WingRight
Ted Cruz
Primary Nullification (Cruz has delegate count)
Donald Trump didn’t win the Primary. Ted Cruz’ campaign won the majority of National Delegates. That distinction may mean the difference at the Republican Convention.
Trump won 40% of the votes in the Republican Primary, with the help of non-traditional, never-voted, and cross-over votes. The 60% of Republican Primary voters who did not vote for Trump are the ones savvy enough to understand the Caucuses and Conventions at the Precinct, County, Senate District, and State levels.o
We are the people who elected the Delegates to the National Republican Convention.
Forget that Trump has no staff, almost no paid media presence (thank the Lord we don’t have to watch that) and no campaign funds.
Ted Cruz won what may become the deciding vote: the majority of delegates to the National Convention are his supporters, even from States where Trump won.
Push for Primary Nullification
Delegates must vote their consciences!
(Texas is safe: our delegation must vote as bound on the first ballot, but the majority are bound to Cruz.)
Pennsylvania Judge Rules Cruz Eligible
A judge in Pennsylvania rules that anyone born a citizen is a “Natural Born Citizen.”
The judge relies on several pieces of legal scholarship. First, a memo produced in 1968 by Charles Gordon, then the General Counsel of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, which says: “The Framers were well aware of the need to assure full citizenship rights to the children born to American citizens in foreign countries.” He also points out a 2011 Congressional Research Service Memo entitled the “Qualification for President and the ‘Natural Born’ Citizenship Eligibility Requirement.” The document concludes:
“The weight of legal and historical authority indicated that the term ‘natural born’ citizen would mean a person, who is entitled to U.S. citizenship ‘by birth’ or ‘at birth’ either by being born ‘in’ the United States and under its jurisdiction, even those born to alien parents; by being born abroad to U.S. citizen-parents.”
Another ruling was handed down March 19 in Utah. This judge dismissed the case due to standing, but also made the comment that Cruz is a US citizen by birth. Other cases in Illinois, Florida and New York have also been dismissed due to legal technicalities.
March 9, 2016 Republican Delegate Count – UPDATE
Hawaii is in. Look here – or here – for updates.Further breakdown of allotments is available at the Washington Post website. (UPDATE) The New York Times also has clear graphics (and faster) here:
NYT Delegate Tracker
.
Washington Post Delegate Tracker
Counting win before chicks are hatched.
If Ted Cruz wins Presidency, it leaves a huge blank if Cruz resigns before Obama is out.
A special election will be called for the next uniform election day or 32 days after election is called.
We’ll need Cruz to resign as soon as elected or wait until inauguration to prevent aggression by the “Office of the Lame Duck President.”
Posted from WordPress for Android. Typos will be corrected!
Texas Governor Greg Abbott endorses Cruz for President
Huge endorsement from Texas’ Governor Greg Abbott. This is one I had been wondering about.
In a video announcing the endorsement, Abbott said,
“Unlike far too many in Washington, the Ted Cruz we’ve seen in the Senate is the same Ted Cruz we elected and he’s the same Ted Cruz I served with when I was attorney general,” Abbott said.
I was very impressed and very proud of Ted Cruz back in 2009, on the day when Kay Bailey Hutchison announced that she would run one more time as Texas’ Senator. Within minutes, Cruz withdrew his bid for Attorney General, rather than run against General Abbott. Although later I became opposed to his campaign tactics, that moment showed integrity.
( I’m just barely cynical enough to think it also showed good political sense. In fact, that only just occurred to me. Doggone it! I want to believe it was character, not simply savvy politics.)
Cruz needs mentoring – to *accept mentoring* – from both Governor Perry, who has also endorsed Cruz, and from Governor Abbott. I hope that he will.
21st Century Conservative Movement
“”Ronald Reagan made us believe that it was morning in America again, and it was. Now, the children of Reagan are ready to assume the mantle of leadership. . . Those of us who grew up when it was morning in America and Ronald Reagan was in the White House are ready to do for the next generation what Ronald Reagan did for ours!””
“Inaccurate and misleading” (Cruz attacks on Rubio)
At the Faith and Family conference, Senator Ted Cruz claimed that Senator Marco Rubio had not supported the defunding of Planned Parenthood by not voting against the annual budget vote in September, 2015.
I don’t know if most of my readers can understand what a big step it is for a group like National Right to Life to enter into this political debate between pro-life candidates. However, this accusation was enough to cause this statement to go out, as reported by Andrew Bair, @ProLifePolitics :
https://mobile.twitter.com/ProLifePolitics/status/698321269687775232/photo/1
“The following may be attributed to Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life:
“Marco Rubio voted to defund Planned Parenthood before Ted Cruz ever got to the U.S. Senate (see roll call on H. Con. Res. 36, April 14, 2011). Since Ted Cruz joined the U.S. Senate, both he and Sen. Rubio have voted the same on every roll call that National Right to Life regards as pertinent to defunding Planned Parenthood. To suggest that Rubio voted wrong or missed meaningful votes on the Planned Parenthood issue is inaccurate and misleading. National Right to Life is pleased that all of the major Republican candidates for president, Sens. Rubio and Cruz included, have stated that, if elected, they would work to derail Planned Parenthood’s government gravy train. “
Perry endorses Cruz for 2016
I still haven’t made up my mind and I’m waiting to see how those objections and lawsuits concerning whether Cruz qualifies as a “Natural Born Citizen.” However, the endorsement from Governor Perry is a strong mark in Senator Ted Cruz’ favor:
“I wanted to talk about him, who he was, see if I could get a handle on Ted Cruz the man, not Cruz the caricature I’d seen through the political lens. What I found was a very different person than what I had been led to believe.”
******
“Quixotic crusades over substantive victories”
Today, the Conservative grassroots are shouting raw emotions, masses feeding off headlines, “Shares,” and “Likes,” rather than the meat of the story.
Paul Waldman, in “Why have so many GOP governor’s fizzled out in the 2016 race?”online at “The Week,” astutely describes the insanity that has gripped the Party formerly consisting of Conservatives, but which is now infested with destructive anti’s.
From the article,
”
Over the past few years, the party’s grass roots have been gripped by an anti-politics fervor that values quixotic crusades over substantive victories, and equates actually accomplishing anything through ordinary political processes with betrayal.”
He continues…
“That’s why someone like Ted Cruz, a senator who has never written a law and who, if you ask him what he has accomplished, will tell you about the times he “stood up” and failed to stop Barack Obama and his own party’s leaders from keeping the government open or not defaulting on America’s debts, can still be considered unsullied and thus potentially worthy of the nomination. And those like Donald Trump and Ben Carson, their minds uncluttered by even the remotest understanding of how government works, are the most popular of all.”
Brutal. Truth. Insanity, where failure equals stature and inexperience and ignorance are lauded as qualifications.
Can we re-use the Know Nothing name for our party?
Once upon a time, the grassroots of the Republican Party, especially Conservatives, were researchers, well informed, and capable of reason. It was a joke among us that the real news was hidden in the penultimate paragraph of any news story.
Yet, 14 years of Governor Rick Perry’s Conservative leadership in Texas is mocked amid comments about glasses and his performance over a few months in 2011. Governor Scott Walker won and re-won elections in a Blue State and braved for-hire Union mobs willing to break windows in the Wisconsin State Capitol, but he was simply ignored. Each were treated more seriously by crooked Dem Prosecutors than by Conservatives.
There’s no way this latest crop could have exposed the Clinton’s of the 1990’s – or will be able to do so in the last half of the 2010s. Sticking out the month long re-count in Florida, or defending the Governor’s Mansion in Austin?
Not while dragging that couch they supposedly got off of in 2009 and Tweeting about the “Establishment.”
I’m not being flippant when I say, God help us!
Cruz: a basketball metaphor
Update, January 25, 2016 Read about the endorsement from Governor Perry
“I wanted to talk about him, who he was, see if I could get a handle on Ted Cruz the man, not Cruz the caricature I’d seen through the political lens. What I found was a very different person than what I had been led to believe.”
#GoSpursGo!
It’s basketball playoff season and my five-time champion San Antonio Spurs are doing great in the first round. It’s always political season around our house, but our Republicans spend too much time fighting each other to make me happy.
Last Thursday, Senator Ted Cruz attacked Republicans in a floor speech before the cloture vote on confirmation for now-Attorney General Loretta Lynch:
“And I said on the Senate floor yesterday there are a great many people across this country wondering why exactly did we have an election when we fought so hard in 2014, when a Republican Senate confirms the exact Attorney General Harry Reid’s Democratic senate would confirm?”
And then, after the cloture vote didn’t go his way, he walked off the floor without explanation before the actual confirmation vote. He was the only Senator “not present” and not voting.
For the next few hours, Cruz was unavailable for comment, but his staff tweeted that the only vote that counted was the cloture vote. (More importantly, there was a plan to catch and funds to raise back in Texas.)
Game over, walk off the court before the buzzer.
Tell that to my Spurs. The “Little General,” A. J. Johnson, made a game-winning corner shot at 47 seconds to go to win the Final series for the San Antonio Spurs, back in 1999. And before that, Sean Elliott’s Memorial Day Miracle, made that first (of five!) championship possible:
Contrast Elliott, who was playing with kidney disease that would require a transplant later that year, with Dennis Rodman. Rodman fought with and criticized his team and coaches, habitually showed up late, refused to huddle with the team and sometimes disappeared altogether during the 1995 playoffs. Sound familiar?
Setting records for missed votes and Committee meetings, Ted is always ready to talk to the media and to the Senate – when he does show up. When he talks about the Constitution, the merits of conservative small government and the wrong thinking of the Dems and the Left, he scores every time. However, his speeches also inevitably include criticism for Republicans as well as liberals. Even after conservative victories that will save lives, he has no praise for his Party. He says he doesn’t get enough assists, never noting that he doesn’t give any either.
Senator Cruz wants to go straight from rookie to coach. Maybe the fans love him for his trash talk, and he’s always good for a few days’ media distraction. But what kind of coach will he be with his inexperience and reputation on his own team as a player who often just doesn’t show, rarely scores any points on the court and is just as likely to slam his own team players as he is the opponents?
(The Spurs have nothing to do with my blogging, other than inspiration and a great example of fighting together with a common goal to the last second with all they’ve got. #GoSpursGo!)
Don Quixote, Ted Cruz and the Windmill
Update, January 25, 2016 Read about the endorsement from Governor Perry
“I wanted to talk about him, who he was, see if I could get a handle on Ted Cruz the man, not Cruz the caricature I’d seen through the political lens. What I found was a very different person than what I had been led to believe.”
******
Look, my hobby is tilting at windmills. My theme song often seems to be “To Dream the Impossible Dream,” but let’s be honest. No matter how much we want to overturn Obama’s amnesty EO, Ted Cruz did no one any good on Saturday except Harry Reid, who got the chance to play with to his Senate majority- and with the nuclear option for judicial nominees – for an extra 48 hours.
If you’re willing to trade lifetime appointments to the Federal bench, the fight to fight would have been the “Amendment in the form of a Substitute” for the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (http://www.againstcronycapitalism.org/2014/12/rep-amash-congress-last-night-gave-massive-new-citizen-surveillance-powers-to-the-president/) with its incremental addition to legal infringement of our 4th, 5th Amendment rights snuck in at midnight, too late to read. (Now that you have a chance, read Section 309.)
Then, if you just wanted to shame someone for something, how about that last? Both the Cromnibus and the IAA were last minute re-worked drafts that virtually no one had the opportunity, much less the time, to read. We the People were promised by the Republicans that we would get 3 days to read EVERY Bill. These two Bills should have made that promise absolutely front and center on every Republican mind.
Come to think of it: Did Cruz give us a chance to evaluate his resolution before the vote???
Criticizing Cruz
Update, January 25, 2016 Read about the endorsement from Governor Perry
“I wanted to talk about him, who he was, see if I could get a handle on Ted Cruz the man, not Cruz the caricature I’d seen through the political lens. What I found was a very different person than what I had been led to believe.”
I love what Senator Ted Cruz is doing to fight ObamaCare and the Democrats, and totally agree with his stated goal, but strongly dislike one aspect of how he’s doing it.
Unfortunately, Senator Cruz – who was absolutely correct and exactly on target 99% of the time in his 20+ hour stand in the Senate on Tuesday and Wednesday – leads his crowd in attacking fellow conservative Republicans who support the House Bill that would fully fund the Federal government except for ObamaCare. This, in spite of the fact that Cruz has said that the fight against ObamaCare is “multistaged,” praised the Bill and House Republicans for their action and even joined in Wednesday’s unanimous Senate vote to consider the Bill in the Senate.
Most people either love or hate Ted Cruz, his agenda and his Senate tactics. There doesn’t seem to be any room for distinction between the Senator, his politics, and his actions. John McCain called him a “wacko bird.” Harry Reid called Cruz an “anarchist” – along with everyone in the Tea Party. Even Dorothy Rabinowitz, of the Wall Street Journal editorial board, went overboard contrasting Cruz and Senator Mike Lee with the “sane” wing of the Republican party. Bloggers and editors, as well as politicians focus more on Cruz’ “self regard,” his certainty that he’s right and everyone else is wrong and his lack of humility, than on the fight to stem the tide of Federal overspending and government interference in our lives. (See Wednesday’s Senate floor rants of Harry Reid And Dick Durbin, with the classic propaganda technique – or possibly, classic psychological projection – of accusing your opponent of doing the worst thing that you’re doing.)
At the same time, Cruz’ supporters have gone out of their way to call any of the Republicans who didn’t “#StandWithTed,” “traitors” and “RINO’s.” They make no distinction between McCain (who is a “RINO” in my opinion), and Texas’ Senior Senator, John Cornyn, promising to “primary” the latter in 2014.
I urge Senator Cruz and all conservatives to work to build up, not tear down. Do not join the Dems in emotional attacks and accusations. Most of all, don’t turn this into a 3-sided fight between the Dems, the Republicans, and the other Republicans.
Edited to add link to article on John Cornyn. BBN
Federal budget: No real Republican divide
If you only read the headlines and first paragraphs of – or the inflamed comments on – the media coverage of the debate over the Federal budget, you might believe that Republican leaders in the Senate are caving to the Democrats on funding Obamacare. In fact, Senators Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn and Senate Republicans recognize and support the House Continuing Resolution which fully funds the Federal government while defunding Obamacare.
There aren’t just two sides to the story. In fact, the media reports obscure that there are three factions: Harry Reid’s Dems, Republicans who support for the House continuing resolution, and In fact, there are three factions: Harry Reid’s Dems, the Republicans who are garnering support for the House continuing resolution, and the Republican efforts led by Senator Ted Cruz to block even the House Bill by filibuster. Hopefully, Senator Cruz will acknowledge that the House CR makes his filibuster unnecessary.
The House Continuing Resolution is a good Bill, allowing the continuation of the Federal government into December. It’s true that the whole budget debate will continue — but wouldn’t it any way?
Our Texas Senators Cornyn and Cruz at Capitol
The Senators spoke to a group including Larry Nuckols and I, who were in DC representing the National Pawnbrokers Association.
Panel approves assault weapons ban; Cruz, Feinstein get heated – The Hill’s Video
Be very proud of our Texas Senators Cruz and Cornyn. They are fighting for rights — the right to speak, the right to read books, the right to keep and bear arms.
Watch the video! “Do they need a bazooka?” Senator Feinstein could just as well ask, “Do they need those books? Do they need all those words?” I say, Ma’am, rights are not to be limited except to save life in the case of immediate threat.
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a ban on the sale and manufacture of more than 150 types of semi-automatic weapons with military-style features Thursday in a party-line vote.
The 10-8 vote came after a heated exchange between Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who Feinstein scolded for giving her a “lecture” on the Constitution.
It’s the fourth piece of gun control legislation to make it out of committee and perhaps the one with the longest odds of becoming law, given opposition from Republicans to a new ban on the weapons.
Committee Democrats first beat back four amendments offered by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) that would have carved out exceptions to the ban. Cornyn asked for exceptions for victims of domestic violence, military veterans and those living on Southwest border states that he said were affected by Mexican gang violence.
Feinstein, the sponsor of the underlying bill, called the amendments “an effort to nip it and tuck it and create exceptions.”
Cornyn said it would Feinstein’s bill would leave citizens with “peashooters” and outgunned by criminals.
via Panel approves assault weapons ban; Cruz, Feinstein get heated – The Hill’s Video.
Intrusive “Census” questionnaire
A friend asked us what to do about the latest “American Community Survey,” received from the US Census Bureau. There is a possibility of a $100 to $5000 fine for not filling out the questionnaire, although I can’t find a record of anyone ever being prosecuted.
Seriously, I don’t care what sort of security or “confidentiality” the Bureau promises, do you want to tell any stranger what time you leave your house to go to work? And isn’t it bad enough that we already have to tell the IRS exactly how much your income was last year and exactly where it came from?
If, like me, you think these are too many questions, questions that are too personal and invasive, take the time to call your Congressman and our Texas Senators.
Representative Lamar Smith – Congressional District 21 Washington Office (202)225-4236 San Antonio Office (210)821-5024
Senator John Cornyn Washington Office (202)224-2934 San Antonio Office (210)224-7485 Austin Office (512)469-6034
Senator Ted Cruz Washington Office (202)224-5922 San Antonio Office (210)340-2885 Austin Office (512)916-5834
George Will on the danger of the majority (and @tedcruz) #tcot #TxSen
Update, January 25, 2016 Read about the endorsement from Governor Perry
“I wanted to talk about him, who he was, see if I could get a handle on Ted Cruz the man, not Cruz the caricature I’d seen through the political lens. What I found was a very different person than what I had been led to believe.”
******
Espousing unconstrained majoritarianism, (Theodore Roosevelt) disdained Madison’s belief that the ultimate danger is wherever ultimate power resides, which in a democracy is with the majority.
George Will. Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Will-Forgotten-heroes-of-1912-3758656.php#ixzz22Z0xb3FN (link to bio by me, BBN)
In other words, Conservatives are Constitutionalists not because we desire to limit the rights of others who disagree with us, but because the Constitution rightfully constrains the majority from infringing the rights of the minority.
Reading the Op-Eds and comments in the Houston Chronicle, the Washington Post, and in the Austin American Statesman about Ted Cruz’ victory here in Texas shows that we Conservatives have a lot of educating to do. People still don’t get what we mean when we speak of Constitutionalism.
My concern all along with Mr. Cruz has been his tactic of running against the entire Republican Party in Texas. I believe that his denial that Texas is led by Conservatives, and his focus on a couple of Bills that failed, rather than identifying with and emphasizing the victories of the Texas GOP, has created a distraction from the “Taxed Enough Already” Party agenda, rather than strengthening it.
The left (and even some of the Tea Party members) believe we Conservatives want to end government and taxes, rather than control both in the interest of protecting our inalienable rights to life, liberty, and property. We forget that the Left and the media only see groups, not individuals. They thrive on class warfare and are trying to make Cruz’ victory “White” vs “non-white,” “old” vs. “young,” with a strong dose of “throw the bums out!”
Rapprochement by Mr. Cruz toward our Texas Conservatives in office here in Texas – making a point that they/we exist and that he is one of us — will not only help him win an easier victory in November, it will strengthen our Texas Republican Party and advance Conservatism.
Slate.com on “The Inescapable Logic of Nominating Ted Cruz for US Senate
Have we in the Republican Party really come so low that we only look at charisma and ethnicity?
Slate.com is a long time online and very left leaning news site. Today, the article by David Wiegle, “The Inescapable Logic of Nominating Ted Cruz for Senate” proves that they don’t think very highly of Republicans, especially Conservative Republicans.
…Only toward the end of the editorial do we get some sound logic for Cruz.
“[A]s the Houston-raised son of a Cuban immigrant, he is proof positive that the American dream is very much alive and well — if in desperate need of defenders within the political system. Mr. Cruz can provide that defense in a way that Mr. Dewhurst simply is not equipped to do.”
Ah, there we go. Cruz is 42 and Hispanic. Dewhurst is 66 and white.
So there you have it: This man believes that a “white man” in his 60’s can’t represent the American Dream, no matter his humble beginnings and his own evidence that the American Dream of success is possible.
I don’t believe the bulk of Conservatives have reached that point, yet. The trouble is that a lot of our Party members are young and/or just got out of their recliners to join in our electoral process. They are vulnerable to the loudest and most brash of our “leaders” who deceive them about the process and possibilities of legislative elective office.
The fact is that inertia is built into the system of Government, both at the State (especially) at the Federal level. Most of the time that’s a good thing!
David Dewhurst knows the ins and outs of government, he can balance budgets, convince men and women to form coalitions and get things done. Most of all, he knows how to move that inertia we call Government to success as in ‘The Texas Miracle.” (The year-round Senate in DC will probably seem too much, too long to him.)
Please consider voting for David Dewhurst for US Senator from the great State of Texas!
What’s up with those # and @ signs? #TxSen Candidates and Fans on Twitter
jroger777: So
if the #TeaParty fails to show up and the retirees get real excited about voting for Dewhurst then @tedcruz won’t be our next #TXSen (Twitter comment on a poll showing that people over 65 are more likely to vote for David Dewhurst)
By now, we’ve all heard that there’s a runoff race on for Texas’ U.S. Senator Republican candidate. Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst has received the endorsement of Governor Rick Perry, 18 of 19 Republican State Senators, and the bulk of State-Wide office holders. Former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz is backed by many leaders of the “Tea Party,” especially those most interested in controlling illegal immigration. South Carolina’s Senator Jim DeMint recruited former Texas Solicitor Ted Cruz to run last year and has been campaigning with him this past weekend. We’ve seen the fanfare with Sarah Palin, Glen Beck, and Rick Santorum. A few know that Norman Adams, who masterminded the “Texas Solution” guest worker Plank in the Republican Party of Texas 2012 Platform, endorsed Cruz in the Primary.
But who are the grassroots supporters and what do they say in support of and against the candidates? One way to get an idea is to follow the race, the candidates and their “fans” on the social networking sites. The most popular are Facebook and Twitter. A cadre of supporters of both candidates post on Twitter, gathering together under the “hashtag” (see my “Primer” below) #TxSen, That’s why I’ve been putting the # in the title of most of my posts for the last month or so.
I posted about the news coverage and fallout from one conversation on Twitter back in early June, when Katrina Pierson, founder of Garland, Texas Tea Party and Grassroots Texans Network, and volunteer for Cruz, called former Marine Captain Dan Moran “a deformed disabled vet.”
That was about the time I got wrapped up in Facebook and Twitter – especially Twitter – – okay, addicted to Twitter – political social networking. I also started saving a few of the more notable Tweets sent by the Cruz crowd. (Sometimes derogatorily called “Cruzbots.” I wouldn’t do that. I call them the #CruzClan.)
Unfortunately, the conversation above is not that unusual, except that it got some press. The @DavidHDewhurst fans (voters) tend to be polite and rule followers. In contrast, the @tedcruz supporters follow a different drummer. I’ve argued politics on the Internet for nearly 20 years and have never seen the spite and name calling that comes from the #CruzClan, even when talking to atheists, pro-aborts and RonPaulers. That last statement reads like an incredible exaggeration, even to me, but just watch #TxSen or my “feed” after this blog is published.
The biggest surprise came in the form of questions indicating that some of the #CruzClan might not agree with their candidate, who says he’s pro-life and believes in laws protecting marriage as “one man and one woman,” on “social issues,” such as abortion and marriage. Here are a few examples:
I had a several-day discussion about the Constitution and abortion with this Cruz supporter:
Even with a limit of 140 characters, the discussion followed the same old pattern that all such conversations do.
Wonder how popular Cruz will be with his fans in a couple of years, if he’s elected, but proves more or less Conservative – and effective in the designed-to-be-immovable-Senate than they expect him to be?
Short primer on Twitter and Tweeting
If you are reading this on your computer or phone, you have all the skills necessary to be a social networker on Twitter. Join in!
If you want to see – or “follow” – the real time conversation, you have to sign up for Twitter at Twitter.com. (Hint: Pick the shortest name you can, so you don’t eat up the 140 character limit!) If you are interested in a topic or person, enter the word or name in the search box at the top. You can save the search to return to it over and over. You may have to pick the most appropriate result, or find your specific interest as a “hashtag” – subjects that appear frequently enough to form a subheading or group of Tweets – in the list of Tweets given. “Top Conservatives on Twitter” is a good place to start, #tcot. Or #TxSen/#txsen, “Texas Senate” will allow you to follow that subject through the election.
You’ll also see a list of people who tweet about your subject. People are contacted and referred to by @TheirName. I’m @bnuckols.
Law Enforcement Associations respond to @TedCruz @ #Cash4Kids #TxSen
I received this in my e-mail, this morning. As a mother, a grandmother and long time advocate against the abuse of children and for smaller government, and fewer laws, with appropriate punishment for REAL crimes, I couldn’t agree more!
To the voters of Texas,
Police and Law enforcement put their lives on the line to protect the public from those who would hurt our most vulnerable, our children.
Ted Cruz chose to defend a man, Robert Mericle, who took part in a judicial kickback scheme the resulted in 4000 children being incarcerated for profit. This scheme was reprehensible and exploited these children so that Cruz’s client and the corrupt judges he bribed could make millions in profits.
Now Ted Cruz’s campaign is sending out a mailer to Texans claiming that this felon and child exploiter helped prosecutors. Ted Cruz should be ashamed of himself for making this claim, when he knows his client is a convicted felon who hurt kids.
Ted Cruz tried to get his client Mericle out of paying his victims, the children, the damages Cruz’s client owed them. And now Cruz is trying to paint this villain as a hero.
To follow the chain of Cruz’s logic–every cornered criminal who cooperates with prosecutors to save their skin would be treated as a hero.
Ted Cruz needs to answer whether he personally approved this mailer his campaign sent out. Does Mr. Cruz really believe his client Robert Mericle is someone who should be applauded for his role in this scandal?
Ted Cruz’s inability to admit that his client was a convicted felon who exploited children raises serious questions about whether he has the judgment and character to represent Texas in any way.
Sincerely,
Charley Wilkison
Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT)
What you might not know about the Texas US Senate Race #TxSen
At Monday night’s debate in Houston between Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst and Ted Cruz, Republicans in the runoff for the US Senate race(Twitter #TxSen), I met a couple who said they were still “undecided” about who to vote for. They asked why I was supporting Lt. Governor David Dewhurst over Ted Cruz. They were surprised that I believed his record is so strong and hadn’t even heard about Ted Cruz’ speculation to reporters that Governor Perry wanted to get Lt. Governor Dewhurst elected because he wanted Dewhurst out of Austin. The fact that these two went to the effort to attend a debate on a Monday night made me believe that they are actually informed voters, but that if these two people don’t know the issues, perhaps many others don’t either.
I’ve covered some of this in other posts on WingRight, including my last Post, “An Open Letter to Texas Voters,” and you can read about the support David Dewhurst received from 18 of the 19 Republicans in the 31 member Texas Senate, here. Here are more specific reasons why I support pro-life, pro-marriage, small government candidate Lt. Governor David Dewhurst for US Senator from Texas.
As I’m sure you know, Texas has a quirky system, where our Lieutenant Governor is more powerful than our Governor in many respects. If you want to know what Lt. Governor Dewhurst will do in the US Senate, look at just some of the laws he’s helped pass over the last 10 yrs:
- Women’s Right to Know Act, an informed Consent law for abortion with 24 hour waiting period, 2003;
- Prenatal Protection Act which declared the unborn an “individual” – a person in Texas law – “from fertilization until natural death,” 2003,
- Defense of Marriage Act, 2003, with a Second law passed to amend our State Constitution, 2005;
- Parental consent for abortion, 2005;
- Tort reform, 2005;
- Decreased school property tax by 1/3, 2007;
- Jessica’s Law, 2009,
- Loser Pays, 2011;
- De-funded abortionists, including Planned Parenthood, 2011;
- Prohibited illegal aliens from getting driver’s licenses, 2011;
- Photo Voter ID, 2011;
- Blocked the law written specifically to force Texas to follow the Democrat’s call to raise school spending at 2009 stimulus levels, 2011;
- Sonogram Bill, requiring the abortionist to offer the mother a chance to see her child and hear the heartbeat;
- Castle Law 2009 that allows Texans to use deadly force to defend themselves against threats, without having to prove they tried to “retreat”to safety;
- Stronger protection for Concealed Carry Permit holders every session since 2003:
- Balanced our budget every two years, even when there were projected shortfalls in 2003, 2009, 2011;
- Every year since 2005, Texas has spent at least $100Million of our tax dollars to augment border security and that number was doubled in 2011.
Governor Perry, with the help of Lt. Gov. Dewhurst and the Texas Senate, refused to accept those “Stimulus funds” for education and unemployment insurance that would have forced us to change our laws in 2011. Yes, we used some stimulus funds that didn’t require us to change our laws, but, as our former Senator, Phil Gramm said,
“(I)f the Congress had a vote on whether to build a cheese factory on the Moon, I would oppose it based on what I know now, and I cannot imagine the circumstance under which I would support it. But on the other hand, if Congress in its lack of wisdom decided to start a cheese factory on the Moon, I would want a Texas firm to do the engineering, I would want a Texas construction firm to do the construction, I would want the milk to come from Texas cows, and I would want the celestial distribution center to be in Dallas, Texas, or College Station, Texas, or somewhere else in my State.”
These are just the highlights of a career that began the same year that 11 Democrat Senators left Austin on a supporter’s plane in order to hide out in Albuquerque New Mexico for a full month in order to deny the Senate a Quorum and avoid losing the votes on Congressional redistricting.
You might have read that Dewhurst increased taxes, with the misleading statistic that our revenues went up over the last 10 years. Increased revenues do not necessarily mean increased taxes! They also go up with the growth of the economy. Texas’ population went up over 20% and our State added more jobs than all the other States combined in the same time period. These were good jobs, and they went to legal residents who come into our State at the rate of 1000 people a WEEK! The fact is that even the Club for Growth, who is now backing Mr. Cruz, stated last year that Texas’ spending has actually gone down over the last 10 years, when adjusted for population and inflation.
How did we spend that money? Mr Cruz knows exactly how: he was the lawyer who worked out a deal in Federal Court when he was Solicitor General that bound the State to increase spending on Medicaid. He uses this spending from his agreement against the Lt. governor.
You might also read that Dewhurst supported a “payroll tax,” or even an “income tax.” These accusations are based on words in a press release and an editorial against the Lt Governor, from 2006. These weren’t the words used in the Bill that is bandied about, and that Bill never became law. In the law that was eventually passed, there are three ways to calculate our State business franchise tax. One of those is a tax based on employee pay, minus benefits. But there are two other ways, and the business chooses the best way for them. More telling is that our Attorney General won the case proving that the tax is not an income tax, last November. Cruz knew that his claim was wrong as from the beginning of his ads and web campaign against Dewhurst.
You can find my other posts on the US Senate race here.
Clarification on #TxSen news about @DavidHDewhurst ad
My last video post might have seemed too cryptic or as though I left out a few details. In addition, you might have heard or read that the case was a “private civil suit.”
Mericle plead to a lesser offense ( not a real fan of that, either) of tax fraud carried out to hide his participation in the Cash for Kids crime. Two judges have been convicted ofsending juveniles to jail for frivolous charges. Sometimes for years.
Mericle was also sued in civil court for his part in the scheme. He lost, but didn’t think he should actually have to give up his profits – out of his own pockets, for pity’s sake – to the victims! So, he then then tried to sue his insurance company, Traveler’s, to pay for the settlement! Not surprisingly, Traveler’s balked at covering Mericle for his “damages,” incurred during the commission of a crime. And he lost, again.
The “Civil appeal” was a repeat effort to force Traveler’s insurance to pay the civil suit judgement against Mericle. After all if at first you lose in court, sue, sue again!
Mericle and Cruz lost that go ’round.
More victims, if Cruz had had his way, would have been everyone with insurance through Travelers, whose premiums would have gone up.
Disturbing audio revelation in #TxSen race
Texas Senate candidate Lt Governor David Dewhurst’s New web ad shocks, with Ted Cruz’ own recorded words in defense of his client, the developer who helped exploit children and the juvenile justice system in Pennsylvania courts.
Here’s where to find the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce2L-OhuNiE&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Ted Cruz’s legal work for figure in Pennsylvania corruption scandal draws fire
Ted Cruz has campaigned on his record as an attorney and “fighting” for Conservative values. He has made the cases he argued the basis for his qualification to be Texas’ next US Senator. We should look at all of his record.
When he worked for the State of Texas as Solicitor General, he argued the cases he was assigned by Attorney General Greg Abbott. When he went into private practice as an appellant lawyer, what sort of cases did he choose?
From the Dallas Morning News:
“Ted Cruz chose to represent a convicted felon who masterminded a bribery scheme to fill the beds of his private prison to enrich himself by unlawfully jailing and terrorizing thousands of children,” said Dewhurst spokesman Matt Hirsch. “Ted Cruz should be ashamed.”
Hirsch said Cruz’s acceptance of the work “brings into question [his] integrity and judgment. … Is there anyone Ted Cruz won’t represent if the price is right?”
Dewhurst already has centered much of his campaign’s attack advertising on Cruz’s representation of a trademark-infringing Chinese tire maker.
In briefs for Mericle, Cruz argued that nearly $2.2 million in “finder’s fees” that the businessman and a partner paid to the two judges were an effort to get the judges to close a publicly run facility in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and let him build two new ones.
The partner, attorney and developer Robert Powell, managed the private facilities and was the one whose acts swayed the judges to harm children, Cruz said.
Cruz argued that the only crime Mericle was guilty of — failing to report tax evasion — hurt only the Internal Revenue Service, not the children imprisoned, meaning that Travelers should have to pay under Mericle’s insurance policy.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court tossed about 4,000 convictions issued by one of the judges between 2003 and 2008, saying he violated the constitutional rights of the juveniles, including the right to legal counsel and the right to intelligently enter a plea.
In one case a 16-year-old girl with no prior record was held in juvenile detention for six months after gesturing with her middle finger at a police officer called during a custody dispute involving her parents and sister, according to The Christian Science Monitor.
Both judges have been sentenced to long prison terms. Mericle, who has testified for prosecutors in other corruption cases, is awaiting sentencing but is expected to serve less than three years.
Ted Cruz’ Enemies: the Texas Senate Republican Caucus (and Lt. Governor Dewhurst, Governor Perry #TxSen
Did you see how diplomatically the Texas Senate Republican Caucus worded their letter, without mentioning Cruz’ name? They just corrected the distortions he’s spread for a year about their actions in the Senate.
In contrast, Cruz wrote an “Open Letter” addressed directly to Lt. Governor Dewhurst, calling him a liar — which means he’s calling all the other Senators liars, too.
Not only that, but – even though the letter from the Senators was signed by 18 respected Republican Texas Senators — Cruz went to the trouble of opening the “Properties” folder for the letter (composed in Microsoft Word 97-2003) and publishing a screen shot, accusing the man whose name appears of writing the letter.That may seem a logical assumption to anyone who is already looking for conspiracies and goes to the trouble to open the Property folder in the first place.
. However, it seems that no one called Mr. Grimes. Mr. Grimes says he didn’t write the letter. He said he used the computer at one time, but doesn’t work for that firm anymore:
I had absolutely nothing to with this letter,” Grimes told Roll Call. “And if the Cruz folks had called me beforehand and asked me, I would have told them, but they didn’t.”
Other sources say that the letterhead was designed by a staffer at a consulting firm called The Eppstein Group. Grimes, who is no longer at the firm, once used that computer and the sources say that is how his name surfaced in the computer software.
Cruz didn’t need to go to all the trouble of working up a conspiracy between the City of Austin and the Lieutenant Governor. (Is he at all familiar with Austin politics? The City of Austin is farther to the left than the cities surrounding his almae matres, Princeton and Harvard). Erick Erickson of RedState.org has already figured out what happened and wrote that “arm twisting” was going on in the Senate. They, along with everyone else in Austin, are supposedly afraid that they’ll never get another Bill passed if they don’t back up the Lt. Governor.
So, let’s get this straight:18/19 Republican Senators – an easy majority in the 31 member Senate – didn’t mean what they signed their names to — because they are collectively – all 18 of them – afraid of David Dewhurst? They can’t gang up on Dewhurst, but can on Cruz? Without mentioning his name in the letter?
Even Jane Nelson, one of the most poised and competent Legislators in the Nation? Even Florence Shapiro and Steve Ogden who aren’t running again? We’re supposed to believe that Chris Harris, Dan Patrick and John Carona are afraid of anyone? Do they all lie out of fear?
Well, there’s one Senator that Cruz believes. The unnamed “senior Senator,” who was anonymously quoted by that reliable source, the Texas Monthly — and now, Ted Cruz, the Baptist preacher’s son. Now we all know that it’s a badge of Conservatism to be named among their Worst List. We also know that unattributed quotes from the TM are worth less than the paper this blog isn’t printed on.
Nevertheless after listing his distortions once again in the “Open Letter” to David Dewhurst, Cruz gratuitously went farther:
“. . . if the Texas Senators had to vote on whether David Dewhurst should be considered one of the Ten Worst Legislators in Texas, the vote “would be 31 to nothing.”” (link included in original)
So much for diplomacy. Or even Christian decency.
Which Senator lies to support David Dewhurst but can be trusted to tell the Texas Monthly anything truthful?
One thing is certain. He has no idea how much he’s going to need these people, whether or not he wins on July 31. If there’s “fear,” perhaps it should be on Cruz’ part: that they’ll hang him out to dry on Augut 1 and in January if he does get to DC.
Village Republican Women tell Senate candidates: No negative campaigning at forum
The Houston Area Village Republican Women are saying what a lot of us have been saying for a while:
“We don’t want to hear from them about their opponents,” Ingersoll said. “We want to hear about themselves …We don’t want to hear anymore why we shouldn’t vote for their opponents. We want to hear how they’re the best ones to represent us in Texas.”
via Village Republican Women forum features Cruz, Dewhurst – Your Houston News: News.
Open Letter to Texans from Senate Republican Caucus
Tonight, the Texas Senate Republican Caucus, 18 of the 19 Republicans in the Senate, took the unprecedented step of writing a letter to refute some of the stories you’ve been hearing about Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst.
The letter pretty much speaks for itself and is an example of the consequences when Republicans forget who the opposition is and begin attacking the record of one of our own.
Texas State Senate Republican Caucus Sen. Robert Nichols, Chair Open Letter to Texans July 8, 2012Setting the Record Straight:
An Open Letter to Texans Dear Fellow Texans: In the U.S. Senate primary race, statements have been made that are untrue regarding the records of Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, the Republican Texas Senators, as well as Governor Rick Perry. This letter is to set the record straight.
The Anti-Sanctuary Cities Bill
Many members of the Texas Senate and the Lt. Governor felt strongly about outlawing the practice of sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants. During the Regular Session, the Anti-Sanctuary Cities Bill was blocked by the Democrats through the use of a parliamentary procedure. The Lt. Governor asked Governor Perry to call a special session, removed the parliamentary block, and the bill then passed the Senate along party lines early in Special Session on June 14th. The bill was sent to the House early in the Special Session where it failed to move and died. We are confident that the Senate will again pass the bill in the upcoming 2013 Legislative Session.
Controlling & Cutting State Spending
Governor Perry, Lt. Governor Dewhurst and the Republican-led Texas Legislature have always been committed to balancing the state budget without raising taxes, and have repeatedly done so since 2003. Most recently, the state budget was balanced in 2011 by cutting $14 billion in overall spending. Budget watchdog groups have repeatedly praised Texas for being a low tax, low spending state and specifically for keeping state spending lower than the rate of population and inflation growth since 2003. To characterize the Texas record as one of reckless spending is simply untrue.
The TSA Anti-Groping Bill
The Senate Republicans and the Lt. Governor wanted to protect travelers from unwanted and unlawful intrusion, so Lt. Governor Dewhurst requested that Governor Perry add the TSA Anti-Groping Bill to the agenda for the Special Session. The Texas Senate passed S.B. 29, the TSA Anti-Groping Bill, with enough time remaining in the Special Session for the House to take up and pass the bill. The bill was a tougher version than that of the House, but ultimately died as a result of opposition on the House side.
State Income Tax, Wage Tax and Payroll Tax
We the undersigned, and the Lt. Governor, have always opposed a state income tax for Texas, as well as a wage or payroll tax. Newspaper fact checks clearly confirm this.
Texans deserve to know the truth in this important election.
Signed by Senators John Nichols (Chairman), John Corona, Bob Duell, Robert Duncan, Kevin Eltife, Craig Estes, Troy Fraser, Chris Harris, Glen Heger, Joan Huffman, Mike Jackson, Jane Nelson, Steve Ogden, Dan Patrick, Kel Seliger, Florence Shapiro, Jeff Wentworth, and Tommy Williams.
Not signing was Senator Brian Birdwell – I’m sure we’ll read the story on that, soon.
Comments on the Cruz-Patrick Debate
An advocate for Ted Cruz has commented on the June 30th WingRight review of the confrontation between Texas State Senator Dan Patrick and Ted Cruz, here.
My reply:
“Cruz is a champion of the advice from the Sun Tsu’s Art of War: “Call your enemy what you are.” That’s not my favorite lesson from the book, and it’s not an upright, ethical philosophy for life except in life and death struggles.
“Cruz shouldn’t have gone on the offensive right off the bat. He sure shouldn’t have said flat out that Senator Patrick, a respected and respectable radio news commentator, has been fed questions from the Dewhurst campaign. He impugned Patrick’s honor and his journalism. He then claimed to have “seen” the Senator repeatedly acting as a “surrogate” for Governor Dewhurst.
“The occasions in which Patrick said negative things against Dewhurst were said in anger, between May 24 and June 2 – all from a single episode on May 24. As he said, he is not angry at Dewhurst anymore. He’s probably regretting words he said in anger in the presence of a reporter. While “all’s fair in love and war,” Cruz should remember Patrick’s advice: he needs to learn to ask advice and that, come August, we will all have to learn to work together as Republicans.
“Everyone may listen to the interview/confrontation for themselves, so we’ll let them decide whether or not Cruz “handled himself well. I obviously think he showed us a side of himself that he’s been trying to conceal – the angry, conspiracy-weaving side that will not accept any criticism.
“Senator Dan Patrick has said that he won’t endorse in this race, although he could be forgiven after the accusations by Cruz in this interview. Why do you accuse him of not meaning what he says?”
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