Ted Cruz is No Friend to the Libertarian Movement

Video Tries to Paint Cruz as Heir to Ron Paul

by Josh Guckert

When Ted Cruz ran for the US Senate in 2012, he made it known that he was sympathetic to the liberty movement; so much so, in fact, that he was endorsed by both Ron Paul and Rand Paul.

However, since he’s been a member of the Senate, Cruz has seemingly been more interested in advancing himself than promoting liberty. For example, this past December, Cruz decided to grandstand and force a vote on President Obama’s executive action on immigration, which he was warned would be taken advantage of by then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Nonetheless, Cruz went ahead, thus allowing Democrats to confirm 12 judicial nominees that would have likely otherwise not been successful.

Perhaps it would have been forgivable if Cruz hadn’t done the same thing only 2 years earlier. In 2013, he also made the budget discussion all about himself: the only issue was that he had no solutions. He refused to help avert a government shutdown unless the Senate agreed to vote to defund “ObamaCare” (a measure which still would not be able to be enacted unless the Senate could override the President’s eventual veto). As a result, the Democrats successfully shifted the blame to the Republicans and had the bargaining chips to push forward with their agenda.

Cruz is looking to attempt the tactic a third time, as he has indicated that he is willing to shut down the government in order to defund Planned Parenthood. On Friday, Cruz voted in favor of a Continuing Resolution to defund Planned Parenthood in spite of the fact that the CR would have added $400 billion of new debt. The move is reminiscent of last March, when Cruz refused to vote for a Paul budget amendment which would have increased defense spending to the level which Cruz desired, but would have additionally cut spending in order to facilitate such cost hikes.

There is certainly principle in standing against the tides of the political machine. However, there is nothing noble in proposing plans which are completely implausible merely for the sake of making a point. Sadly, again and again, Cruz has chosen the latter.

Somewhat ironically, when Cruz has actually had the chance to make fundamental change, he has instead chosen to take the easy route. In April, when the PATRIOT Act was up for renewal, Cruz voted in favor of the USA Freedom Act, which reformed the spying program but left its basic infrastructure in place. Cruz even had the gall to criticize Rand Paul for voting against the Freedom Act, when Paul had in principle stood against warrantless surveillance of any kind.

On other fundamentally libertarian issues, Cruz has been inconsistent at best. While he has most recently stated that he is in favor of allowing states to legalize marijuana if they wish, he has in the past been in favor of ignoring the Tenth Amendment through the strict enforcement of federal drug laws. He has also supported a neoconservative foreign policy, opposing opening relations with Cuba while consistently repeating jingoistic rhetoric. In regards to Iran, Cruz has stated that the newly-minted nuclear deal “makes war a certainty,” and would lead to the deaths of “millions of Americans.”

Ted Cruz has done nothing but merely present the facade of a libertarian-conservative reformer since entering the Senate. He enjoys criticizing others and pontificating about being an “outsider” (which has led to him being “done for and stifled” in his capacity as an elected representative), but when it is time for ideas, Cruz looks only for the simplest and most short-sighted solutions. It is perhaps for this reason that he gets along so well with Donald Trump.

With all of this in mind, lovers of liberty should not so quickly fall for the ruse presented by Cruz in his newest video entitled “Liberty Leaders for Cruz.” There will simply never be another Ron Paul. Even so, if there is one candidate in the 2016 race that does represent Ron Paul’s message and is best suited to carry on his legacy, it is certainly not Ted Cruz.

Any Republican primary voters who are interested in continuing the Ron Paul Revolution need only heed the words of the former Congressman himself when he said, “There is not one candidate who has run for president in my lifetime who can say they fully share my commitment to liberty, Austrian economics, small government, and following the Constitution, [more] than my son, Rand Paul.”