Ted Cruz posted this yesterday evening before the vote on why he was voting against the omnibus monstrosity. We missed it then but I’m sure some of you will still be interested to hear his take on why he voted against it:
This is why I’ll vote against the omnibus spending bill:
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 22, 2018
The bad…
In 2016, the American people voted overwhelmingly for Republicans to change Washington.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 22, 2018
Now, Congress is poised to do the exact opposite: pass a massive $1.3 trillion spending bill — 2200 pages drafted by the Swamp in the dark of night — that will plunge our nation even deeper into debt.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 22, 2018
The disastrous elements of this bill are almost too numerous to list.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 22, 2018
It continues to fund Planned Parenthood, a corrupt organization whose horrifying abortion practices should preclude it from receiving taxpayer dollars.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 22, 2018
It continues to fund sanctuary cities, which are defying law & making Americans less safe. Instead of rewarding sanctuary cities, we should be passing legislation like Kate’s Law, a bill I introduced to put criminal illegal aliens in jail so they can't prey on innocent Americans.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 22, 2018
It fails to provide sufficient funds to properly secure our border, let alone build the wall that is necessary.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 22, 2018
It tells federal agencies that they can spend taxpayer dollars to study the ‘causes’ of gun violence, a mandate that – make no mistake – will be abused by future liberal administrations to manufacture evidence to try to violate law-abiding citizens’ Second Amendment rights.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 22, 2018
It funds the Ex-Im Bank, a classic example of corporate welfare that has doled out over $100 billion in taxpayer-guaranteed loans, primarily to a handful of giant and well-connected corporations.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 22, 2018
It fails to reduce funding for the EPA, which under Obama administration zealots, killed thousands of jobs and dramatically strayed from its core mission of ensuring clean air and water.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 22, 2018
All of these measures amount to piling even greater debt onto the backs of our kids and grandkids, all because we are incapable of living within our means.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 22, 2018
It could have been worse…
To be sure, this bill could have been even worse. I am happy to say that I was able to fight to keep out even more egregious proposals.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 22, 2018
I'm proud we successfully blocked a bailout of Obamacare. There were voices in DC who wanted to funnel billions of taxpayer dollars directly to insurers, so they can maintain their Obamacare policies. We promised Americans we would repeal and replace Obamacare, not prop it up.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 22, 2018
Lobbyists in Washington also almost got a new Internet sales tax added to the bill, which would have been catastrophically foolish.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 22, 2018
This proposal would have applied to virtually every transaction on the Internet, pouring cold water on the benefits of the bold tax cuts we achieved last year. Americans need more permanent tax relief, not additional tax burdens.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 22, 2018
I also worked to prevent an increase in the passenger facility charge; another tax increase that would have driven up the cost of every airline ticket purchased by consumers and inflicted a significant burden on the Texas airline industry, which supports thousands of Texas jobs.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 22, 2018
Finally, although this bill overall is truly a monstrosity, it does contain a few positive elements for which I gladly advocated.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 22, 2018
The good…
First, it fully funds our military, providing an additional $61 billion for national defense over FY 2017 levels, the largest year-to-year increase in base funding for the Department of Defense in 15 years.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 22, 2018
The bill will also increase our security here at home by providing resources for new border security infrastructure and personnel.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 22, 2018
Second, the bill includes the Taylor Force Act, legislation I proudly cosponsored, which will stop U.S. taxpayer dollars from going to the Palestinian Authority if it continues its policy of paying monetary rewards to terrorists and their families.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 22, 2018
These provisions are the few glimmers of light trying to escape the gravity of this black-hole of federal spending and liberal priorities.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 22, 2018
Washington is failing the American people, but I will continue to fight for a better path, one that respects the will of the American people, who sent us here to fight for fiscal sanity.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 22, 2018
As you saw last night, Cruz did in fact vote against the bill. He had also complained earlier about the broken process by which this bill was essentially rammed down our throats by the ‘swamp’…otherwise known as leadership. He explained how leadership created this bill and wouldn’t allow members to offer amendments or change the bill, and they gave them very little time to even read the bill.
This is a classic example of a very broken Congress, brought to you by Republican leadership. It’s also very telling that this bill had the support of so many Democrats. It wouldn’t have passed without them.