Republican Secret Love For Obamacare Exposed As Lawmakers Choose ACA Over Private Market

Republicans love the private market and hate “welfare”. Amiright?

That is, unless they are the ones getting the subsidies, or “welfare” as they call it when poor people with dark skin take it.

Hypocritical Republican lawmakers like Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) could have gone for a “private market” solution, but instead they chose to let you subsidize their healthcare via President Obama’s healthcare law. Lindsay Wise of the McClatchy Washington Bureau broke this down in Kentucky .Com as it pertained to the Chairman of the Tea Party Caucus in the House, Kansas Rep. Tim Huelskamp. Yup, he has also chosen to sign up for President Obama’s healthcare law:

Asked whether he sees any contradiction between his outspoken opposition to Obamacare and his family’s enrollment, Huelskamp said in a written statement that the law forces members of Congress to sign up.
Like millions of other American families, he said, “we object to this expensive, liberty-attacking mandate.”
It’s true that members of Congress who want to take advantage of health benefits offered through their employer – the federal government – must use plans offered through a government-run exchange in the District of Columbia.
But that’s not the whole story.
Huelskamp could have foregone coverage completely, or shunned the exchange and purchased a family health plan directly from a private broker.

So, Cruz and Huelskamp could have gone private market or gone without, which is almost like being “forced” to sign up but not at all. Wise linked to a CNN article as proof.

It was big news when Senator Ted Cruz signed up for President Obama’s healthcare law after he shut down the entire government in a fit over… Obamacare.

But apparently while Cruz was “principled” enough to waste 24 billion dollars plus of your money shutting down the government in hopes that he could defund the healthcare law, he is not “principled” enough to reject Obamacare and the subsidies lawmakers get if they use it.

Yes, it’s true. Cruz could have gone for a “private market” solution – you know, the thing Republicans are always trying to shove onto you? Yes, well, it’s not good enough for Ted Cruz.

Going without affordable healthcare was good enough for poor Americans, according to Republicans. It was GOP No Care for “liberty”, according to them. So why isn’t it good enough for them? Surely they have no qualms about paying their own way, picking themselves up by their bootstraps. Why would they force the America taxpayer to subsidize their insurance if they think that’s such a bad system?

It was hypocritical when Cruz signed up for Obamacare. But now it’s gone way beyond hypocrisy. Cruz and Huelskamp are actually endorsing Obamacare as the best alternative, even above the private market options. That’s worth noting, because it’s like saying they don’t believe in living the principles that they preach are best for the country.

It turns out that Ted Cruz is only principled when he’s spending your money and taking insurance away from you. But when it comes to his family, well, that’s another story. Same with Tea Party champion Huelskamp.

Cruz tried to worm his way out of his entire raison d’être by claiming he was only objecting to the job killing part of Obamacare. Of course, that’s a Republican “belief” and not reality. If he isn’t aware of the stats yet, Cruz might want to take a gander at 2014, during which we had the best job growth since 1999. But, all is not lost. Cruz can thank himself for shaving “0.6 percent off the nation’s economic growth” with his shutdown, according to a Standard & Poor’s analysis.

That’s a “no” to the GOP notion of fiscal responsibility that Republicans have been using to justify letting Americans die due to lack of access to affordable healthcare, in case you were wondering. Yeah, it sucks that your families are dying but PRINCIPLES! This is the same notion that Republicans felt so strongly about it was worth shutting down the government. And that’s not even delving into the violent ugliness of Republican behavior in 2010 and 2011.

When it comes down to it, Cruz and Huelskamp would rather have your tax dollars fund them using Obamacare than use the private market. Getting screwed by the “private market” (and it must be or else why aren’t these lawmakers using it?) is for y’all, not for the privileged. And this explains why Ted Cruz is running for president on the idea of repealing Obamacare. After all, you will always be paying for his health insurance, so he’s all set.

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Listen to Sarah on the PoliticusUSA Pod on The Daily newsletter podcast here. Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump. Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Connect with Sarah on Post,  Mastodon @PoliticusSarah@Journa.Host, & Twitter.

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