Why Ted Cruz’s Anti-Obamacare Grandstanding Doesn’t Matter At All

[Tx4obama]

Why Ted Cruz’s Anti-Obamacare Grandstanding Doesn’t Matter At All

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Cruz’s dramatic anti-Obamacare crusade has captured media attention for weeks. But when it comes to the realities of health reform, it couldn’t matter less.

First of all, it’s not a real filibuster. Whether or not Cruz keeps speaking, and regardless of how long he ends up going on, the Senate will still vote on the continuing resolution tomorrow. This weekend, even Fox News was confused about why Cruz thought this political ploy could work.

And even if the provision in question that seeks to “defund Obamacare” somehow managed to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate, it wouldn’t actually do anything to bring the health reform law to a grinding halt. The main avenues of reform that will extend health coverage to additional Americans — the Medicaid expansion and the subsidies available to help people buy plans on the state-level marketplaces — aren’t affected by the fight over annual appropriations.

If Cruz and his fellow Tea Party Republicans successfully derail the budget negotiations altogether and force the government to shut down, that won’t stop Obamacare implementation from marching forward, either. Much of the money that finances health reform has already been appropriated, and can only be removed if the law is repealed altogether. In an opinion piece published last week, E.J. Dionne suggested that a government shutdown could actually ironically help the law’s popularity. That’s because, if the health law’s enrollment period experiences a few hiccups along the way (as any new government program undoubtedly will), this political battle may convince Americans that Republicans are actually to blame for that.

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Full article here: http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/09/24/2673601/ted-cruz-obamacare-filibuster/