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Ted Cruz on Health Care

 

 


Don't exempt Congress from ObamaCare, or any law

Q: What is the core problem of ObamaCare?

FIORINA: Health insurance has always been a cozy, little game between regulators and health insurance companies. We need to try the free market.

TRUMP: The ObamaCare bill--nobody ever read it. They passed it; nobody read it. And look at mess we have right now. And it will be repealed.

CRUZ: The Congressional exemption from ObamaCare, which is fundamentally wrong, and I'll tell you this, if I'm elected president, I will veto any statute that exempts members of congress. The law should apply evenly to every American.

Source: Fox Business/WSJ Second Tier debate , Nov 10, 2015

I regret voting for John Roberts because of ObamaCare vote

I've known John Roberts for 20 years, he's an amazingly talented lawyer, but, yes, it was a mistake when he was appointed to the Supreme Court. George W. Bush appointed John Roberts, and let me give you the consequences of that. It is true that after George W. Bush nominated John Roberts, I supported his confirmation. That was a mistake and I regret that.
Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary debate on CNN , Sep 16, 2015

Left calls it "single-payer," but that's socialized medicine

The left doesn't call it "socialized medicine". They prefer the more innocuous, sterile term of a "single-payer system." The "single-payer" is of course the government, which would then pay every doctor and healthcare provider in the country. And when the government pays, it decides: what health care you receive; which doctor you see; how much is a fair price for a product or service in an elaborate scheme of wage and price controls.

For nearly 50 years, Americans fought back against statism. Jimmy Carter's efforts failed in the 1970s. So did Hillary Clinton's in the 1990s. But in 2010, despite overwhelming opposition from the American people, President Barack Obama found just barely enough support in Congress, both houses of which were controlled by Democrats, to pass ObamaCare.

Source: A Time for Truth, by Ted Cruz, p.267 , Jun 30, 2015

Enumerated powers of Congress don't include ObamaCare

In my sophomore year I became involved in a program, called the Constitutional Corroborators. That consisted of five high school students who spent hundreds of hours studying the U.S Constitution. We read the Federalist Papers, the Anti-Federalist Papers, and the Debates on Ratification. We then memorized the provisions of the Constitution in shortened mnemonic form.

For example, we memorized "TCC NCC PCC PAWN MaMa WReN." Those letters stood for eighteen enumerated powers of Congress in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution: "taxes, credit, commerce, naturalization, coinage, counterfeiting, post office, copyright, courts, piracy, Army, war, Navy, militia, money for militia, Washington, D.C., rules, and necessary and proper." If it's not in that list, Congress has no constitutional authority over it. (As I've often joked, you'll notice there's no "O" for "ObamaCare.")

Source: A Time for Truth, by Ted Cruz, p. 38 , Jun 30, 2015

Personal, portable, & affordable, after repealing ObamaCare

We need real health care reform. But it should expand competition and empower patients, and disempower government bureaucrats from getting between us and our doctors. We should allow people to purchase insurance across state lines (which is currently illegal), which will in turn create a fifty-state national marketplace for low-cost catastrophic coverage. If you want more coverage, you want more choices and lower costs. ObamaCare gives us fewer choices and higher costs.

We should expand health savings accounts, so we can save in a tax-advantaged manner for routine healthcare and prevention. And we should make health insurance portable, so it goes with you from job to job, which goes a long way to eliminating the problem of pre-existing conditions. High-risk pools at the state level can solve the rest of that problem.

Personal, portable and affordable. That should be where we go after repealing ObamaCare.

Source: A Time for Truth, by Ted Cruz, p.285 , Jun 30, 2015

ObamaCare is bad law, but Obama should enforce it, & hasn't

The employer mandate was supposed to kick in on January 1, 2014, but in late 2013, President Obama decided to grant those businesses a one-year waiver from the employer mandate.

The president did the same thing for members of Congress. Contrary to law, the administration issued a ruling exempting members of Congress (but not ordinary Americans) from the explicit requirements of ObamaCare.

Some people might wonder why an opponent of ObamaCare like me is bothered by the president's failure to enforce a law I dislike. To be sure, I believe ObamaCare is bad, and I'm fighting for Congress to repeal it altogether. But regardless of whether a law is good or bad, a president's unilateral revision of it is illegal--and dangerous to the rule of law.

Source: A Time for Truth, by Ted Cruz, p.307 , Jun 30, 2015

Washington wants ObamaCare, the people want liberty

Ted Cruz delivered a speech heavy with themes of liberty and freedom alongside biting attacks on President Obama and the ways of Washington: "Washington wants ObamaCare, the people want liberty," the Texas senator said at the Conservative Political Action Conference. "Don't believe President Obama when he says when you like your Internet, you get to keep your Internet."

As for his GOP rivals also eyeing the White House, Cruz seemed to raise doubts about their credentials and called on the audience to demand that all presidential aspirants demonstrate their conservative bona fides: "Demand action, not talk," Cruz said. "If a candidate tells you that they oppose ObamaCare, fantastic! But when have you stood up and fought against it? If a candidate says they oppose Obama's illegal executive amnesty, terrific. When have you stood up and fought against it?

"Repeal every blasted word of ObamaCare," Cruz concluded.

Source: USA Today on 2015 Conservative Political Action Conf. , Feb 26, 2015

Support nuns' battle for religious liberty against ObamaCare

Cruz repeatedly invoked his belief in God and the U.S. Constitution, and vowed to remain true to conservative principles. He called for Republicans to reassemble the "Reagan coalition," a group of conservatives, evangelicals, libertarians, and others who want to believe again in the miracle of America.

"Some might say, this is hard. This is really hard. The media tells us it can't be done. But you know each of us has seen miracles every day," Cruz said.

Cruz noted that a Catholic religious order, the Little Sisters of the Poor, has been battling with the Obama administration over mandates in the Affordable Care Act the sisters say would violate their religious liberties. "Here is a real good rule of thumb: If you are litigating against nuns, as the Obama administration is, you have probably done something wrong," Cruz said.

Source: Des Moines Register on 2015 Iowa Freedom Summit , Jan 24, 2015

Government shutdown on ObamaCare worked: GOP won in 2014

Q: You're suggesting defunding immigration amnesty & blocking appointments--that's almost exactly what you did with the government shutdown in 2013 with ObamaCare, and it backfired badly on your party.

CRUZ: We've got to demonstrate that the campaign words Republicans used on the trail were more than just talk, that we're willing to honor our commitment.

Q: But you're willing to shut down departments and you're willing to take the backlash? It didn't work very well with ObamaCare.

CRUZ: At the time, you and a lot of folks in the press said what a disaster it was to stand up and fight on ObamaCare. That it was going to cost Republicans the majority. It was going to cost seats. Let me point out, we just had an historic election where we won. We've got the biggest majority in the House since the 1920s. And the number one issue that candidates campaigned on was ObamaCare. Not only did the disaster that a lot of folks predicted not happen, it was the biggest victory we've had in a long time.

Source: Fox News Sunday 2014 interview of 2016 presidential hopefuls , Nov 23, 2014

Suspend commercial air travel to Ebola-infected areas

Q: We have learned over the course of the [Ebola epidemic] that public health is largely in the state and local purview.

CRUZ: There were, no doubt, mistakes that were made up and down the line. But the biggest mistake that continues to be made is now, we continue to allow open commercial air flights from countries that have been stricken by Ebola. We have got upwards of 150 people a day coming from countries with live, active Ebola outbreaks. For over two weeks, I have been calling on the administration to take the commonsense stand of suspending commercial air travel out of these countries until we get the air travel under control. And for whatever reason, the Obama White House doesn't want to do so.

Q: What mistakes were made?

CRUZ: Throughout this process, there have been mistakes. And listen, dealing with a virus epidemic is a learning process with very high stakes. And so we can't afford mistakes. But the best thing to do is to minimize the initial contact with Ebola.

Source: CNN SOTU 2014 interview series: 2016 presidential hopefuls , Oct 19, 2014

To repeal ObamaCare, show Dems they'd lose by supporting it

Q: You said, "We will repeal every single word of ObamaCare." That's not going to happen while Obama is president, right?

CRUZ: If enough Congressional Democrats realize they either stand with ObamaCare and lose, or they listen to the American people and have a chance at staying in office, that's the one scenario we could do it in 2015. If not, we'll do it in 2017.

Q: So you honestly think there's a chance that you can get ObamaCare repealed, every word, as you say?

CRUZ: Every single word.

Q: With Obama in the White House?

CRUZ: You know, what's funny is the media treats that as a bizarre proposition.

Q: Well, it is.

CRUZ: It is the most unpopular law in the country. Millions of people have lost their jobs, have lost their health care, have been forced into part-time work, have their premiums skyrocketing. And right now, Washington isn't listening to those people. That's how we win elections and that's also how we repeal ObamaCare.

Source: ABC This Week 2014 series of 2016 presidential hopefuls , Mar 9, 2014

2014: Travel ban from West Africa to prevent Ebola

In October 2014, Cruz hit President Obama for not combating the ongoing Ebola scare currently facing the US on CNN's "State of the Union." His point of contention was the lack of a travel ban from West Africa, which he says would aid the US in warding off a possible outbreak.

"We should stop issuing travel visa's from Liberia," Cruz said. "It shouldn't be a partisan issue. We should be protecting citizens of this country."

This conservative media driven travel ban totally died down towards the end of 2014 when no other Ebola cases were reported in the US. Ironically, with some exceptions, only neighboring countries in Africa did issue this ban.

Source: Cruzing to the White House, by Mario Broes, p.114 , Mar 7, 2014

Obama changed ObamaCare mandate deadline by a blog post

President Obama has a different approach [than] the preceding 43 presidents. As he said recently, describing his executive powers: "I've got a pen, and I've got a phone." Under the Constitution, that is not the way federal law is supposed to work.

There is no example of lawlessness more egregious than the enforcement--or non-enforcement--of the president's signature policy, the Affordable Care Act. Mr. Obama has repeatedly declared that "it's the law of the land." Yet he has repeatedly violated ObamaCare's statutory text.

The law says that businesses with 50 or more full-time employees will face the employer mandate on Jan. 1, 2014. President Obama changed that, granting a one-year waiver to employers. How did he do so? Not by going to Congress to change the text of the law, but through a blog post by an assistant secretary at Treasury announcing the change.

Source: Wall Street Journal editorial on 2014 State of the Union , Jan 28, 2014

Obama asked companies to disobey ObamaCare rules for a year

When over five million Americans found their health insurance plans canceled because ObamaCare made their plans illegal--despite the president's promise "if you like your plan, you can keep it"--Pres. Obama simply held a news conference where he told private insurance companies to disobey the law and issue plans that ObamaCare regulated out of existence.

In other words, rather than go to Congress and try to provide relief to the millions who are hurting because of the "train wreck" of ObamaCare (as one Senate Democrat put it), the president instructed private companies to violate the law and said he would in effect give them a get-out-of-jail-free card--for one year, and one year only. Moreover, Obama simultaneously issued a veto threat if Congress passed legislation doing what he was then ordering.

In the more than two centuries of our nation's history, there is simply no precedent for the White House wantonly ignoring federal law and asking private companies to do the same.

Source: Wall Street Journal editorial on 2014 State of the Union , Jan 28, 2014

5 million had health insurance canceled because of ObamaCare

Q: You became a celebrity when you led the drive to shut down the government over ObamaCare.

CRUZ: In terms of whether we should have stood and fought on ObamaCare, I think the proof is in the pudding. Millions of people across the country have seen why we were standing and fighting because ObamaCare is a disaster. Five million Americans all across this country had their health insurance canceled because of ObamaCare. [Obama should] look in the camera 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." But then, here is the real kicker, if you are really sorry, you actually do something to fix the problem. The pattern we've seen over and over again with this president is he says he's sorry, expresses outrage then doesn't fix the problem, he keeps doing it over and over.

Source: Face the Nation 2014 interview: 2016 presidential hopefuls , Jan 26, 2014

Vow to repeal ObamaCare

A topic regarding Obama's health care reform morphed into whether Cruz would support Sen. John Cornyn as Majority Whip. Moderators frequently had to guide each candidate back on topic.

But even through this chaotic back-and-forth, the two candidates owned their distinctively different political views. Cruz again cemented his vow to repeal President Obama's Affordable Care Act, while Sadler said Congress can't afford to take away the benefits the reform has offered to young adults and the elderly.

Source: WFAA-TV Dallas-Fort Worth on 2012 Texas Senate debate , Oct 2, 2012

Save Medicare by raising eligibility age

Q: How would you put Medicare on stronger financial ground and protect today's seniors and future retirees from the burden of rising health costs?

A: We must save Medicare by gradually increasing the eligibility age and by moving to a premium support system that expands choices for seniors, opens up innovation, and utilizes market forces to rein in healthcare costs.

Source: Dallas Voter Guide in 2012 AARP Senate Voter Guide , Aug 24, 2012

Throw my body in front of a train to stop ObamaCare

For those who have been through this before, like former Congressman Mark Neumann, they touted experience. "I've written a five year plan to balance the budget by eliminating Obamacare, cutting $1.4 trillion out of the budget," Neumann said raising a printed copy of his plan.
Source: KVUE coverage of 2012 Texas Senate debate , Apr 3, 2012

Defeat ObamaCare; rein in the federal government

Source: Campaign website, www.tedcruz.org, "Issues" , Jul 17, 2011

Defund, repeal, & replace federal care with free market.

Cruz signed the Contract From America

The Contract from America, clause 7. Defund, Repeal, & Replace Government-run Health Care:

Defund, repeal and replace the recently passed government-run health care with a system that actually makes health care and insurance more affordable by enabling

Source: The Contract From America 10-CFA07 on Jul 8, 2010

Repeal any federal health care takeover.

Cruz signed Club for Growth's "Repeal-It!" Pledge

The Club for Growth's "Repeal-It!" Pledge for candidates states, "I hereby pledge to the people of my district/state upon my election to the U.S. House of Representatives/U.S. Senate, to sponsor and support legislation to repeal any federal health care takeover passed in 2010, and replace it with real reforms that lower health care costs without growing government."

Source: Club for Growth's "Repeal-It!" Pledge 10-CfG-can on Jul 4, 2010

Supports repealing ObamaCare.

Cruz supports the CC Voters Guide question on ObamaCare

Christian Coalition publishes a number of special voter educational materials including the Christian Coalition Voter Guides, which provide voters with critical information about where candidates stand on important faith and family issues. The Christian Coalition Voters Guide summarizes candidate stances on the following topic: "Repealing "Obamacare" that forces citizens to buy insurance or pay a tax"

Source: Christian Coalition Voter Guide 12-CC-q5a on Oct 31, 2012

Supports market-based health insurance.

Cruz supports the CC Voters Guide question on market-based health insurance

Christian Coalition publishes a number of special voter educational materials including the Christian Coalition Voter Guides, which provide voters with critical information about where candidates stand on important faith and family issues. The Christian Coalition Voters Guide summarizes candidate stances on the following topic: "Tax credits for purchasing private health insurance"

Source: Christian Coalition Voter Guide 12-CC-q5b on Oct 31, 2012

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