The former governor defends the Bay State’s health-care program on Hannity (rush transcript):
Hannity: Obviously, the country has rejected Obamacare, nationalized health care, socialized medicine. And you’ve made a very strong defense that there was no similarity, in your mind, and that there were grave differences, and I wanted to give you an opportunity to explain to some people who have been critical of you, what are those differences in the health care?
Romney: Well, obviously there are some similarities and there are some important differences as well. Maybe I’ll start with the intent: the intent of our legislation was to get health care to work like a market and the intent of the Obama bill, the Obamacare program, is to have government take over health care. Our bill was a state solution to a state problem within the rights of the Constitution. Obamacare is a federal intrusion of power, taking over the rights of states and the rights of families and the rights of doctors. It is a massive abuse of constitutional power and for that reason I think it needs to be repealed and we need to do a better job to get health care reformed in a way that makes it look more like a market. There are some other differences of course – Obamacare raises taxes by half a trillion dollars, it cuts benefits to seniors on the private side of medicare by a half a trillion dollars. Of course we didn’t do anything like that. And ours was an experiment, there were some mistakes in it, there are things I’d do differently the second time around. But that last thing I’d ever do would be to take what we had done for one state and impose it on the entire nation. It is simply be unconstitutional, it’s bad policy, and it’s wrong.
Good grief - "...ours was an experiment"? Guess they'll just call it quits any day now, huh?
This man better not be nominated in two years.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHaha, yes Romney and his Romneycare may prove easy to explain away to Sean but it won't be as easy under greater scrutiny.
He realizes that his passage of Romneycare is and will continue to be his Achilles Heel. Polishing the Romneycare turd will not be easy for him in the primaries.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe only substantive difference between Obamacare and Romneycare is that the former is an unconstitutional exercise of federal power. They're both equally bad ideas, and unless Romney wises up, he's not going to get much traction with Tea Party voters.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseTaken from an Obama interview with NBC, Obama comments about the similarities of the ObamaCare bill just passed and Romneycare:
“When you actually look at the bill itself, it incorporates all sorts of Republican ideas. I mean a lot of commentators have said this is sort of similar to the bill that Mitt Romney, the Republican Governor and now presidential candidate, passed in Massachusetts.
“A lot of the ideas in terms of the exchange, just being able to pool and improve the purchasing power of individuals in the insurance market, that originated from the Heritage Foundation…”
And, therein lies the problems for Mitt Romney.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseScrew INTENT, Mr. Romney. It's about consequences.
Here's the story of a victim of RomneyCare
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Please, no Romney in 2012.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRomney is backing away from what he supported...top down, government mandated insurance. His legislative "victory" was anything but a real competitive market.
Road to hell...paved...good intentions...Romney for President...2050.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMeanwhile, ordinary working-class folks in Mass. are being FINED for not paying into RomneyCare. Folks who are small biz owners, or out-of-work or single parents. Romney signed that bill. He is toast nationally, at least as POTUS. Maybe the next president can make him SecTreas. That's as high as he's gonna get. (p.s. I live in Mass. RomneyCare is reviled here.)
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"... there were some mistakes in it, there are things I’d do differently the second time around."
To quote Dana Carvey as George H.W. Bush, "SCARY!"
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRomney should not be a major player in the Republican pantheon, primarily due to Massachusetts health care.
Out with the old.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRomney can defend it all he wants, since he's not getting my vote against anyone other than Obama (if, heaven forbid, Romney is the Republican nominee in 2012...ick).
The last thing we need is to have Obamacare replaced with Obamacare-lite so the blame for the U.S. care system melting down (even if it melts a tiny bit more slowly) can be spread to Republicans.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBoy, NRO is really working hard to push Romney.
Have you not been listening to the voters?
Romneycare, as the blueprint to Obamacare, will not be accepted by the people.
Move on to a better candidate.
Hannity proved once again that he really is not a conservative, but a Republican-pushing someone he thinks can win because of his $$ warchest.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abusewhat are those differences in the health care?
In response, Mr. Romney squirted out a cloud of ink and swam away backward.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAfter a statement like this, it is too late for Romney to "wise up" with any credibility.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRomney made the only argument he could have made about Romneycare. It is a valid argument in that it is better to try and solve healthcare issues state by state like welfare reform than a massive national program trying to cover 300 million people.
Despite the valid argument the fact that the program in Mass. is a disaster is the issue that will hurt him most.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRomney made the only argument he could have made about Romneycare. It is a valid argument in that it is better to try and solve healthcare issues state by state like welfare reform than a massive national program trying to cover 300 million people.
Despite the valid argument the fact that the program in Mass. is a disaster is the issue that will hurt him most.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI don't like Romney. He is a liberal, not the new liberal as the crazy Democrats have become, but an old liberal, who just wants to control people.
I met Romney on the last NRO post-election cruise. All I had to do was shake his hand and look into his eyes to recognize that I did not want this man as POTUS.
I don't like Eastern elites, no matter what party they are.
If Romney gets the Republican nomination in 2012, I, and many like me, will be through with the Republican Party.
Because of Romney Care. Because a governor of a Northeastern State will never understand the rest of the country.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI believe Mitt Romney could be the best president ever!
Whatever mistakes there are in the MA insurance program, lets please remember fellow conservatives and fellow Americans, it was a honorable bipartisan state approach to address un-adressed real problems at the time. I want solutions to health care that are market based and WILL WORK and get support by a MAJORITY of Americans... that probably means we need hard, transparent, thoughtful democracy to work. Romney has that expertise and track record.
The spin about Romneycare, and the two other pathetic anti-Romney bombthrows hopefully will not keep good people from recognizing that Mitt Romney is in fact right/correct on the issues!! He has spent countless hours working unselfishly with regular people in need. This and his real track record convinces me that I can believe, more than any other experienced/qualified person out there, that he is, after all, a regular fellow who cares about the one... as well as the big picture.
Romney/Ryan, Romney/Christie. Romney/Palin, Romney/Rubio.
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