foreign jobs at the expense of American jobs.
But I have no doubt both are bought off for what they are doing. I like Cruz best still, but this is a powerful caution that like ANY politician, he bears very close watching and will usually follow the money.
If supporting large business interests is the same as supporting “jobs” then the unions are happy as the big business jobs on industrial are more unionized than average work place jobs.
Protecting American consumers could be as important as protecting large business jobs, it is all about the rhetoric brought to the argument.
You are WRONG
Please find the information regarding TPA and TPP (from Cruz’s own mouth) - TPA and TPP are two different things - and it would help you to find out the difference .. instead of leading so many people astray with your faulty information ..!!!!!!!!
SoConPubbie, thank you for posting this. When I saw that this was an article on the Second Amendment, and Cruz’ position on it I was interested in reading the 70+ posts about it. Unfortunately, there are those that hijacked your thread to attack Ted Cruz on totally unrelated issues. If I wanted to read about trade, I would go to those threads. Thank you for the informative article. I’m sorry that your thread got diverted from the topic. It is inexcusable, but common nowadays.
Again, thank you for posting this.
I’m weary of posters asserting their own agenda on every thread. I appreciate the effort you make.
Gwjack
Cruz may have pissed off many with his TPP which is understandable but let me ask this question:
Since most politicians relieve very large donations from corporate interests and many favor the TPP wouldn’t a “NO” vote possibly have killed his chances of receiving the type funding it will take to get all the way to the WH?
I’m going to venture that this might be the reason he voted YES to it but can’t comment as to the true reasons he did so. Just food for thought...
Correct. His actions enabling TPP makes me reassess his entire beltway career.
Was he really fighting for us during the no hoper battles on the budget, shutdown, etc.? Or was just strutting about trying to build a mailing list to run for POTUS?
Unfortunately, if he will sell out Main Street to get elected POTUS, he will do the same to be reelected.
I take anything he says now about repealing Obamacare with a grain of salt. GOP big donors love socialized medicine and Cruz has their backs on the big issues, obviously.
Jeez. If Cruz is a RINO, there is no such thing as an electable conservative.
They’re all corportists. After teaming with Ryan to enable Obamatrade he has become the tallest midget in the race, IMO
No one is led astray.
Jenner, Dolezal, and Cruz are NOT what they claimed to be.
ObamaTRADE is SECRECY, more taxes, less Constitution,
and an abrogation of the Constitution and INTEGRITY.
Who in their right mind would either
1. empower Obama OR
2. vote of something that they had not read or was SECRET.
You got to be joking, right ?
Compared to who ?
Court Jester nutty Rand Paul ?
Who wants amnesty for the black criminal element ? Really ? Seriously ?
Who wants to have free collage tuition as tax rightoffs then stick it to the older working Americans.
Rand Paul ?
Who supports Obama opening up Cuba for the Castro regime and give aid to Cuba.
Rand Paul who wants to welcome openly homosexuals into the GOP ?
Rand Paul, or his father who is anti- Israel, where we have seen his supporters holding up signs that say : Down with Zionism.
Really ? Seriously ?
That’s, diliberly uninformed with a agenda siding with the Democrats, Unions, so on and so on.
Even Nancy Pelosi
It’s more than hilarious, it’s the truth.
Ohh yeah ? Nancy Pelosi sides with them too.
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