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Ted Cruz to Renounce Canadian Citizenship: ‘Nothing Against Canada, but I’m an American’

Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

By Jason Howerton.

Less than 24 hours after the Dallas Morning News reported that he likely maintains dual citizenship to the U.S. and Canada, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) announced Monday evening that he will renounce his Canadian citizenship.

“Now the Dallas Morning News says that I may technically have dual citizenship. Assuming that is true, then sure, I will renounce any Canadian citizenship. Nothing against Canada, but I’m an American by birth and as a U.S. senator; I believe I should be only an American,” Cruz said in a statement.

Several legal experts apparently determined that Cruz remains a Canadian citizen because his mother gave birth to him in the country and he never renounced it…

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: Dallas News

Photo Credit: Dallas News

Dual citizenship may pose problem if Ted Cruz seeks presidency

By Todd Gillman.

Born in Canada to an American mother, Ted Cruz became an instant U.S. citizen. But under Canadian law, he also became a citizen of that country the moment he was born.

Unless the Texas Republican senator formally renounces that citizenship, he will remain a citizen of both countries, legal experts say.

That means he could assert the right to vote in Canada or even run for Parliament. On a lunch break from the U.S. Senate, he could head to the nearby embassy — the one flying a bright red maple leaf flag — pull out his Calgary, Alberta, birth certificate and obtain a passport.

“He’s a Canadian,” said Toronto lawyer Stephen Green, past chairman of the Canadian Bar Association’s Citizenship and Immigration Section.

The circumstances of Cruz’s birth have fueled a simmering debate over his eligibility to run for president. Knowingly or not, dual citizenship is an apparent if inconvenient truth for the tea party firebrand, who shows every sign he’s angling for the White House.

Read more from this story HERE.

Iowa Evangelical Leader: Ted Cruz Is ‘A Liberal’s Worst Nightmare’

In an interview you will only see on The Brody File, influential Iowa evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats, head of The Family Leader organization says that Sen. Ted Cruz, “is a liberal’s worst nightmare.”

He goes on to say that Cruz has unlimited potential to energize the GOP base.

“I haven’t seen anything like it for a long time, probably ever,” Vander Plaats tells The Brody File.

Read more from this story HERE.

Chris Matthews Repeatedly Calls Senator Ted Cruz a Terrorist (+video)

During his Wednesday broadcast, MSNBC host Chris Matthews reiterated his insistence that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) both looks and acts like former U.S. Sen. Joe McCarthy (R-WI). He added, however, that it was his opinion that Cruz is also a “terrorist.” When a guest argued that Matthews’ assertion was irresponsible, the MSNBC host clarified that Cruz was a “political terrorist” and defended that claim.

“I compared him to McCarthy,” Matthews said of Cruz. “I shouldn’t get into what people look like, but he does — he reminds me so much, when I look at him interrogating a witness on the Hill, he looks like Joe McCarthy.”

“I will say he’s a terrorist,” Matthews added. “What he’s done is say, ‘my goal is demolition.’ Blow up health care. Blow up the continuing resolution. Bring the government to a standstill.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Cruz ‘Perplexed’ by GOP Attacks on Him, Won’t Back Down in ‘Defund Obamacare’ Fight

Photo Credit: Daily Caller Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is “perplexed” by GOP attacks on his effort to defund Obamacare and has no intention of backing down, despite complaints from other Senate Republicans that his crusade is not realistic and could potentially damage the party’s chances in the 2014 midterm elections.

“There may be people who lob attacks at him, but he’s not going to return those attacks,” Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier told The Daily Caller, taking a firm stand in a battle that could determine the GOP’s strategic playbook heading into the 2014 midterms.

Cruz and fellow junior Republican senators Mike Lee and Marco Rubio are involved in a “coordinated effort,” according to Frazier, to urge Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to block all continuing-resolution budget bills until Obamacare is defunded, either through budgetary means or by passing the Defund Obamacare Act, which has already failed three times in Congress.

Republican Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and Richard Burr of North Carolina strongly criticized the effort of Cruz and his two fellow junior senators, while Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn suggested that the plan’s political backlash could jeopardize Republican efforts to hold a majority in the House of Representatives next year.

Read more from this story HERE.

Ted Cruz: D.C. Republicans ‘Scared’

Photo Credit: APSen. Ted Cruz believes Republicans can defund “Obamacare” if they stand together, but he said “scared” Republicans are standing in the way.

“What I can tell you is there are a lot of Republicans in Washington who are scared. They’re scared of being beaten up politically,” Cruz (R-Texas) told Glenn Beck on TheBlaze radio show Monday.

Cruz said there are too many members of the GOP that want to vote against Obamacare symbolically, but don’t actually want to follow throw.

“I’ve been astonished by how many Republicans in Washington want a fig leaf … but they don’t actually want to succeed,” Cruz told Beck.

As long as Republicans don’t cave, Cruz said, they can win the fight, a theme he reiterated in other media appearances Monday.

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: Ted Cruz Warns that Charging Pastors with Hate Speech Is Next Step

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore By David Brody. Sen. Ted Cruz tells The Brody File that America is going down a dangerous road regarding what is considered “hate speech,” saying the next step could very well be charging pastors with a crime for speaking in support of traditional marriage from the pulpit.

We’ve provided a partial transcription. You’ll need to watch the entire video clip to get his full comments.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: WNDU.S. City look to penalize Bible believers

By Bob Unruh. Think it’s hot in Texas these days? Just wait a few weeks, until the San Antonio City Council ends its summer hiatus and resumes work on a proposed change to its nondiscrimination ordinances that apparently will discriminate against all who take the Bible at its word and follow it.

That’s because the change creates a penalty for those who ever exhibit a “bias,” which clearly could include adopting the Bible’s condemnation of homosexuality, with a permanent ban on participation in city government, business or employment.

Opponents of the plan, which would add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the nondiscrimination ordinances, charge it is a violation of constitutional Article VI, paragraph 3, which states, “[N]o religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”

The opponents explain that the ordinance would bar anyone from office who has “demonstrated a bias” against someone based on categories that include “sexual orientation.”

The proposal, however, does not define “bias,” which, according to local church leaders, could mean someone who declares homosexual behavior is sinful. Read more from this story HERE.

Sen. Cruz Downplays Talk of 2016 POTUS Run, Leaves Eligibility Question to Others

Photo Credit: Gage SkidmoreTexas Sen. Ted Cruz, a rising GOP star, downplayed speculation over a possible 2016 presidential bid, saying he was focused on his job in the Senate.

“We are having a national debate about which direction the country should go…and what I am doing now is trying to participate in that national debate,” Cruz told ABC News in an interview aired Sunday. “I’m not focused on the politics…the last office I was elected to was student council. So this has been a bit of a whirlwind”…

Cruz, though, was born in Canada, leading many to question his constitutional eligibility for the Oval Office…

“I can tell you where I was born and who my parents were. And then as a legal matter, others can worry about that. I’m not going to engage,” he added.

Read more from this story HERE.

Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Praying for Spiritual Revival In America

Photo Credit: CBNBy David Brody. It was a sight to behold inside a conference ballroom at the downtown Marriott hotel in Des Moines, Iowa, as hundreds of Iowa pastors called out to God and prayed over two U.S. senators, both of whom seem interested in running for president of the United States.

Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Rand Paul came to Iowa Friday to speak at this Pastors and Pews event, organized by influential evangelical political operative David Lane. The Brody File got an up close look and access to the private event. We will be posting compelling video early next week. For now, we are releasing a few pictures from the event.

Ted Cruz, who received a warm greeting, spoke for about 30 minutes and then took questions from the audience. He outlined how he championed religious freedom cases ranging from the Ten Commandments to the Mojave Cross case. He touched on how to go about eliminating Obamacare; he called for abolishing the IRS (which received a standing ovation), and on the issue of marriage he said, “There’s no issue where we need to be more on our knees…we are facing an assault on marriage.”

On spiritual matters, he told the pastors that, “We are in a battle to turn this country around.” Later, in a one-on-one sit-down interview with The Brody File, he said this country is badly in need of spiritual revival (More on those comments coming Monday). He charged the pastors to step up and speak boldly about the issues facing our country today. He compared all of them to Esther, saying the biblical woman was put in a position of leadership, “for such a time as this.” Read more from this story HERE.

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Sen. Cruz and Paul Urge Conservative Christians to Get Involved

By Greg Richter. Two Republican senators who are widely considered to be viable contenders for a 2016 presidential run, were in Des Moines, Iowa, on Friday urging conservative Christians to get involved politically.

Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., spoke to a group of at least 400 evangelical pastors and their wives at the Iowa Renewal Project, with Cruz telling them “to hold party leaders accountable,” The Washington Post reports.

“Jesus reminds us what our goal should be when he proclaims: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God,'” Paul said. “This does not mean we never go to war. But it means we should do so reluctantly, and seek an end expeditiously.” Read more from this story HERE.

Sen. Ted Cruz: Obama has a “Consistent Disregard for the Bill of Rights”

Photo Credit: CNNPresident Barack Obama’s suggestion that state “Stand your Ground” laws should be examined after the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin could amount to an assault on the right of Americans to own guns, Sen. Ted Cruz said in Iowa Friday.

Speaking after addressing a Republican group, Cruz told reporters he hadn’t yet watched Obama’s remarks. But when asked to respond to Obama’s call for a review of laws in individual states, Cruz responded by saying the president was trampling on constitutionally guaranteed rights.

“It is not surprising that the president uses, it seems, every opportunity that he can to go after our Second Amendment right to bear arms,” the Texas Republican said. “This president and this administration has a consistent disregard for the Bill of Rights.”

For example, Cruz said the Obama administration was violating free speech guarantees by “restricting the rights of our servicemen and women to share their faith and not be gagged,” and that the use of drones raised other constitutional questions.

Obama on Friday made his first public comments about the acquittal of George Zimmerman last week in Martin’s shooting death in 2012.

Read more from this story HERE.

Rand Paul, Ted Cruz Set Off GOP Scramble on Military Sex Assault

Photo Credit: APSenate Republicans scrambled for cover Tuesday after Sens. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz partnered with a budding bipartisan coalition pushing the Pentagon to overhaul how it handles military sexual assault cases.

GOP lawmakers said they planned to quickly schedule a closed-door conference meeting to hear out the two tea party firebrands on their decision to cosponsor legislation removing the chain of command from military prosecutions, a measure the Pentagon opposes.

Republican leaders also will give Sen. Kelly Ayotte the floor at the meeting to explain an alternative approach adopted last month by the Armed Services Committee. The alternative also aims to reduce the number of unreported sexual assault cases – estimated around 23,000 last year – without stripping commanders of their authority to convene a court martial.

Several Republican lawmakers, including the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee Sen. Jim Inhofe and the panel’s former chairman, Sen. John McCain, are supporting the bill that passed out of committee…

Paul and Cruz are no strangers in pushing their Republican colleagues into uncomfortable terrain. Just look at what the Kentucky freshman did in March in staging a 13-hour filibuster over drone strikes on U.S. soil.

Read more from this story HERE.