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.”

GREAT JOURNALISM, SLOW FUNDRAISING

Our team has been on fire lately—publishing sweeping, one-of-a-kind investigations, ambitious, groundbreaking projects, and even releasing “the holy shit documentary of the year.” And that’s on top of protecting free and fair elections and standing up to bullies and BS when others in the media don’t.

Yet, we just came up pretty short on our first big fundraising campaign since Mother Jones and the Center for Investigative Reporting joined forces.

So, two things:

1) If you value the journalism we do but haven’t pitched in over the last few months, please consider doing so now—we urgently need a lot of help to make up for lost ground.

2) If you’re not ready to donate but you’re interested enough in our work to be reading this, please consider signing up for our free Mother Jones Daily newsletter to get to know us and our reporting better. Maybe once you do, you’ll see it’s something worth supporting.

payment methods

GREAT JOURNALISM, SLOW FUNDRAISING

Our team has been on fire lately—publishing sweeping, one-of-a-kind investigations, ambitious, groundbreaking projects, and even releasing “the holy shit documentary of the year.” And that’s on top of protecting free and fair elections and standing up to bullies and BS when others in the media don’t.

Yet, we just came up pretty short on our first big fundraising campaign since Mother Jones and the Center for Investigative Reporting joined forces.

So, two things:

1) If you value the journalism we do but haven’t pitched in over the last few months, please consider doing so now—we urgently need a lot of help to make up for lost ground.

2) If you’re not ready to donate but you’re interested enough in our work to be reading this, please consider signing up for our free Mother Jones Daily newsletter to get to know us and our reporting better. Maybe once you do, you’ll see it’s something worth supporting.

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