out on the national mal. back to hardball. welcome back to hardball. this year, freshman senator from texas, ted cruz, was determined to make a name for himself and that he did. no matter the issue, he found a way to turn it into a platform to showcase himself. we re back now with our panel, howard fineman, david corn, jonathan capehart and joan walsh. the thomas crown affair. there it is. the best and the worst of ted cruz. here s number three from ted cruz. in july, he made an impassioned case at the western reserve western conservative summit in denver. the conservatives had to block the president s health care law at all costs, because of all things people might like it. let s listen. on january 1, the exchanges kick in. and the subsidies kick in. once those kick in, it s going
on january 1. the whole thing is a catastrophe. the american people really start to feel the pain of this. and then republicans next year can say, we tried everything on god s green earth, everything within our power to try to stop this and slow it down, and the democrats said no. all right. don t go anywhere, monica. you re getting sort of a gauge of what the next strategy might be on the part of the and the senate. and one option might be to go to things that both sides agree is egregious within the health care law, the medical device tax. do you think in the end, mike, that that might be the acceptable middle ground the president or democrats say? all right, all right, we ll delay that one or cancel that one outright? and we both sort of have our loaf here? i just talked to a prominent republican senator who just told me he thinks we re heading for a five-day government shutdown because harry reid does not want to negotiate on anything dealing
question on what republicans are so afraid of when he spoke this summer, not a million years ago, at the western conservative summit. here s cruz admitting what he s afraid of, believe it or not. on january 1, the exchanges kick in and the subsidies kick in. once those kick in, it s going to prove almost impossible to undo obama care. the administration s plan is very simple. get everyone addicted to the sugar so that obama care remains a permanent feature of our society. well, talk about elitism. people getting addicted to decent health care. who is this princeton guy making fun of people who need health care hoping they might get it some day and seeing it coming and k and calling it some kind of addicti addiction? if you look back, remember ronald reagan in 1960s was sort of famously opposed to medicare.
on january 1, the exchanges kick in. and the subsidies kick in. once those kick in, it s going to prove almost impossible to undo obamacare. the administration s plan is very simple. get everyone addicted to the sugar so that obamacare remains a permanent feature of our society. oh, i love that addiction. how about you? president obama called out the senator from texas on his statement tuesday at the clinton global initiative. one of the major opponents, when asked, why is it you would potentially shut down the government at this point, just to block obamacare, he basically fessed up. he said, well, once, you know, consumers get hooked on having health insurance, and subsidies, then they won t want to give it up. oh, it gets better. data released today by the department of health and human services shows that 95% of
issue in the first place. ted cruz may be a very good politics but he certainly doesn t know anything about health care. and i think you d find many who wouldn t agree with governor dean on the good politician part. for more, i m joined by krystle ball and josh barrow. josh, i ll start with you. we were talking a little bit in the break how it feels kind of retro for ted cruz to still stb obsessing about getting rid of obama care. why do you think he s doing it? the reason this idea has stuck around so long, we had this unusually long period between when it passed and when the major provisions will be implemented. if ted cruz isn t doing it, there s going to be somebody out there telling the conservative base to keep hope alive. there s still time to turn this around. there are big incentives to be that guy. we ll see the dynamicing change over the next few months. on january 1, a lot of people will get new insurance through the program. then you ll get more of a