Cruz was hammered in Iowa for his stance against ethanol subsidies, a major boon to the corn-heavy state, but also netted endorsements from prominent Iowa conservatives like Bob Vander Plaats, an anti-LGBT activist who heads the Iowan organization The FAMiLY Leader.
Though Trump has grabbed headlines for his racist and bombastic rhetoric, the senator from Texas holds some of the most extreme policy ideas in the race. Here are some of the key policies Iowa Republicans have endorsed with their ballots tonight:
Women’s Health
Cruz is staunchly anti-abortion and has worked in Texas to make it harder for women to receive abortions. As solicitor general of the state, he defended a federal law that bans partial birth abortion. He has helped lead the Senate crusade to defund Planned Parenthood and he has also said that one of the first things he will do in office is launch a federal investigation into the women’s health organization.
Immigration
The son of a Cuban immigrant, Cruz frequently talks about the need to secure the border and end sanctuary cities. Opponents have targeted him for once supporting “amnesty,” but Cruz has never and still does not support a path to citizenship for the country’s 11 million undocumented immigrants. And he does not think the United States should accept any Syrian refugees.
Terrorism
Cruz has called for “carpet bombing” and “saturation bombing” regions of Iraq and Syria controlled by ISIS — a tactic that would be a war crime under the Geneva Conventions. After November’s terrorist attack in Paris, he called for conducting airstrikes with less concern for civilian casualties.
Obamacare
Cruz, who grabbed headlines with his 21-hour “filibuster” to try to defund Obamacare in 2013, loves to say that he will repeal “every last word of Obamacare.” But he doesn’t like to talk about what he would do when millions of Americans lose their coverage. Instead, he repeats the false claim that Obamacare has raised premiums and caused millions to lose their part-time jobs. If Cruz were to be elected president, millions of Americans would lose their health insurance — and he doesn’t have a plan to stop it.
Climate Change
Cruz is the worst denier of all the climate change-denying Republican candidates. He refuses to agree with the 97 percent of climate scientists who agree that the planet is warming, instead choosing to cite discredited satellite data. Cruz has also introduced legislation that would expand oil and gas drilling, approve the Keystone XL pipeline, prevent the federal government from regulating fracking, and curtail EPA regulations.
Gun Control
Cruz has an A+ rating from the National Rifle Association. He frequently holds Second Amendment rallies and speaks about how you can only “stop bad guys by using our guns.” And he loves to spread the conspiracy theory that the government is trying to take away people’s guns. In Congress, he has helped to lead the defense of gun rights and helped to vote down gun legislation year after year.
LGBT Rights
Cruz is campaigning on a promise of ignoring or overturning the Supreme Court’s ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide. Cruz has also spoken out strongly against granting equal rights to transgender people, and has opposed laws that would protect LGBT employees from workplace discrimination. He has received endorsements from several anti-LGBT religious organizations.
Original Article
Source: thinkprogress.org/
Author: Aviva Shen & Kira Lerner
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