Here’s Ted Cruz’s full kickoff speech for his 2016 Presidential campaign:
Posts Tagged ‘Republicans’
Ted Cruz’s Presidential Race Announcement Speech
Tuesday, March 24th, 2015Ted Cruz Announces Presidental Run With a Tweet
Monday, March 23rd, 2015Despite advance word that Cruz would announce his run today, he actually did so with a tweet Sunday night:
I'm running for President and I hope to earn your support! pic.twitter.com/0UTqaIoytP
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 23, 2015
Cruz had a very strong social media team for his 2012 Senate race, so this move isn’t a big surprise. Now we’ll see if it, and his early jump, can get him any separation in a very crowded field…
Ted Cruz to Declare Presidential Bid Tomorrow
Sunday, March 22nd, 2015Texas Senator Ted Cruz is expected to announce his 2016 Presidential bid tomorrow at Liberty University in Virginia.
This should not be a surprise to anyone following this blog, or keeping track of his travel schedule.
Probably more on the announcement tomorrow…
Jason Villalba, The King of Thin-Skinned Twitter Blockage
Saturday, March 21st, 2015Texas State Rep. Jason Villalba, ostensibly a Republican, seems to be going out of his way to alienate actual Republican voters.
First he was among the (sadly many) Republican Representatives to vote to reelect Joe Straus Speaker, then got caught praising Straus’ progressive agenda.
Next came Villalba’s introduction of H.B. 2918, which attacks the rights of photographers, bloggers and CHL holders under the guise of protecting police from being assaulted by cameras.
Naturally, this has lead to a raft of criticism on Twitter and elsewhere. (There’s aeven a Recall Jason Villalba Facebook group. Since Texas does not have any recall election mechanism for state-level officials, I presume they mean to back a primary challenge to him in 2016.)
So what has Villalba’s reaction to this criticism been?
So go ahead and add “thin-skinned” to the list of Rep. Villalba’s flaws…
Scott Walker Signs Right-to-Work Bill Into Law in Wisconsin
Monday, March 9th, 2015“Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Monday signed into law a measure that prohibits requiring a worker to pay union dues, striking another blow against organized labor four years after the state effectively ended collective bargaining for public-sector employees.”
National unions poured tens of millions into Wisconsin trying to defeat Walker, and only succeeded in making him stronger and losing worse than they would have otherwise.
Four Texas Congressmen Voted To Cave on Obama’s Amnesty
Thursday, March 5th, 2015If you hadn’t heard, House Republicans caved in to fund Obama’s unconstitutional illegal alien amnesty.
Even more infuriating: Four Texas Republican congressmen were among the 75 Republicans who caved:
Will Hurd at least has the excuse that he represents a majority Hispanic swing district representing San Antonio and several border counties, so it’s possible that he’s following the wishes of his constituents.
Carter, Granger and McCaul do not.
An In-Depth Look at Scam PACs
Monday, March 2nd, 2015If you remember my pieces exposing Conservative Action Fund, Conservative America Now and Patriots for Economic Freedom as scam PACs, you know it’s an ongoing concern.
Now Right Wing news has done an in-depth piece on 17 high-profile PACs, only three of which gave more than 50% of the money raised to candidates. It was particularly disappointing to see Tea Party Express use only miserable 5% of the funds raised on candidates and campaigns.
Read the whole thing, including their caveats about the difficulty in measuring spending from some groups.
Rand Paul Wins CPAC Straw Poll. Front-Runner? Not So Much.
Saturday, February 28th, 2015Rand Paul won the 2015 CPAC Presidential Straw Poll with
Paul came in first with 25.7%, while Scott Walker came in second with 21.4% of the vote, and Ted Cruz came in third with 11.5% of the vote, just edging out Dr. Ben Carson at 11.4%. (Carson is 2016’s Herman Cain: The attractive outsider with no real chance of winning. The presidency is not an entry level job…)
Complete results via the magic of Twitter:
BREAKING: Rand Paul wins the #CPACStrawPoll.
Walker, Cruz, Carson, and Bush round out the top 5.
#CPAC #CPAC2015 pic.twitter.com/xR0ZSxl9II
— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) February 28, 2015
Does this mean Rand Paul is the GOP front runner? Not really, since that total is down four points from his father Ron Paul’s showing in 2011. Ron Paul would go on to pick up a smattering of delegates and place first in the U.S. Virgin islands primaries, which did not catapult him to the nomination. Mitt Romney placed second in the CPAC poll before going on to win the nomination.
Now, I happen to believe that Rand Paul is a much more viable GOP candidate than Ron Paul was (though not as viable as Scott Walker or Ted Cruz), but the Rand Paul’s CPAC win shows no sign of him breaking out of Ron Paul’s ideological base, which is not enough for him to win more than (at most) three or four primaries.
Based on polls in Iowa and elsewhere, Scott Walker should probably be considered the font-runner, and the CPAC result doesn’t change that.
Right-to-Work Bill Passes Wisconsin Senate
Thursday, February 26th, 2015The passage of Right-to-Work legislation in the Republican-controlled senate is no surprise, but the quick, efficient manner they’ve done it in is gratifying.
A right-to-work bill passed through the Wisconsin State Senate with a 15-17 majority and no amendments Wednesday as union-backing protesters gathered inside the Capitol building.
The vote comes after a rushed Senate Labor Committee hearing Tuesday and upcoming State Assembly debates to come next week. If the bill passes, Wisconsin will join 24 other right-to-work states and would abolish laws making union dues mandatory, which critics say would dissolve private sector unions.
Republican lawmakers unexpectedly announced on Friday they would take up the legislation in an extraordinary session to pass the bill as quickly as possible
Majority Leader Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said Wednesday at the Senate debate it is time for Wisconsin to modernize its economy to keep up with competing states in the Midwest. He said passing right-to-work legislation is a step toward this goal and toward individual freedom.
Also: “Two gallery members interrupted Fitzgerald’s testimony to loudly express their opposition to right-to-work and as a result, Capitol Police escorted them out of the parlor. Senate President Sen. Mary Lazich, R-New Berlin, warned gallery members another interruption would lead to the expulsion of the entire gallery.”
It’s almost as if the ridiculous recall circus completely united the Republican majority against union bullying!
Republicans hold a 63 to 36 edge in the Wisconsin Assembly, so Right-to-Work legislation should pass easily there and go on to a quick signature from Governor Walker.
Nice job, Wisconsin union goons and left-wing allies! If you hadn’t alienated so many ordinary Wisconsinites with your embarrassing, hysterical temper tantrum, none of this would have been possible…
Wisconsin Unions Double Down On Stupid
Tuesday, February 24th, 2015If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, then Wisconsin union leaders may be clinically insane.
Their suicidal idée fixe is on Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and his labor law reforms. You may remember how the rude, narcissistic, and counterproductive intimidation tactics employed during the Walker’s recall election backfired on them.
Indeed, it was the recall election that made Scott Walker what he is today:
The ferocity of the anti-Walker attacks during the recall attempt cannot be understated: no stone was left unturned, no “scandal” or slip of the tongue left unmentioned, and this may only help candidate Walker going into 2016. The Democrats spent millions of dollars and thousands of hours digging, scooping, ad-cutting, and hammering. They threw the kitchen sink at the guy in 2012, threw their neighbor’s sink at him in 2014, and now nobody on the block will let them inside to pee. Out of useful topsoil, what do they do now?
Had the Democrats not targeted Walker with a recall, that massive fundraiser network, the national profile, the party unity, and his highly developed get-out-the-vote team almost certainly wouldn’t exist. He may have still won re-election, but he would be just another Midwestern Republican governor who enacted reforms and faced push-back, not the conservative folk hero of a party longing for a win. He would most likely resemble Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a reformer but hardly a man with a cult following. There would still be plenty of new problems with the governor his opposition could cite, instead of leaving him mostly vetted for 2016.
They shot the king and missed, making a balding, sleepy-eyed executive into a god among a growing horde of followers. That’s bad enough for the Progressive set. In the unlikely event he wins the Republican nomination and the presidency? They struck the match that ignited their own national hell.
And what happened after Walker’s reforms went through and public employee unions could no longer force people to join? Union membership plummeted. Over 100,000 workers availed themselves of the opportunity to escape union clutches when they were finally allowed to. That’s why unions will never forgive Scott Walker: his reforms proved that workers hated the unions that supposedly represented them.
And Walker’s success has emboldened Republicans in other states to take on unions, which has the Democratic Party terrified. “Public-employee unions are a mechanism for the involuntary transfer of taxpayers’ money to the Democratic party.”
Now Walker and the Republican legislature aim to make Wisconsin a full right to work state. Naturally, Democrats and unions (the latter being an extension of the former) are gearing up to fight it.
Strategically, I understand why Democrats and unions have to fight this fight. What I don’t understand is why the anti-Walker crowd continues to employ the same “stuck on stupid” tactics against Walker that have lost them the last three elections.
Loud, annoying protest in the capitol rotunda guaranteed to alienate swing voters? Check.
Packed hearing in Madison, WI to #DefeatRTW & many more ppl on their way! @SEIU_WI_SC #RightToWork #WrongForWI pic.twitter.com/wDQjQAvCfQ
— SEIU (@SEIU) February 24, 2015
Marches? Chants? Check.
Chanting united we stand divided we fall #DefeatRTW #WIunion #RightToWork pic.twitter.com/oAWTv2ZxLu
— Defeat Right to Work (@DefeatRTW) February 24, 2015
Clenched fist Socialist Realism iconography? Check.
We stand in solidarity with #WIUnion families standing up for the middle class, fighting anti-worker #RighttoWork. pic.twitter.com/vFe2E4Qriz
— AFL-CIO (@AFLCIO) February 24, 2015
About the only thing they’re missing from the recall circus is the drum circle.
They even sent union goons to harass Walkers’ parents at their home. Because that’s such a sure fire way to win over people.
Now word comes that Wisconsin Unions are contemplating a general strike. Presumably because they couldn’t think of anything else so likely to: A.) Fail, and B.) Lose the supporting of those few remaining independents their previous tactics hadn’t already turned off.
It’s like Wisconsin unions are doing everything they can to get Scott Walker elected President in 2016…