Written by Ben Cox – Senator Ted Cruz was in Brownwood yesterday evening, speaking to a standing-room-only crowd at Underwood’s Cafeteria as a stop on his re-election campaign tour.
Cruz opened with a humorous anecdote about how anything can happen with an example of playing basketball with Jimmy Kimmel in front of 6,000 people in Houston two weeks ago. He then proceeded to discuss the four things Republicans faced after President Trump took office, and described ways in which they have been either dealt with, or what progress has been made.
“We started last year with four big priorities: tax cuts, regulatory reform, Obamacare, and judges. My view was if we could deliver on those four it would have a lasting and positive impact on Texas for a long long time. And if we came up short it would be one of the greatest missed opportunities of our lifetime.”
Cruz started with tax cuts. “In December we saw one of the biggest tax cuts of a generation. Cutting taxes for small businesses, farmers and ranchers, for working families.”
Cruz also mentioned the doubling of the standard deduction, “which means that starting next year, 90% of Americans will fill out their taxes on a postcard.” The elated crowd then erupted after Cruz spoke in favor of a flat tax and abolishing the IRS.
Regulatory reform is one of the points Cruz touted as a victory for the Texas Economy. “Booming,” is how he described it. Record low unemployment for African Americans and Hispanics, which Cruz said happens “when you pull back taxes and regulations and you let small businesses grow and prosper.”
Obamacare, and the repealing of the individual mandate was another feather in Cruz’s cap as he spoke to the intent crowd. He also spoke about judges, and recent appointments to federal courts of appeals. “Last year we confirmed more appellate judges than in any first year of a president’s term in history.”
The constitution and the upholding of its laws were a constant theme for the evening. From the Second Amendment to the Tenth, Cruz spoke about smaller government involvement in private lives of citizens.
Taking questions from the crowd, Cruz was asked by Don Holland, “Why are we hearing of so many wrong doings being ignored? The common beliefs among my friends is that the corruption is so deep on both sides that we have little hope of getting to the truth.”
An Associate Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice, Cruz said that he “doesn’t want to see a Republican Department of Justice, or a Republican FBI. We wanna see a Department of Justice and an FBI that follows the law and enforces the law, regardless of what party someone happens to be in.”
Cruz said that he is going to “try to shine a light and ensure that we have accountability regardless of your political party.”
When asked about his opinion of the President’s job performance, Cruz was delicate in his response. “President Trump says a whole lot of things I would never say. But on substance I’m actually quite happy with what’s getting accomplished.” This drew cheers and applause form the crowd.
Cruz said that he repeatedly is asked to comment on the Presidents social media postings, which he said his response is “I don’t comment on tweets, I won’t comment on the random comment of the day.”
Staying on the substance-over-style debate, Cruz continued “If you wanna talk about substance, if you wanna talk about policy or tax reform, or Reg reform or Obamacare or judges, you wanna talk national security or foreign policy, I’ll talk any of that. But if you wanna talk about whatever has the latest talking heads on cable TV lighting their hair on fire, I got nothing to say.”
The border wall, and immigration were hot questions from the crowd. Cruz summed up his opinion of illegal immigration with four words “Legal good, Illegal bad.” Fences, technology like infrared and E-Verify, as well as tripling the amount of border control agents to increase the boots on the ground.
Cruz says that while he is hard on illegal immigration, he says the country should be celebrating those who enter the country through legal means, while adjusting the process to focus on a skills based entry policy, “to attract the best and brightest to this country.”
Cruz’s father Raphael will be speaking at the Brownwood Country Club on September 11th, and will have yard signs available for any that wish to display them.
