Francisco finally gave in.
Diabetic and elderly, he took a seat beneath the high-tech police camera. From
there, Francisco could look across the highway and see the entrance to the posh
Cimarron Country Club in Mission, Texas.
The sun was merciless, and the only shade was that offered by the low
roof over a nearby sewer pump. That smell was as obnoxious as the sun’s heat.
“My legs are gone,” said the dapperly dressed fellow, “But I am glad to be
here; I have something to say to that man.”
That man was Texas’ Senator
Ted Cruz, elected almost a year ago. Counting Francisco, there were forty of us
who had braved this past Tuesday’s noonday sun to address our senator. We were
members of the Equal Voice Network, a group of community-based organizations
dedicated to the proposition that working people must have an equal voice at
the table of decision makers. Members of
the network had reached out previously to the senator, concerned that his
stances on immigration reform and health care were based on a whole lot of
ignorance. Cruz’s immigration plan is to triple the size of the border patrol
and quadruple the military hardware in our region. This would turn our
communities into an occupied zone. Cruz’s alternative to the Affordable Care Act is worse than the status quo. In an area in which nearly a half a million
people have no health coverage, Cruz’s plan to do nothing would amount to a
death sentence for many, many poor people.
As members of a democracy, we
felt that we not only had the right to speak to this issue, but an obligation
to do so.
Unfortunately, none of us had
the resources to pay the $500 a table “entrance fee” to the event that featured
the senator. With a nod to our notions of democracy, the organizers of the
event had designated a “protestors’ space” on the other side of the highway.
And so we stood there, waving
our flags, holding up our signs, and speaking to the press.
Across the way, carloads of
the better-off people filed into a parking lot of the air-conditioned and well-appointed
clubhouse. There, in comfort, they would listen to the senator, and, if very
lucky, be able voice a question or two to the man. They, too, must have been glad to be there. In
the plutocratic Texas of 2013, to have your voice heard by one of our two senators would be a reminder of your privilege.
So, there we were, and there
they were—with more than a four lane highway dividing us. According to one of
the news’ reporters who came to visit with us, the meeting was for the
“important and influential people of the region.” I don't think that the
reporter meant that comment as an insult. I do think that we had confused her—we
were not looking for a fight, but a conversation. We were not crazed
extremists, but we were serious people with well-thought out positions on the
issues of the day. The reporter may not have known that there are 300,000
people in the communities that we live and work in, and that these neighbors
and friends of our comprise a quarter of the Valley’s population.
The reports from the lunch
with Ted Cruz were not surprising. In the face of questions about alternatives
to the Affordable Care Act, Cruz reportedly promoted an idea that sounded just
like the national insurance exchange that the Affordable Care Act is
implementing next month. His action plan—defund Obamacare. His
alternative—national insurance exchanges. O
sea, Obamacare.
Immigration reform? More
enforcement. Cruz continues to insist on tripling the border patrol even as the US Border Patrol says it could never
handle that number of new agents.
It all sounded confusing to
me, but then again, we weren’t at the meeting, so it is hard to speak with much
certainty about what the man said or didn’t say.
What is clear is that Senator
Cruz was not interested in getting a comprehensive view of one of the most
important regions in the state, but only in hearing what suited him. And even
there, the visit was at least a partial failure, as, reportedly, pointed
questions about his notions of health care were left unanswered.
But what a great visit it
could have been, had Senator Cruz had the imagination and the courage to cross
the highway, take a seat next to Francisco, and ask Francisco about his health
care, about his notions on immigration reform. Now that would have been a seat worth $500. Easy.
