Want to see what political desperation looks like? In Texas there is an election battle with Democrat Rep. Colin Allred challenging incumbent Senator Ted Cruz for his seat, and Allred has been taking some curious positions and making claims that cause one’s head to tilt. It is not unusual to see boasts and brags during an election, but Allred has been especially brazen about it.
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He recently turned heads when he put out campaign ads featuring him at the border, in front of the wall, as he declared his positions on immigration. The problem? Allred is on the record not only opposing the border wall but outright calling its existence racist. Now, today, much like the mercurial Kamala Harris, he seems adept at glomming onto the issues of others in an expedient fashion for the election season. The latest is even more audacious, and more hilariously disproven.
Congress just passed a bill to send to the White House that is an extension of the CHIPS Act, meant to provoke more domestic production of technology. The Building Chips In America Act will see to it that federal regulations and other environmental roadblocks will be addressed and bypassed smoothly to allow for the building of more production facilities and creating scores of new jobs. And Colin Allred is here to take credit.
After it cleared the House, the representative put out a press release in which he actually dubs this the “Allred Legislation.” Now, as we will show, it takes a real set of stones for him to make this claim to the bill. As he states, it moves up now for the president’s signature.
The bill now heads to President Biden’s desk. It was also led in the House by Congresswoman Jen Kiggans (R-VA-02), Congressman Scott Peters (D-CA-50), and Congressman Brandon Williams (R-NY-22). The Building Chips in America Act was led in the Senate by U.S. Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Todd Young (R-IN), Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
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That is a telling detail to derail Allred’s claim to this bill. The first thing to note is that it is not going to the Senate. This is because that would be the chamber where this bill originated, beginning last summer. It was written in July of 2023 and did not arrive in the House until that December, so we can see how calling this the “Allred Legislation” is already a stretch.
You may have picked up on the fact his opponent in the Senate race, Ted Cruz, is not among the names listed. Understandably, he may not want to promote the man he is trying to unseat, but Allred has actually come out to say that Cruz is out of line in attempting to take credit for the bill.
A win for Texas! The House passed our bill, the Building Chips in America Act, to streamline permitting and advance CHIPS Act projects. Thanks to a team from both sides of the aisle, we got this done.
Ted Cruz is trying to claim credit. Classic Ted acting like a “me guy.”
— Colin Allred (@ColinAllredTX) September 24, 2024
One interesting facet is that after this bill passed, one of the semiconductor companies directly impacted and will be able to build new working facilities, Samsung, put out a word of thanks to the politicians involved. Curiously, we do not see Colin Allred among those names. But one other name is included.
#Samsung applauds the passage of the Building Chips in America Act ensuring US innovation continues to surge! A BIG thank you to @SenMarkKelly @SenTedCruz @RepScottPeters @JenKiggans for your bi-partisan leadership on this legislation.
— SamsungDC (@SamsungDC) September 23, 2024
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While Allred played a role in getting this passed in the House, for him to say Cruz is trying to claim credit for something he had no part in is the height (the nadir?) of political desperation. Along with Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Ted Cruz was a co-writer of this bill. So much so that while this was crafted and voted upon in the Senate, it was referred to as…”The Kelly-Cruz Bill.”
There was a subcommittee hearing with Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo during which the details of this bill were being hammered out. We can see the secretary is involved in a direct conversation with Cruz and is fully endorsing the new parameters found in the Kelly-Cruz bill. (Emphasis added.) “We’ve built a team, in the Commerce Department, just to focus on permitting To help companies, help states to streamline the process, accelerate the process within the existing statutes. We do need to – which your amendment will do – streamline the process, speed the process.”
WATCH: @SecRaimondo endorses @SenTedCruz‘s amendment to NDAA to streamline permitting process for new semiconductor projects:
“we do need to — which your amendment would do — streamline the process, speed the process, make the process more efficient and user friendly…” pic.twitter.com/E5te8uIjfV
— Senate Commerce Republicans (@SenateCommerce) October 4, 2023
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That is from last October. So Ted Cruz has been actively working on this policy for over a year, including touring semiconductor plants in Texas and leading public hearings on the development of this legislation. It is audacious enough for Allred to try making this all about him, but the sheer delusion needed for him to say Ted Cruz has no business taking credit borders on the pathological.
