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Ben Ferguson
Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz. Ben Ferguson with you as always. And Senator. So you guys worked late into the evening as I guess the the big guy in charge of Senate decided let's cram some more bad bills down the throats of Americans while they're not paying attention on a Friday night. What all went down?
Ted Cruz
Well, that's exactly right. We had a late night voting session Friday night, went till two in the morning and it was really astonishing. The Democrats doubled down on open borders. They doubled down on weakness towards Iran. They doubled down on anti Israel bias. They doubled down on extremism. These Dems have decided they know which side their bread is buttered. And it is the open border radical leftist view. And we saw vote after vote after vote that every Democrat, like lemmings jumped off the cliff of these extreme positions, including a whole bunch of Democrats who are on the ballot in November. Those vote votes Friday night are going to be front and center in every one of those races. Not only that, but we also have the state of Michigan. This is actually quite remarkable. The state of Michigan is offering you $500 to house an illegal alien in your home. This is the taxpayers of Michigan. This is their response to Biden's open Borders is hey, 500 bucks and you too can have an illegal alien in your home. Just hope it doesn't have to be a criminal illegal alien. And finally, we're going to talk today about The Biden administration putting out written guidance in their national intelligence agency saying no longer refer to radical Islamic terrorism as well Islamic. That, that, that offends their politically correct sensitivities. And so if we can just remove any reference to Islam from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, from Jihad, from, from isis, from, from Al Qaeda, just, just omit their motivation, that would be a lot better for them politically if they could just have the entire intelligence agencies ignore what's actually going on.
Ben Ferguson
That is sad, but it's true. It's really there in writing and we're gonna go through all of it. Let me tell you real quick about our friends over at blackout coffee. If you're like me and you gotta start your day off with a great cup of coffee, not an average cup of coffee but a premium cup, then you need to check out blackout coffee because this is a hundred % America and 0% woke coffee company. You know what's happening with woke companies in America and there are a lot of woke coffee companies are taking your dollars and giving them to hard left causes. Well you don't have to worry about that with blackout coffee. And not only are they 100America, but it's a premium cup of coffee. But Blackout Coffee is 100% committed to Conservative values. From the sourcing of the beans to the roasting process, customer support and shipping. They embody true American value and they accept no compromise on taste or quality. I start every morning off with blackout coffee. I start every day on the radio at 7am and I can tell you it matters what I have in that cup of coffee. And it is a premium cup from blackout coffee. So don't just trust me, try it and I'm going to save you a bunch of money. Go to blackoutcoffee.com verdict that's blackout coffee.com verdict and when you use the coupon code verdict. You're going to get 20 off your first order. That is 20 off your first order. Blackoutcoffee.com verdict Be awake, not woke. That's Blackout Coffee.com verdict promo code verdict 20 off your first order center. Usually you guys come back on 30 Thursdays. That's kind of the normal working schedule for the Senate. All of a sudden they throw a bunch of stuff into Friday that take the trash out day so no one's paying attention. Everybody's off for the weekend and you guys were voting late into the night. This had to also deal with the issue of a another possible government shutdown. So how bad did the American people get screwed?
Ted Cruz
Well, very badly. What happened was Chuck Schumer was trying to ram through the trillion dollar plus massive omnibus government funding bill. And we were there all day Friday and a lot of us, a lot of the Republicans opposed this bill. And we introduced a whole series of amendments and we wanted votes on the amendments. And Schumer had a problem because the amendments we were seeking votes on are eminently reasonable. They're common sense, they're overwhelmingly popular with the American people. And his Democrats that are on the ballot in November were terrified of voting for these amendments. So we spent all day Friday just in paralysis because Schumer didn't know what to do and Schumer didn't know what to do. And in particular John Tester in Montana really, really, really didn't want to vote on these amendments. Sherrod Brown in Ohio really, really, really didn't want to vote on these amendments. Jackie Rosen in Nevada didn't want to vote on these amendments. Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin didn't want to vote on these amendments. Bob Casey in Pennsylvania didn't want to vote on these amendments. So we spent all day Friday just in limbo. I actually spent a good chunk of the day Friday playing basketball because we just had nothing else to do. So I, I played hoops while, while Schumer and the Democrats trying to figure, figure their stuff out. Finally, late at night, Friday night, Schumer decides, all right, screw it, we're going to take all the votes and I'm going to force all my members to cast every terrible vote they can. And you know what? We're so confident that the media is corrupt, they can cast these votes and no one will know. So, so let me walk through some of these votes because it is astonishing. One of the very first votes was, was an amendment I had. And my amendment was very simple. My amendment would have barred the Biden administration from sending billions of dollars to Iran. Iran is led by the Ayatollah, a radical theocratic genocidal maniac. The Biden administration has already flowed hundred over a hundred billion dollars to Iran. But since then, Iran not only is the world leading states funder of terrorism not only has launched over a hundred attack on US servicemen and women in the Middle east, but funded October 7th. They are the principal funder of Hamas. They've given over 90% of Hamas's funding. They're the principal funder of Hezbollah. So in the wake of October 7, Israel is the middle of war. And I stood up and said it's real simple. If you stand with Israel, if you stand with America against Iran, this ought to be a very simple vote, don't send billions of dollars to Iran. Right now, the Biden administration is trying to send another $10 billion to Iran. This was a straight up vote. We ended up voting. Every single Democrat voted no, actually, except one, Bob Menendez. At the very end. He sat there silent. He sat there silent, he was glowering. And then he voted yes. Now, look, Menendez is pretty mad at his own party. He's facing indictment, he's facing prosecution. His party had basically thrown him out of the party. He might run as an independent in the state of New Jersey. He has long been the best Democrat when it comes to standing up to Iran compared to the others. And so his vote, a component of Bob's vote, I think, was a screw you to Schumer and the rest of the Democrat Party. But that being said, it is astonished that Tester and Brown and Casey and Rosen, they all cast their vote and said, yep, we're all for sending billions of dollars to the ayatollah who chants death to America and death to Israel, even while he's funding Hamas death squads. Right.
Ben Ferguson
Now, you look at the fight here, and it is shocking that you guys are even having to have this battle, even have these types of fights, and yet the American people seem to lose yet again. How did Democrats keep getting away with this? And I'm saying that in a real standpoint, is it because the media doesn't talk about what they're actually doing on a Friday night at midnight? Is that the main core thing? So people don't even realize how bad they're getting screwed?
Ted Cruz
Oh, look, when it's late at night, most of the reporters are in bed. So most of the reporters weren't even there covering it. And it doesn't matter if they're awake or not. The media is broken. They do not view their role as actually reporting on news. They don't report both sides. They are advocates of, for the left wing of the Democrat Party. The media wants to send billions of dollars to Iran. So they're not going to tell you that every Democrat voter except Bob Menendez just voted to send billions of dollars to Iran. Let's walk through some of the rest of these votes, because these votes are actually astonishing us. Lee Bad. All right. Another one of the votes we had was a vote that was introduced by Ted Bud. This was a vote that said we should deport illegal immigrants who have violently assaulted police officers. Very simple question. You have an illegal immigrant, if he violently assaults a cop, for example, the six illegal immigrants in New York who beat up two New York cops. Once you beat up a cop, you should be deported. This, this ought to be easy. Yeah, like to be honest, grab a hundred people in any state in America. Doesn't have to be a red state, make it a purple state, make it a blue state, ask a hundred people if an illegal immigrant beats up a cop, should they be deported. An overwhelming majority will say hell yes, anywhere you go. Well, Ted Budd teed this up, by the way. This was one of the amendments that had Tester terrified, that had Sherrod Brown terrified, that had Bob Casey terrified. Well, you know what the vote was? Every single Democrat voted no. They are now on record against deporting illegal aliens who violently assault police officers.
Ben Ferguson
It's not just that. Let's talk about the importing of illegal immigrants. And this was one of the votes that you guys had to deal with. And it was a, it was something that was brought up by Bill Hagerty, one of your colleagues out of Tennessee that was like, hey, can we all at least agree that we shouldn't be spending the American taxpayers dollars to import on chartered flights, 320,000 in 2023 that we know of illegal immigrants into America on top of the millions that have already come in. Why are we importing them? And yet every Democrat voted against that as well.
Ted Cruz
Yeah, look, that's exactly right. Bill. Bill Haggerty had a motion to prohibit the Department of Homeland Security from using funds to quote, facilitate, provide or purchase air transportation from a foreign country to the United States for an alien in order for such an alien to utilize the parole process. And this was target at the Biden administration having flown 320,000 illegal immigrants into America from Cuba, from Haiti, from Nicaragua and from Venezuela. Now they did this in secret. They did this in the dark of night. We know They've flown over 320,000 illegal immigrants into this country to 43 different airports, but they will not tell us what airports they flew them to. They say it's a national security risk to tell us what airports they're flying these into. But we do know at least one of them, which is last week a 26 year old Haitian named Corey Alvarez, who entered under Biden's parole program, was arrested in Massachusetts for the rape of a 15 year old disabled girl. That was last week. Now look, I get Massachusetts is a bright blue liberal state, but even in Massachusetts, if you ask people, do you want Joe Biden flying illegal immigrants out of Haiti into Massachusetts, letting them go? And by the way, one of them, he just did just raped a 15 year old disabled girl. Even in Massachusetts, the voters would say hell no. But we voted on it and every single Democrat voted no straight party line vote.
Ben Ferguson
So when you move forward with this, and this is, I think going to come down to November, how much of this could come back to haunt the Democrats and what they just did the American people? Or is this now just business as usual and Democrats say, look, at least our voters, the majority of them don't pay attention or agree with us or just don't care. Is this the lowest level of, I would also argue apathy you've ever seen in America, especially when there's so many issues like this that you just described. I mean, I would have never thought it would have been politically a reason to stand and band together for Democrats say yes, we are in fact going to take millions and millions of dollars and we are going to fly illegal immigrants in the United States of America. And some of them are doing these heinous and horrendous crimes and yet we're still going to stay lockstep with the President of the United States of America in a presidential election year to top all that off.
Ted Cruz
Well, I think they feel utterly unaccountable. They know that the media is broken. By the way, did you see the media covering any of this? Did you see any discussion of this on the 6:00 news? We had wet Sunday shows yesterday where the Sunday show sitting around going, what has happened to the Democrat Party? How do they vote for such crazy things? You know what happened instead? Chuck Todd just about had a hysterical breakdown crying on Meet the Press because why? Because NBC hired Ronna McDaniel as a commentator and he could not handle these. My God, she's a Republican. Can you believe, you know, she was a Republican. How could we hire someone who, who, who spoke on behalf of Republicans? Let me, let me tell you something interesting. Chuck Todd before he was hired was a Democrat staffer. Tim Russert, the legend of NBC before he was hired was a Democrat staffer. George Stephanopoulos, before he was hired was a senior Democrat staffer in the Clinton White House. Jen Psaki, who was a senior Democrat staffer in the Biden White House. She was literally the Biden press secretary charged with lying to the American people every day on behalf of Joe Biden. She not only got hired, she has her own primetime show. And yet Chuck Todd practically had to be medicated that how dare NBC hire one Republican. The world will end. No wonder NBC doesn't cover these horrible votes by Democrats. ABC doesn't cover it. CBS doesn't cover it. CNN doesn't cover it. MSNBC doesn't cover it. The Washington Post doesn't cover it. The New York Times doesn't cover it. None of them cover it. Because they are, they're not just part of the team, they are the advance fighting forces of the team. Their objective is to keep driving the Democrat party left, left, left. And so they know that, that no matter what bad vote gets cast, it will never be covered back home.
Unknown Host
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Ben Ferguson
And just to put it in perspective, there are a lot of people that are concerned over government spending. Part of what you guys obviously were dealing with was government spending. But, but there was, you know, there's a third rail in politics. They say never talk in a presidential election year about Social Security or insolvency or any of those issues. And we see our national debts going up. I think it's a trillion dollars on average every now hundred days, three trillion in the year. And people are talking about this. Janet Yellen was even asked questions. And the media didn't cover this. The Biden Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen literally admitted that Biden doesn't actually have a plan for Social Security. No one covered that like shocking massive breaking news this week either.
Ted Cruz
The media. There is virtually no one in the corporate media who even pretends to be a journalist anymore. I'll give you another example. One of the other amendments we voted on was Ted Budd had a different amendment, but that was the Lake and Riley act. And it was an amendment that would prohibit funding from being used to grant immigration status to any alien who is charged with arrested for convicted of acts that constitute the essential elements of burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting. It was designed to respond to the horrific murder of Lake and Riley. And what happened. We had a vote on it in the Senate floor. Every single Democrat voted no. All of them. Straight party line. Why? Because they know they're not asked about Lake and Riley when they get home, when they do a press interview. Nobody asked him about Lake and Riley. That is not their narrative.
Ben Ferguson
I got to play Janet Yellen because for the people that miss this, this is the Biden Treasury Secretary admitting Biden doesn't have a plan to deal with one of the biggest issues in our country that affects many seniors.
D
Has treasury really not looked at? Okay, we're already charging 4.9 trillion for the deficit, for Medicare, for a lot of other things, and now we gotta add Social. But we haven't done the math to figure out how much that tax rate.
Unknown Host
Would have to be.
Ben Ferguson
The president doesn't have a plan. He has principles. He wants to work with Congress to find a way to protect Social Security and extended solvency beyond 20 years if the President wishes.
D
And he doesn't have a plan. Madam Secretary, how could he justify not having a plan when he's been in office for three years already?
Ben Ferguson
He believes it's important to work with Congress.
D
And, Madam Secretary, he has not worked with us at all on this Senate Finance Committee.
Ben Ferguson
I mean, Senator, to be very clear with the American people, the Treasury Secretary of the United States of America, Janet Yellen, said on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Biden doesn't actually have a plan for Social Security, but he's got principles, and that should be good enough for all of us.
Ted Cruz
Well, look, on one level, it's remarkable that Yellen was that candid. But she wasn't entirely honest. Because he does have a plan for Social Security. His plan is to demagogue the heck out of it. To attack Republicans, to say Republicans want to bankrupt Social Security, Republicans want to destroy Social Security. Mind you, it's a total lie. He knows it's a total lie. And. But it doesn't matter. The Democrats, rather than address their own radical policies, they're going to scream and yell that Republicans hate old people, Republicans hate women, Republicans hate children, Republicans hate kittens, Republicans hate flowers and sunshine. Like it is. It is all just rhetoric. And by the way did I mention Donald Trump is the devil? That is the Democrat reelection plan right there. And so when it comes to Social Security, do they know that on the current path Social Security is careening towards insolvency and bankruptcy? Yes. Are they willing to do a damn thing about it? No. What they want to do instead is just demagogue the issue. And Yellen's quite candid about it. Nope. We're not going to fix it. We're just going to use it for political attacks and, and, and cross our fingers and see what happens.
Ben Ferguson
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Ted Cruz
Well, that's right. The program that Michigan has rolled out, it's called the Newcomer rental subsidy and it's designed to provide shelter outside of state shelters for so called refugees. And refugees is simply the term they use for illegal aliens. It lasts for up to a year. And according to Michigan, those eligible include refugees, asylees, special immigration visa holders, victims of human trafficking, Cuban entrance, Haitian entrance, Afghan nationals and Ukrainian humanitarian parolees. So get this, the state of Michigan is quite literally paying individuals paying homeowners to house illegal immigrants in their house. And by the way, it's not just them. Others who qualify include individuals who arrived under the family reunification parole process for El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Colombia. Who in Michigan? What Michigan taxpayer says, you know what I really want? I want my taxes going to paying my neighbor to put an illegal immigrant that Joe Biden led into this country into his house and we'll send him 500 bucks a month to keep the illegal immigrant there. That is how nutty today's Democrat party is on this issue.
Ben Ferguson
Well, and my question is, and I'm not joking when I say this, is this not a form of just buying votes? If you're talking each person is now worth $6,000 to a Michigan homeowner to house them. And I don't know if there's a, you know, a cap that you can only have one or maybe you have two. What if it's a family? I'm assuming we're not going to break up the family. So is if you have a family of four and you house them, are Are we now talking that they're worth $24,000 to your bottom line? How is that not? The Democratic Party basically buying votes saying, hey, you better keep us in office, you better vote for us because we're worth 24 grand a year to you right now.
Ted Cruz
Well, and look, I'll read you a quote from Amy Hovey, who is the executive director of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, who said the program would help migrants, quote, build a new life here. And she said, quote, this program is truly a win win as it addresses the most pressing barrier to refugee resettlement by meeting housing needs while setting up families for success with increased employment and opportunities. That's the position of the Democrat Party. You too can have an illegal alien in your house.
Ben Ferguson
Do they, do they care about the cost of housing going up? I mean, is that a conversation you guys have in D.C. is that a question that anyone asks of the Democrats when you have this many illegal immigrants coming into America? And I'll go back to what you were talking about the very beginning and these votes. It's not just the 320,000 legal immigrants that we have flown into this country at the taxpayers dollars paying for these charter flights. But if you look at how many illegal immigrants have come across the southern border since Joe Biden was sworn in, it's at least at minimum 7.2 million illegal immigrants that have entered the US under the Biden administration, which is greater than the population of 36 individual states in America. And now we see housing cost issues, rent cost issues, and we see inflationary issues, and we see uh, that, that we're seeing wages that are being undermined by illegal immigrants. If Michigan does this and other states go along with it, which other states are as well, they're saying the same thing. Housing illegal immigrant will give you cash. Is that not the definition of undermining hardworking American families who are just struggling to survive?
Ted Cruz
Well, look, you got to understand, the modern Democrat view is they can spend unlimited money, trillions of dollars. They can print unlimited money. And, and if they want more, they'll just tax the hell out of you. And it's a giant Ponzi scheme where they print money, they raise taxes, they spend more money, inflation goes up, so they print more money. And when it comes to, if the voters don't like it, don't worry, they'll change the composition of the voters. They'll let, let 10.4 million people into this country illegally. Those guys, the Democrats are confident will vote Democrat and so they stay in power. That, that is you Know, there used to be a time when you could have a common sense discussion. There are no longer any Democrats in Washington, in Congress who engage in common sense. I mean, look, we saw these votes. Every single one of them lined up over and over and over again. Illegal immigrant who built. Who beat up a cop. Nope, don't deport him. Tell me, what world does a sane or rational person believe that? And yet every Senate Democrat, that's their view.
Ben Ferguson
Last question on this. When they vote lockstep like that, is that pre planned with a conversation they have behind closed doors and they say, hey, no matter what they throw at you, no matter how sane it is, you do not agree with Republicans on anything. Full stop.
Ted Cruz
It's why it took all night. They knew what we were gonna have votes on. We had put forward, these are the amendments we want votes on. And we spent the entire day Friday just doing nothing because Schumer was talking to his Democrats saying, okay, here are the votes. We need every Democrat to stand lock arms and just vote against all of them. And he had walk me through Friday.
Ben Ferguson
That day, because people don't understand, I think, how dysfunctional Schumer can make things when they're trying to get things done like this. So you guys wake up Friday, you know, you had to stay over and another day, but we didn't.
Ted Cruz
We actually thought we would be done Friday afternoon. In a normal world, we would have been. We stayed there the whole night.
Ben Ferguson
So tell me, like you guys wake up Friday morning, you do you have a vote schedule yet? And then he changed or did he just say, hey, wake up and stand by until I tell you when you get to vote?
Ted Cruz
Yeah, it's much more the latter. And the way the Senate works, it's a strange place. So the majority leader only has one real power under the rules, and it's what's called priority of recognition, which means he is recognized first if he's on the floor. And he uses that to control the Senate calendar, to fill the pending business with whatever he wants so that no one else can put anything else on the Senate calendar. So you spend a lot of time just sitting around waiting. It's a very weird thing. I'll tell you. When I was, you know, new in the Senate and I'd be a typical Senate week. You will fly to D.C. monday mornings and you'll fly home Thursday nights. And then typically I'm home in Houston Thursday nights. Friday I travel somewhere around Texas. Sometimes Saturday, I travel around Texas. I try to spend Sundays home with the family. And then Monday morning I fly back to D.C. that, that, that's the usual rhythm of things. But on Thursdays I would call home. Back when, when Republicans had the majority, I would call home and my daughters would ask, well, are you coming home tonight? And I'd say, well, I don't know. It depends what, what Mitch schedules when he schedules votes. And we have no idea. My daughters used to say, is that mean man going to let you come home? And by that mean man, they meant Mitch McConnell because you literally have no control over your schedule. It is, it is utterly incoherent. So Friday we spent all day, we were waiting to see if a deal would re. Be reached. We were waiting to see if a deal would be reached. And throughout the afternoon and evening it looked like there was gonna be no deal. At midnight Friday night, funding for the federal government was set to expire and we were gonna have a shutdown. So as the evening went on, I was on the Senate floor for a while. It looked like there was no deal. I went and with some senators, grabbed some food, watched some basketball and, and actually I had gone home. I changed, changed out of my suit, was getting ready to go to bed. And then after 11pm I got the note. Nope, we're getting ready to vote. And we began voting at 11:56pm So I, I had to get dressed again, head back to the Capitol. Everyone did and we voted. From 11:56pm until 2:03am is when it was over. But it, it, it, that's just kind of how hectic things are.
Ben Ferguson
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Ted Cruz
Well, that's exactly right. This is a story that the Daily Wire broke and it's a memo that was sent by the diversity, equity and inclusion officials at the Biden administration's top intelligence agency. And it warns personnel not to use, quote, problematic phrases when discussing Islamic terrorism and foreign adversaries such as China. The uncle, the unclassified newsletter, and it's from the office of the Director of National Intelligence is called, quote, the Dive and it was obtained through Freedom Information act request by the Daily Wire. It argues in its cover story that the intelligence community needs to focus on, quote, changing terminology related to counterterrorism because, quote, words matter. Here's more. Quote, the article is about one of our goals, disentangling Islamic from words and phrases used to discuss terrorism and extreme violence. Uh, it goes on to, to, to declare that, that trying to remove, quote, certain phrases to identify international terrorism threats that are hurtful to Muslim Americans. Some of the problematic phrases include, but are not limited to Salafi, jihadist, jihadist, Islamic extremist, Sunni, Shia extremism and radical Islamist.
Ben Ferguson
Only in America could you have a memo that someone took this much time and wastes time under the Biden administration to make people that are directly associated with terrorism feel better about, I guess what, not being a terrorist.
Ted Cruz
Well, and sadly, this is continuing the. This. The path of putting politics above national security that we saw when Barack Obama was president. When Barack Obama was president, I actually chaired a hearing that examined the purge that the Obama White House insisted DHS do to remove from their records any reference to radical Islamic terrorism or Islam or Muslim or jihadist. And they erased over 800 times. They erased those words from their records. And by the way, the word purge, that's not me adding that word to it. That was the word that was used by the political official in the Obama White House in the instructions to dhs, purge your files. Well, these same radicals are now running Biden's intelligence agencies. And this article is part of a newsletter that is created by odni, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Intelligence Community, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Accessibility Office. And it was sent to personnel throughout the intelligence community, which includes the CIA, the nsa, the FBI, the dhs, and the Department of Justice. All of them are being told. The fact that Palestinian Islamic Jihad was one of the two terrorist groups that carried out October 7th. October 7th was carried out by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Apparently, that is an inconvenient fact to the language commissars, who I presume want to edit out the word Islamic from the name of the terrorist group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Look, they're not murdering Jews because they dislike their hairstyle. They are murdering Jews because they have a perverted view of radical Islam that mandates jihad and countering jihadism, countering the radical religious extremism behind it. It is only possible if you acknowledge it exists. And so on one level, you say, okay, this sort of language, political correctness stuff, it's silly. But in this instance, it's much worse than silly. It is dangerous. Because if the intelligence community has no idea, refuses to acknowledge what is actually happening, it means they will be utterly ineffective in fighting against it and keeping Americans and our allies safe.
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, and this is one of those moments when you say, what are they focusing their time on right now? Is it political correctness? Or is it actually keeping us safe from actual jihadist terrorists that they're afraid of offending by using the name? It reminds me a lot of the President saying that an individual that killed an innocent young girl in Georgia was an illegal immigrant and then apologized to the illegal immigrants for calling that individual, who's the alleged murderer, an illegal immigrant. It's like, what are you focusing on? What is important to you? Protecting innocent people? Protecting people from terrorist attacks? Or is it the. The. This. This PRPC wokeness is that matter more to you than than actually fighting the bad guys?
Ted Cruz
Well, unfortunately, based on things like their late night votes where every Democrat voted against the American citizens, voted in favor of illegal aliens, voted in favor of sending billions of dollars to Iran, it's not difficult to figure out where their priorities lie right now.
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, great point. Don't forget, we do this show Monday, Wednesday and Friday. And on those in between days, grab my podcast, the Ben Ferguson Podcast. I'll keep you updated on all of the breaking news. Hit that subscribe or follow or Download button right now. And please share the show on social media, wherever you are and the center and I will see you back here Wednesday morning.
Summary of "Dems Double Down on Open Borders-Every Senate Dem Votes Against Deporting Illegals who Assault Cops, plus National Security Goes Woke"
The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson featured an in-depth discussion with Senator Ted Cruz on March 25, 2024. The episode delves into recent Senate activities, Democratic policies on immigration and national security, media coverage biases, and the implications of these actions on the upcoming elections.
The episode opens with Senator Ted Cruz addressing the recent flurry of Senate activities. He criticizes Senate Democrats for pushing forward controversial bills during late-night sessions, a strategy aimed at minimizing public scrutiny.
Ted Cruz [01:21]: "The Democrats doubled down on open borders. They doubled down on weakness towards Iran. They doubled down on anti-Israel bias. They doubled down on extremism."
Cruz highlights a specific amendment he introduced to prevent the Biden administration from allocating billions to Iran, a country he describes as a "radical theocratic genocidal maniac."
Ted Cruz [05:06]: "If you stand with Israel, if you stand with America against Iran, this ought to be a very simple vote, don't send billions of dollars to Iran."
He emphasizes that all Democratic senators voted against this amendment except for Bob Menendez, suggesting internal party conflicts.
Ted Cruz [05:50]: "Every single Democrat voted no, actually, except one, Bob Menendez."
The discussion moves to an amendment aimed at deporting illegal immigrants who commit violent assaults against police officers. Cruz criticizes Democrats for their unanimous opposition to this measure.
Ted Cruz [08:56]: "Every single Democrat voted no. They are now on record against deporting illegal aliens who violently assault police officers."
Cruz further condemns Democratic actions by referencing an amendment proposed by Bill Hagerty, which sought to halt the Department of Homeland Security from using funds to transport illegal immigrants by air. Democrats again voted against this amendment, facilitating the arrival of over 320,000 illegal immigrants.
Ted Cruz [13:44]: "We know they've flown over 320,000 illegal immigrants into this country to 43 different airports... every single Democrat voted no straight party line vote."
Ben Ferguson raises concerns about the media's failure to report these significant Senate votes, attributing it to media bias favoring Democrats.
Ben Ferguson [08:56]: "Is that the main core thing? So people don't even realize how bad they're getting screwed?"
Ted Cruz [09:23]: "The media is broken. They do not view their role as actually reporting on news... They are advocates of, for the left wing of the Democrat Party."
Cruz criticizes major media outlets for ignoring Democratic votes that contradict their narrative, asserting that the media serves as "advance fighting forces" for the Democratic agenda.
The conversation shifts to Michigan's controversial program offering $500 per month to homeowners who agree to house illegal immigrants. Cruz labels this initiative as a form of vote-buying and criticizes its potential impact on housing costs and community safety.
Ted Cruz [24:29]: "The state of Michigan is quite literally paying individuals... to house illegal immigrants in their house."
Ben Ferguson [25:53]: "Is this not a form of just buying votes?"
Cruz argues that such policies undermine hardworking American families and exacerbate issues like housing affordability and inflation.
Ben Ferguson brings attention to Janet Yellen's admission that President Biden lacks a concrete plan for Social Security, highlighting the administration's evasiveness on critical fiscal issues.
Ben Ferguson [19:22]: "Janet Yellen was even asked questions. And the media didn't cover this. The Biden Treasury Secretary... admitted that Biden doesn't actually have a plan for Social Security."
Cruz responds by accusing Democrats of demagoguery, suggesting that they prefer to vilify Republicans rather than address looming fiscal challenges.
Ted Cruz [20:37]: "His plan is to demagogue the heck out of it. To attack Republicans... But it doesn't matter. The Democrats... are going to scream and yell that Republicans hate old people."
A significant portion of the episode critiques the Biden administration's approach to discussing Islamic terrorism. Cruz references a memo aimed at removing "Islamic" from descriptions of terrorist groups, arguing that such language edits hinder effective counterterrorism efforts.
Ted Cruz [35:10]: "The intelligence community needs to focus on changing terminology related to counterterrorism because, 'words matter.'"
Ben Ferguson [36:37]: "Protecting innocent people? Protecting people from terrorist attacks? Or is it the PRPC wokeness that matter more to you?"
Cruz draws parallels to the Obama administration's similar actions, emphasizing the dangers of politicizing national security.
Cruz concludes by asserting that Democratic priorities are misaligned with national interests, suggesting that their policies on immigration and fiscal matters may cost them support in future elections.
Ted Cruz [40:18]: "It's not difficult to figure out where their priorities lie right now."
Ben Ferguson reiterates the show's schedule and encourages listeners to stay informed through his podcast.
Key Takeaways:
Late-Night Senate Voting: Democrats are utilizing late-night sessions to pass controversial bills with minimal public oversight.
Immigration Policies: Senate Democrats consistently oppose measures aimed at restricting illegal immigration and ensuring public safety.
Media Bias: There is a perceived lack of media coverage on significant Senate votes, attributed to media biases favoring Democratic narratives.
Michigan's Subsidy Program: State-level initiatives to financially incentivize housing illegal immigrants are criticized as vote-buying and harmful to communities.
Fiscal Accountability: The Biden administration's admission of lacking a Social Security plan raises concerns about fiscal responsibility.
National Security Linguistics: Attempts to sanitize language around Islamic terrorism are viewed as detrimental to effective counterterrorism efforts.
Electoral Implications: These Democratic actions and policies may influence voter behavior and the party's standing in upcoming elections.
This detailed discussion underscores the ongoing political tensions surrounding immigration, fiscal policy, and national security, highlighting concerns about Democratic strategies and their potential repercussions.