... and Romney Czar hopeful ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2839432/posts
Greta’s 1-27-2012 interview On The Record with Pam Bondi
GRETA: And he is certainly taking a lot of flak for it, but Gov Romney insists his healthcare law he signed in MASS s different from Pres. Obama’s healthcare law, but Rush Limbaugh says that’s not true.
Greta starts interview with RUSH LIMBAUGH show video clip:
Romney says, “92% of the people in my state had insurance before the plan went in place, nothing changes for them.” Obama: “If you like your plan, you get to keep your plan,” except that you don’t, but that’s what Obama said. “If you like your plan, you get to keep it, we’re not touching it. If you like your doctor, you get to keep it, we’re not changing it.” “For the 8% of the people who didn’t have insurance we said to them if you can afford it, buy it, and if you don’t want to buy insurance, then you gotta help pay for the cost.”
Obama: “You gotta buy insurance or pay a fine.”
[EDITED OUT OF THE RUSH VIDEO] This is Santorum’s point, it’s the same thing. Your option is to buy insurance required, or you pay a fine. Now, the way Obamacare is structured, the fine is much cheaper than the insurance, for a couple of years, by design. The idea is to get people paying the fine. They are the free riders. Romney is right, they pay the fine but if they show up at the emergency room, by law they have to be treated. They’re the free riders. So Santorum is saying, “See, it’s the same thing.
Obama’s doing the same thing. Romney doesn’t call his plan a fine. You don’t buy insurance, then you have to help pay for the cost; it’s the same thing. This is why people say there’s not much difference between the two plans.
And then Romney says, “Under federal law if somebody doesn’t have insurance then we have to care for them in the hospitals, give ‘em free care. So we said no more free riders.” So you’re paying a fine or you’re buying health insurance, which is what Obamacare is.
Source of video excerpt: Santorum Hammers Romney on Obamacare
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GRETA: FLA Attorney General Pam Bondi has spent the past year trying to get Pres Obama’s healthcare law overturned, but she’s also supporting Gov Mitt Romney for President. Is that a contradiction of not? Atty Gen Bondi joins us. Good evening Pam.
BONDI: Good evening Greta. Good to talk to you.
GRETA: Nice to talk to you. OK, How do you reconcile these two plans and your support for Gov Romney and the Mass Plan, and, of course, I assume you just heard what Rush Limbaugh just said.
BONDI: Oh, and I have so much respect for Rush Limbaugh, of course. But, oh, there is nothing to reconcile. These are two completely different plans. And I’m listening to Rush, taking notes. Let me tell you what I wrote:
ObamaCare raises taxes.
Mitt Romney’s plan would not.
ObamaCare has Medicare diversions.
Romney’s plan would not.
Pres Obama’s federal healthcare plan creates new federal bureaucracy.
Romney’s plan would not.
It [ObamaCare] reduces choice.
Mitt Romney’s plan would not.
It raises costs.
Mitt Romney’s Plan lowers costs.
I could keep going, but it’s about States Rights. From day one, Mitt Romney, and I’ll tell you along with Newt Gingrich, along with Rick Santorum, along with Ron Paul, all of our candidates have said, the first thing that they will try to do is get rid of the Federal government healthcare takeover. So all the candidates have said that.
And let me tell you, I have been asked to be on Gov Romney’s task force. I am going to be part of his healthcare policy team, um, when he’s president to undo this and to create good healthcare. So I wholeheartedly support him, and I don’t think he contradicts it at all. In fact, he is doing everything that we agree with.
GRETA: Ok, Let me ask you this. It is enormously complex, all these healthcare questions. Just one of them recently said it reduces costs, and I’m only quoting from what Politico has on 10/26/11 in which it says that even Gov Romney admits it does not reduce costs in Mass. That the whole idea in Mass was to expand coverage so people could be covered, but an admission that it didn’t reduce costs cause healthcare costs have been rising and, not in this article, doesn’t the Mass[ Healthcare] Plan get some Federal subsidy, so in some way we all sort of pick up the tab?
BONDI: Well, that’s in Mass, not in the entire country. He wants a plan where each state can decide what to do in their own state that wouldn’t raise costs. And let me tell you Greta, Of the majority of states... [Greta interrupts]
GRETA: Let me ask you about the mandate there. Just so the viewers understand. The national plan has a mandate. The state plan has a mandate. You argue that the national plan mandate is unconstitutional, but there is a distinction with the state plan, is there not?
BONDI: Yes, yes. Federal healthcare plan mandates that every person in this country buy insurance, and if not, we will be penalized or taxed. What we want is for each state to have the ability to regulate and create their own healthcare plans that best fit each state. That’s what we want. That’s what we mean when we talk about the mandate.
And of the 26 states that are involved in the lawsuit that FLA is leading, the majority of the states-—some are governors, some are Attys General-—but the majority of the states involved in that healthcare lawsuit have endorsed Mitt Romney, and we stand behind Mitt Romney for Governor as well as my fellow cabinet members Adam Putnam, Jeff Atwater and [black screen /no audio for a second or two] completely remaining neutral. He’s not helping anyone behind the scenes, as well as our Senate president and our speaker of the house.
GRETA: Alright. I’m going to take the last word. leaving this just so that I edit the other side ... Bill McCollum, who started the lawsuit, your predecessor in the state of FLA as the AG, he is one of the co-chair of Newt Gingrich’s campaign. You, of course, are part of endorsing Gov Romney, just to put some perspective on it.
But anyway, it is enormously complicated, and we are going to see what happens at the end of June in your national lawsuit challenging the national healthcare. Thank-you Pam. Nice to see you.