Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz spoke out against the funding of President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act for 21 hours last week, beating the record for the longest speech this year.

The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, mostly matters for 20 percent of Americans who are either uninsured or only under individual insurance. This provides them with various types of government-sponsored health care coverage.

However, if you already have insurance through your employer or the government, it is highly unlikely that you can be covered by Obamacare. According to CBS News, it is “considered the biggest extension of federal health care benefits since Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965.”

After Cruz’s 21-hour long speech, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tweeted, “With all due respect to Sen. Cruz, I’m not sure we learned anything new. It’s been interesting, but it’s also been a big waste of time.”

No speech should take 21 hours to deliver, no matter how accurate it may be in its message. Cruz’s references to Dr. Seuss, “Stars Wars” and “Duck Dynasty” were inane. After hours and hours of going on a rant, it is likely that he caused most people to lose interest.

It is obvious to me that Cruz strongly opposes this law, but the fact that he spoke against Obamacare for 21 hours causes me to question if he really took that time to get his message across effectively. Does he really think this law will be that destructive to America? Or does he only care about getting his word in, without any opposition?

Although Obamacare may cause a rise in taxes, cost of over-the-counter drugs, and the deductible bill in insurance, it will unquestionably help the unfortunate people in our country. Too many people are concerned about the extra costs they will have to pay instead of being concerned with helping others. In my opinion, those who are more privileged in society have an obligation to help people who are unable to afford important things in life, such as health care.

There are 46.2 million people (15 percent of our population) who fall under the poverty line. These are millions of people who need attention, and Obamacare is helping us give people in our country the support that they need.

Days later, after Cruz’s notorious filibuster, Pres. Obama tweeted “For the 15% of Americans who don’t have health insurance, this opportunity is life changing.”

Obama was probably pleased to announce on Twitter shortly after this post that “the Affordable Care Act is open for business.”

Congratulations, Ted Cruz. You just delivered a 21 hour filibuster against a law that is still going into effect.

Sources

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/30/%3Fp%3D63297/

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/ted-cruzs-obamacare-nighter-ends-21-hours/story?id=20365712

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505145_162-57605284/obamacare-what-it-can-and-cant-do-for-

you/