Posted on Feb 19, 2016
Senator Ted Cruz here, what questions do you have for me? (Answering your questions on Feb 26th!)
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From RP Staff:
*Senator Cruz will be joining us for a live Q&A on Friday, 2/26 at 1:00pm EST. Post your questions below in advance of the Q&A. Questions with the most up votes will be answered first. Please be upfront and to the point with your questions. RP Staff will be monitoring this discussion.*
From Senator Ted Cruz:
America now faces a momentous decision. Almost a decade of irresponsible defense cuts has slashed the number of combat personnel, seriously degraded their combat readiness, and shrunk the size of our military below any reasonable standard. If America continues to lead from behind, we will lose the ability to guarantee our safety at home and abroad.
Our all-volunteer force deserves better. They deserve a leader who will provide them with the finest weapons systems and the best training. They deserve the full and unapologetic support of their Commander-in-Chief, not a minimal commitment and overly restrictive Rules of Engagement.
Furthermore, Americans make up the finest military professionals and veterans in the world, and they deserve an investment in their careers, their health, and their families. We must honor of our military members, families, and veterans by ensuring they receive the respect and care they have earned.
Under focused, new leadership, America can, and will, rebuild our military and take care of our veterans.
The financing and the details of my plan: https://www.tedcruz.org/american-resolve/
*Senator Cruz will be joining us for a live Q&A on Friday, 2/26 at 1:00pm EST. Post your questions below in advance of the Q&A. Questions with the most up votes will be answered first. Please be upfront and to the point with your questions. RP Staff will be monitoring this discussion.*
From Senator Ted Cruz:
America now faces a momentous decision. Almost a decade of irresponsible defense cuts has slashed the number of combat personnel, seriously degraded their combat readiness, and shrunk the size of our military below any reasonable standard. If America continues to lead from behind, we will lose the ability to guarantee our safety at home and abroad.
Our all-volunteer force deserves better. They deserve a leader who will provide them with the finest weapons systems and the best training. They deserve the full and unapologetic support of their Commander-in-Chief, not a minimal commitment and overly restrictive Rules of Engagement.
Furthermore, Americans make up the finest military professionals and veterans in the world, and they deserve an investment in their careers, their health, and their families. We must honor of our military members, families, and veterans by ensuring they receive the respect and care they have earned.
Under focused, new leadership, America can, and will, rebuild our military and take care of our veterans.
The financing and the details of my plan: https://www.tedcruz.org/american-resolve/
Election 2016
Ted Cruz
Office of the President (POTUS)
Q&A
Posted 8 y ago
Responses: 340
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We live in an increasingly divided society and it will be important for the next President to be able to work across party lines to get things done. Can you name one issue where you agree more with the Democratic base than the Republican base - and that you would be willing to side with the Democrats (and moderate Republicans) to pass a bill?
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CMDCM Gene Treants
SSgt Blaine Givens - I am really wondering who you are thinking about following. As of today, 2-29, NONE of the R's fits my ideal candidate I want a moderate and all of them really seem to want to cater to the ultra conservative side of the Republican movement. Neither Hilary, who should be in jail nor her opponent should be considered for president, but she is going to be the candidate of the Demoncrats. Our country NEEDS a moderate, but neither party has nor wants one. AND YES that IS MY 2 cents worth!
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Capt (Join to see)
No. The VA just needs their feet held to the fire and to do what they are paid to do. We privatized the chow halls and the Enlisted/Officer Club at Vandenberg AFB. It was great for 3 months until the contract was awarded, but since then the food has been horrible for the last 2 years. Privatization is not the answer.
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Lt Col Dale Zeller
The VA has two programs that show a real contrast...1) the medical part where the VA tries to administer and operate it and 2) The home loan program where they administrate. One program continuously seems to have problems...the other seems to work fairly well. I think if the VA concentrated on administrating the program and let civilian medicine "operate" the program the problems would be fewer...NOT zero but better ...and probably less expensive.
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CPT Jack Durish
A1C Doug Towsley - Pray tell, why is it a dumb idea to eliminate the VA? There are many options to choose from that promise far superior results. How about having veterans receive continuing care at military hospitals? We are wasting untold fortunes duplicating facilities for the sake of what? Also, using existing underutilized military facilities would keep them "exercised" and ready for future wartime need. Then there's the option of privatizing medical care. What is dumb about these alternatives?
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SSG Gerhard S.
SSG (Join to see) , according to this report, hospitals average 7.8% profits, as of 2012 anyway. http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/12-statistics-on-hospital-profit-and-revenue-in-2012.html
12 Statistics on Hospital Profit and Revenue in 2012
Despite pressures from Medicare, Medicaid and commercial payers, hospitals and health systems accumulated massive profits two years ago as the country pulled itself further from the economic recession.
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Senator Ted Cruz - We have a significant talent management issue facing the ranks of our military. Some of the best and brightest leaders we have are leaving for civilian sector jobs and are frustrated with the lack of career progression they see in the military. How will you go about retaining these bright minds and ensuring we maintain the most powerful military in the world?
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Senator Ted Cruz
The United States is blessed with an all-volunteer military that is the finest in the history of the planet. We have a proud tradition of making a military career an attractive option to some of our finest young people who value service to our country. Unfortunately the last seven years of the Obama administration have been devastating to the military, which has included the officer corps. This Commander in Chief has approached his Constitutional duty to protect America through a political lens. He has treated the military as a social experiment. He has relentlessly drained resources out of the Department of Defense. He has punished anyone brave enough to question the ideological underpinnings of the Obama foreign policy. For that reason, we have seen our brightest and most creative minds opt out of career service, and turn instead to the private sector. To counter this trend, we need a new Commander in Chief who will give our warfighters the resources they need to complete their missions, and who will welcome creative, innovative policy proposals. This fundamental shift in culture will help us retain these brave volunteers for the long haul.
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MSgt Michael Bischoff
Senator Ted Cruz - What party crap answer,you are just ticked at the repeal of 'Don't Ask Don't Tell'
Then I saw your answer to women and selective service. Similar to women be better off staying at home under the MAN's thumb attitude. I see no answers from any of you about fairness it's just you can't do that it was not my idea. Yes I know he gone but still not impressed!!!
Then I saw your answer to women and selective service. Similar to women be better off staying at home under the MAN's thumb attitude. I see no answers from any of you about fairness it's just you can't do that it was not my idea. Yes I know he gone but still not impressed!!!
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CPT Mark Gonzalez
Thank you Senator Cruz and anyone can ascertain whether I'm part of the brightest or the dumbest, but I am opting for the private sector and some of the biggest reasons you summarized. Maybe whomevers next will fix it for whomevers follows me.
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Senator Cruz what will you focus your energy on in your first 100 days of office as POTUS? What are the top three issues you want to correct or initiate in that period? Why?
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MCPO Roger Collins
PFC Alexander Oliveira - Probably an error, COL. I have done the same thing and realized it after it was posted.
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CPT Jack Durish
PFC Alexander Oliveira - The charges that those videos were faked has been repudiated. Try to keep up
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PFC Alexander Oliveira
CPT Jack Durish - the videos themselves were repudiated as well, so much so that criminal charges were brought against those who fabricated them, funny enough.
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Senator: In "American Resolve: Rebuilding America's Military," you discuss at length your plan for prioritizing defense matters should you be elected as President. Defense spending comprises the overwhelming majority of discretionary spending; how do you intend to fund the massive increases in military capacity you describe while simultaneously reducing the tax base? What are your plans for managing out-of-control DoD procurement processes and wasteful spending (for example, Air Force plans to spend billions on a new utility helicopter when current Blackhawks models are more than sufficient)?
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SFC William "Bill" Moore
MAJ (Join to see) - In my uneducated opinion, the F-35 is a phenomenal waste of money, considering it can only accomplish 1, possibly 2, mission tasks whereas the A-10, although old, is much more suited for the theater of operations where we usually find ourselves. If i was in the thick of things, I would not get a warm fuzzy knowing the F-35 was my air support! But, knowing the A-10 was performing over watch, my odds of getting myself and troops out of hot water multiplies by 5!
Very good question and I apologize for my ramble.
Very good question and I apologize for my ramble.
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SPC (Join to see)
A1C Doug Towsley - HAHAHAH that pen and pencil scenario really puts our priorities in perspective.
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Senator Ted Cruz
I’ve released a detailed spending plan (https://www.tedcruz.org/five-for-freedom/) that reduces federal spending by at least $500 billion dollars over ten years. These reductions are just a start. The resulting savings would be in addition to my plan to Audit the Pentagon to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse.
We'll also seize the opportunity to sell federal assets and properties that would be better used in the private sector, and would also result in generating substantial revenue to American taxpayers.
And we will implement pro-growth tax reform (https://www.tedcruz.org/tax_plan_summary/), regulatory, and monetary reform and we will devote the resources from a booming American economy to rebuilding our Navy, rebuilding our Air Force, rebuilding our Army, and rebuilding our Marines.
We will prioritize rebuilding our military because the costs of not doing so are far too high.
We'll also seize the opportunity to sell federal assets and properties that would be better used in the private sector, and would also result in generating substantial revenue to American taxpayers.
And we will implement pro-growth tax reform (https://www.tedcruz.org/tax_plan_summary/), regulatory, and monetary reform and we will devote the resources from a booming American economy to rebuilding our Navy, rebuilding our Air Force, rebuilding our Army, and rebuilding our Marines.
We will prioritize rebuilding our military because the costs of not doing so are far too high.
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MAJ (Join to see)
Senator Ted Cruz - Senator: Thanks for the response. While I disagree completely with everything in your platform and policy proposals, I appreciate that you've at least developed policy options and have taken the time to engage with RallyPoint members.
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Over the course of your term in the U.S. Senate, I have concerns with you appearing at times as a source of Republican obstruction at times in defiance of leadership or public interest. Naturally this can't be laid entirely on your shoulders alone, but this perception brings into question your ability to produce reasonable compromise as part of a team. How can you be expected to provide leadership for the military as a team when it seems your efforts as part of the Senate can be viewed as obstruction and unwillingness to compromise?
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Senator Ted Cruz
I’m perfectly happy to compromise with anyone if they’re moving in the right direction, if we’re solving the problems. But I won't compromise on core principles.
As President, my top priority will be to make sure our military has what it needs to keep us safe at home and ensure that we are respected abroad — and that should be a bipartisan priority. Our Sailors won’t be on their knees with their hands on their heads. And our Secretary of State will not be apologizing to and thanking Iran. Instead, they will be standing on the decks of the mightiest ships the world has ever known with their heads held high, confident that the great country that the great country that they volunteered to serve has their back.
As President, my top priority will be to make sure our military has what it needs to keep us safe at home and ensure that we are respected abroad — and that should be a bipartisan priority. Our Sailors won’t be on their knees with their hands on their heads. And our Secretary of State will not be apologizing to and thanking Iran. Instead, they will be standing on the decks of the mightiest ships the world has ever known with their heads held high, confident that the great country that the great country that they volunteered to serve has their back.
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Senator Ted Cruz
SGT (Join to see) - That amendment I proposed to the Gang of Eight bill was a simple, one-page amendment. It did not grant legalization to the 12 million people here illegally -- that was already cooked into the bill. What it did do was strike the citizenship component from the bill to ensure that those who have broken our immigration laws would not be granted citizenship.
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CPT (Join to see)
Senator Ted Cruz - About Iran's abuse of the situation; the staging, the manipulation, the lies they told about the situation, within days of our releasing $100 billion dollars and paying a fine of 1.7 billion debt and interest to them seemed to be a slap in the face and a way to redirect the world's attention away from the fact they they are not the top dog. I cannot express the level of disappointment in our failure to manage the top stories. What would you have done differently if anything as POTUS?
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COL (Join to see)
Msgt Mitch Mays.
Yes I am referring to the current vacancy. Yes the Constitution states "the advice and consent of the Senate". So the Senate consents through confirmation hearing. The nomination starts in the Senate Judiciary Committee and they decide whether it goes to the full Senate. So yes the Senate must consent to the nomination. Otherwise that wording would not be in the Constitution. What they are doing now is telling the President to not even nominate. That, again, is within the duties of the President. When the President nominates they need to either consent/non-consent (confirm). The problem will be that if they tie up the process it could come back to bite them at election time.
Yes I am referring to the current vacancy. Yes the Constitution states "the advice and consent of the Senate". So the Senate consents through confirmation hearing. The nomination starts in the Senate Judiciary Committee and they decide whether it goes to the full Senate. So yes the Senate must consent to the nomination. Otherwise that wording would not be in the Constitution. What they are doing now is telling the President to not even nominate. That, again, is within the duties of the President. When the President nominates they need to either consent/non-consent (confirm). The problem will be that if they tie up the process it could come back to bite them at election time.
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Sen Cruz- When you watch the news these days, the VA is near the top of the headlines regularly with quality of care issues, and issues of taking sometimes several months to even see Veterans. How will you address these issues to ensure that the VA is providing quality and timely care to those who have sacrificed their health for our country?
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Senator Ted Cruz
We owe our veterans the care we have promised them. The mismanagement in the VA is unacceptable, and as a member of the Armed Services Committee, I co-sponsored legislation to make it easier to fire VA senior management for mismanagement and performance failures.
We need to ensure that we honor the commitment that was made to each and every one of our veterans. If you want to go to the VA, if you like the treatment you’ve been getting there, if you’re happy with it, then you’re entitled to do that, and that was a promise that we have made and we should keep.
But why can’t every veteran choose to go to any doctor he or she wants? We need to reform the VA system so that every veteran can see the doctor of his or her choice. If you want to go see a cardiologist at the hospital down the street, you should be able to do that.
We need to ensure that we honor the commitment that was made to each and every one of our veterans. If you want to go to the VA, if you like the treatment you’ve been getting there, if you’re happy with it, then you’re entitled to do that, and that was a promise that we have made and we should keep.
But why can’t every veteran choose to go to any doctor he or she wants? We need to reform the VA system so that every veteran can see the doctor of his or her choice. If you want to go see a cardiologist at the hospital down the street, you should be able to do that.
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SGT Richard H.
MSgt Michael Bischoff - I agree. The answer sounds pretty canned.
"It's all 'bout that action, boss" ~Marshawn Lynch
"It's all 'bout that action, boss" ~Marshawn Lynch
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Senator Cruz, you've been very vocal about your strong Christian faith. However, this country was founded on the value of religious freedom. How would you address those that are not Christians that worry if you were in the White House, that their right of religious freedom would not be protected? For example, a woman's right to choose- the religious right wants to take away this right because it violates their religious beliefs. How do you address those that are concerned that you would make decisions for the country based on your personal religious beliefs?
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LTC (Join to see)
1LT Ruth Gervat - No, that daughter has a right to life based on the constitution's saying she has a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. No creator, god, deity, demigod, boddhisatva, spirit or supernatural character whatsoever involved in the slightest.
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1LT Ruth Gervat
PFC Alexander Oliveira - Child abuse did not end when abortion became legal; it increased. why? because the perceived value of children decreased after Roe v Wade. If I can kill you before you are born, it must be ok to abuse you after.
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1LT Ruth Gervat
LTC (Join to see) - So, you are saying that the law of a state determines who has the right to life? Good grief!!!! Have you read your history books? Governments have taken away the right to life over and over again. So you are saying there are no inalienable rights, rights that are absolute no matter where one lives? Did you see the undercover video of life in ISIS territory? You can watch the government throw a homosexual man off a building to his death. So in your thinking, they had the right to do that because that is their law.
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SPC Nathan Freeman
You speak of a woman's right to choose. What about a child's right to live? A fetus is a living person. Perhaps you should ask the senator about the child's right to life. This is the true question here.
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Sen. Cruz,
You propose increased spending for the military. However, during the past 14 years I've served, I have seen wasteful programs and wasteful spending at all levels (e.g. funding programs that are unnecessary or outdated). How will your plan ensure that my tax dollars don't perpetuate a wasteful culture?
You propose increased spending for the military. However, during the past 14 years I've served, I have seen wasteful programs and wasteful spending at all levels (e.g. funding programs that are unnecessary or outdated). How will your plan ensure that my tax dollars don't perpetuate a wasteful culture?
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MAJ (Join to see)
The procurement system itself is fine, it's not sticking with our program that is the problem. Particularly as the defense industry has consolidated and restricted competition for the last 50 years.
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CPT(P) (Join to see)
I agree 100%. We need to change the culture of spend everything before September, currently there is no incentive to save the government money.
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SFC (Join to see)
How do you convince us that you have our backs. After 7+ years of being stabbed in the back and left out hanging (think last months Navy/Iran hostage thing). Our morale is in the basement. How do you fix this?
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Senator Ted Cruz
In the Senate, I have cosponsored legislation to Audit the Pentagon in order to identify and eliminate unnecessary programs and as president, that is something I’d fight for along with my entire plan to rebuild our military: https://www.tedcruz.org/american-resolve/
Additionally, I've released a detailed plan to save more than $500 billion over 10 years that is all available here: https://www.tedcruz.org/five-for-freedom/
Additionally, I've released a detailed plan to save more than $500 billion over 10 years that is all available here: https://www.tedcruz.org/five-for-freedom/
American Resolve: Rebuilding America’s Military | Cruz for President
Rebuilding America’s Military The Constitution is unambiguous and clear. The defense of our nation and the security of our citizens is the exclusive and mandatory responsibility of the Federal Government. A nation that is unable to assure the sanctity of its sovereign borders and incapable of influencing global events will soon struggle for its very existence. Every American intuitively …
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LTC Martin Metz
It's probably too early to fully enunciate what a Cruz Coalition (google it) / cabinet slate would look like and this has even been a source of some wishful speculation. Trevor Loudon (a New Zealand astute observer of all things American) has talked about putting out who would be in a Cruz cabinet to assure and draw voters: “To win the next elections, to make it worth something, we need to unify the conservative base. You’ve got Libertarians over there, you’ve got social conservatives, fiscal conservatives, defense conservatives, 2nd Amendment fighters – they’re all fractured. You’ve got 2 million GOP’ers who stayed home last time. You’ve got several million evangelical Christians who don’t vote. To get those people motivated, they all need something. To unify them, they need to be given something. If I was a man like Ted Cruz – I see him as the front runner and the most Reaganesque of the figures that are out there right now, I’d be wanting to unify that base ...........”
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SGT (Join to see)
Well a little too early in the game, with less than 10% of the delegate votes in. Even still that would be two decent Senator vacant seats for judge confirmation!
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Senator Ted Cruz
It’s far too early to speculate about that. It’s a little like going on a first date and talking about what to name the kids. We are still in the job interview process. But it would be someone passionate about defending our Bill of Rights and our Constitution.
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