Indri Schaelicke | United States

Perhaps the tightest race of the 2018 midterms, Ted Cruz vs Beto O’Rourke has caught the attention of pundits and ordinary pundits across the US alike. Recent polls show conflicting conclusions, with some putting Cruz ahead by wide margins, and others portraying the race as close. At this point, it is impossible to accurately predict the outcome of this election. Considering how uncertain the result of Texas’s Senate election is at this point, it is important that libertarians rally their support behind the incumbent, Republican Junior Senator Cruz to ensure that up-and-coming Democrat Beto does not achieve election to US Senate. If he is elected, liberty will be much more at risk than it is now.

At first glance, neither Cruz or Beto appears to be an attractive option for libertarians. Both support big government in some form or other, whether it be Cruz’s support of police, the chief enforcers of tyrannical policy, or Beto’s calls for universal healthcare. Both candidates have shown that they each have a “big government” bone, but who’s is bigger? When it comes down to it. Ted Cruz is much more likely to push for reductions in the size of government than his opponent Beto O’Rourke.

Libertarians will find it easy to align with Cruz’s gun policy; he adamantly supports the 2nd Amendment and owns guns himself. Cruz has received an A+ rating from the NRA for his unwavering defense of the people’s right to own firearms. In the past, he has opposed legislation that would criminalize the private transfer of firearms between friends and family members. He is also a supporter of Concealed Carry Reciprocity, which would allow those with concealed carry permits to carry across state lines. Conversely, Beto has made a name for himself among Democrats for his aggressive attacks on gun rights. Beto’s positions could not be any farther from Cruz’s; he is against Concealed Carry Reciprocity, calls firearms “weapons of war”, and supports Chuck Schumer style “universal background checks”. Cruz is the more likely of the two to defend gun rights from his position on the hill. Those who find that their position on gun ownership aligns with Ted Cruz should back him in the 2018 Senate Election.

When it comes to the economy, Cruz appears to have a much greater understanding of its true nature. He supports massive deregulation and privatization, as well as decreasing the federal income tax, recognizing that doing so increases the wealth left in private citizens’ and business’ hands, which is used to bring prosperity to many. Cruz is also a fiscal conservative, believing that the current US Debt is unsustainable and dangerous. A core tenet of libertarian philosophy is that the people can best make decisions concerning their lives, not the government, and Cruz’s view on the economy furthers this belief. In stark contrast to Cruz’s wealth of economic understanding, Beto appears to have very little; his official platform on the economy listed on his website consists of 4 wishy-washy, befuddling statements that layout few clear economic policy proposals. What can be understood, however, is that Beto does not understand basic economics. He pushes for more regulations in the belief that they will promote competition, when in fact, regulations actually impede the growth of the economy by increasing production costs for businesses. Beto also calls for lowering the barrier of entry for small businesses, while simultaneously pushing for increased regulation and taxation, which would make operating a business much more costly. Cruz is clearly the candidate seeking to create a truly free market, and libertarians can count on him to continue to further this goal.

“Universal Healthcare”, a proposal viewed as radical, even for Democrats, just 15 years ago has become a firmly rooted staple of the Democratic Party. As such, Beto O’Rourke is a firm believer in a system where government shoulders the burden of the healthcare market they helped to destroy. Beto calls health care a “basic human right“, a term sure to rub most libertarians the wrong way. Libertarians recognize that when a good or service is declared a right of the people, it must be procured to them at all costs, or else the government is infringing upon their rights. This ultimately is a form of conscription for those who are forced to provide the good or service at the threat of violence. Cruz abhors Universal Healthcare systems as much as libertarians, participating in a debate with quasi-socialist Bernie Sanders on CNN and being a leading figure in the campaign to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Ted Cruz’s very first piece of legislation he introduced as a Senator was to repeal Obamacare, and has introduced countless bills since, which attempt to free the healthcare market from disastrous government intervention.

Senator Cruz can be a valuable ally for libertarians in their fight to free the economy of the weight of government intervention dragging it down, and a vital supporter of 2nd Amendment rights at a time when they are under direct fire. Libertarians must vote for Ted Cruz in the 2018 Texas Senate election to ensure that at the very least, liberty does not elude them further.

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