If you spend any time watching cable news networks you've seen Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-FL)
first ad of the 2016 presidential campaign attempt to whip up grassroots support for his increasingly unpopular defund Obamacare campaign. True to the teabagger audience Cruz is aiming for, this ad is as full of lies as every other attack they've made on the law.
The Washington Post's fact checker
counts the ways.
First up, this statement from the ad: "Democratic Senator Max Baucus, the lead author of Obamacare, says it’s a huge train wreck."
Ever since the Montana senator, a key writer of the bill, uttered the phrase “huge train wreck” during an April 17 budget hearing, his words have become a major GOP talking point. But Baucus’s comment has been taken out of context—and he has since said that his concerns have been addressed. [...]
In other words, no more train wreck. In fact, contrary to Cruz’s suggestion, Baucus is still highly supportive of the law. [...]
Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said Baucus’s new stance “makes no difference, it’s what he said. We still agree with his original assertion that it’s a train wreck.”
Well, of course new facts make no difference to Cruz, just like old facts don't make any difference. Facts in general aren't really a priority for the guy. Why should they be a priority? You obviously don't need them to get elected to statewide office in Texas.
Cruz also says in the ad, "The president is quietly granting Obamacare waivers to big corporations," citing a New York Times article that doesn't focus on waivers. As Kessler points out, the article the ad is misusing is about the delay the administration announced in implementing the employer mandate in the law. Not a waiver, a delay. Yeah, facts again.
Finally, Cruz leaps on statements by Teamsters President James Hoffa and other union leaders, saying that even big labor admits that the law will "destroy the foundation of the 40-hour week that is the backbone of the American middle class." It's true that labor officials, while praising the law's ultimate goals, have complained about the possibility that employers will cut worker's hours to avoid the law. That's part of what the delay in the employer mandate was all about, giving employers more time to figure this out. But so far the only evidence for that comes from a few highly publicized and politicized claims by big employers, nothing more.
So, it's official, according to the Washington Post. Ted Cruz is a big, fat liar. Not that you need the WaPo to tell you that. All you need is to see Ted Cruz open his mouth.