Media and pundits say Ted Cruz is a hypocrite for complying with federal law.
The Republican senator and 2016 GOP hopeful Ted Cruz revealed in an interview Tuesday that he and his family may soon have to enroll in a health insurance plan under the Affordable Care Act — an action that is unremarkable for a federal employee and in keeping with Obamacare’s requirement that every American buy government-approved insurance or get hit with a punitive tax.
“We’ll be getting new health insurance and we’ll presumably do it through my job with the Senate, and so we’ll be on the federal exchange with millions of others on the federal exchange,” Cruz said in an interview with CNN. Cruz’s family currently gets employer insurance through his wife, who is taking an unpaid leave during his presidential campaign.
Cruz made clear that he will not be getting subsidies and stated his belief that politicians should be made to comply with the laws they impose on citizens. “I believe we should follow the text of every law,” Cruz told CNN’s Dana Bash, “even laws I disagree with.”
But given Cruz’s continuing vocal opposition to Presidents Obama’s health care law, the Texas Republican’s remarks were received by certain media figures as a humorous twist of fate. Many anti-Cruz commentators are delighted to see him pressed into the unwieldy federal insurance exchange system.
“Ted Cruz going on Obamacare. The hypocrisy of these people is incredible! He fought against it until he needed it,” Univision correspondent Daniela Ganoza said on Twitter Wednesday.
The New Republic’s Brian Beutler quipped, “Repealing Obamacare would be bad for millions but good for new enrollee Ted Cruz. That’s not hypocrisy, it’s greed.”
Meanwhile, National Journal’s Ron Fournier went on an extended Twitter rant Wednesday that included theories about what Cruz would likely say should he be offered the top spot at the IRS.
“This is rich: [Ted Cruz] calls #Obamacare lawless but signs up for it,” Fournier tweeted, adding later, “Breaking: [Barack Obama] nominates [Ted Cruz] to head the #IRS. Cruz accepts. ‘Guy’s gotta work.'” (The maverick lawmaker advocates abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, though he continues to pay income tax.)
The mirth spilled over to newsrooms, with headlines and reports noting the supposed irony of Cruz considering enrolling in Obamacare.
U.S. News & World Report published an op-ed titled “Critic and customer? Ted Cruz may be signing up for Obamacare.”
The Washington Post followed with a headline of its own that read, “Now Ted Cruz says he’s probably signing up for Obamacare, and he’s definitely still trying to kill it.”
MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts characterized the Cruz news as a “flip-flop.”
Previously, Cruz’s family had access to health benefits through his wife, Heidi Cruz, a managing director at Goldman Sach’s Houston office. Following the senator’s announcement Monday that he will compete in 2016 GOP Republican presidential primaries, Heidi Cruz has gone on unpaid leave, meaning the family no longer has access to the firm’s health benefits.
Cruz’s other options include continuing the Goldman Sachs coverage through COBRA (most likely at a substantially higher rate after accounting for the loss of the employer payment and a service charge), purchasing insurance privately, or foregoing insurance and paying the Obamacare tax. A Cruz staffer told CNN the private insurance market has been “obliterated” by Obamacare.
Cruz said in his interview that he won’t use the exemption carved out for lawmakers.
“I strongly oppose the exemption that President Obama illegally put in place for members of Congress because (Senate Minority Leader) Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats didn’t want to be under the same rules as the American people,” Cruz said. “I believe we should follow the text of the law.”
