“So far presidential candidate Ted Cruz’s announcement that his family will sign up for Obamacare has been treated with humor and, on a small degree, embarrassment. He recently told CNN’s Dana Bash that “We’ll be getting new health insurance and we’ll presumably do it through my job with the Senate, and so we’ll be on the federal exchange with millions of others on the federal exchange.”
“He went on to frame this situation as something of a badge of honor, while being critical of the President’s approach, saying, “I strongly oppose the exemption that President Obama illegally put in place for members of Congress because (Senate Minority Leader) Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats didn’t want to be under the same rules as the American people…I believe we should follow the text of the law.”
“The media has loved this announcement and was found on radio news breaks, news site headlines, and even on late-night comedy. When it comes to politics, hypocrisy is business as usual. Ted Cruz, who is certainly one of the smartest people in government (even his detractors acknowledge this), was perceptive enough to see the incongruence of this action by stating he is being a law-abiding citizen and is not above the law (like federally elected officials appear to be). Senator Cruz acts as though he had only two choices – Obamacare, or the privileged care of elected politicians. There were, certainly, at least two other options.
“Cruz’s decision to go on Obamacare was prompted by his wife losing her coverage due to taking a leave from her company to be involved in the presidential campaign. She was a managing director at Goldman Sachs and she could have easily gotten her family on COBRA, like millions of other Americans have done. That would have provided 18 months of coverage (ending right around election day in 2016 if his campaign made it that far). After that, he could look at another option, and those certainly exist.
But, Senator Cruz’s strange actions don’t seem to stop there. Speaking exclusively for Newslo, he said that “this is only the first in a series of actions that will prove to the American people why they should vote for me in 2016.”
“I had a Canadian citizenship, but I renounced it because this is the country I love. Now, I have taken actions and put my entire family in a situation no different than the one in which millions of Americans find themselves every single day. But, I love this country too much to stop there. I am running for President, but should I win, I must point out that I would not feel worthy of the position unless I speak my mind on a burning question in American politics at the moment,” Cruz said.
He added: “The question of immigration has long troubled me, and although I can understand President Obama’s concern for those poor souls up to a point, I feel I must protect my fellow Americans any way I can. Therefore, if I am President, things will definitely change in the matter of immigration laws. What’s more, that will be one of the first things I tackle upon taking office. That is my promise.”
