The Des Moines Register - In Northwest Iowa, Cruz Calls Court Rulings 'Lawless'

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By Matthew Patane

Two Supreme Court decisions in as many days have made 2016 an even more bitter fight for conservatives, Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz said Friday.

Making three stops in northwest Iowa, Cruz railed against the court's justices for what he called "naked and unadulterated judicial activism" in a 5-4 ruling Friday that said same-sex marriages can take place in all 50 states.

"Religious liberty has never been so threatened as it is today," Cruz said in Sheldon. "I'll tell you, today's lawless decision from the Supreme Court puts religious liberty front and center in the target of the federal government."

The U.S. senator from Texas also criticized some of his colleagues for their responses to the same-sex marriage decision, saying they issued "condemning statements, but were quietly thrilled, relieved, celebrating and popping champagne because they're afraid to defend marriage."

"They don't want to have to talk about it anymore. Several 2016 candidates today put out statements saying 'The matter is decided, it's the law of the land, it's time to move on,' " Cruz told a crowd in Pierson. "We are in a very strange place when Republican presidential candidates are echoing Barack Obama's talking points."

U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, also condemned the Supreme Court's ruling.

"Not one civilization in history has endorsed same-sex marriage, and they believe somehow the ratifiers of the 14th Amendment or the Constitution wrote it in in 1868," King told reporters. "I guarantee you, they weren't writing same-sex marriage into the Constitution in 1868."

He said Congress could enact retribution on the court, such as cutting its administrative budget.

"We can eliminate some of their staff to let them know that they have overreached and they don't need all of that help to do the damage they have done to the Constitution," said King, who attended the same event in Pierson as Cruz.

The Supreme Court also overstepped its bounds, Cruz said, by upholding a key provision of the federal health care law, more commonly known as Obamacare.

"Well, I'll tell you one consequence of yesterday's decision: It has made the 2016 election a referendum on repealing Obamacare," said Cruz, who has campaigned around the full repeal of the health care law.

Bill Tentinger, an independent pork producer from Le Mars, spoke with Cruz briefly during the candidate's Pierson stop.

Tentinger said Cruz appeard "down-to-earth," but it's too early for him to back a candidate.

"I'd be looking for a candidate that'd be interested in understanding the ramifications of increased regulations. … I think we've got way too much of this stuff that is happening, regulations that are coming, without any forethought of what it's going to do to the economy," Tentinger said.

Following his speech in Sheldon, Cruz made retail politics-style stops in Orange City, interacting with Iowans while visiting three area businesses and a cultural center.

Delores DeJohn, 75, was one of the first to speak to Cruz as he entered a Dutch bakery off the city's main strip. DeJohn said she liked Cruz because "we need to have someone with strong values."

"I believe God is in control of it all, and we need god-fearing men in (the White House), otherwise this country will keep going down the other way," said DeJohn, who is retired.

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