Ted Cruz in Politico.com

On Civil Rights: Liberals obsessed with mandatory gay marriage in 50 states

Cruz vigorously defended his appearance at the fundraiser, stressing that it was primarily a pro-Israel fundraiser. "Unfortunately, our good friends in the press caricature support for traditional marriage in terms of animus," he said. "The only explanation that makes sense to reporters is that anyone who supports traditional marriage must be somehow motivated by hatred for those who are homosexuals. It's why this story seems so puzzling to the media."

Cruz said he is concerned that women like the owner of an Indiana pizzeria will suffer because they oppose gay marriage. "Scripture commands us to love everyone, & that ought to be a standard that applies across the board," he said. Cruz said liberals are obsessed with "mandatory gay marriage in all 50 states."

On Homeland Security: Torture is wrong, unambiguously; America does not need it

Last year Congress enshrined a torture ban into federal law: In June, the Senate voted 78-21 to approve the McCain-Feinstein amendment. Cruz backed the amendment.

The McCain-Feinstein amendment requires that all interrogation comply with the Army Field Manual, a publicly available document that forbids waterboarding as well as the use of electric shocks, dogs, nudity, hypothermia and mock executions. All were elements of the CIA's interrogation program in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

On Principles & Values: Oppose Surrender Politics: instead, stand for our principles

The core of this capitulation comes from Republican leadership's promise that "There will be no government shutdown." On its face, the promise sounds reasonable. Except in practice it means that Republicans never stand for anything. If Republican majorities in Congress will acquiesce to the identical Big Government priorities that Obama supports, then what difference does it make who is in charge of Congress?

When Reagan was president, there were eight partial shutdowns. The world didn't end. But that's what happens sometimes when a leader fights for his principles. The alternative is to surrender on everything. We can do better.

On Principles & Values: January 6 terrorists were only those who attacked police

[On Jan. 6, 2022] Ted Cruz walked back his use of the word "terrorist" when describing Jan. 6. "What I was referring to are the limited number of people who engaged in violent attacks against police officers. I think you and I both agree that if you assault a police officer, you should go to jail," Cruz said. "I wasn't saying the thousands of peaceful protesters supporting Donald Trump are somehow terrorists. I wasn't saying the millions of patriots across the country supporting Trump are terrorists."

On Technology: Net neutrality is ObamaCare for the Internet

Companies like Facebook, Google, Yahoo and Yelp--through their Washington trade group, the Internet Association--are public backers of net neutrality. They together have praised Obama for endorsing an approach that might subject the Internet to utility-like regulation. All three Republicans, however, rejected the president's suggestion. Rubio hammered it as "government regulation of the Internet" that "threatens to restrict Internet growth and increase costs on Internet users." And Cruz lambasted net neutrality as "ObamaCare for the Internet" in a tweet that went viral--and drew plenty of criticism.