WASHINGTON, DC — Last night, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, received an enthusiastic welcome from more than 200 members of the pro-free market Club for Growth. The Senator, who has a 100 percent rating by the Club, reminded his audience that winning on issues takes leadership and leadership takes courage.
Cruz went on to say that only a courageous conservatism willing to stand with the American people and against the powerful in Washington will be able to win in 2016. That is how we can reignite the “Miracle of America.”
He reiterated his commitment to various issues important to conservatives, from repealing Obamacare and abolishing the IRS, to stopping corporate welfare and championing Internet freedom.
The Washington Post reported:
[Cruz argued] a Republican candidate could win only if he or she motivates more conservative activists, especially evangelical Christians, to vote.
Cruz, who was accompanied… by his wife and two daughters, basked in a warm reception from members of the Club for Growth, which provided substantial resources to help his underdog primary campaign for Senate in 2012.
As reported by National Review, Cruz’s core message that clearly connected with The Club for Growth is the same message that is electrifying grassroots conservatives:
Ted Cruz is a grassroots favorite with a reputation for electrifying conservative crowds with rallying cries against the Republican establishment. His pitch to the party’s top-dollar donors isn’t much different. On stage Friday evening before some of the Republican party’s biggest benefactors, Cruz called for gutting Obamacare and the IRS — standard elements of his stump speech that generated the most applause from a crowd of donors, too.
Additionally, Politico wrote:
“We should abolish the IRS,” he declared during his speech to cheers… “We need to repeal every word of Obamacare,” he said a few minutes later… The Export-Import Bank “should be abolished,” he went on.
Sen. Cruz told the crowd that he would phase out ethanol subsidies under the Renewable Fuel Standard, and reiterated his support for measures to eliminate sugar subsidies. Politico reported:
[W]e’re in Florida right now,” he went on. “We don’t need subsidies for sugar in Florida!” … “Amen,” said David McIntosh, the president of the Club for Growth.
As unelected bureaucrats at the Federal Communications Commission continue efforts to bypass Congress and take control of Internet regulation, Sen. Cruz made clear to the audience that anywhere government encroaches on freedom, he is fighting back. According to Politico:
Cruz also attacked the Federal Communications Commission for its new net neutrality rules. He said that the Obama administration is turning the Internet into “a regulated public utility.” … “Does anyone here associate with public utilities words like innovation, creativity and growth?”
Sen. Cruz concluded with a hopeful, but resolute message to the audience about 2016 if they would stay the course. The Wall Street Journal reports:
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz offered conservative activists here Friday night a strategy to turn out conservative voters and get new people to support the eventual GOP presidential nominee in 2016: “draw a line in the sand.”
