Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) believes that Obamacare is about the worst thing President Obama could levy on young Americans today, and he made that known during his 21-hour filibuster earlier this week.
“Mister President, I don’t think you could design a plan designed to harm young people more than Obamacare,” he said early on Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday afternoon, Cruz embarked on a historic speech on the Senate floor, continuing to noon on Wednesday. He covered a wide range of topics, but at several intervals he addressed what the Affordable Healthcare Act will mean for young Americans.
He called it “more than a crying irony” that 70 percent of young Americans voted to put President Barack Obama in office, likely not understanding the universal healthcare law would affect their futures.
Cruz outlined that young people graduating from college were in a tight spot, either without jobs or forced to take part-time work. He said that fewer full-time jobs and fewer jobs overall could be blamed on Obamacare, which has made employers think twice about hiring new workers and has often forced companies to cut back on their employees’ hours to avoid footing massive health insurance bills.
The Texas Senator pointed out that young people are called the “lost generation,” a reference to the book about those who came into age during World War I.
“This thing [Obamacare] isn’t working, and every one of us — we owe it to our constituents to listen, to listen to the young people who are suffering…” he added.
And on Tuesday night, Cruz has also stressed how youth are being hurt by the healthcare law. He pointed out that Obamacare is a transfer of wealth from young, healthy people to older Americans. Cruz explained that this transfer resulted in massive healthcare premiums for youth.
“If you’re young and healthy, Congress looked at you, licked their chops and said, ‘You’re for dinner,'” he added.
The Senator said young people, more than perhaps other Americans, “have a particularly acute desire for this Senate to act this week to defund Obamacare.”