Houston Chronicle

Don’t hate on Cruz; he gets the job done

- By Benjamin First First is a native Texan. He graduated from the University of Texas and is a director of operations at a local small business.

My senator, Ted Cruz, faces an enormous amount of unwarrante­d hate. He gets trashed for a Trump tweet by people who hate Donald Trump. He gets trashed for reading “Green Eggs and Ham” by people who love Dr. Seuss. People often say he’s unlikeable, but they never back it up with a reason why. Cruz was not elected to the U.S. Senate to go on daytime talk shows and parrot trendy liberal talking points. He was not elected because he played in a rock band, skateboard­s at Whataburge­r or crashed his car while driving drunk and attempted to flee from the scene. He was elected to go to Washington, D.C., and fight for our constituti­onal rights, lower taxes and a smaller, less intrusive federal government. Cruz was elected to fight for the people of Texas. Since elected, he has done exactly that.

If his opponent, U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, is good at one thing, it’s appealing to liberal celebritie­s.

O’Rourke has received praise from celebritie­s like Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr for his controvers­ial stance on the national anthem protests. He believes there is “nothing more American” than kneeling for the anthem. While I strongly believe in this country’s uniquely American right to peaceful protest, I also watched the people of this great city band together during one of the country’s most historic natural disasters — Hurricane Harvey. I saw America personifie­d when I watched this city come together and help out anyone and everyone who needed it, regardless of their status in the identity politics hierarchy. To me, that is far more American than the divisive actions of one entitled millionair­e. We saw real American heroes in the streets. We witnessed J.J. Watt fund-raise and get donations from more than 200,000 people, ultimately collecting and distributi­ng roughly $40 million in relief. We saw the city rally around the Astros, and then we saw the Astros honor first responders on the field. To me, that is as American as it gets. However, while Cruz was traveling the state with U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and Gov. Greg Abbott fighting for our recovery, O’Rourke was in Congress playing politics and voting against tax relief for his fellow Texans.

O’Rourke supports late-term abortion and voted against a ban on abortion after 20 weeks, even though the bill included exceptions for cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. The measure, similar to current Texas policy, passed in the House and even received a few Democratic votes, but not O’Rourke’s.

O’Rourke voted against Kate’s Law and the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act, both of which passed in the House. He inexplicab­ly refuses to recognize the real threats that come along with undocument­ed immigratio­n. In just the last three months in Houston, more than 20 MS-13 gang members have been arrested in relation to more than five murders, one of which involved a confidenti­al informant being hacked to death with a machete. Among the arrested are 11 immigrants without papers. According to our own police chief, Art Acevedo, these criminals are “the worst of the worst” and “have no respect for the sanctity of life.”

In 2016, Texas stood strong with Cruz in the presidenti­al primary, but ultimately settled with Trump as the best candidate to stand against the corrupt career politician running on the left — Hillary Clinton. While Cruz has been advising Trump on how to secure conservati­ve judges and pass the business-friendly agenda that has jump-started the U.S. economy, O’Rourke has publicly flirted with the idea of impeaching the president. This is not at all surprising when you consider the fact that he has voted with Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi 94 percent of the time. Other positions he shares with the minority leader include his belief that you shouldn’t be able to own an AR-15 and his vote against the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

If his policies weren’t bad enough, O’Rourke showed his true colors and cowardice just a few weeks back when, after months of grandstand­ing, he did not participat­e in the first debate with Cruz, which had been scheduled for Friday, Aug. 31.

Compare that to Cruz, who volunteere­d to debate the left’s socialist hero, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, multiple times on CNN.

O’Rourke simply lacks the courage, intellect and integrity to even share the stage with Cruz, let alone replace him in the Senate. This November, we have a clear choice between left and right, and I look forward to voting for Cruz.

 ?? Godofredo A. Vasquez / Staff photograph­er ?? Sen. Ted Cruz speaks during his rally Saturday at Tin Roof BBQ in Humble.
Godofredo A. Vasquez / Staff photograph­er Sen. Ted Cruz speaks during his rally Saturday at Tin Roof BBQ in Humble.

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