TX-Sen: Obamacare Repeal's Top Salesman Is Now Telling People To Sign Up For Obamacare

Wow:

After voting more than a dozen times to repeal the Affordable Care Act and leading Senate Republican efforts to dismantle it, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Monday that the “good news” is that people can sign up for President Barack Obama’s signature health care law if they’ve lost their jobs and need health insurance amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“The good news is that if you lose your employer-provided coverage, which covers about a 180 million Americans, that is a significant life event, which makes you then eligible to sign up for the Affordable Care Act,” Cornyn said in a PBS Austin interview. “As you know, it has a sliding scale of subsidies up to 400% of poverty. So that’s an option for people.”

Huffington Post points out that Cornyn urges people to sign up for the ACA at the 6 minute mark in this video:

Huffington Post also points out the several times Cornyn has both voted to repeal the ACA and as Senate Majority Whip to get the votes to vote for repealing the ACA. Steve Benen at MSNBC nails it:

In 2017, as the Republican effort to destroy the nation's existing health care system reached its peak, there were a variety of relevant players, but Politico labeled Cornyn “Obamacare repeal's top salesman.”

And yet, here we are, watching the GOP senator — did I mention that Cornyn is up for re-election this year? — direct his constituents to the Affordable Care Act as a worthwhile lifeline for families in need of health security.

The Texas Republican's message, in effect, was, “The good news is, I failed in my efforts to tear down the ACA, so people can still take advantage of the law I fought to destroy.”

Yeah, fuck him. He needs to go. Our side still has a runoff election on July 14th to determine who will take on Cornyn. Luckily, there’s more time to vote early:

Ahead of the first statewide election during the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Greg Abbott has doubled the length of the early voting period for the upcoming July primary runoff elections.

In a proclamation issued Monday, Abbott ordered early voting for the July 14 runoffs to begin June 29 instead of on July 6. He noted that sticking with the truncated early voting window that’s typical for runoff elections “would prevent, hinder, or delay necessary action in coping with the COVID-19 disaster.”

Abbott previously used his emergency powers under his statewide disaster declaration to delay the primary runoffs, which were originally slated for May, and a special election for the Austin area’s Texas Senate District 14. Dozens of runoffs are ongoing for party nominations to congressional and local offices. The most prominent is the contest between former Air Force helicopter pilot MJ Hegar and state Sen. Royce West of Dallas for the Democratic nomination to take on Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.

Hegar and West will debate next month:

The Democrats in the runoff race to challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn are set to face off in a debate next month, the Texas Democratic party announced on Monday.

The first debate in the runoff between former Air Force pilot MJ Hegar and longtime state Sen. Royce West is set for June 2 at 7 p.m. The debate will air on Nexstar stations across the state, including Houston’s KIAH and San Antonio’s KSAT, and will be streamed online.

“To take back our state, Democrats must get our vision for the future to as many Texans as possible and showcase our candidates on as many platforms as possible,” Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said in a statement. “There is no Texas race bigger than the U.S. Senate race. MJ Hegar and Royce West represent the best of what Texas has to offer. This debate presents an opportunity for them to discuss our ideas and solutions to the challenges Texans face every single day.”

Let’s get ready to beat Cornyn in November and flip Texas Blue. Click below to sign up for Beto O’Rourke’s virtual voter registration events next week:

Click here to sign up for the Virtual Phone Bank on May 18th.

Click here to sign up for the Virtual Phone Bank on May 21st.

And click below to donate and get involved with the Democratic candidate of your choice and to Joe Biden’s campaign:

Joe Biden

MJ Hegar

Royce West

Sam Sero

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