Member Profile - Ted Cruz

Sen. Ted Cruz Texas (R)

Track

- See more at: https://www.conservativereview.com/members/ted-cruz/#14



Education



[1] http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00063
[2] http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00185

- See more at: https://www.conservativereview.com/members/ted-cruz/#14








** SUBJECT : Budget votes from Congressman Dennis A. Ross (R-FL-15th) **

 

It is well-known that America keeps adding to its National Debt, which devalues the U.S. Dollar, and pushes us more towards a 3rd-world banana republic, or towards economic collapse, like modern Greece, or like how ancient Rome fell... As both the conservative GOPusa and the liberal CBS report, National Debt has been growing non-stop  for many years now, putting us on the brink of financial disaster:

 

http://www.gopusa.com/freshink/2012/09/05/debt-tops-16t-during-dnc
quoting: http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/1601576978821580_651649.html
and: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20027090-503544.html
See also: http://zFacts.com/p/318.html
See also: www.FactCheck.org/2011/07/fiscal-factcheck

 

Cache of CBS's stats, just in case their server is slow, down, or has congested Internet traffic:
Cache 1: www.GordonWatts.com/FannyDeregulation/CBS-documents-National-Debt-Crisis.JPG
Cache 1: www.GordonWayneWatts.com/FannyDeregulation/CBS-documents-National-Debt-Crisis.JPG

 

Let's look at his votes on four (4) recent appropriations bills:

 

Since it is our “runaway spending” that keep driving up the Federal Debt, nonstop, then whomever votes “yea” on said appropriations bills is directly responsible, so let's see how Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) voted, shall we?

 

*** On H.R. 1473, “BILL TITLE: Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011,” Dennis Ross voted “no” on 14-Apr-2011, but the bill still passed in the House by a vote of 260-167, with 6 “no votes.” (Note: That only adds up to 433, not 435. Hmm...?) It had more Republican support than Democratic support, but not exactly on a party-line vote. (Rep voting 179-59 in support, but Dems voting 81-108, not in support.) http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll268.xml (TRANSLATION: Ross was conservative in his freshman vote.)

 

*** But: On H.R. 2055, “BILL TITLE: Making appropriations for military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2012, and for other purposes,” aka: “Latest Title: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012” http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:HR02055:@@@D&summ2=m& Rep. Dennis Ross voted “yea,” and the bill passed on 14-Jun-2011, by a vote of 411-5, with 16 “no votes.” (Note: That only adds up to 432, not 435. Hmm...?) It only had 5 votes  against it, and all 5 were Republican congresspersons, including Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX). http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll418.xml  (TRANSLATION: Ross was liberal in this vote: He drove up the Federal Debt.)

 

*** AND also: On “H.R. 5856: Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2013” (19-Jul-2012) Rep. Dennis Ross voted “yea” here too. The bill passed 326-90, with 15 “no votes,” and: with support from both Republicans (225-11) and Democrats (101-79). The 326 + 90 + 15 only add up to 431. Hmm...? http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2012/roll498.xml  (TRANSLATION: Ross was liberal in this vote too: He drove up the Federal Debt; I'm wondering if House leaders pulled Ross aside and made some sort of threats to him—if he didn't keep driving up the Nat'l Debt? Ross is liberal, but not stupid. “Things that make you go 'hmm...'.”)

 

Update:

(Saturday, 22 December 2012) -- Since I sent this email, I found another 2013 Military appropriations bill in which Ross participated:

In his own press release, he stated that: "U.S. Congressman Dennis Ross (FL-12) supported the Conference Report on H.R. 4310, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013. This bill provides funding for the military for the 2013 fiscal year." ("Ross Votes to Fund Troops" (Press Releases), Washington, Dec 20, 2012) http://DennisRoss.House.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=315880

This was confirmed by the Library of Congress: "5/16/2012 6:20pm: [line-break] The Speaker designated the Honorable Dennis Ross to act as Chairman of the Committee." (Bill Summary & Status, 112th Congress (2011 - 2012), H.R.4310, All Congressional Actions, Library of Congress) http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:HR04310:@@@X

So, I went looking for more information on this, and confirmed my suspicion that Ross, again, is bent on spending us into the poor house:

"According to the Administration, the FY2013 DOD budget request is consistent with the initial spending caps set by the BCA. However, both H.R. 4310, the version of the FY2013 National Defense Authorization passed by the House on May 18, 2012, and H.R. 5856, the companion DOD appropriations bill for FY2013, reported by the House Appropriations Committee on May 25, 2012, would exceed the Administration request—by $3.7 billion in the case of the authorization bill and by $3.1 billion in the case of the appropriation bill."
* http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R42607.pdf
* ("Defense: FY2013 Authorization and Appropriations," by Pat Towell, Specialist in U.S. Defense Policy and Budget, and Daniel H. Else, Specialist in National Defense, Congressional Research Service, September 5, 2012; paragraph 3, page 2, Summary)

Even the Conservative Tampa Tribune (normally an advocate of a strong national defense) agrees that Congress is spending too much on military. Here is a small 'Fair Use' excerpt:

"We believe those threatened cuts of $600 billion over 10 years are too deep. They would weaken the military, including MacDill Air Force Base.
But some cuts are necessary, given the size of the budget deficit. And even with the so-called sequester cuts, military spending would remain far above pre-2001 levels.
Including the costs of current foreign engagements and adjusting for inflation, the U.S. military is spending far more than at any time since World War II, and almost as much as then. Military spending has grown 48 percent in the past 10 years.
The United States is spending about five times what China spends on its military and almost 10 times what Russia spends each year.
Let's remember Pearl Harbor, and also remember that times and threats do change."

* http://www2.tbo.com/news/opinion/2012/dec/07/naopino1-forgetting-pearl-harbor-ar-579832
* ("Forgetting Pearl Harbor," by Staff at the Tampa Tribune and TBO.com, December 07, 2012; emphasis in italics added for style; not in original)

CONCLUSION: Ross is a tax-and-spend liberal, and his votes on the appropriations bills are directly responsible for "excess spending" and our soaring National Debt; I show elsewhere that tuition, a form of tax, is increasing on the middle class, and that Ross opposes measures to reign in this excessive tax (though he claims differently on his web page, his actions are what clue me in to his true intents and motives here).

(Saturday, 05 January 2013) -- Update re Ross' fiscal cliff appropriations bill vote participated:

Congressman Ross claimed that he voted against the recent 'Fiscal Cliff' bill (H.R.8, American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, introduced 7/24/2012 and voted on and passed on January 01, 2013, in the 112th Congress), which we all know did not address the spending problem.

Oddly enough, the government's own website, http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:h.r.00008: does NOT show the roll call vote, but both http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/112-2012/h659 and http://www.opencongress.org/vote/2013/h/659 verify Ross' claim here.

So, while I am a vocal opponent of Ross, I will thank him (privately and publicly) for opposing this pork-laden bill; however, since he's voted for 4 of the 6 appropriations bills that have come before him, and the National Debt keeps rising, HE (and many other guilty spendthrifts in both the Democrat and Republican party) is at fault: Remember, even with all of his other 'good' fiscal votes, they are dwarfed by the annual military & domestic appropriations bills, and thus Ross is, on balance, 2/3rds fiscally liberal, when you look at the actual votes (the facts that matter).

*** LASTLY: H.R. 5882: Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2013 – Passed House (Jun 8, 2012)
This bill passed in the House on June 8, 2012 and goes to the Senate next for consideration.
https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hr5882

 

confirmed: On H.R. 5882 (8-Jun-2012), BILL TITLE: “Making appropriations for the Legislative Branch for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2013, and for other purposes” passed 307-102, with 22 “no votes.” (This accounts for 431 members, not the full 435.) Republicans supported it 211-19, and Democrats narrowly supported it 96-83. Rep. Dennis Ross voted for this bill as well. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2012/roll377.xml (TRANSLATION: Ross was liberal in this vote, a well: He drove up the Federal Debt, assuming this passed the Senate as well & passed into law, but I can't quite confirm that; However, for the reasons immediately below, this is still an otherwise “very bad” bill.)

 

“VERY IMPORTANT” >> Some of those “other purposes” include restrictions on Legislative date being published to the public and thus, this bill takes steps backwards for basic transparency & public information access. This bill does that by making it illegal for the electronic records of “bulk data” (machine-processable electronic records) to be be shared with 3rd party organizations.

 

Sources:

 

“The government data that makes GovTrack go has been the center of what looks like a failed political power play over the last week. Rep. Crenshaw, whose appropriations subcommittee issued a draft report last week that nearly halted access to “bulk data downloads,” now “agree[s] to free legislative information” according to a statement written jointly with House leaders yesterday.”
(“Rep. Crenshaw backs down, loses control over bulk data issue,” June 7, 2012, by Josh Tauberer, GovTrack.us)
** http://www.govtrack.us/blog/2012/06/07/rep-crenshaw-backs-down-loses-control-over-bulk-data-issue/

 

** http://TeaPartyOrganizers.ning.com/forum/topics/emergency-alert-rep-ander-crenshaw-through-hr-5882-decided-to

 

** http://www.RonPaulForums.com/showthread.php?379312-H.-R.-5882-Legislative-Branch-appropriations-for-FY-2013

 

See also: http://WeThePeopleUSA.ning.com/forum/topics/emergency-alert-rep-ander-crenshaw-through-hr-5882-decided-to-can
(“Emergency Alert!! Rep. Ander Crenshaw Through HR 5882 Decided to Cancel Government Transparency To the Public On Bills,” Posted by McFixit1 on June 4, 2012 at 9:32pm in Congress Members & Legislation)

 

Even with all these liberal actions in a “very conservative” Polk, Fla. district, voters still overwhelmingly voted in Dennis Ross, but they were a clueless electorate, and the same thing happened when Adam Putnam, a VERY liberal Republican, voted for both the T.A.R.P. And Stimulus bailouts, both very unpopular in Polk County—because “the redneck vote” turned out and voted for him—without first inspecting his voting record. Observe:

 

** H R 1424: Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, aka the 'Mortgage Bailout': Passed 263-171 in the house, with apparently 1 vacant seat: Adam Putnam voted 'yea': http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll681.xml and this passed into law: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/110-2008/h681

 

** HR 3997: Financial Asset Purchase Authority (Establishes the Troubled Asset Relief Program (T.A.R.P.) to allow the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase troubled assets from any financial institution (Sec. 101) = VERY unpopular in conservative Polk County, Fla.). Failed in the House 205-228, but Adam Putnam still voted 'yes' for this 'liberal' bill: http://www.gop.gov/votes/110/2/674 ; http://votesmart.org/bill/8060/22428/12913/financial-asset-purchase-authority ; http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/110-2008/h674

 

** Adam Putman is quoted at length by many sources: “Republican says they lost the "white redneck" vote. Adam Putnam. FL”:
** http://www.BoomanTribune.com/?op=displaystory;sid=2006/11/17/13014/154 
** http://www.nopc.info/forum/showthread.php?t=19542
** http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/11/17/272213/--3-Republican-says-they-lost-the-white-redneck-vote-Adam-Putnam-FL
** http://jdeeth.blogspot.com/2006/11/where-were-rednecks.html
** http://j-deeth.blogspot.com/2006/11/where-were-rednecks.html
** http://DownWithTyranny.blogspot.com/2006/11/howdy-doody-nimrod-adam-putnam-r-fl.html

 

POINT: While it may (or may not?) be argued that Putnam was a little bit prejudiced with his comments here, it is indisputable that the “rednecks” vote in high numbers for the Republican, who claims to be 'Conservative' whether OR NOT he/she is actually conservative, and this “voting down party lines” (both parties are guilty here) is what contributes to continually sending spend-thrift morons back into Congress, continually rack up a larger-and-larger National Debt each year—including, as I've shown, Dennis Ross—who is (as I've shown elsewhere) also liberal in other areas besides budget, namely in regard to higher education issues.

 

That is probably why Gene Roberts, a legendary Republican from Lakeland, just recently left the Republican Party:

 

“Former Polk County Republican Party Chairman Gene Roberts, "Mr. Republican," to many in the Polk GOP, will leave the Republican Party this week [line-break] "It has gotten away from the basic Ronald Reagan Republican beliefs of family, education economics and budget," he said of the national party structure. [line-break] "It has left its values. I don't think we are taking stands on the issues that we should and I don't think Reagan would recognize the party in some respects," Roberts said. [line-break] Roberts said he intends to change his party registration to "no party affiliation" this week.”
(“Roberts: Republican Party Has Left Its Ideals,” by Bill Rufty, POLITICS reporter, The Ledger, November 12, 2012, http://www.theledger.com/article/20121112/COLUMNISTS0502/121119853)

 

CONCLUSION: Putnam, Ross, and others in the House & Senate have a mixed record in both Higher Ed and Budget/Finance. Not totally liberal, but with areas in need of improvement.


ADDITIONAL Short list of things I need to address: