ScienceRocks
Democrat all the way!
- Banned
- #1
Ted Cruz Cannot Be Serious
The New Republic ^ | March 23, 2015 | Danny Vinik
I do like some of his social beliefs and the reality that he won't use identity politics. BUT, on economic policies the guys a loon! We no longer live in the 18th century and even in the 1890's George Washington used the government to fund things this nation needed. I don't believe in a flat-tax for one reason...Simply it would harm the people on the bottom and let the super rich keep compiling wealth! I don't hate the wealthy but piling it all within 1% isn't the country want America to become.
I feel this made a very good case on why Cruz probably isn't a good choice. America needs infrastructure, America needs a nws, nasa, fda, cdc and funding for the best in tech our universities can produce. If you side with Cruz...You side with a economic system that doesn't promote America as number one on this planet. I AM NOT SAYING OBAMA DOES, but lets be serious.
It should be smart accountable government and we should let the idea of tiny bath tub government die.
The New Republic ^ | March 23, 2015 | Danny Vinik
Ted Cruz Is Not a Serious Credible Candidate for the Presidency The New RepublicThe big news of the day is that Senator Ted Cruz is officially running for president. Not setting up an exploratory committee or any of that perfunctory foreplay, but actually running. “It is a time for truth. It is a time for liberty,” he said in a 30-minute speech at, yeah, Liberty University. “It is a time to reclaim the Constitution of the United States.” Cruz’s address was full of red meat for the conservative crowd. But other than his oratorical skills, Cruz is entirely unsuited to be president. Luckily for America, his candidacy is likely doomed to fizzle.
Cruz recapped his life story, focusing on the role faith plays in his life, before diving into his traditional conservative talking points. He asked the crowd to imagine "millions of young people coming together and standing together, saying, ‘We will stand for liberty'" and “instead of economic stagnation, booming economic growth.” He asked people to imagine the next president repealing Obamacare, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, implementing a flat tax and “finally, finally, finally secur[ing] the borders.” The crowd cheered each time.
The rest of the Republican field, whenever they officially announce their candidacies, will probably make similar promises; it’s hard to picture a candidate winning the Republican nomination without vowing to repeal Obamacare. As the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent writes, the Republican primary will reveal whether Cruz’s policy positions are extreme within the GOP or whether he differs mainly in his tactics.
His positions, regardless of where they fall within the Republican Party, are ill-conceived fantasies. Take taxes. A flat tax may appeal to the conservative base but it entirely misrepresents the actual problems with the U.S. tax code. The tax code is complicated not because of its progressive structure but because it is full of deductions, exemptions and credits that make it hard to calculate your taxable income. Cruz promotes the flat tax by saying it “lets every American fill out his or her taxes on a postcard.” But the exact same could be said about a progressive tax system. Senator Marco Rubio, another presumptive presidential candidate, didn’t propose a flat tax in his recently released tax plan (although he did say he wants to get there someday) because doing so is just not feasible. A flat tax would need to be set at a high enough level to fund critical government programs, requiring a massive tax increase on the middle class and poor. That'd be a political nightmare.
On Obamacare, Cruz wants to repeal the law … and then basically see what happens. This is, of course, the Republican Party’s position as well. But it’s unacceptable as a presidential candidate’s health care agenda. If you want to repeal the health care law, you better have a replacement plan. The same goes with abolishing the IRS. A Cruz government would eliminate the agency but it would still collect taxes—somehow. Cruz has never said how that would work. Would there be a new agency to replace the IRS? Would it have employees? Who, after all, would collect all those postcards? All unanswered questions.
I do like some of his social beliefs and the reality that he won't use identity politics. BUT, on economic policies the guys a loon! We no longer live in the 18th century and even in the 1890's George Washington used the government to fund things this nation needed. I don't believe in a flat-tax for one reason...Simply it would harm the people on the bottom and let the super rich keep compiling wealth! I don't hate the wealthy but piling it all within 1% isn't the country want America to become.
I feel this made a very good case on why Cruz probably isn't a good choice. America needs infrastructure, America needs a nws, nasa, fda, cdc and funding for the best in tech our universities can produce. If you side with Cruz...You side with a economic system that doesn't promote America as number one on this planet. I AM NOT SAYING OBAMA DOES, but lets be serious.
It should be smart accountable government and we should let the idea of tiny bath tub government die.
Last edited: