While lying about the ACA on Face The Nation today, Sen. Ted Cruz had the nerve to demand an apology from President Obama for things that have never happened.
Video:
Transcript via Face The Nation:
BOB SCHIEFFER: Well, of course what he would say is that he is creating more jobs, that unemployment is going down and on and on. But we’ll leave that for the Democrats to talk about. Lemme ask you this. You became a celebrity when you led the drive to shut down the government over Obamacare. But afterwards, your fellow Republicans said you’d led them over a cliff. Can you conceive of any situation in which you would do that again, try to shut down the government in exchange or in demand for some action by the president?
SEN. TED CRUZ: Well, Bob, with all due respect, I don’t agree with the premise of your question. Throughout the government shutdown, I opposed a government shutdown. I said we shouldn’t shut down the government. I think it was a mistake that President Obama and the Democrats shut the government down this fall.
The reason they did so is that President Obama dug in and said he wouldn’t compromise and he wouldn’t negotiate. In fact, I went to one of the most surreal meetings I’ve ever been at, where President Obama invited all the senate Republicans to go up to the White House. He sat us in a room. This is in the middle of the shutdown.
And he said, “I invited you here to tell you I will not negotiate. I will not compromise on anything.” That’s why we had a shutdown. That was a mistake. But, you know, in terms of whether we should’ve stood and fought on Obamacare, I think the proof is in the pudding. Millions of people across the country have seen now why we were standing and fighting, because Obamacare’s a disaster.
And, you know, for the State of the Union, one of the things President Obama really oughta do is look in the TV camera and say to the over five million Americans all across this country who’ve had their health insurance canceled because of Obamacare, to look in the camera and say, “I’m sorry. I told you if you like your health insurance plan, you can keep it.
“I told you if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. And that wasn’t true. I’m sorry.” But then, Bob, here’s the real kicker. If you’re really sorry, you don’t just say you’re sorry. You actually do something to fix the problem. The pattern we’ve seen over and over again with this president is he says–
BOB SCHIEFFER: All–
SEN. TED CRUZ: –he’s sorry and he expresses outrage but then he doesn’t fix the problem. He keeps doing it over and over again.
As usual, everything Sen. Cruz said about the ACA was a total lie. The biggest lie that Cruz is clinging to is that 5 million people have lost their insurance. A report from the Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee found that of the millions who received cancelation notices, the actual number of people who lost their insurance is 10,000. Of the 99.8% who received a cancelation notice, millions renewed their existing policy and an additional 1.4 million are eligible for federal subsidies through the exchange.
As far as the problem not being fixed is concerned, in the middle of November 2013, President Obama allowed people to keep their insurance plans that had been canceled because they did not meet the original ACA requirements. The ACA is turning out to be the exact opposite of the disaster that Sen. Cruz is describing. Three million people have signed up for coverage, and another 6.3 million are eligible for the Medicaid expansion.
What is the President supposed to be apologizing for? The truth did creep in to the conversation as Cruz slightly changed one of his talking points. Instead of the president lied about being able to keep your plan, he’s now saying that the president lied about being able to keep your doctor. However, not being able to keep your doctor isn’t something that’s exclusive to the ACA. Insurance plans, and the doctors who accept them, change on a regular basis. It is not unusual to have to go see a different doctor at some point because they either stop taking your insurance, or they leave an insurance company’s provider network. It happens every year.
Ted Cruz is lying about the ACA, and demanding that President Obama apologize for things that have not happened. Cruz has invented his own Obamacare reality. He is still trotting out the same lies that he touting during the government shutdown. Sen. Cruz has managed to rewrite history to absolve from any blame from the government shutdown that he caused, and he expects President Obama to apologize for Cruz’s imaginary Obamacare disaster.
Sen. Cruz is one who owes America an apology for orchestrating a government shutdown that cost taxpayers $24 billion. President Obama has nothing to apologize for. In fact, he deserves praise for opening the door for tens of millions of Americans to get access to affordable health care.
It is the height of arrogance for Ted Cruz to demand anything from President Obama. Cruz is entitled to nothing, but the contempt and scorn that he has already earned from millions of Americans.
Just remember, as Ted Cruz enjoys his Goldman Sachs provided health insurance, he wants to take yours away.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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