Comentarios from Maria: Ted Cruz and his Agenda of Contradictions

Imagine a world in which the junior Republican Senator from Texas, Ted Cruz, were president of the United States. He announced last week his candidacy for the post. And in doing so, the Senator asked the American people to imagine how different the world would be with him as our president. The reality is that our country would be a much different and regressive place under the extreme right-wing leadership of Sen. Cruz, who has demonstrated repeatedly that he is more interested in obstructing President Obama and promoting the interests of the most conservative faction of our society, while obstructing real progress for our families.

During his announcement, Cruz, son of a Cuban immigrant, told a truly captivating story of how his parents fought to obtain the opportunities bespoken of the American Dream. Although his speech was replete with homages to the founders of our country, to his Hispanic heritage and grandiose promises, it was easy to conclude that within his plan to “restore America’s promise,” the ironies and contradictions abound. This vision for the country definitely does not include the Latino community, middle class, students, women, or those who depend on public programs for health, education and housing.

It is nearly inconceivable to understand how somebody whose family has benefited so much from the promise of our country would be willing to deny those same opportunities to millions of immigrants. But in the few times Cruz has proposed pieces of legislation, it has been legislation that seeks to eliminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that has brought immigration relief to millions of Dreamers. As one of the most extreme and forceful voices against President Obama’s executive actions, Cruz used his announcement to remind his sympathizers and supporters that he will continue fighting to destroy the President’s measures and any possibility of passing immigration reform.

Cruz also admitted that at one point in his life, he had more than $100,000 in student debts, and held two jobs to pay off those debts. Even so, Cruz voted against legislation that would make it easier for millions of students to repay their loans at a lower interest rate.

Let’s remember too that Cruz, in his desire and obsession to eliminate Obamacare, was one of the principal architects behind the government shutdown of 2013. That shutdown cost the government $24 billion, but Cruz doesn’t worry himself with those types of consequences. Despite Obamacare continuing to benefit millions of Americans – many of those Latino – Cruz still says that the health care law is a disaster. The irony is that when his wife decided to take time off from her work to join the Senator on his campaign, she lost her health benefits granted through her job and, now, Cruz dares to enroll for Obamacare.

The truth is that we could spend days enumerating a litany of inconsistencies within Senator Cruz’s platform, which only highlights that his intolerant vision and misguided leadership will never be compatible with the needs and priorities of our community and country. Simply put, Ted Cruz represents all of the negativity and dysfunction that has paralyzed the Republican Party and, therefore, the Congress, and will continue alienating Latinos from the GOP for decades to come.

This article originally appeared in Spanish in The Washington Hispanic.