WP: "Yes, Ted Cruz is a Hypocrite" (ACA law does NOT require insurance purchase)

The joke that just keeps getting funnier, but some may have to take the party glasses off in order to see it.  This by no means is exclusive to left OR right, but it's funny when they get caught, after trying to convince you they're so "different" than the rest.

As I said the other day under another comment, Ted Cruz DOES have the option to "opt out" - he would have to pay a penalty, yes, but he CAN opt out and pay out-of-pocket for health expenses, like so many other Americans have done, in opposition to Obamacare.

So his statement: "I believe we should follow the text of the law" as a plausible excuse for going on a Obamacare is, well - a big fat whopper of a lie!

He is NOT legally required to sign up for Obamacare, as a member of Congress or otherwise - he could get COBRA on his wife's health insurance or pay out of pocket but those things are "too expensive."

Oh really? Aw, poor Mr. and Mrs. Cruz - COBRA or paying out of pocket for health care costs is too expensive for a former financial wizard at Goldman Sachs and her Senator husband, isn't that sad?

Oh, and it gets better - this article has a link to other Republican Senators who HAVE opted out of Obamacare. Here's that link within the linked article below:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/12/09/whats-congress-doing-about-its-own-health-care/

But Senator Cruz can't do that because he's "following the law"?

Bzzz. False.

So now, let's think about this a bit. This guy is a beyond-brilliant Harvard Law grad, right?

Brilliant enough to, oh, say, accurately judge the current political climate and say publicly whatever he thinks will stir and unite the most disgruntled in society in "overthrow-style" revolution so he can get himself elected, despite the fact those aren't his private views at all?

Or perhaps he has no real intention of EVER going on Obamacare because he may not qualify anyway, and is just trying to stir up more controversy and attention his way (even bad PR is PR - most of us had never heard of him until now).

I understand we are all tired of Bush and Obama's lack of transparency, hypocrisy and dishonesty - but voting for this dude would be a vote for more of the same, just wearing  a different mask.

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Yes, Ted Cruz is a hypocrite for going on Obamacare

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), who announced his run for president on Monday, had a mixed bag of second-day campaigning. On the one hand, he raised $1 million. On the other hand, the right’s champion of “no compromise” assault on Obamacare and much of the rest of the federal government admitted that, yes, he would be going on Obamacare.

With Cruz’s wife, Heidi, stepping away temporarily from her job at Goldman Sachs, the Cruz family has to get its insurance somewhere, and the Texas senator has decided that “somewhere” is HealthCare.gov. Thanks to a Republican amendment to the law, the federal government can only offer members of Congress and their staffs insurance that requires going through Obamacare exchanges. Cruz will, however, reject the 75 percent employer contribution that the federal government decided to continue offering to all members and their staffs.

Liberals quickly lobbed accusations of hypocrisy. Conservatives argued back that Cruz is just following the law, like a man who pays income tax even though he believes it is unconstitutional or who follows gun control laws that he doesn’t support.

But this isn’t a case of following the law or not. The law does not require Cruz to get health insurance on the exchanges. Instead of going through the exchanges, he could have paid the tax penalty for not having insurance, “likely cheaper than buying an insurance plan,” but at the cost of being uninsured. Or his wife could have applied to COBRA and extended her benefits from Goldman Sachs for up to 18 months, though she would have to pay all of the premium. Or he could bypass the exchanges and buy insurance directly from a private insurer. Sure, he’d have to spend time navigating the market himself, but I’m sure the Princeton graduate can figure it out.

Each of these options would cost Cruz time, money or both. But several Republican representatives already have purchased insurance without going through the exchanges, so it is clearly possible. Yes, Cruz would have to purchase a plan that meets minimum standards established under Obamacare, but anyone who thinks that someone with his resources would otherwise buy a plan with excessive co-pays or skimpy coverage is fooling themselves. And Cruz is rejecting the government’s employer contribution, even though he is entitled to it as a member of Congress. That is thousands of dollars a year, and accepting it would still be following the law. So Cruz clearly has already made the decision to spend lots of money to make a symbolic stand. Why not follow through on that and avoid the Obamacare exchanges?