What would a Cruz Administration look like? Here are some educated guesses:
- Fiorina would be his VP. She is a logical choice because: she is an experienced campaigner and debater; she is an outsider; she has no obvious policy disagreements with Cruz; she would bring some balance to the ticket; and she needs a job.
- As everyone knows, the GOP Congressional leadership despises Cruz, so there would be some issues in the beginning. However, having accomplished his goal of climbing over his elders to become President, Cruz would have every reason to try to accommodate the leadership, and the leadership, for its part, would be let loose in an ideological candy store. In other words, the incentives for the GOP leaders to work together would outweigh any lingering personal issues.
- Congress would pass, and Cruz would sign, a big tax cut bill, but it is unlikely to include the Cruz VAT proposal, which the leadership would view as being too politically risky. The final version of the bill would look more like the proposals offered by Rubio, Trump, and Bush.
- Cruz would roll back all of Obama’s regulations in his first few days in office.
- Anti-abortion legislation would be passed in his first 100 days.
- There would be large increases in the budget for border enforcement and for defense. The practical implications of these increases in the real world would be close to zero.
- The tone of American diplomacy would change dramatically. Relations with our allies, other than Israel, will deteriorate quickly. However, President Cruz will be, if anything, even less willing to commit American troops to foreign adventures than President Obama.
- Cruz doesn’t appear to be emotionally wedded to entitlement cuts. For political reasons, they would be put on the back burner.
- Obamacare will be repealed in its entirety and replaced with. . .nothing. The Kentucky gubernatorial race is proof to the GOP that they can take away the health insurance of millions of people without paying a political price for it.
- The deficit will explode as a result of the tax cuts. Spending on discretionary items will be cut to practically nothing.
Am I right? Let’s hope we never find out.