While U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott made unraveling Obamacare central to their 2012 activities, a freshman Republican state representative from Dallas described opposition as “posturing” and says his party—and Gov. Rick Perry—will be more “reasonable” this session on the federal takeover of medicine.
State Rep. Jason Villalba (R-Dallas) had been in office less than a week, but was confidently predicting at an event in Dallas that the Texas Legislature would “soften” and become more “reasonable” regarding Obamacare implementation.
Attorney Mike Li live-tweeted an event co-hosted by the law firm of Haynes & Boone and the Texas Tribune, featuring Mr. Villalba and Democratic State Rep. Rafael Anchia (also of Dallas). Both men work for Haynes & Boone, and the event was put on for the benefit of the firm’s clients.
Mr. Villalba’s position on having Texas roll-over on Obamacare puts him at odds with his party and mainstream conservatives. Texans not only voted overwhelmingly against Barack Obama’s re-election, but they voted for staunch Obamacare opponent Ted Cruz into the open US Senate seat. Mr. Li noted that Rep. Villalba said the GOP would be more “reasonable” on implementing Obamacare, and described previous opposition in the Legislature as “posturing.”
According to a press release issued by Haynes & Boone, “both Villalba and Anchia predicted a softening of the governor’s hard line against setting up the federal Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges, now that repeal of that law is off the table.”
(One can only imagine what Gov. Perry thinks of a Democrat and a freshman Republican defining his legislative posture …)
Letter To Legislators: Stop ObamaCare
Mr. Villalba’s position on Obamacare puts him on a collision course not only with Sen. Cruz and AG Abbott, but also Gov. Rick Perry and the overwhelming majority of the GOP. Last summer the governor announced he would not impose the Obamacare “exchanges” on Texans. These exchanges would, like the bankrupting Medicaid program, be federally mandated and federally controlled but state-administered (that is, paid for).
Texas’ conservative lawmakers, like newly elected House GOP Caucus chairman Brandon Creighton, have sided with Gov. Perry and opposed the exchanges as costly, heavy-handed impositions from D.C.
If the federal government wants to impose Obamacare, they should do so without the aid and support of the Texas Legislature.
As Mr. Creighton said in July, “one thing we know is there most likely is no benefit in hurrying to implement this massive expansion” of the federal government. Of course, Mr. Villalba would say Mr. Creighton was just posturing in advance of an election…
Do you think legislators should continue standing against the implementation of Obamacare? Be sure to let them know!
UPDATE: After this was posted, State Rep. Villalba sent a message by Facebook saying he was “ardently” opposed to Obamacare, but he just wanted to set up the Obamacare exchanges. That fails to recognize where the real fight is. Giving socialized medicine a Texas twang is a bad idea. If President Obama and his cronies in Washington want to set-up the destruction of the health care marketplace, they should do so without the aid and comfort of the Texas Legislature.
