Ted Cruz at CPAC: 'Not a Whole Lot of Angels in Washington'

Sen. Ted Cruz, who has forcefully challenged Republicans and Democrats in his first three months in the U.S. Senate, delivered the keynote address at CPAC on Saturday and said conservatives needed to more vigorously defend the constitution and champion growth and opportunity to continue the momentum the limited government movement has gained.

He showed no signs of straying from his fierce brand of conservatism that has upset the political and mainstream media establishment. In less than a month, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) called him a “wacko bird,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) snapped at Cruz that she was not a “sixth grader,” and the New York Times has labeled him a “McCarthyite.” 

Cruz said Americans should not trust Democrats or Republicans with power, and discussed how he was in debt to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) for allowing him to speak on the Senate floor during his filibuster. 

“For the last three weeks, conservatives have been winning,” Cruz said, citing in particular Paul’s filibuster, the sequester, and Cruz’s amendment to defund Obamacare, which no Republican voted against in a losing effort. 

He cited James Madison, who said if men were angels, government would not be needed. And he reiterated the importance of adhering to the Constitution, particularly its Second and Tenth Amendments.

“There’s not a whole lot of angels in Washington,” Cruz said. “A lot of democrats and republicans in Washington haven’t looked at the Constitution in a long time.”

He spoke about the need to abolish the Department of Education and champion school choice. 

Cruz said, “education is too important to let bureaucrats in Washington take away choices from parents and kids.” The Texas Senator also said it was not fair to “consign another generation to not have a fair and equal shot at American dream.”

He told the story of his father, who came from Cuba without any English skills and only $100 in his underwear, and how emotional it was when he was sworn into the Senate to have his father looking down at him from the gallery. Cruz challenged Democrats to go into minority communities and defend failed liberal policies to the communities they have devastated the most. 

He attacked the Federal Reserve as well, saying the country must put an end to “QE infinity,” in reference to the Federal Reserves’s printing of money through “quantitative easing.” Cruz also called for eliminating corporate welfare and auditing the Federal Reserve.

Cruz said the country is in a “great stagnation,” and Americans have a choice of surrendering or standing up now to right the ship. 

“Do we surrender, or do we stand up now?” Cruz asked repeatedly in his closing when discussing drones, the debt and deficit, the Constitution, and the out-of-control federal spending.