In state after state, the “exchanges” set up to administer ObamaCare are imploding under the weight of bad public policy. Even in Kentucky, once considered the lone ObamaCare success story, the exchange is now folding up shop.
In Texas, conservatives successfully stopped Democrats and liberal Republicans from burdening the Lone Star State with an ObamaCare exchange.
Liberal Republican State Rep. Jason Villalba of Dallas once predicted that the GOP would warm up to ObamaCare after they learned how successful it was. He described opposition to ObamaCare as “posturing.” He later doubled-down, saying he wanted Texas to pay for the administration of an ObamaCare exchange.
But he wasn’t the only Republican wanting to go along with ObamaCare. A longtime Republican cheerleader for ObamaCare has been State Rep. John Zerwas of Simonton. In 2013, he pushed a sneaky amendment that would have sucked Texas into the ObamaCare scheme. Joining him were 32 other Republicans and all the Democrats.
The Republicans still in the Texas House and seeking re-election this year who voted for Zerwas’ efforts are:
Dennis Bonnen; Byron Cook; Drew Darby; Marsha Farney; Charlie Geren; Todd Hunter; Ken King; Phil King; Lyle Larson; Doug Miller; Geanie Morrison; Four Price; John Raney; J.D. Sheffield; Wayne Smith; John Smithee; and, Paul Workman. (David Simpson also voted for the measure; he is seeking election to the Texas Senate.)
After the sneak was discovered, and people began learning what the Republicans had just done, the Texas House was forced to re-consider the Zerwas amendment. Once the amendment was discovered and rejected, all of the Republicans voted as a bloc to pull it down.
It seems GOP support for ObamaCare lasts only as long as the citizens don’t know about it…
