At the July 30th Heritage Bloggers Briefing, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) made it clear that what is absolutely essential if conservatives are to win the fight to defund Obamacare is a grassroots army.
No politician in Washington can win this fight… The entirety of this strategy is the grassroots.
Sen. Cruz explained that if we wait on the Washington Establishment to do their thing, we won’t get the desired result. Instead, we need hundreds of thousands of individuals across the country to motivate either 41 Senators or 218 Representatives to insist on defunding Obamacare on the forthcoming continuing resolution.
Political Implications
Cruz took on the farcical notion that defunding Obamacare on the CR will be a politically fatal move for the Republicans in Congress.
He explained that every weekend, the non-essential services of the government are temporarily and partially shut down — which is what happen in a potential temporary government shutdown. Of course, he is not advocating for a permanent or long term government shutdown – no conservative is. Rather, he is saying that opponents of defunding Obamacare on the CR are blowing a temporary government shutdown way out of proportion.
And what about the political implications? Won’t Republicans get blamed for a government shutdown if that should occur? Sen. Cruz explained that if President Obama and certain elected officials in Congress want to shut down the government simply because they want to salvage this overwhelmingly unpopular law, that’s their fault, not the fault of those trying to defund Obamacare.
In fact, he suggested we look to history. When the government was shut down in 1995, Republicans actually gained two Senate seats and Congress was able to produce balanced budgets for years. He added, “To win this fight, we have to make it riskier to do the wrong thing than it is to do the right thing.”
Sen. Cruz quoted Lady Margaret Thatcher:
First you win the argument. Then you win the vote.
And what does it take to win the argument? A grassroots army needs to light up the phones and call their elected officials to let them know they want Obamacare defunded. The will power is there across America to stop Obamacare. This will power simply needs to translate into the understanding that the best way to stop Obamacare – the single best option we currently have – is to defund the law entirely. There will be enough votes in Congress to defund Obamacare if the grassroots army across America urges Congress to do the right thing.
Obamacare Entitlements
If we don’t do it now, in all likelihood it will never happen.
Why? Sen. Cruz explained the Obama Administration wants Americans “addicted” to the Obamacare entitlements. Again, just look to history for solid evidence of this. Cruz suggested we look at the farm bill. Those subsidies were created as a temporary measure after World War II. But once a particular group of people gets addicted to government subsidies, it is “natural” that they push to keep those subsidies.
Why would it be any different with Obamacare entitlements?
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