Updated 10/20/2018

By Marcial Bonifacio

My Texan and American friends, this is a non-partisan article by which rational voters can decide which is the most qualified and capable choice for the U.S. Senate, the upper chamber of Congress.  What follows are reasons for choosing Sen. Ted Cruz over Rep. Robert “Beto” O’Rourke as the most suitable candidate based on facts relevant to the position.

1. Cruz is a trustworthy, anti-Establishment, public servant.

Whether you are a Democrat or Republican, there can never be a question of where Cruz stands, and if he will ever compromise his principles out of political expedience.  Indeed, he has opposed both the Democrat and Republican Establishment equally whenever their agendas ran contrary to his mandate to Texans and the American people, even to the detriment of his own political career.  Cruz’s renowned 21-hour speech on the Senate floor is an ostensible display of his passion, as well as his strong legs, large bladder, and enormous proverbial testicles.  In spite of such fierce opposition from his own political peers, Cruz never deviated from his promises and mandate to the American people. Thus, he has been consistently principled, whereas others have been principled only until Election Day.

On the other hand, while O’Rourke professes to represent the oppressed and downtrodden, he (as city councilman) collaborated with his fellow cronies to exploit the eminent domain power to displace Segundo Barrio residents, while enriching his own family.  As a result of losing their homes, constituents expressed their outrage at a city meeting.  “We feel betrayed,” exclaimed one resident, “and we feel sad.” (Translated from Spanish)  Another disenfranchised resident voiced to him that O’Rourke’s disregard of his constituents is “why the community doesn’t want anything to do with you anymore.”

https://www.facebook.com/tedcruzpage/videos/238415133517022/

2. Cruz has more vast experience in legal and constitutional matters.

Cruz was an attorney, law clerk for a U.S. appeals court juror and a Supreme Court chief justice, Texas solicitor general, associate deputy attorney general in the U.S. Justice Department, and is currently a U.S. senator.  At roughly the same time when O’Rourke spent his time playing in a punk rock band in the 1990s, Cruz graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School, served as Director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission, and served as domestic policy advisor.

Such an extensive legal background gives him the competitive advantage to effectively author or vote for or against legislation on a wide range of issues with legal and constitutional implications—concerns of privacy, free speech, property rights, criminal justice, immigration, foreign policy, etc. O’Rourke would have to rely excessively on legal advisors or attorneys for their expertise or simply draw from his own limited knowledge and experience from being a lawmaker.

3. As a U.S. senator, Cruz has crafted and supported several significant bills.

• He supported a bill which lowered taxes and increased income for the labor force (including wages and benefits), helped create thousands of jobs (some at record levels), accelerated economic growth, and contributed to America’s global competitive advantage; O’Rourke opposed it.

• He supported a pipeline project which would create jobs and lower the price of goods and services due to the reduced cost of energy; O’Rourke opposed it.

• He co-authored a law permitting the states to impose mandatory drug testing for federal unemployment benefit recipients.

• He introduced legislation that, if passed, would ensure all pertinent agencies report convictions to the National Background Check Database, which would have prosecuted anyone who attempted to illegally purchase a firearm, such as the Texas church shooter. It also would have provided more school security, e.g., metal detectors and police officers.

• In the midst of the fierce debate about separating undocumented parents from their children, he introduced emergency legislation that would permit them to remain together during detention.

• He co-authored a bill allocating a few billion dollars in tax relief to Hurricane Harvey victims; O’Rourke opposed it.

• He introduced the Expatriate Terrorist Act, which revokes the citizenship of any American who collaborates with Islamic terrorists and bans those who leave the country to join them.

4. As congressman, O’Rourke supported anti-poor legislation.

• He supported an increase in the gas tax, which would be detrimental to the working poor, who do not have the luxury of driving an electric or hybrid car.

• He supported legislation to impose a carbon tax which, according to the Institute for Energy Research, “has a greater negative impact on lower income people than on higher income people” because in other countries it has led to “job losses” due to business closures as a result of increased energy costs.

5. As an ethnic minority, Cruz’s achievements make him an ideal role model for other minorities in forging their own American success story.

• He is the first Hispanic from Texas to serve in the U.S. Senate.
• He was the first Hispanic to serve the longest term of solicitor general in Texas history.
• He was the first Hispanic to clerk for a U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice.
• At Harvard Law School, wherein Professor Alan Dershowitz referred to Cruz as being “off-the-charts brilliant,” he was a founding editor of the Harvard Latino Law Review.

In conclusion, my Texan and American friends, I urge you all to support Ted Cruz for the U.S. Senate for the simple reason that he is a trustworthy, astute, accomplished public servant. That is precisely what Texas and America need.  Therefore, choose Cruz, veto Beto.