Ted Cruz Writes Thank You Letter To President Obama

Ted Cruz and Barack Obama are ideological foes, but the Republican US Senator from Texas took the time to send the Democrat president a thank you note.

This development was occasioned by Cruz-sponsored legislation barring Iranian hostage-taker Hamid Aboutalebi from entering the United States on a diplomatic visa. Congress quickly passed the bill without any no votes, which is quite an accomplishment given the polarization and gridlock on Capitol Hill, and the president signed it into law. Iran has lodged a complaint with the United Nations over the matter.

In his open letter, Sen. Cruz explained in part,

Thanks to President Obama for joining a unanimous Congress and signing S 2195 into law. This bill gives the president the authority to deny visas to United Nations ambassadors who are known terrorists, such as Iran’s recent nominee Hamid Aboutalebi, who was a participant in the 1979 hostage crisis. The government of the United States has thereby sent an unequivocal, bipartisan message that we will not tolerate the ongoing campaign of insult and antagonism from the Islamic Republic of Iran. Nominating Aboutalebi to be U.N. envoy is only the most recent in a long series of hostile actions proving that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime remains America’s enemy… This combination of unequivocal support from both Congress and the president sends Iran — and other rogue nations — the clear signal that the United Nations is not a back door through which they can attack the United States of America.”

Considering that the Obama administration has compiled a record of either ignoring certain laws or selectively enforcing them, the matter might not be entirely settled, however. As he signed the bill, Obama issued as a statement that he views S. 2195 as “advisory” and may not follow through on it. As a US Senator and presidential candidate, Obama criticized George W. Bush for these kind of signing statements that would appear to ignore the will of Congress.

You may recall that when Ted Cruz tried to delay or defund Obamacare, he was treated as public enemy No. 1 by the big media and Democrats and even some Republicans because Obamacare was the law of the land so-called. Yet the American people have probably lost track of all of the waivers, exemptions, delays and postponements that — for example — the Obama administration itself has imposed on the implementation of the healthcare law without Congressional approval.

Many legal scholars have declared this kind of practice — i.e., using executive orders and other measures to make an end run around Congress — unconstitutional. The administration also has scaled back enforcement of immigration law without Congressional approval as well as engaging in warrantless surveillance of Americans.

Separately, a new bipartisan telephone poll from Fox News of about 1,000 registered voters indicated that 37 percent of Americans believe the president lies to the country on important matters most of the time; 24 percent said some of the time. The Obama disapproval rating in the poll stands at 51 percent according to the survey.