Ted Cruz, Such a Hypocrite …

The story is revolting; such is the opportunism and hypocrisy emanating from it. It originates from Ted Cruz, the Texas senator who, on Monday, announced he would be running for the Republican nomination with the 2016 presidential elections in mind. (Ted Cruz was born in Calgary, but his mother is American. He is therefore eligible for the presidency of the United States).

Cruz is extremely conservative, a product of the religious right: pro-life, pro-firearms, anti-gay marriage, but his popularity with the conservative right is due, above all, to his almost obsessive opposition to the Affordable Care Act — “Obamacare” – President Obama’s historic health reform that was adopted in 2010.

Cruz qualified it as a “disaster” and a “catastrophe,” and accused it of causing “enormous harm” to the American economy. In September 2013, he even ranted about this law for 21 hours and 19 minutes on the Senate floor. This interminable speech (the fourth longest in the history of the U.S. Senate) led to nothing less than the paralysis of the United States government. I will oppose it “until I can no longer stand,” he declared at the time.

But, ironically, this very same Ted Cruz today finds himself – like millions of Americans at the time – without health coverage. His wife Heidi – who took unpaid leave from Goldman Sachs to campaign alongside her husband – has just lost this benefit provided by her employer for herself, her husband and her children.

And so, what does Ted Cruz hasten to do? You’ve guessed it: He has told us that he will subscribe to President Obama’s bill on affordable health care. “I believe we should follow the text of every law, even laws I disagree with,” he explains. As the Americans say, go figure!

In short, in Ted Cruz’s mind – and in line with his set of personal values – “Obamacare” is good for him and his family for the duration of an electoral campaign, but it is a “disaster,” a “catastrophe” for 16 million Americans (more than twice the population of Quebec) who, prior to this reform, were threatened with bankruptcy should ever they become sick. And if he is elected president of the United States, Cruz will quickly hack it down (he even repeated his intention to do so when he announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination on Monday).

So hypocritical. So egotistical. So opportunistic. Fortunately, Ted Cruz’s chances of becoming the next leader of the free world are tiny.