Posted on 05/10/2007 9:45:34 PM PDT by jdm
AGAWAM, Mass. (AP) -- Conservative activists criticized Mitt Romney over his abortion record Thursday as the Republican presidential contender received an award from an anti-abortion group that also used to complain about his support for abortion rights.
A coalition including the leaders of the Pro-Life Federation, the Michigan Conservative Union and Massachusetts Resistance was especially critical of the revelation that Romney's wife, Ann, had donated $150 to Planned Parenthood during her husband's 1994 U.S. Senate campaign.
The group also complained because a universal health care bill Romney signed into law while Massachusetts governor includes a seat for Planned Parenthood -- which includes abortion among its family planning services -- on a payment policy board.
''His commitment to the pro-life cause has been called into question because of his frequently changing position on the issue of abortion and his signing into law a bill that provides taxpayer-funded abortion in Massachusetts,'' the group said in a statement.
In remarks to over 600 people at the Massachusetts Citizens for Life Mother's Day Dinner, Romney conceded his conversion. While personally opposing abortion, he supported abortion rights as recently as two-and-a-half years ago. Now he not only opposes abortion rights personally but calls for the repeal of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationally.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Did his wife do this too?
“The group also complained because a universal health care bill Romney signed into law while Massachusetts governor includes a seat for Planned Parenthood — which includes abortion among its family planning services — on a payment policy board.”
Who’s wearing the pants in Mitt’s family? (no slight on Rudy intended)
LOL!
“Romney is not perfect, but he is very good and the best candidate to defeat any democrat.”
Precisely.
"To come up with a bipartisan plan in this polarized environment is commendable," Sen. Hillary Clinton told the Associated Press on Thursday.
The Romney plan, which has already been passed by the Massachusetts legislature and is waiting the governor's signature, mimics in some ways Mrs. Clinton's own Hillarycare proposal, which crashed and burned in 1994 with disastrous political consequences.
In another sign of trouble for Romney, Hillary isn't the only Democratic presidential aspirant singing his plan's praises.
"I like this health care bill that's passed," Sen. John Kerry told radio host Don Imus Friday morning. "I think it's terrific. Massachusetts has set a good course on that and I give everybody involved in that credit."
The Romney plan would tax individuals who don't buy their own health insurance. And businesses who didn't provide health insurance for their employees would be penalized $300 per year. A similar proposal in New York carries a much stiffer penalty for businesses - $300 every five weeks.
Romney says he favors removing the business tax. However, when Mrs. Clinton was asked about cutting back the penalty, she told the AP: "That would unravel the plan."
The comments echoed Hillary's defense of her own 1994 proposal. When small businessmen complained that it would bust their budgets, the then-first lady famously declared: "I can't be responsible for every undercapitalized business out there."
The Romney plan is also winning praise from another strange bedfellow, Clinton strategist James Carville, who likes the proposal's bipartisan pedigree.
"It's a feel-good story, this Romney thing. Republican Governor. Democratic legislature," Carville told the AP. "Romney is an ascendant guy."
Romney won an award from a pro-life group. Rudy G has and will NEVER win any such award.
Disparaging Romney as Rudy-light is wrong, particularly in the context of abortion, which this Slimes articles is all about. As I said before, lemme know when Rudy G wins any award from a pro-life group.
All we can do is show you the evidence. You can ignore it if you choose, but it ain’t going away. Read about Romney’s socialist Hillary-Lite health care plan just above.
Romney Care Is a Sham
by Michael Lewis
Posted: 05/09/2006
I owe HUMAN EVENTS readers a big apology. I allowed the good spin put on Massachusetts’ new Romney Care legislation by the New York Times tilt my view in favor of the program enacted in an attempt to provide every citizen in the state with healthcare.
My column “Massachusetts Not as Blue as it Seems” reflects my violation of a crucial rule: never trust any law endorsed by the Times. At first glance, the much-heralded Massachusetts reform uses free-market principles to universalize healthcare. Upon reading the actual bill, the Wall Street Journal reported May 5 that the well-intentioned bill is actually a death warrant for small business in the Bay State.
The bill was hailed as a success in that it required individuals who could afford it to buy health insurance or pay an income tax penalty. The legislation also sought to mandate that companies move to provide all employees with health coverage. It was an improvement in that it wasn’t Hillary Care, and it is a disappointment in that it saddles businesses with expenses that threaten their ability to stay open, and shams individuals in that it requires a specific kind of policy be purchased.
Being a native of Massachusetts, I am of course more inclined to look favorably on a bill prided by a Republican governor than legislation sponsored by the commonwealth’s congressional delegation of Neanderthals (Kerry, Kennedy, Frank, Meehan, et al). The lesson here is to never let party allegiances blind you. The bill is destined to fail, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Upon a full comprehensive study of the legislation, it is clear that Romney was pandering to the Democrat-controlled legislature. The new healthcare law, according to the Wall Street Journal, requires businesses with 10 or more employees to provide them health insurance, or face a yearly $295 penalty per employee. While the fee seems punishment enough, businesses that cannot afford to provide insurance to all employees are responsible for all the expenses which the employee cannot pay, with no cap on the liability. After the bills reach in excess of $50,000, the commonwealth will fine companies $5,000 a week for every week they fail to submit the required paperwork on uncovered employees. The Wall Street Journal asserted that the regulations are burdensome enough for businesses to either limit their workforce to 10 employees, or begin laying people off.
Alas, I have learned to be skeptical of blue-state Republican governors. These governors must often sell out to Democrat-controlled legislatures to get anything done. Romney initially vetoed the provision which levied a $295 per employee penalty on businesses, only to be overruled by the Democratic legislature. Additionally, Section 65 of the law mandates that individuals buy HMO policies, rather than PPO plans, which allow much more consumer choice in providers and treatments. A Republican has betrayed the people by restricting choice insurance plans. What a sad day for the party.
As a Republican, Romney should have been more attentive to the consequences of the law for Mom n’ Pop businesses. Under the new cumbersome law, small businesses will be the first to fold because of unsustainable financial burdens. A more sensible bill would have allowed multiple businesses to pool resources in order to provide healthcare benefits to employees through trade associations. A similar bill has been pending in the Congress for two years, but is being opposed by — surprise — Democrats, who cite it as a giveaway to the insurance industry.
My aunt and uncle, owners of Foodmaster Supermarkets, with about 16 stores located throughout the greater Boston area, feel betrayed by Romney, as every Republican should. Foodmaster Supermarkets are renowned throughout Boston for their commitment to public service and charitable causes, such as Hospice of the North Shore, United Cerebral Palsy, the Lupus Foundation, and many others. But as with any business, there is a limit to how much the company can afford to give. The regulations imposed on my family’s business by Romney Care far surpass that limit. As Foodmaster already faces obstacles to survival from conglomerate chains such as Shaw’s and Stop n’ Shop, the new Massachusetts healthcare reform bill saddles the company with burdens which will challenge its ability to remain operational, and will reduce its ability to make much-needed contributions to the greater Boston community.
I hope my readers will forgive me of my misdeeds. But more importantly, I hope my uncle will forgive me for acting like a liberal.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=14651
In this debate, Romney ran away from any pro-life endorsement as hard as he could:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_w9pquznG4
And all you can do is ignore the fact that Romney won an award from a pro-life group and rudy will never win such an award.
The award is what this Slimes article is about, right? Not health-care plans.
It does the pro-life movement no good to disparage Romney as rudy light in THIS context.
And he won an award from a pro-life group this week. Did you? LOL
Giving Mitt Romney a pro-life award is like giving Bill Clinton an award for chastity.
I wouldn’t want an “award” from a group that was foolish enough to be taken in by Slick Willard.
God bless Massachusetts Citizens for Life and this week’s Mother’s Day Dinner.
There are some “purists” so unyielding and dogmatic it’s as if their ideal candidate for President would either have to be an aborted fetus or Eric Rudolph. As far as I’m concerned all Romney had to say to advance the argument just a little was his insightful remark that if he had changed from pro-life to pro-choice, rather than the other way around, he would never have been questioned about it or challenged over it; it’s not much, but it is one of the ONLY intelligent things that I have heard from ANY candidate so far. And so far, I’m for him. ROMNEY/THOMPSON.
Glad to hear that. I feared, after an article you posted yesterday or the day before, that you were endorsing him.
AGAWAM, Mass. (AP) -- Conservative activists criticized Mitt Romney over his abortion record Thursday as the Republican presidential contender received an award from an anti-abortion group that also used to complain about his support for abortion rights.
A coalition including the leaders of the Pro-Life Federation, the Michigan Conservative Union and Massachusetts Resistance was especially critical of the revelation that Romney's wife, Ann, had donated $150 to Planned Parenthood during her husband's 1994 U.S. Senate campaign.
The group also complained because a universal health care bill Romney signed into law while Massachusetts governor includes a seat for Planned Parenthood -- which includes abortion among its family planning services -- on a payment policy board.
''His commitment to the pro-life cause has been called into question because of his frequently changing position on the issue of abortion and his signing into law a bill that provides taxpayer-funded abortion in Massachusetts,'' the group said in a statement.
In remarks to over 600 people at the Massachusetts Citizens for Life Mother's Day Dinner, Romney conceded his conversion. While personally opposing abortion, he supported abortion rights as recently as two-and-a-half years ago. Now he not only opposes abortion rights personally but calls for the repeal of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationally.
Romney's about-face on campaign funding
By Alexander Bolton
February 08, 2007
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who strongly criticized campaign-finance regulations in a private meeting with House conservatives last week, once touted dramatic restructuring measures such as taxing political contributions and placing spending limits on federal campaigns.
*snip*
A review of Romney’s public statements from his 1994 senatorial and 2002 gubernatorial campaigns reveal that he once touted stringent campaign-finance modifications.
A Boston Globe article from July 1994 reported that Romney publicly advocated placing spending limits on congressional campaigns and abolishing political action committees (PACs).
McCain and his allies on campaign finance included similar proposals in the first campaign-finance reform package they introduced in Congress in 1995, said Meredith McGehee, policy director of the Campaign Legal Center, who was at the center of the fight to pass the changes. McCain and his allies later dropped the spending limits and PAC ban because they proved to be too controversial, she said.
During remarks before the Burlington (Mass.) Business Roundtable in 1994, Romney spoke like the committed reformers who later enacted sweeping national reforms in Congress.
“I understand Ted Kennedy will spend about $10 million to be reelected — he’s been in 32 years, $10 million. I think that’s wrong because — and that’s not his own money, that’s all from other people,” Romney said during the 1994 presentation, which was aired by C-SPAN. “And to get that kind of money you’ve got to cozy up as an incumbent to all the special-interest groups who can go out and raise money for you from their members. And that kind of relationship has an influence on the way you’re gonna vote.”
Romney lost his race against Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). When he ran for governor eight years later, Romney again proposed dramatic changes to campaign-finance rules.
The Quincy Patriot Ledger and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported in the fall of 2002 that Romney proposed taxing political contributions to finance publicly funded campaigns.
“Mr. Romney campaigned in favor of clean elections, which provides public money to candidates for state office who meet strict fundraising requirements,” the Telegram & Gazette reported. “But he suggested an alternative funding method. Instead of providing campaign funds from state coffers, his plan would tap 10 percent of the fundraising of candidates who choose to raise money privately.”
Kevin Madden, Romney’s campaign spokesman, declined to comment about campaign finance proposals his boss made in 1994 and 2002.
Mitt Romney in his own words: His passionate support for CFR - His current hypocrisy on display
The smear is what you see in this divisive piece. I see the fact that Romney won an award that rudy will never win, and I see you describing Romney as rudy light. The news is the event of Romney winning an award at a Mother’s Day Dinner hosted by Massachusetts Citizens for Life. The AP/Slimes is doing its best to minimize that accomplishment, and you’re taking the bait hook, line and sinker.
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