It is no surprise that Ted Cruz got caught in yet another lie. What is surprising is how sloppy and irresponsible it was. Then again given that this man’s irresponsibility in unnecessarily delaying voting on a Continuing Resolution to keep the government running, it should be expected.
During Ted Cruz faux-libuster he referenced John Connelly, a 22 year old Rutgers University student. Cruz said,
John Connelly thought he was on the right track in life. The son of a New Jersey auto mechanic, he was the first in his family to go to college when he enrolled in Rutgers in 2009,” … “Four years later, the 22-year-old found himself $21,000 in debt, without a permanent job and sleeping on friends’ couches in New Jersey and Brooklyn. [Source]
Turns out Cruz or one of his aides did a botch job in their research and took Connelly out of context based on a Wall Street Journal article in which he was mentioned.
John Connelly thought he was right on track in life. The son of a New Jersey auto mechanic, he was the first in his family to go to college when he enrolled at Rutgers in 2009. Four years later, the 22-year-old found himself $21,000 in debt, without a permanent job and sleeping on friends’ couches in New Jersey and Brooklyn.
“I hear a lot of stuff that people in my generation aren’t buying cars or houses, and I’m a step beyond that—I can’t even pay rent on time,” Mr. Connelly says. “I have a hard time planning 10 years in the future when I can hardly plan three months in the future.”
At Rutgers, Mr. Connelly was an honors student and president of the student assembly. But wary of taking on more debt, he ended up withdrawing from school with three credits to go until graduation. After a summer spent living with friends while working a temporary job at a Brooklyn nonprofit, he found a grant that allowed him to re-enroll in school this fall. But he still doesn’t know what he’ll do when he graduates at the end of the semester. “I kind of did everything I was quote-unquote ‘supposed’ to be doing,” he says. [Source]
Cruz should have done more research as Connelly’s beliefs are diametrically opposed to those of Cruz and his immoral sect.
In fact, he grew up in a working-class union household and describes his politics as “left of most of the people in the Democratic Party on social and economic issues.” He thinks a single-payer system would be preferable to the Affordable Care Act but appreciates the provisions of the law that have helped him out already.
His father’s union-provided health insurance still covers him, thanks to the provision of the ACA that allows children to stay on their parents’ plan until the age of 26. Private insurers are no longer allowed to deny his younger sister coverage, even though she suffers from a seizure disorder that qualifies as a pre-existing condition. [Source]
John Connelly was interviewed by Ed Schultz on Friday. He thinks it is bizarre that Cruz is blaming President Obama and the Affordable Care Act for his plight. He said his story is likely the worst story Cruz could have used for his free market dystopia as his is a poster family benefitting from Obamacare. His sister has a pre-existing condition and he is able to remain on his fathers union insurance because he is not yet 26 years old.
Connelly said what is holding students back has nothing to do with Obamacare. He said both he and his generation were grossly misrepresented by Cruz to push his agenda. His closing statement was a zinger. He said if his example is the best example Cruz could come up with of people suffering under Obamacare, then Obamacare is in fact a sweet deal. Check out the interview below.
Cruz and his party more so than any other party or organization are infamous for using truthful tidbits and surrounding them with untruthful narratives. They generally get no pushback from the traditional media. After-all, according to some of the ‘most respected journalists’, it is not their job to validate truth from these Right Wing lying hacks.
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Linda G says
For all of Cruz’s Education…. He may be “Book Smart” but common sense ignorant, or just plain stupid!
Patricia Milkowski Spinazzola says
Linda G, Cruz is not stupid. He is an opportunist who distorts facts to feed to the faithful. For Teddy, ignorance is bliss, but not his own. It is the ignorance of others that fuels his campaign for name recognition. He is Joe McCarthy reincarnated, using fear, lies, and distortion to accomplish HIS goals. There is nothing Cruz does that is remotely for anyone else’s benefit. Crud, I mean Cruz, is all about Ted.