Just under a thousand people joined to hear Senator Ted Cruz and Glenn Beck discuss their views on economics, immigration, military and the appointment of the next Supreme Court justice during a rally on Feb. 27.
The rally took place at the DoubleTree Hotel and was sponsored by Keep The Promise PAC.
According to Senator Cruz, this election is going to be mainly about jobs, freedom and security.
Cruz began by talking about the American economy. More specifically on how small businesses create jobs.
“When it comes to the economy, small businesses are the heart of the economy,” Cruz said. “Two-thirds of all new jobs come from small businesses.”
Cruz then spoke of how Washington is wronging small business and the economy.
“If you want to kill the economy do what we’ve done the last seven years,” said Cruz. “Hammer small businesses each and every day and jobs and wages go away.”
“On the flip side, if you want the economy to take off,” Cruz said. “Lift the burden of Washington off of the backs of the necks of small businesses. Lift taxes. Lift regulation. Free this economy.”
Cruz also shared his vision on how the tax system should be modified.
“We are gonna pass a simple flat tax, so that every American can fill out his taxes on a postcard,” Cruz said. “When we do that, we should abolish the IRS.”
Cruz went on to speak about the economic repercussions of illegal immigration.
“Immigration is also fundamentally an economic issue,” Cruz said. “It’s about jobs, it’s about wages.”
The senator cited a Wall Street Journal article concerning what has happened in Arizona since they have passed strict immigration laws.
“Number one, their public expenditures have dropped,” Cruz said. “Hundreds of millions of dollars. They’re spending less on prisons, hospitals, on education. With the illegal immigrants not there, they’re not paying for that and as a result that’s hundreds of millions of dollars available to go to the citizens of Arizona.”
The senator also called out the Democratic Party for their response to illegal immigration.
“The Democrats support illegal immigration,” Cruz said. “It’s not complicated why. They view those as votes. You know there’s a new politically correct term for illegal immigrants, it’s called undocumented Democrats.”
The second deciding factor in the upcoming election will be protection of freedoms, according to the senator.
Cruz spoke of the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. He said that this election is not for one branch of government, but for two.
“His passing has left the Supreme Court hanging in the balance,” Cruz said. “We are one liberal justice away from a five justice, radical leftist majority the likes of this country has never seen.”
Cruz proceeded to state ways that this “radical leftist majority” would impact citizen’s personal freedoms.
“We’re one justice away from the Supreme Court taking away the religious liberty of every man and woman, from the Supreme Court saying the federal government can force you to violate your faith and you have no constitutional right to stand up against it,” Cruz said. “We are one liberal justice away from the Supreme Court ordering Ten Commandments torn down all over this country,” he said.
“We are one liberal justice away from the Supreme Court striking down every state restriction on abortion and mandating unlimited abortion on demand up till the moment of delivery, partial birth with taxpayer funding and no parental notification. We are one justice away from the Supreme Court effectively erasing the second amendment from the Bill of Rights, concluding that not a single one of us has any individual right to keep and bear arms. We are one justice away from the Supreme Court ordering that veteran memorials be torn down all over this country if they have any religious symbols on them whatsoever. And were not far away from the court ordering the chisels to come out to remove the crosses and the stars of David from the tombstones of fallen soldiers. We are one liberal justice away from the Supreme Court holding that we are subject to the authority of the world court and the United Nations and international law and giving away America’s sovereignty,” he said.
The senator elaborated on how he would protect the country’s personal freedoms from this outcome.
“If we elect a Democrat the court and the Bill of Rights will be lost for a generation, but I’ll tell you this, if we elect the wrong Republican the court and the bill of right will be lost for a generation,” Cruz said. “Every justice I appoint to the Supreme Court will be a principled constitutionalist who will vigorously protect the Bill of Rights.”
Security was the third issue Cruz felt was key to the election. The crowd jeered when Cruz mentioned Donald Trump’s foreign policy.
“At the debate last week Donald Trump said we should be neutral between Israel and the Palestinians,” Cruz said. “Let me tell you this right now, If I am elected president we ain’t gonna be neutral.”
Cruz then elaborated on his vision for the military and how foreign policy would be applied.
“We are going to fundamentally rebuild the military,” Cruz said. “We are going to restore our war-fighting capacity.”
“The U.S. military will no longer be governed by political correctness,” Cruz said. “We will have a commander and chief who stands up and says to the world we will defeat radical Islamic terrorism.”
Cruz spoke about how he does not agree with the current rules of engagement military personnel must abide by.
“One of the most shameful aspects of the last seven years has been the president sending our fighting men and women into combat with rules of engagement so strict they’re not able to defend themselves,” Cruz said. “They’re not able to win. Let me tell you that is wrong, it is immoral and come January 2017, that will end.”
“America has always been reluctant to use military force, we are slow to anger.” Cruz said. “If and when it is required, we should use overwhelming force, kill the enemy and then get the heck out of there.”
Cruz wrapped up by calling people to come out and vote for him on Tuesday, citing the great importance of the day.
“Do we want another Washington dealmaker that will sell us down the river or do we want a principled constitutionalist who will stand in the river firm,” said Cruz.
A lot of the people in attendance of the rally were there to support Cruz due to his firm constitutional values.
“I may have made my decision,” said Leslie Dorn. “I think he’s the most pro-constitutional of all of them.”
That viewpoint was reiterated many times among the members of the crowd.
“We’re one hundred percent dedicated to Cruz,” said Maryann Hill.
When Hill was asked why she was so dedicated to Cruz she said it all went back to the constitution.
“His love for the constitution and wanting to get us back to the constitution,” said Hill. “This has gone on far too long.”
Arkansas along with 11 other states held primary elections for both major parties on March 1.
This article originally appeared in the March 2, 2016 print edition of The Echo.
