Senator Ted Cruz hopes to reignite ACA repeal with dealmaking

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - When you serve in the United States Senate and Texas job creation is your highest priority, it's hard to match the back-drop of a brand new, 4 million square foot manufacturing plant for pounding home the point.

Talking to dozens of Daikin workers in Waller County, Ted Cruz labeled Obamacare "the biggest job killer in Texas" -- a system so debilitating he's actively morphing from Senate bomb thrower to GOP peacemaker in an effort to reignite repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

"The role I'm trying to play is to bring people together and focus on where we have common ground on repealing Obamacare," said Cruz.

Speaking one-on-one with Fox 26, Senator Cruz says the transformation from partisan nay-sayer to compromise-seeking negotiator comes easily, given his years of settling legal disputes and the respect he's built among like-minded conservatives who recently brought down the House plan.

"You have to say all right, where is the common ground? What is the core thing you want? What is the core thing you want? How can we get to yes, and get it done," explained Cruz.

With Republicans in control of both Congress and the White House, Cruz says his most compelling argument remains the politically catastrophic cost of squandering the rare combination of power and opportunity.

"Now our job is to deliver on the promises that we made. There is no more talking about it. There are no more excuses," said Cruz.

On the issue of the ongoing House and Senate investigations of the Trump Administration, Cruz said he believes the "Russia concerns" are "overstated" by Democrats and some in the media looking to damage the President with negative "hoopla".