Health care today

After his arrival in Washington, Ted Cruz made it his mission to get Obamacare repealed and replaced.  In 2013, he threatened, then later succeeded, in shutting down the federal government, and the anxiety that ran through the government and military was at the highest seen in years.

 

The uniformed military remained at work serving the American people, hours a day, every day while Department of Defense ordered its vast civilian arm home in an involuntary furlough without pay.  Strict orders mandated the hundreds of thousands DoD personnel not contribute, nor even contact, their military co-workers at half-deserted headquarters throughout the military community. 

 

The remaining uniformed staffs were left to provide the same level of support for our troops with a fraction of the manpower and resources.  Resources they had just a week before.  This closure of military support adversely affected all military operations and diminished national security.

 

 

See the DoD website here for more official reports on the damage Mr. Cruz directed as he led the efforts of the government shutdown.  All while, he stood and read Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham, in an adolescent use of filibuster. (Watch this embarrassment)

 

The sequestration frames the context of the failed repeal of the ACA which catapulted Mr. Cruz, leading to his eventual rise to the presidential campaign stage. Cruz effectively shut down the day-to-day operation of our government in a blatant blackmail attempt to repeal the ACA.  Not only did he fail, he damaged national security and indirectly put our uniformed troops at risk.  He, and his Tea Party cohorts argue that no military payroll was affected.  Although it was soon about to be.  And the troops would still do their jobs.   But he sent home, without pay, hundreds of thousands of non-uniformed DoD personnel who handle the enormous administrative burden of supporting the finest military on Earth.

 

Supply chains halted or were delayed indefinitely.  The troops were denied required and mandatory training, maintenance and repair, and other needed logistical support.  All in the name of a failed ultimatum to blatantly cause pain and suffering to politicians on the other side of the aisle unless the ACA was repealed.  But the real effect of Cruz’s crusade was pain and suffering to our already overtaxed military personnel.

 

Rather than blackmailing our government with adolescent ultimatums, our U.S. Senator should communicate, coordinate, and compromise, to arrive at the best solution for the American people.   The stubborn partisanship of blocking factions, like the Tea Party and Freedom caucuses, will bring about the demise of the GOP.

 

Six years.  Mr. Cruz had six years to use his energy and grandiose ambition at “world domination” (see here) to introduce a bill the Republican Party could pass.

 

Six years.  Instead, he did nothing except alienate most of his fellow Senators and spend the next two years running a Presidential campaign that made this Texan cringe.

 

Who would have thought that Mr. Cruz would take his career moves from Barack Obama?  After all, Barrack Obama was the first senator in U.S. history to run for President while serving his first term in office.   And just like Obama, he left his constituency flailing in the wind.  Our own GOP Whip, John Cornyn (TX-R), said it best—he [Ted Cruz] was just there [as Senator] to run for President.

 

Mr. Cruz failed.  And Obamacare lives.  Even with a Republican President, Republican Senate and House, the job still isn’t done.

 

Many constituents have protested the repeal of the ACA with its outlandish premiums, sky-high deductibles, and unrealistic caps.  Americans aren’t getting the best deal that competition and free markets offer.  The loss of our competitive edge as a group gives the advantage to the big insurance companies.  The number of employees and the age of your work force drives the price on health insurance policies.  How inexpensive could a program be if there are only a hundred (100) people in your pool?

 

Nevertheless, I would not have voted for the rushed American Health Care Act (AHCA) of 2017 where over 24 million people would lose their healthcare.  The Republicans spent all these years doing nothing.  If they had been working, maybe we could have used our majority in both Congress and the White House to obtain an affordable health care system today.  Less grandstanding and more work was in order.

 

My proposal

 

Competition and the free market will drive costs down and provide greater consumer choice to those above a certain financial standard.   Obamacare is our best solution.  It’s not perfect, by any means, but we can’t leave all of our fellow Americans without insurance.  Period.

 

Small businesses are drowning in the Obamacare obligation.  And strangling small business isn’t the way to get the economy thriving.  History has shown us that a prosperous middle class is the key to economic benefits for everyone.

 

I will bring my ideas to the table and communicate, coordinate, and compromise, to arrive at the best possible solution for the American people.  I will not read Dr. Seuss for hours, I will never shut down our government, I will not spend 2+ years running for the White House.  But I will spend my time in Washington working to improve our health care system for ALL Americans.

 

The people have spoken, even if Washington won’t listen, and Americans want health care.