Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Kudos To Cruz


Gary L. Bauer
American Values


Yesterday afternoon Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) took to the Senate floor vowing to "speak in opposition to Obamacare … until I am no longer able to stand." Still able to stand, his time ran out at noon today. Cruz waged the fourth-longest filibuster in Senate history, calling attention to the failures of Obamacare for more than 21 hours.

I applaud Senator Cruz and those who stood with him in this fight. As Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) said this morning, "I don't see the down side to spending the time educating the American people about how dangerous this is." I agree completely. The headlines continue to be filled with bad news for the American people about Obamacare. For example:

  • USA Today recently reported on an Obamacare "glitch" that punishes families and will likely cause hundreds of thousands of children to lose the health insurance they currently have.

  • The "Affordable Care Act" is not so affordable for many Americans. Fox News reports that one Kentucky family recently learned that their health insurance premiums will "almost triple in 2014 -- from $333 a month to $965." The letter from their insurance company announcing the dramatic increase bluntly stated: "Increases aren't based on your individual claims or changes in health status. … Many other factors go in to your premium including: ACA compliance…" In other words, Obamacare is raising their costs.

  • It's not just Kentucky. One report found costs in neighboring Tennessee increasing 97% for single women and 190% for single men.

  • Even the New York Times now admits that Obamacare will limit patient choices.

  • Investor's Business Daily reports that more than 300 employers, including private businesses and public institutions, have cut workers' hours and/or eliminated jobs entirely in response to Obamacare's mandates.

Obamacare has been one broken promise after another. It is not affordable, either for individuals or the country. It is hurting the economy. It is causing some Americans to lose their current health insurance and even their jobs.

Of course the liberal media have mocked Senator Cruz for waging this fight. The media mocked Ronald Reagan too. But the American people listened to Reagan and I hope millions of Americans were listening to Senator Cruz, intrigued by his willingness to fight the good fight.