Texas Senator Ted Cruz returns to the Panhandle to tour a small business.

Despite what he calls an ongoing circus in Washington, he did manage to squeeze in a few other topics as well.

He toured Sage Oil Vac this morning.

Employees, community members, and leaders heard the top four priorities Senator Ted Cruz believes could make this Congress the most productive in decades.

Senator Cruz was hands-on during his tour of Sage Oil Vac, but repealing Obamacare is on his mind.

Cruz said although they have had a rough couple of weeks in the repeal effort. He thinks they are closer to getting rid of it.

“I think in the senate, we are at about 45, 46 votes, we need 50,” said Senator Cruz. “We’re not there, we need another 4 or 5. I believe we can get it and the key to uniting Republicans to delivering on that promise is focusing like a laser on lowering premiums.”

When it comes to repealing Obamacare, Aaron Sage, the CEO at Sage Oil Vac, said that issue hits close to home for him and his employees.
   
“Health insurance is a big concern for us as it is for many, and we spoke a little bit about our premiums and gave him some examples of how our premiums have went up for our business,” said Sage.

Sage added that Cruz chose the local company to share his platform because he wanted to hear a good entrepreneurial story and to see what is going on with small business in Amarillo.

Which brings us to the second priority he discussed regarding small businesses.

“You want to unleash economic growth, tax reform is a powerful, powerful engine for helping small businesses grow and expand and create jobs,” said Senator Cruz. “The advice that I’ve given the president on tax reform is been two words. Bold and simple.”

When it comes tax reform, Senator Cruz said he wants to see a simple flat tax where we abolish the IRS.

He says that would create five million new jobs and increased wages across the country.

Cruz defended his proposed amendments to health care reform, which he said is fundamental to lowering the cost of health insurance.

Those amendments included the use of your health savings account to pay insurance premiums, and the Consumer Freedom Amendment.

Senator Cruz said that would give you the right to decide what kind of health insurance you need.