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ON THURSDAY there was a dispute between Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and the Biden administration after a misleading tweet from the official White House account attempted to diminish Cruz’s legislative effort.
The issue began with a legislative initiative promoted by Cruz to expand the Ports-To-Plains corridor, also known as the National Highway System High Priority Corridor 38, from the U.S.-Mexico border at Laredo, Texas, to the northern border with Canada.
This year, Senator Cruz put together a coalition of Republicans and Democrats to pass two major amendments to the Ports-To-Plains. The first sought the extension from the Permian Basin to the Atlantic Ocean. That amendment, with the support of Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock, became law unanimously and will serve to transport oil, gas and crops from West Texas to the eastern Atlantic.
The second, known as the I-27 provision or Cruz-Lujan amendment, sought a future addition to the interstate highway system and also passed the Senate with bipartisan support.
The passage of both amendments was celebrated by Cruz as a bipartisan victory that would have a positive impact on 26 Texas counties and improve the roads that farmers and ranchers in the southern state need to get their products to market.
The Ports to Plains highway will run from Laredo all the way up to North Dakota and into Canada.
This project will bring jobs to Texas and millions of dollars to the state.
A great bipartisan victory! pic.twitter.com/GTgmn0Iliy
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) September 12, 2022
However, the second amendment was included in a $1.5 trillion Democratic spending package that sought, among other things, to fund Biden Administration policies, so Senator Cruz voted against it.
In a political use of official White House networks, Biden Administration administrators responded to Cruz’s tweet by saying, “Senator Cruz voted against this.”
Senator Cruz voted against this. https://t.co/mht1OgtvwL
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 21, 2022
Cruz was forced to respond against the White House’s misleading claim and explain the motivation for his “no” vote.
“The I-27 provision was literally called Cruz-Lujan. I wrote the damn thing & built the support to pass it. What I voted against was a much larger package that it was rolled into of unrelated & irresponsible Democrat spending that’s fueling skyrocketing inflation.”
“against this”
The I-27 provision was literally called Cruz-Lujan. I wrote the damn thing & built the support to pass it.
What I voted against was a much larger package that it was rolled into of unrelated & irresponsible Democrat spending that’s fueling skyrocketing inflation. https://t.co/H8Zlrmm9NT
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 22, 2022
From his official senatorial account, Cruz explained in greater detail the reason for his vote, indicating that the bill in which his initiative was included “opened up the spigot” for more government spending and that it inevitably fueled inflation, financed vaccination mandates and allocated billions of dollars “corruptly”.
Among the spending that the billion-dollar infrastructure bill included, as noted by Cruz, were hundreds of thousands of dollars for “artist lofts” in California, multiple millions of dollars for a bike path in Rhode Island, and more than half a million dollars for a baseball field in Massachusetts.
Some of those earmarks include:
– $1.6M for “Equitable Growth of Shellfish Aquaculture Industry” in Rhode Island
– $800K for “artist lofts” in California
– $3.2M for a local bike path in Rhode Island
– $500K for a ski jump in New Hampshire 2/x🧵
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) September 22, 2022
Not only is the Biden administration using its power to intimidate half of Americans, calling them extremists or fascists, and potentially employing law enforcement to persecute its adversary, but it is also using official White House networks to exacerbate political conflicts.
Tomás Lugo, journalist and writer. Born in Venezuela and graduated in Social Communication. Has written for international media outlets. Currently living in Colombia // Tomás Lugo, periodista y articulista. Nacido en Venezuela y graduado en Comunicación Social. Ha escrito para medios internacionales. Actualmente reside en Colombia.