Does Ted Cruz hold Texas close to his heart? He talks the talk about being Texas tough, but he doesn't walk the walk by using his votes in the U.S. Senate to support Texas's interests.

As of late that has included a vote against border security, building fighter jets in Fort Worth and helping ranchers keep their herds healthy. His vote enve opposed fixing two dams that flooded Houston during Hurricane Harvey, his alleged hometown.

You see, when Cruz voted against the $1.3 trillion spending bill to fund the government last month he claimed it was a "monstrosity." But what Cruz didn't say — and got away with scot-free at the time because the bill passed — was that by voting against that bill he voted against all kinds of things Texans need and want.

It is one thing to stand on principle. It is another entirely for a first-term senator to expect a second term while hoodwinking voters back home by opposing the very items that farmers, ranchers, soldiers and scientists reasonably depend upon. John Cornyn voted for these bills. But not Ted Cruz.

Dallas-Fort Worth. Cruz's vote opposed money for the military. That included building 90 new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, 14 new V-22 Ospreys, and the Marine Corps' Bell AH-1Z Viper helicopter. He also voted against building more C-130s.

Houston. No single place would have been hit harder had Cruz's position prevailed than Houston. Cruz's vote opposed fixing Addicks and Barker reservoirs, which inundated neighboring developments during Hurricane Harvey; the new law includes $16.5 million for that as well as more money for flood and storm reduction, according to Republican Rep. John Culberson. Culberson also said the law, with $20 billion, will restore NASA in Houston to the "glory days of Apollo."

Ranchers and farmers. It's sort of hard to believe that a guy running around Texas proclaiming his adopted Texanness would do this. But he did. His vote ran counter to the interests of farmers and ranchers. Tucked in the law was about $100 million to help control fever ticks among cattle herds, according to Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar. These ticks are a pest in South Texas and kill cattle. Cruz's vote also opposed loans to rural areas helping to keep citrus groves healthy.

Border security. This year, Cruz's vote would have undercut border security, something he was OK with because the bill didn't include money for the Great Wall of Trump, though it did for fencing, drones and electronic surveillance. It also included sending 100 federal judges to the border to cut through a reported backlog of immigration cases, according to Cuellar. Last year heCruz voted against what Cornyn called the "largest increase" in border security in a decade.

Universities. Cruz's vote also opposed federal research — which, in turn, funds places such as Baylor University, Texas A&M University and the University of Texas, according to Republican Rep. Bill Flores. At A&M alone, that money is used to study oceans, manufacturing, physics and irrigation for farming.

Military, counties and more. And that's not even to mention that Cruz's vote opposed improving armored vehicles — kind of a big deal at Fort Hood, according to Republican Rep. John Carter — as well as funding to fight the opioid epidemic and money for rural and urban counties. He voted against highway construction across the state as well as a park with flood control of the San Antonio River by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, according to Republican Rep. Will Hurd.

So what is Cruz voting for? It turns out he is voting with Donald Trump 91 percent of the time, according to the political websiteFiveThirtyEight. My hunch is that Cruz doesn't like it here. He just wants you to pay him to be a senator so he can live in Washington. That is, till 2020. You know, when he might run for president again.

Richard Parker is a writer who resides in the Texas Hill Country outside Austin.

CORRECTION: 11:39 a.m., April 22, an earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the size of the spending bill at $1.3 billion. This column has been revised to reflect that Cruz's opposition to these points is based on one vote, his opposition to the omnibus spending bill.

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