Hacks Still Pushing the “Ted Cruz Is a Hypocrite” Line
Some guy named Igor Something or Other has a post at ThinkProgress titled Ted Cruz Wants You To Believe He’s Legally Required To Sign Up For Obamacare. He’s Not.
Yes, he is.
If I were to str-e-e-e-tch to give this guy the benefit of the doubt, I guess I would say that it depends on what you mean by “sign up for ObamaCare.” Cruz is legally required to obtain an insurance plan that meets the ridiculous one-size-fits-all “minimum” standards of an ObamaCare plan, or pay a penalty. Sorry: a “tax.”
He doesn’t have to do this on an exchange, but apparently, he will (while getting zero benefit from the exchange). So what?
If he complies with this law, which he hates (as I do), and which he wants to repeal (as I do), that does not mean that he is endorsing ObamaCare because he is signing up for a plan that he is legally required to buy. And nobody is denying that he is legally required to buy health insurance or pay a penalty (sorry: “tax”). They just seem to think he is a hypocrite for doing so on one of the exchanges. What the holy f[vowel deleted]ck does it matter whether he gets his overpriced plan on an exchange or not? He is getting no subsidy. He is entitled to one under a Harry Reid “don’t make us follow our own law” provision and is rejecting it. How in the name of all that is holy does this make him a hypocrite???
A guy called James Downie at the WaPo says Cruz is a hypocrite for “going on ObamaCare,” which also implies that the real problem is Cruz’s plan to use an exchange. Downie at least admits that Cruz must “purchase a plan that meets minimum standards established under Obamacare” and that he will “reject the 75 percent employer contribution that the federal government decided to continue offering to all members and their staffs.” Yet Downie finds “hypocrisy” in the simple fact that “[t]he law does not require Cruz to get health insurance on the exchanges.” Downie’s position implies that Cruz’s Big Issue with ObamaCare is the exchanges, use of which is the only thing Cruz is doing that he is not required to do.
Wrong, Downie. Cruz’s problem is not the exchanges. It is the law itself. It is the requirement that people buy something Congress has no constitutional authority to make them buy. It is the interference with the operation of the free market, which causes distortions in the marketplace, leading to inefficiency, waste, higher costs, and eventually to rationing. Find me a clip of Cruz saying: “Hey, I’m cool with the President forcing people to buy insurance with federally mandated minimum coverage standards; I just don’t like the exchanges” and I will quit blogging tomorrow.
The ridiculous arguments don’t end there. A guy calling himself David Ferguson at Raw Story has a deceptive headline titled Ted Cruz wasn’t forced to sign up for Obamacare — no matter what he says. Ferguson tells the following whopper:
In other words, under Obamacare, Ted Cruz can insure his family any way he likes, but if he wants the government to shoulder part of the burden, he will have to use the exchanges.
Well, first of all, he doesn’t want the government to shoulder part of the burden. Again: Cruz has explicitly said he will reject any Harry Reid “exempt us from our own law” contribution from the government.
But, more fundamentally, how stupid and/or dishonest do you have to be so say that “Ted Cruz can insure his family any way he likes”?? Oh, really? So all of a sudden, Ted Cruz can buy a non-approved plan that does not meet the ObamaCare standards? And he doesn’t have to pay a penalty (sorry, “tax”)? Is that what you are saying, David Ferguson? Or are you saying that he is free to get no health insurance and pay a penalty — just as you are free to rob liquor stores “any way you like” as long as you pay the penalty of going to prison for the legally specified amount of time? Just what are you saying??
But what really takes the cake is the way CNN took a quote from Cruz on this issue and sliced it up to make it mean the precise opposite of what he intended. Here is the original quote:
It is one of the good things about Obamacare, is that the statute provided that members of Congress would be on the exchanges without subsidies just like millions of Americans, so there wouldn’t be a double standard.
The bold part of that statement makes it clear that he is saying it is good that the idiots in Congress who passed this crap sandwich are going to be forced to personally take a bite.
Watch how, at :50 in this clip, they cut off the part of the quote I have placed in bold, to suggest that Cruz is actually saying that it’s a “good thing” that ObamaCare lets Congressman get that good ObamaCare health insurance:
Make sure and keep watching to enjoy the media hyenas yukking it up at old Ted’s “hypocrisy.” Yuk yuk yuk! If I were physically in the room with them, I’m not sure I’d be able to restrain myself from walking over and slapping them.
They act as if, absent ObamaCare, Ted Cruz would be unable to obtain health insurance at all.
There is a “good thing” about the chuckling morons on CNN: they illustrate a common fallacy about government-arranged programs. Namely, people seem to think that, without the thing the government is providing, the good would not exist at all.
If government didn’t provide welfare, then the people collecting welfare would get zero help from society and would all starve! (But we used to have things called “charities” that did this; there are rumors some of them still exist.) If government didn’t have federal money for education, local school districts would all go broke! (How did children ever get educated before Jimmy Carter’s presidency?)
And if the government didn’t provide health insurance through ObamaCare, there would be no such thing as health insurance!
So Ted Cruz wants health insurance, and health insurance is now provided through ObamaCare? Well then he is a hypocrite! I explained this fallacy to my daughter and showed her the CNN clip above, and she said: “Did they really forget that health insurance was around before four years ago?” (My answer, as it often is, is that it’s tough to say for sure whether certain people are liars or idiots.)
The hypocrisy doesn’t end there, folks! Did you know Ted Cruz wants to abolish the IRS, yet he still pays his taxes???!!! (H/t Allahpundit.) Well then he is a hypocrite!!!! Yuk yuk yuk, I mean it’s just so deeply ironic, gosh, I just don’t know what to say, ha, ha!
Keep me out of the same room as these people. Please.
Ding.
Patterico (9c670f) — 3/25/2015 @ 7:42 pmI went on Twitter, elissa.
In this angry rage.
On. Twitter!
Patterico (9c670f) — 3/25/2015 @ 7:42 pmLOL! You are the raging HULK.
felipe (56556d) — 3/25/2015 @ 7:50 pmRaw story, who Is behind that publication?
narciso (61bde2) — 3/25/2015 @ 7:56 pmIt will be interesting to learn what actually happened… http://ace.mu.nu/archives/355738.php
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 3/25/2015 @ 8:08 pmthey can get away with it because the Ocare Law and Regulations are so confusing that I do not think there is any one who could fully explain just what the Congress Critters and their staff need to do.
anyway, i’d keep all counter attacks simple: In order to avoid a tax
1: one MUST get insurance
2: said insurance MUST meet gov’t regulated criteria of coverage, no matter what one needs.
simplest way to avoid pitfalls of running afoul the Ocare Law and Regulations is to use an ‘exchange’ that is dependent on where you work/live.
Of course Sen Cruz could avoid using Ocare by simply not getting insurance and paying the tax. So yeah, he didn’t HAVE to .
Sheesh, where is Jeremy Clarkson when you need him? (yepp, his contract will not be renewed. no word yet on the other two)
seeRpea (c1462d) — 3/25/2015 @ 8:15 pm“people seem to think that, without the thing the government is providing, the good would not exist at all.”
We’re suffering though a case of that here in NZ, where the unions are screaming blue murder because tea breaks are no longer mandated by law. Somehow, this means the end of tea breaks everywhere – even though they were not mandated in law until about halfway through the last government.
scrubone (c3104f) — 3/25/2015 @ 9:27 pmThere is one thing the media can’t do about Cruz: He is genuinely intelligent and knows how to speak clearly with a strong message to a disenfranchised base ready for change. Also, and bad news for the left, credentialed. Does he have a chance? I don’t know. I do know he will shake things up because he is a monster to the left and a thorn into the side of the traditional right. He has the whole weight of every faction against him and they are scared. Could he be the next Reagan? Probably not, but I am looking forward to him proving me wrong.
Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 3/25/2015 @ 9:30 pmRe: the IRS, Cruz would do well to have someone come over to New Zealand and study our tax system. It’s not quite flat (there’s 3 rates), but it is very simple for wage earners. Most people (if they bother) just get a statement at the end of the year outlining the size of their refund. If you owe under $300, they don’t even bother to chase it.
scrubone (c3104f) — 3/25/2015 @ 9:36 pmYou also have a GST (a/k/a VAT) of 15%, scrubone. That’s a flat tax too, you know.
nk (dbc370) — 3/25/2015 @ 9:43 pmBetter than Sweden’s 25%, I suppose. But welfare state tax schemes are not really a good model for America.
nk (dbc370) — 3/25/2015 @ 9:46 pm“In other words, under Obamacare, Ted Cruz can insure his family any way he likes,”
Wow. That is so generous.
Except for the simple reality that “insurance” isn’t necessary. Ted Cruz has a young and healthy family. What if the way “he likes” is to self insure by setting aside funds for checkups and doctors visits?
Sorry, that’s not allowed.
What if the way “he likes” is to set up a plan that provides coverage for only catastrophic events that would be financially ruinous?
Sorry, that’s not allowed.
What if he would simply like to sign up for a plan that doesn’t make him pay to “cover” prostate exams for women and mammograms for men?
Sorry, that’s not allowed.
So, no, he isn’t allowed to get the insurance he wants, which only a few years ago could legally vary between none, just enough and excessive. Nope, his only option is to buy a government mandated minimum which spends a government set amount on services and has nothing to do with his particular health needs.
Can we get a class of pundit who isn’t just a brainless hack? The fact that any of this nonsense gets printed makes me wonder if there is anybody with an ounce of self respect in the industry.
bskb (79fc86) — 3/25/2015 @ 9:51 pmi would pay good money to see you in the same room with these fools, Pat…
besides, no jury of your peers would convict you: if anything we would award you both ears & the tail. 😎
redc1c4 (b340a6) — 3/25/2015 @ 11:20 pmClueless News Network
mg (31009b) — 3/26/2015 @ 2:44 amContains
redc1c4 (cf3b04) — 3/26/2015 @ 6:12 amNothing
Newsworthy
They need to do a new story “Ted Cruz a hypocrite for paying his taxes while promising to aboish the IRS. Following the law, even when he disagrees with it. The man has no shame. Does he not realize that laws are for the little people?
Rick (ae40c3) — 3/26/2015 @ 8:14 amCall me crazy, but I think the point of all of these federal laws is to force libertarians and conservatives to sound or act hypocritical. If we have no other options than to send our kids to schools that take federal aid, get federal aid for college because the private version was abolished, purchase health insurance on the exchanges, etc., then principled opposition has been outlawed.
…and your twitter is great.
bridget (f190e5) — 3/26/2015 @ 11:37 amOk , i’m convinced this guy is the real article.
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/03/26/no-joy-not-a-true-christian-says-pope-francis/
DNF (8028c5) — 3/26/2015 @ 11:46 amDNF, haven’t you ever noticed how much happier we Christians are than those miserable agnostics and atheists? I have.
Hoagie (58a3ec) — 3/26/2015 @ 12:34 pm19. Its certainly my hope.
DNF (8028c5) — 3/26/2015 @ 12:56 pmHola muy buena la explicacion sobre whatsapp, mas claro, jamas. Muchas gracias
Johnny (6f2932) — 4/19/2015 @ 6:35 am