By admitting on CNN’s State of the Union that he helps Texans sign up for Obamacare, Sen. Ted Cruz has sabotaged the GOP effort to defund the ACA with a government shutdown.
Video via Think Progress:
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Transcript:
CANDY CROWLEY: Will you, or have you helped those people?
SEN. TED CRUZ: You know, we have not been getting significant calls in that regard. We have been getting significant calls from people saying please stop Obamacare. Please stop this train wreck.
CROWLEY: Would you help someone who called and said I wanted to sign up?
CRUZ: Look, we have a major constitutent services operation that helps anyone dealing with the government.
CROWLEY: That includes signing up for something that you don’t believe in?
CRUZ: Oh sure, sure. It’s the job of someone representing. You know, I’m honored to represent 26 million Texans, and dealing with the government is inherently frustrating, it’s inherently confusing and one of the things our office takes very seriously is trying to help Americans deal with the government.
If Obamacare is so evil, why is Sen. Cruz helping his constituents sign up for it? Cruz like all Republicans is refusing to tell people that they are now eligible to sign up for affordable health insurance, but if somebody calls his office and asks, he will be more than willing to help them out.
Cruz’s comments demonstrate that the Republican demagoguery on the law is just a load of hot air designed to turn out the Republican base. The reason why Cruz doesn’t get many calls in red state Texas from people wanting to sign up for the health insurance exchanges has nothing to do with the law itself, but is a demonstration of the effectiveness of the propaganda effort against the ACA in red states.
The number of calls he gets doesn’t matter. What matters is that Cruz is contradicting his position on the ACA.
This is the kind of thinking out loud that will get Cruz branded a heretic among the far right crowd that he is desperately courting for his potential 2016 presidential run. Cruz’s main issues have been getting rid of the IRS and Obamacare, and he just poked a big hole in his war against Obamacare image.
When pushed, Ted Cruz has to acknowledge by helping constituents who ask that the ACA is the law of the land. The Texas senator elevated himself to be being the most high profile congressional voice against Obamacare, so having him admit that his office will help constituents sign up for it is a death blow to the right wing movement to shutdown the government in order to defund the ACA.
Intentionally or not, Ted Cruz just stopped the effort to defund Obamacare by shutting down the government dead in its tracks.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
