Posted on 10/13/2010 8:04:00 AM PDT by pissant
The fight for the Republican presidential nomination hasnt officially started, but conservatives around the country are already pressuring former Mass. governor and likely presidential candidate Mitt Romney to apologize for signing the Commonwealths health care reform bill into law.
Stopping Obamacare cold has become an article of faith on the right, Politico reported earlier this week, and Romney is facing the prospect that his health care plan could be his undoing as a presidential contender.
But calls for Romney to disown his own health care plan havent sat well with many Massachusetts Republicans. As Romney's Republican opponents prepare to rip his and their health-care legacy apart, they are urging the former governor to defend the law.
That hasn't stopped the calls from mounting. In a blog post entitled, Say Goodbye to Mitt Romney, Republican strategist Bill Pascoe encouraged Romney to say six simple words about Massachusetts health care reform: I was wrong. I am sorry. L. Brent Bozell, president of the Conservative Victory Committee, said he would advise [Romney] to acknowledge he made a mistake. Penny Nance, chief executive officer of Concerned Women for America, said that the [health care] failure in Massachusetts is going to be a huge hurdle to get over to win the support of conservatives, and that to get over that hurdle, [Romney] needs to acknowledge that failure. And Tom McClusky, vice president for government affairs at the Family Research Council, has knocked Romney as well: He has defended the law and continues to defend it. And there are things in the law that are indefensible, he said.
According to interviews with several Bay State Republican lawmakers and spokespeople, these out-of-state critics are missing two key points.
First, Massachusetts Republicans argue that RomneyCare, as passed, was a solid bill that deserved Republican support.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
What Mitt does best is behave like the greasy political hack he is.
Important distinction.
That's almost EXACTLY what he has said. : )
"While former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney claims he did everything possible to throttle homosexual marriage in his state his campaign now saying he took "every conceivable step within the law to defend traditional marriage" several constitutional experts say that just isn't so.
"What Romney did [was] he exercised illegal legislative authority," Herb Titus said of the governor's actions after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court released its opinion in the Goodridge case in 2003. "He was bound by what? There was no order. There wasn't even any order to the Department of Public Health to do anything."
Titus, a Harvard law graduate, was founding dean of Pat Robertson's Regent University Law School. He also worked with former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, ...
Romney's aides have told WND that after four of the seven court members reinterpreted the definition of marriage, he believed he had no choice but to direct clerks and others to change state marriage forms and begin registering same-sex couples.
Some opponents contend that with those actions, Romney did no more or less than create the first homosexual marriages recognized in the nation. And Titus agrees."
"....But the court's decision conflicts with the constitutional philosophy of three co-equal branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial, Titus said. It also violates with the Massachusetts Constitution, which states: "The power of suspending the laws, or (suspending) the execution of the laws, ought never to be exercised but by the legislature..."
And it cannot even be derived from the opinion itself, asserts the pro-family activist group Mass Resistance, which says the decision did four things:
* First, it acknowledged that the current law does not permit same-sex marriage.
"The only reasonable explanation is that the Legislature did not intend that same-sex couples be licensed to marry. We conclude, as did the judge, that G.L. c. 207 may not be construed to permit same-sex couples to marry."
* Second, it said it is NOT striking down the marriage laws (among other things, the Massachusetts Constitution forbids a court to change laws)
"Here, no one argues that striking down the marriage laws is an appropriate form of relief."
* Third, it declared that not allowing same-sex marriages is a violation of the Massachusetts Constitution.
"We declare that barring an individual from the protections, benefits, and obligations of civil marriage solely because that person would marry a person of the same sex violates the Massachusetts Constitution."
* And fourth, given that the court is not changing any laws, the SJC gave the Legislature 180 days to "take such action as it may deem appropriate."
"We vacate the summary judgment for the department. We remand this case to the Superior Court for entry of judgment consistent with this opinion. Entry of judgment shall be stayed for 180 days to permit the Legislature to take such action as it may deem appropriate in light of this opinion."
After the Legislature did nothing during the 180 days, Romney then took action "on his own," the group said.
"Gov. Romney's legal counsel issued a directive to the Justices of the Peace that they must perform same-sex marriages when requested or 'face personal liability' or be fired," the group said."
I agree.
He’s a hypocrite.
You can’t be a “small government conservative” and support goobermint takeover of healthcare.
You cannot support abortion on demand and be a devout Mormon.
You cannot support “gay marriage” and be a devout Mormon.
I’ll never support Mitt for anything. Three strikes and you’re out.
And the hits they just keep on comin’.
Thanks for those two.
You can be a pro-abortion leader in Mormonism. I don't know about the "gay marriage" issue though.
Romney’s machine sent me a letter, hitting me up for a donation. I sent him a picture of Palin in the return envelope. :)
...ain’t I a little stinker :)
An excellent article. Thank you for posting.
Very, very informative.
It's anathema. Marriage has a revered and hallowed place in Mormon theology. It is between a man and a woman, and has no other definition. Active homosexuality is a significant sin.
No practicing Mormon would advocate homosexuality. No practicing Mormon would advocate changing the definition of "marriage" from what God intended it to be.
Mitt's doing so while claiming to be devout demonstrates rank hypocrisy.
Mitt Romney is more than a “devout” Mormon, he is a very powerful figure in Mormonism, and has held very high religious office.
Romney was a stake President over the other Bishops in his district, and he received the blessing to run for President in a personal meeting with the Prophet himself.
Romney’s most aggressive promotion of abortion and the homosexual agenda, was during and immediately upon leaving his 9 year position as stake president in 1994.
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