2016 elections - because it's never too early

[HisMajestyBOB]

It's just that my views line up more with Rand Paul Ted Cruz.

Time for Lasik

What exactly is so abhorrent about Ted Cruz's "views"?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Ted_Cruz
https://www.tedcruz.org/issues/

You can certainly argue about how realistic some of them are (like the flat tax), but they're all straight out of the general conservative GOP playbook.  Ted Cruz was probably my least favourite of the normal GOP contenders, but that was more due to his tactics and strategy than policy.  I think he'd be a weak candidate, and probably a weak president, but he's not beyond the pale.

For my all-important foreigner non-vote, if it was between Cruz and Clinton I'd be voting for Cruz.

He supports the shutdown of the entire government rather than giving money to Planned Parenthood. Think about that - he isn't just saying he feels we should  not fund Planned Parenthood (which is a perfectly legitimate right wing view) he is saying that we should actually hold the entire government hostage to a minority viewpoint - if you cannot get your way through the normal process of legislation, it is ok to hi-jack the entire system.

Same for Obamacare - if you cannot repeal it via legislation, he feels it is perfectly fine to sabotage it instead, and even go so far as to hold the entire government hostage over it.

That is obviously problematic - if every interest group in the legislature acted in that manner, we would have complete anarchy. So saying you support him, you are saying you support the idea that only your views are valid, and if you lose in the political arena, then it is acceptable to simply refuse to go along with the will of the majority.

As far as his personal views, he is a true blue Tea Party religious zealot. He believes evolution is a lie, climate change is a lie, that God really does hate homosexuals, and that his religious view out to and should inform his public policy decisions. He is endorsed by every wack-a-doodle crazy religious fundy in the land, and he eats it all up. He is a True Believer, and I would take Trump over him any day of the week, and three times on Sunday.

Trump is a clown, Cruz is actually crazy.

You left out "supporting the gold standard" as one of his crazy policies. Because he thinks its more stable, when in fact it would be the opposite.

[Valmy]

Oh fuck he supports the Gold standard? Well of course he does. Texas nutcase politicians love that stuff.

[DGuller]

Holy crap, that was an astonishingly quick collapse.  It was that debate, wasn't it?

[Admiral Yi]

Holy crap, that was an astonishingly quick collapse.  It was that debate, wasn't it?

He certainly seemed to have trouble generating good news after that.

I'm wondering, if it comes down to Trump v. Cruz, do the anti-Trump guys keep running their ads?

How about if it comes down to Strumpf v. Shrill?

[Phillip V]

Holy crap, that was an astonishingly quick collapse.  It was that debate, wasn't it?

Rubio bounced back from that in South Carolina.  But then he started attacking Trump directly for the first time.  Nobody survives that.

[alfred russel]

Holy crap, that was an astonishingly quick collapse.  It was that debate, wasn't it?

I bet a part of it was getting into the gutter with Trump. Trump can talk about his penis, that sort of childishness is appealing to his infantile base, but Rubio's demographic was the higher class version of republicans. For voters that caused to look around, I'm not sure what the case ever was for Rubio over Kasich.

Also, this means that if we go back to the big argument back about a month ago, I was right after all. Only one of the trio of the trio of Rubio, Kasich, and Bush will make it to March 15.

[jimmy olsen]

Where are you guys seeing that he's dropping out.

Only thing I'm seeing on Rubio is this.

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/pro-rubio-super-pac-goes-first-ad-targeting-kasich-florida-n535556

[Barrister]

It's just that my views line up more with Rand Paul Ted Cruz.

Time for Lasik

What exactly is so abhorrent about Ted Cruz's "views"?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Ted_Cruz
https://www.tedcruz.org/issues/

You can certainly argue about how realistic some of them are (like the flat tax), but they're all straight out of the general conservative GOP playbook.  Ted Cruz was probably my least favourite of the normal GOP contenders, but that was more due to his tactics and strategy than policy.  I think he'd be a weak candidate, and probably a weak president, but he's not beyond the pale.

For my all-important foreigner non-vote, if it was between Cruz and Clinton I'd be voting for Cruz.

He supports the shutdown of the entire government rather than giving money to Planned Parenthood. Think about that - he isn't just saying he feels we should  not fund Planned Parenthood (which is a perfectly legitimate right wing view) he is saying that we should actually hold the entire government hostage to a minority viewpoint - if you cannot get your way through the normal process of legislation, it is ok to hi-jack the entire system.

Same for Obamacare - if you cannot repeal it via legislation, he feels it is perfectly fine to sabotage it instead, and even go so far as to hold the entire government hostage over it.

That is obviously problematic - if every interest group in the legislature acted in that manner, we would have complete anarchy. So saying you support him, you are saying you support the idea that only your views are valid, and if you lose in the political arena, then it is acceptable to simply refuse to go along with the will of the majority.

As far as his personal views, he is a true blue Tea Party religious zealot. He believes evolution is a lie, climate change is a lie, that God really does hate homosexuals, and that his religious view out to and should inform his public policy decisions. He is endorsed by every wack-a-doodle crazy religious fundy in the land, and he eats it all up. He is a True Believer, and I would take Trump over him any day of the week, and three times on Sunday.

Trump is a clown, Cruz is actually crazy.

You left out "supporting the gold standard" as one of his crazy policies. Because he thinks its more stable, when in fact it would be the opposite.

Your links don't exactly say that.

The first has Cruz saying

"I think the Fed should get out of the business of trying to juice our economy, and simply be focused on sound money and monetary stability, ideally tied to gold,"

"Ideally tied to gold" is not a call to return to the gold standard.

And the second is a column from Krugman that says Cruz wants to return to the gold standard, but offers no quotes or source.

[Razgovory]

What is "ideally tied to gold"?

[Zanza]

If a politician in his policy statements says he ideally favors a certain solution that's not him calling for exactly that policy? It is sometimes amazing to see the mental acrobatics normally reasonable people engage in to deny that their favored politicians might support silly policies.

[Berkut]

Cruz is a religious fanatic. There is really nothing more to be said. Take a look at his fathers preaching.

[Admiral Yi]

Not with you on this one Beeb.

[Barrister]

Not with you on this one Beeb.

He's definitely flirting with the gold standard crowd, but the lack of an explicit promise to do so give him some wriggle room.

I don't want to go too far down the "defending Ted Cruz" path - it's just that he's better less objectionable than Trump!

[Zanza]

Cruz is a religious fanatic. There is really nothing more to be said. Take a look at his fathers preaching.

"America was founded on a revolutionary idea. Our rights do not come from government. They come from God."
https://www.tedcruz.org/issues/religious-liberty/

God the Almighty wrote the Bill of Rights? Too bad He waited until the late 18th century after His son's death and only gave those rights to a small number of His creation. But I guess His ways are mysterious.

[Valmy]

Zanza it is a reference to the Declaration of Independence. And actually we kind of reject the whole idea that the Bill of Rights are the only rights we have or that they only apply to American citizens.

God the Almighty wrote the Bill of Rights? Too bad He waited until the late 18th century after His son's death and only gave those rights to a small number of His creation. But I guess His ways are mysterious.

Lame. The whole principle is that those rights are endowed by virtue of somebody being a human being.