On Chuch Hagel's nomination
PJMedia: On the subject of whether former Sen. Chuck Hagel will be nominated to become the next Defense Secretary, Cruz noted that Hagel’s record on Israel is troubling, and even if confirmed, he would probably end up being a weak head of our national defense. “It’s interesting. The President seems bound and determined to proceed down this path despite the fact that Hagel’s record is very, very troubling on the nation of Israel,” Cruz said. “He has not been a friend to Israel, and in my view the United States should stand unshakably with the nation of Israel, and he has consistently advocated weakness with respect to our enemies…”
“The job of the Secretary of Defense is to be a serious, credible strength and deterrent, and unfortunately, I think weakness in a Secretary of Defense invites conflict because bullies don’t respect weakness,” Cruz said. He also said that it’s very difficult to imagine any circumstance in which he could support Hagel’s nomination.
On the debt ceiling
Breitbart: "Let me be clear, I do not support default on the debt and we should never default on the debt and the only players who are threatening to default are President Obama and Harry Reid. This is an issue, and earlier in the show you played the President threatening default. In any given month tax revenue are 200 billion and interest is 30 or 40 billion. There is it plenty of revenue to service the debt and any responsible President would've stood at that podium and said 'whatever happens with the debt ceiling, we will always pay our debt. We'll never default on the debt' and the reason the President isn't doing that is he's trying to scare people and raise the spector of financial apocalypse."
On gun control
PJMedia: Host John Roberts turned to the subject of gun control. Sen. Cruz took on politicians who have jumped since the Newtown, CT tragedy to push new gun control measures: “Every parent was horrified by what happened [in Newtown]… it takes your breath away. But within minutes, we saw politicians run out and try to exploit this tragedy, try to push their political agenda of gun control. I do not support their gun control agenda…” Cruz noted that their agenda is unconstitutional.
Cruz continued, offering a solution to one violence-related problem: “I don’t think the proposals being discussed now make sense. Look, are there things we can do? Sure. One of the things we could do is we could improve the quality of the federal database [for background checks]. Right now a lot of states, a lot of local jurisdictions are not reporting criminal convictions, not reporting mental health, barriers to ownership – and so the federal database is not nearly as good as it should be. That would be a common sense improvement…"
“Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s bill would create a national gun registry. I don’t think the federal government has any business having a list of law-abiding citizens who choose to exercise their right to keep and bear arms.“
What the GOP should stand for: Opportunity
CNSNews: Ted Cruz, the new U.S. senator from Texas, says he's a conservative because conservative policies work.
"The reason I am a conservative is because conservative policies work, and they improve opportunity. They are the avenue for climbing the economic dream. And what I have been talking about for many years is opportunity conservatism, that every policy should focus like a laser on easing the means of ascent of the economic ladder that we should be championing the 47 percent, to take that now infamous comment. Look, the great thing about Americans -- Americans don't want to be dependent on government. Dependency zaps the spirit. It doesn't work. Americans want to stand on their own two feet. And the best way to do that is have policies that allow entrepreneurs and small businesses to thrive and to create jobs and advance the American Dream."
Here's a link to his WaPo op ed.
"Republicans ought to view, and explain, every policy through the lens of economic mobility. Conservative policies help those struggling to climb the economic ladder, and liberal policies hurt them. If Republicans want to win, we need to champion opportunity."And here's more from his appearance with Kudlow last week (via FreedomsLighthouse)...
...and Friday with Levin...
Not quite lying down and letting it burn, is it Bob.
