Update: Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) is now speaking to challenge some of Rubio's claims about effect ObamaCare is having on the working poor."If someone has fewer choices of doctors but has health insurance, isn't that better than having no health insurance?"
Ted Cruz agrees that there should be reforms to address the uninsured but free market reforms, such as allowing companies to sell insurance over state lines.
Update: Cruz is asking Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to come out on the floor to listen to a "unanimous consent" request.
Update: At the top of the hour, CNN refused to air any portion of Cruz's speech that was about ideas. In a 90-second montage, CNN aired only his lighter pop culture comments. Dana Bash described the comments as "fun" and "weird."
Update: Rubio is fired up. After reading letters from everyday victims of ObamaCare, he reads nightmare ObamaCare statistics and facts written in a "conservative, right-wing newspaper" called the New York Times.
Update: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has joined Cruz to talk about those who have lost their employer-based health insurance due to ObamaCare.
Update: By hitting the twenty-hour mark, Cruz has given the fourth longest speech in the history of the Senate.
Update: At 10:41am ET, Cruz concluded hour twenty of his stand against ObamaCare.
Update: Cruz says his "end game" is the "American people."
Cruz just made the point that a media that intentionally plays dumb will not. Cruz knows he cannot stop ObamaCare ... this week. But that was never his end game. His end game is to eventually win by keeping the debate going and to make sure ObamaCare is never considered a settled piece of law.
This is how the left wins; they never quit, never give up, never accept.
This is also why the left/media hate Cruz: they know he is using their tactics, and doing so effectively. They know he is playing the long game. They also see him as a traitor: regardless of party, a Harvard/Princeton man is supposed to play along and suck up to power, not fight power.
Update: According to C-Span, ten Senators have joined Crux throughout his speech, including two Democrats.