In another notable moment from Thursday’s Fox News Channel GOP debate where a candidate invoked the liberal media and their failed agenda, Senator Ted Cruz (Tex.) railed against the failed liberal policies that have led to the decline of Detroit that’s been allowed to drag on for well over half a century.
After highlighting what’s gone wrong in the Motor City, Cruz spoke directly to the media when he gold them “that is a story that the telling over and over again, the destruction of left-wing policies and the millions who have hurt because of it.”
Cruz led up to this demand by first summarizing what Detroit was like when it prospered during the height of the 20th century:
You know, Henry Ford revolutionized automobile manufacturing and brought automobiles to the middle class. During World War II, Detroit provided, funded the arsenals of democracy to help us win World War II. In the 1960s, Detroit was the Silicon Valley of America. It had a population of 2 million people, had the highest per capita income in the country[.]
Since then, however, the unanimous rule of liberals in the city has coincided with their downward spiral and changes to the American and global economies that it’s been unable to adapt to:
[F]or 50 years, left-wing Democrats have pursued destructive tax policies, weak crime policies, and have driven the citizens out. This city now has just 700,000 citizens. There are vacant homes, one after the other after the other. Crime has been rampant and it is an outrage[.]
The relevant portion of the transcript from FNC’s Republican Presidential Primary Debate on March 3 can be found below.
FNC’s Republican Presidential Primary Debate
March 3, 2016
10:26 p.m. EasternCHRIS WALLACE: For half a century, as you all know, Detroit was the symbol of America's industrial might. 300,000 manufacturing jobs in this city. At last count, there are now fewer than 30,000 manufacturing jobs here and the unemployment rate in this city is 11 percent, twice the national average. Senator Cruz, I know that you have general plans for tax reform, but what specifically would you do to bring manufacturing jobs back to America and train residents of cities like Detroit do those jobs?
REPUBLICAN SENATOR TED CRUZ (Tex.): Well, Chris, thank you for that question. Let me start by observing that Detroit is a great city with a magnificent legacy that has been utterly decimated 60 years of failed left-wing policies. You know, Henry Ford revolutionized automobile manufacturing and brought automobiles to the middle class. During World War II, Detroit provided, funded the arsenals of democracy to help us win World War II. In the 1960s, Detroit was the Silicon Valley of America. It had a population of 2 million people, had the highest per capita income in the country and then for 50 years, left-wing Democrats have pursued destructive tax policies, weak crime policies, and have driven the citizens out. This city now has just 700,000 citizens. There are vacant homes, one after the other after the other. Crime has been rampant and it is an outrage and let me say to folks in the media, that is a story that the telling over and over again, the destruction of left-wing policies and the millions who have hurt because of it.
