Jeb Bush on Ted Cruz’s Tactics: ‘Have a Little Bit of Self-Restraint’ to Achieve Obamacare Repeal
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Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call(WASHINGTON) — During an interview for This Week, former Republican Florida Gov. Jeb Bush encouraged Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz – who told ABC News that he would do “anything” to stop Obamacare – to come up with an alternative and show some restraint if his aim was to repeal the president’s signature healthcare law.
“I think the best way to repeal Obamacare is to have an alternative; we never hear the alternative…we could do this in a much lower cost with improved quality based on our principles, free market principles…and two, show how Obamacare, flawed to its core, doesn’t work,” Bush said.
“So have a little bit of self-restraint. It might actually be a politically — a better approach to see the massive dysfunction,” he said, after being asked by ABC’s Jonathan Karl what his message would be for Cruz, who is still keen on repealing Obamacare.
Bush said the linking of government funding to the funding of Obamacare by Republicans was a tactical misstep.
“It was a mistake to focus on something that couldn’t be achieved. And that’s what that was. It was tactics,” he said.
During the interview the former Florida governor was asked by Karl for his view on those in the GOP that claimed the debt ceiling might not need to be raised. Bush said that there are global repercussions.
“Well, you have to pay your obligations. I do a lot of traveling overseas. And when we have these spikes of political conversations that are not grounded in reality, the rest of the world looks at us as untrustworthy,” Bush said.
“That has implications, not just for us, a slowdown of economic activity, it has implications in the world because people have to count on the United States. And if we’re behaving this way, it makes it harder to do so,” he said.
Bush told Karl that both political parties were at fault for the gridlock in Washington.
“I’m not blaming Republicans. I think we have a systemic problem in Washington right now and the void of leadership is making it harder to get to a better place,” Bush said.
“The better place would be that with civility, have a dialogue about the bigger, more pressing issues and try to find common ground rather than use each instance of…a possible crisis to win a political point,” he said.
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