October 18, 2013

Ted Cruz vs. Twitter: Does Obamacare Hurt Americans?

The tea party senator declared that “virtually every person” in the US has seen health insurance premiums rise due to the new law. Tweeps across the land say otherwise.

Screenshot: <a href="https://twitter.com/larrygasch/status/390597802893398016">@larrygasch</a>/Twitter

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


On Wednesday afternoon, as news was spreading that House Speaker John Boehner had surrendered and a no-conditions-attached bipartisan plan to end the shutdown and debt ceiling crisis would be approved later in the day by the Senate and House, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the tea party’s disrupter-in-chief, held an impromptu press conference in a Capitol hallway to declare victory, or something like it. The fellow who led the GOP further into a PR abyss hailed the political crisis that was ending (at least for now) as “a remarkable thing” and claimed that it showed that “millions upon millions” had risen up against Obamacare. Then Cruz, the tail that wagged the Republican dog, launched into a diatribe against the Affordable Care Act: “President Barack Obama promised the American people Obamacare would lower your health insurance premiums. I would venture to say that virtually every person across this country has seen exactly the opposite happen, has seen premiums going up and up and up.”

Really? Every American in every city, town, village, and hamlet? On my Twitter feed, I called on PolitiFact.com, the highly regarded fact-checking outfit, to vet this statement. But before the truth-chasers of that site could say “pants on fire,” I started to receive tweets from Americans across the country telling tales of how Obamacare has lowered premiums for them or provided better insurance at similar rates. As these reports poured in, I retweeted the most compelling testimonials, and more pro-ACA anecdotes appeared. I also received tweets from people who noted they have benefited from Obamacare in other ways, such as receiving coverage previously denied due to preexisting conditions. In several instances, tweeps cited the ACA as life-changing, if not life-saving. (At one point, I suggested that the White House might be smart to compile such tweets under the hashtag #ACAWorks.) A few respondents did note the ACA was not working for them, and I retweeted several of those tales.

Obviously, I cannot vouch for details zapped my way by strangers. But many of the pro-Obamacare anecdotes had a similar tone: thank God for this. This was, of course, not a scientific poll or professional collection of data. No doubt, my Twitter feed probably is followed by far more Obama supporters than detractors (though sometimes I wonder about that, given all the conservative trolling on it). Yet I would venture to say that this response contradicts Cruz’s extreme claim that “virtually every person” has been hit by a premium hike due to Obamacare.

Below are some of those tweets I received. Many of these abbreviated stories are rather heartening. Imagine if they do reflect the experiences of millions of Americans. By the way, PolitiFact did evaluate Cruz’s claim. It rated his assertion “false.”

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate